Mapping of hydrothermally altered zones in Aravalli Supergroup of rocks around Dungarpur and Udaipur,India, using Landsat-8 OLI and spectroscopy

We explored the utilization of Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) data for mapping of hydrothermal alteration zones. The region in and around the cities of Dungarpur and Udaipur of Rajasthan state in India was selected for this study. The rock types of Dungarpur and Udaipur are serpentinites, talc-carbonate, talc-schist, and quartzite of the Aravalli Supergroup. Hydrothermally altered zones and resultant hydrous minerals play an important role in the genesis of these rocks. We aimed to identify possible locations of hydrothermally altered zones in regional context around Dungarpur and Udaipur using Landsat-8 OLI data. False-color composite maps and band ratios were prepared from Landsat-8 bands. Band ratios such as band 6/band 7 (short-wave infrared 1 (SWIR1)/short wave infrared 2 (SWIR2)), band 4/band 3 (red/green), and band 5/band 6 (near infrared (NIR)/SWIR1) and visual interpretation techniques were used to identify the hydrothermally altered zones. Spectroscopic analyses of field rock samples were done to validate the hydrothermal alteration zones delineated from the analysis of Landsat-8 data. We present the combined results of Landsat-8 and field spectroradiometer analysis which brings out the hydrothermal alteration zones associated with hydrous minerals (antigorite, lizardite, montmorillonite, vermiculite, talc, and saponite). The study demonstrates the utility Landsat-8 OLI (with field spectroradiometer data) in the mapping of hydrothermally altered zones as a key in understanding geological processes.     

Landslide susceptibility assessment using Information Value Method in parts of the Darjeeling Himalayas

Landslide susceptibility is the likelihood of a landslide occurrence in an area predicted on the basis of local terrain conditions. Since last few years, researchers have attempted to analyse the probability of landslide occurrences and introduced different methods of landslide susceptibility assessment. The objective of this paper is to assess the landslide susceptibility in parts of the Darjeeling Himalayas using a relatively simple bivariate statistical technique. Seven factor layers with 24 categories, responsible for landslide occurrences in this area, are prepared from Cartosat and Resourcesat — 1 LISS-IV MX data. Each category was given a weight using the Information Value Method. Weighted sum of these values were used to prepare a landslide susceptibility map. The result shows that 8% area was predicted for high, 32% for moderate and remaining 60% for low landslide susceptibility zones. The high value (0.89) of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve showed the high accuracy of the prediction model.     

Erodibility of fine soil from the composite river bank of Brahmaputra in India

The erosion of a composite river bank critically depends on the erodibility of its fine soils, as the fine soil has higher resistance against erosion. Therefore, for the estimation of the bank erosion in the case of a composite river bank, it is important to determine the critical shear stress and erodibility coefficients of the bank soil and their spatial distribution. In the present study, erodibility parameters of the river bank of Brahmaputra in India have been estimated through 58 in situ submerged jet tests. The significance of spatial and layer‐wise distribution of the erodibility parameters was tested through analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicate that the spatial variation of erodibility parameters is highly significant, but layer‐wise variations of the erodibility parameters are not significant. Therefore, the erodibility of the riverbank depends on the particular location, whereas layer‐wise average erodibility parameters can be lumped for the estimation of the bank erosion for the specific site. Using the measured erodibility parameters, yearly river bank erosions at the study locations were computed and found to fall within the reported range of the bank erosion in the Brahmaputra River. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Paleoenvironment of deposition of the Dupi Tila Formation,Lalmai Hills,Comilla, Bangladesh

The Dupi Tila Formation is composed of yellow to light brown medium to very fine moderately hard to loose sandstone, siltstone, silty clay, mudstone and shale with some conglomerates with clasts of petrified wood. The lithofacies of matrix supported conglomerate, trough cross bedded conglomerate, massive sandstone, trough cross bedded sandstone, planar cross bedded sandstone, ripple cross laminated sandstone-siltstone, flaser laminated sandstone-shale, lenticular laminated sandstone-siltstone-shale, parallel laminated sandstone-siltstone, wavy laminated shale, parallel laminated blue shale, and mudstone are delineated within this formation. Based on the grain size, sedimentary structures, water depth and genesis of individual facies, facies are grouped into three types of facies associations like (i) coarse-grained conglomerate facies association in relation to tractive current deposits of alluvial fan set up at the base of litho-succession (FAC), (ii) medium to fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association or facies association in relation to strong tide (FAT) characterizing the middle part of litho-succession, (iii) very fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association in relation to less frequent weak tide or heterolithic facies association (FAHL) characterizing upper part of litho-succession and shallow marine facies association (FASM) composing the uppermost litho-succession. Presence of gluconite indicates that the depositional environment was shallow to deep marine. The dominant paleoflow direction during the deposition of Dupi Tila Formation was toward southeast to southwestern direction. The rivers were of braided type at the piedmont alluvial depositional set up at the lower part, which later changed to estuarine-tidal flat type environmental set up in the middle part to upper part and paleo-environment was shallow marine in the uppermost part.     

Thermally driven outflows from pair-plasma pressure-mediated shock surfaces around Schwarzschild black holes

Introducing a spherical, steady, self-supported pair-plasma pressure-mediated shock surface around a Schwarzschild black hole as the effective physical atmosphere that may be responsible for the generation of astrophysical mass outflows from relativistic quasi-spherical accretion, we calculate the mass outflow rate R _̇ by simultaneously solving the set of equations governing transonic polytropic accretion and isothermal winds. R _̇ is computed in terms of only three inflow parameters, which, we believe, has been done for the first time in our work. We then study the dependence of R _̇ on various inflow as well as shock parameters, and establish the fact that the outflow rate is essentially controlled by the post-shock proton temperature.     

Overtaking collision of two ion acoustic soliton in a plasma with a q-nonextensive electron and thermal positrons

Theoretically the propagation of two ion acoustic soliton interaction in a three component collisionless unmagnetized plasma which consists of electrons, positrons and cold ions, has been investigated here by employing reductive perturbation technique. In this study, q distributed electrons and Maxwell-Boltzmann distributed positrons are considered and Korteweged-de Vries (KdV) equation is derived. The KdV equation is solved to get two soliton solution by using Hirota bilinear method. The effects of the q distributed electrons on the profiles of two soliton structures and the corresponding phase shifts are investigated. It is observed that both the nonextensive parameter (q) and the ratio of positrons density and electron density (p=n _p0/n _e0), play a significant role in the formation and existence of two soliton and also in the nature of their phase shifts.     

Spatial Potential Analysis of Earthquakes in the Western Himalayas Using b-value and Thrust Association

In this study, we have analysed the spatial variation of b-values (from frequency-magnitude distribution (FMD)) in the western Himalayas as an indicator to demarcate the potential zones of earthquake occurrences. This is done under the acceptance of interpretation that decrease of b-values is correlated with a stress increase in the epicentral region of an approaching earthquake event. In addition to this, the spatial association of the earthquake epicenters with the major thrusts in the region using weights of evidence method, to identify potential zones of earthquake occurrences have also been analysed. Both analyses were carried out using a historical earthquake (M_w> 4) database of the1900-2015 period. Finally, based on the spatial variation of b-values and ‘contrasts’ derived from weights of evidence method (thrust associations), the derived map information was geospatially combined to prepare a “spatial earthquake potential” map of the western Himalayas. This map demarcates the western Himalayas into 3 zones - high, medium and low potential for future earthquake occurrences.     

Coastal zone management programme in Kerala,India

The physiographic setting of Kerala State, India, is unique. A narrow strip of the state contains a chain of lagoons and estuaries with a very high population density. The strip is subjected to severe coastal erosion during the monsoon season. A number of other problems are also associated with the coastal zone of Kerala, such as irregular dredging of black sands from the beaches, coastal flooding, hazards due to developmental activities, etc. A Coastal Zone Management Programme was developed and administered by the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Trivandrum, to provide efficient coastal management and solve some of these problems. Various programmes included under the Coastal Zone Management are the following: (1) Sedimentological, bathymetric, and geochemical studies of lagoons and estuaries; (2) monitoring of planimetric changes of beaches by profiling beaches during different seasons all along the coast; (3) studies of the nature, distribution, and provenance of black sand deposits from beaches; (4) studies of the peculiar occurrence of patchy, calm, turbid areas of water in the offshore containing high suspended sediment concentrate known as mud banks; (5) wave studies involving continuous monitoring of wave data all along the coast in order to understand wave climate and erosion; (6) sediment movement studies using fluorescent tracer to aid in the development of ports and harbors; (7) studies on various aspects of offshore. The outlines of the various programmes discussed in this article will help other states and countries to develop a coastal zone management programme according to the needs of the state or country and the nature of the problem occurring in the coastal zone.