Colluvial deposits in northwest Deccan,India: their significance in the interpretation of Late Quaternary history

The Deccan Trap region exhibits an erosional landscape over a relatively ancient and stable Deccan shield. The Quaternary history of the area has been reconstructed on the basis of evidence from alluvial deposits occurring along the major rivers. However, recent investigations have revealed that evidence for geo-environmental change during the Quaternary Period is also contained in the colluvial deposits that occur in the foothill zones. The colluvial deposits, ranging in thickness from 1 to 10 m, invariably occupy gently inclined pediment slopes. The sediments are presently deeply dissected by gullies, and the process of colluviation has almost ceased. These deposits are best preserved in the semi-arid parts of the region. Detailed textural, geochemical and stratigraphical studies at four different sites reveal similar input processes, the slight variations being attributed to local environmental factors. Scanning electron microscopy studies of some grains indicate marginal contribution of aeolian processes at the time of deposition. Mesolithic artefacts and a few U/Th dates indicate that the colluviation took place during the Late Quaternary. The properties of the deposits suggest relatively high energy conditions as well as a remarkable variability in the intensity of hillslope processes. These properties are indicative of semi-arid conditions during which the regolith was stripped from devegetated hillslopes and was deposited on the pediments. A variety of evidence indicates that the period of colluviation coincided with arid conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum. The geomorphological and archaeological evidence also indicates that incision by gully systems was initiated during the early Holocene humid phase. The environmental conditions deduced for the study area are similar to those reported for other parts of the intertropical zone. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene lateral expansion, peat growth and carbon accumulation on Haukkasuo, a raised bog in southeastern Finland

Paludification intensity and peat deposition on Haukkasuo bog in southeastern Finland were studied with peat stratigraphic investigations by taking 79 samples for ¹⁴C carbon dating and 164 volumetric samples. Peat formation of Haukkasuo, a concentric raised bog, began about 10 400 cal. BP. Lateral expansion has been largely controlled by the flat clayey floor, which has favoured rapid growth of the bog. During the first 400 years of its existence the bog covered one-fifth, and in the following 2000 years one-half, of its present extent. The long-term carbon accumulation rate averages 22.3 g C/m²/yr in the central part of Haukkasuo and 16.7 g C/m²/yr in its margins. The highest rates of carbon accumulation over 500-year periods were recorded in the central part of the bog in 6500–5500, 3500–2500 and 1500–0 cal. BP. The rate of vertical peat increment was higher than average in these periods, and the peat was mainly slightly humified and, when close to the surface, un compacted. The rate of carbon accumulation was lowest in 5500–3500 and 2500–2000 cal. BP, when the rate of vertical growth was lower than average and the peat was more humified than average. The formation of peat, the rate of vertical peat increment and the succession of peat types in Haukkasuo have mainly been controlled by hydrological changes caused by local factors, although climatic factors might also be important. In particular, the formation of slightly humified peat in 3300–2700 cal. BP and during the last 1300 years can be related to humid climate.     

Practically Applicable Central Limit Theorem for Spatial Statistics

Let {Z(s):s∈D⊆ℝ ^d } be a zero mean stationary random field observed at a finite number of locations. Lahiri (Sankhya Ser. A 65:356–388, 2003) proved spatial central limit theorems (CLT) for ∑ _i=1 ⁿ Z(s _i ) assuming a ‘nearly infill domain sampling’. Applications of his results depended on the underlying spatial sampling region and the design in a complicated fashion. The main objective of this paper is to provide CLTs that could be applied easily in practice. We present two main results assuming a ‘nearly infill domain sampling’ defined mainly in terms of dependence. Theorem 1 establishes a CLT for ∑ _i=1 ⁿ Z(s _i ) and Theorem 2 is obtained mainly for applications to density estimates. We report on a simulation study for illustrating a way of applying our results in practice.     

Visualizing the spatial water quality of Bentota,Sri Lanka in the presence of seawater intrusion

Seawater flows towards the inlands along with the rivers and canals, through the process of infiltration and leaks in the ground water characterized by high concentrations of soluble salts. High salinity concentrations can make groundwater unsuitable for public consumption and surface water unsuitable for irrigation and agricultural activities. This study envisages the fluctuations of ground and surface water quality of Bentota area in the presence of seawater intrusion. The temporal and spatial variations of eleven water parameters were monitored by collecting the water samples during one year period. Spatial distributions were assessed by applying the Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method in Arc GIS 10.5 software. Water quality is assessed on the integration of all parameters in terms of an index based on the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The significant linear relationship between the considered parameters of surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) were identified applying correlation analysis using SPSS software. All parameters of surface water were above the permissible limits of WHO standards. Surface water quality index values with respect to 60% of canals show very poor quality (>1 250) of surface water indicating their unsuitability for irrigation activities. Those surface water bodies indicated very highly saline conditions during dry months. The spatial distribution of ground water quality index with respect to the highest parameter values of each sampling location indicates that 52.2% of total land extent of Bentota Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD) has good quality of ground water which is suitable for drinking. Its 47.2% of total land extent has poor quality of ground water for drinking purpose and less than 0.5% of the area consists of excellent or very poor quality of ground water in each. This study helps to manage coastal aquifers by understanding the extreme water quality conditions and coastal salinity.     

Age,origin and geodynamic significance of a polymetamorphic felsic intrusion in the Ötztal Crystalline Basement,Tirol, Austria

Summary A multi-method approach was applied to derive the age and origin of an orthogneiss body located in the central Kaunertal, western Ötztal Crystalline Basement (ÖCB). The Tieftal orthogneiss body is an internally differentiated, polymetamorphosed epizonal intrusion, embedded in amphibolites. It comprises leucocratic hedenbergite-hornblende-, hornblende- and biotite-hornblende-gneisses, but also some melanocratic rock types. The leucocratic Tieftal gneisses are granitic, have a near eutectic melt composition and share some features of A-type granites, such as high Na₂O+K₂O(8.07 to 8.58wt%), Zr (379 to 554ppm) and Y (58 to 79ppm) contents. The REE-patterns are rather flat ((La/Yb)_N=2.4 to 3.7), with distinct negative Eu anomalies. Single zircon evaporation dating of two samples and Sm-Nd dating of relict magmatic titanite resulted in ages of 487±7, 484±3 and 487±5Ma, respectively. The weighted mean of 485±3Ma is interpreted as the primary crystallization age of the Tieftal orthogneiss body. Rb-Sr whole rock dating results in a well defined regression line, corresponding to an age of 411±9Ma. This age clearly documents at least a partial resetting of the whole rock Rb-Sr system, which is most probably due to subsequent metamorphic overprint. The leucocratic Tieftal gneisses are isotopically rather primitive with an Nd _CHUR ^{485 Ma} value of +1.7 and a calculated magmatic initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7047. These data suggest a major mantle contribution. Most probably, they originated through fractionation of the magmatic precursors of the accompanying tholeiitic metabasites. The more primitive isotopic composition of ÖCB metabasites and some late Archean/early Proterozoic and Cambrian inheritance in Tieftal gneiss zircons suggest some involvement of old crustal rocks, too. The amount of crustal contamination can be calculated to be in the range of 10 to 40%. The Tieftal gneisses and the accompanying metabasites are interpreted as remnants of igneous rocks related to an early Ordovician rifting and incipient formation of new oceanic crust, an event which can be traced throughout the central and western European Variscan and Alpine terranes.

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Alter, Genese und geologische Bedeutung einer polymetamorphen felsischen Intrusion im Ötztalkristallin, Tirol, Österreich

Zusammenfassung Ein Vielzahl von Methoden wurde angewandt, um das Alter und die Genese eines Orthogneiskörpers im mittleren Kaunertal, westliches Ötztalkristallin, abzuleiten. Der Tieftal-Orthogneiskörper ist eine in Amphiboliten eingeschaltete, intern differenzierte, polymetamorph überprägte, epizonale Intrusion. Er umfaßt sowohl leukokrate Hedenbergit-Hornblende-, Hornblende- und Biotit-Hornblende-Gneise als auch untergeordnet melanokrate Gesteine. Die leukokraten Tieftal-Gneise besitzen einen granitischen, beinahe einer eutektischen Schmelze entsprechenden Chemismus; einige Parameter wie hohe Na₂O+K₂O(8.07 bis 8.58Gew%), Zr(379 bis 554ppm) und Y(58 bis 79ppm) Gehalte weisen auf eine A-Typ Affinität hin. Die SEE-Spektren sind nur gering fraktioniert ((La/Yb)_N=2.3 bis 3.7) und weisen eine markante negative Eu-Anomalie auf. Einzelzirkon-Evaporationsdatierungen an 2 Proben und eine Sm-Nd Datierung von reliktischem magmatischem Titanit ergeben Alter von 487±7, 484±3 und 487±5Ma. Der gewichtete Mittelwert von 485±3Ma wird als das primäre magmatische Kristallisationsalter des Tieftal-Orthogneiskörpers interpretiert. Eine Rb-Sr Gesamtgesteinsdatierung ergibt eine gut definierte Regressionsgerade mit einem Alter von 411±9Ma. Dieses Alter beweist eine postmagmatische Störung des Rb-Sr Gesamtgesteinssystems, die durch die metamorphen überprägungen verursacht wurde. Die leukokraten Tieftal-Gneise besitzen eine relative primitive isotopische Zusammensetzung mit einem Nd _CHUR ^{485 Ma} a Wert von +1.7 und einem zurückgerechneten magmatischen⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr Initialverhältnis von 0.7047. Diese Daten machen eine große Beteiligung von Mantelmaterial wahrscheinlich. Am ehesten entstanden die leukokraten Tieftal-Gneise durch magmatische Fraktionierungsprozesse aus den Ausgangsgesteinen der begleitenden tholeiitischen Metabasite. Die noch primitivere isotopische Zusammensetzung der Metabasite im Ötztalkristallin und spätarchaische/frühproterozoische sowie kambrische Komponenten in den Zirkonen der leukokraten Tieftal-Gneise weisen aber auch auf die Beteiligung alten krustalen Materials hin. Der Anteil der krustalen Komponente liegt im Bereich von 10 bis 40%. Der Tieftal-Orthogneiskörper und die begleitenden Metabasite werden als Relikte magmatischer Gesteine, die während eines frühordovizischen Riftings und der beginnenden Bildung neuer ozeanischer Kruste entstanden sind, gedeutet. Zeugen dieses Vorganges sind in allen variszisch und alpidisch geprägten Gebieten Westund Mitteleuropas zu finden.

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With 13 Figures     

Strain localization mechanisms in deep-seated layered rocks

More than 160 shear zones of the Norwegian Caledonides and Italian Southern Alps, formed under high-temperature or high-pressure conditions, are analysed with respect to mechanisms of strain localization. In metabasic rocks with a pre-existing (magmatic) layering strain localizes preferentially in mafic layers, although experiments in monomineralic rocks would predict a location in the weaker feldspar-rich layers. In addition, in some of these zones amphibole recrystallizes dynamically, whereas feldspars only show undulatory extinction. These are evidences for strength inversion between feldspars and mafic minerals. This inverse strength behaviour is caused by a reduced grain size of feldspars and sometimes amphiboles in the pre-existing mafic layers, i.e. prior to shearing. The localization of the shear zones is therefore a grain-size-sensitive process (grain-size-dependent softening), nearly independent of the composition of the deformed material. The numerous amphibole–amphibole contacts favour dynamical recrystallization by grain-boundary migration and the rare feldspar–feldspar contacts prevent or suppress the same process in feldspars. Therefore, the feigned inverse strength is mainly caused by the interaction of reduced grain size and grain-boundary effects in the original rock. This behaviour can lead to the preferential localization of shear zones in mafic layers, although they are not favourably oriented with respect to the stress system.     

Geoelectrical survey over perched aquifers in the northern part of Upper Sakarya River Basin,Türkiye

In this study, a groundwater exploration survey was conducted using the DC Resistivity (DCR) method in a hydrogeological setting containing a perched aquifer. DCR data were gathered and an electrical tomography section was recovered using conventional four-electrode instruments with a Schlumberger array and a two-dimensional (2D) inversion scheme. The proposed scheme was tested over a synthetic three-dimensional (3D) subsurface model before deploying it in a field situation. The proposed method indicated that gathering data with simple four-electrode instruments at stations along a line and 2D inversion of datasets at multiple stations can recover depth intervals of the studied aquifer in the hydrogeological setting even if it has a 3D structure. In this study, 2D inversion of parallel profiles formed a pseudo-3D volume of the subsurface resistivity structures and mapped out multiple resistive (>25 ohm·m) bodies at shallow (between 50–100 m) and deep sections (>150 m). In general, the proposed method is convenient to encounter geological units that have limited vertical and spatial extensions in any direction and presents resistivity contrast from groundwater-bearing geologic materials.     

The Early Palaeozoic Break-up of Northern Gondwana: Sedimentology, Physical Volcanology and Geochemistry of a Submarine Volcanic Complex in the Bavarian Facies Association, Saxothuringian Basin, Germany

Ordovician volcano-sedimentary successions of the Bavarian facies association in the Saxothuringian basin record the continental rift phase of the separation of the Saxothuringian Terrane from Gondwana. An 80 m succession from the Vogtendorf beds and Randschiefer Series (Arenig-Middle Ordovician), exposed along the northern margin of the Münchberg Gneiss Massif in northeast Bavaria, were subjected to a study of their sedimentology, physical volcanology and geochemistry. The Randschiefer series previously has been interpreted as lavas, tuffs, sandstones and turbidites, but the studied Ordovician units include four main lithological associations: mature sandstones and slates, pillowed alkali-basalts and derivative mass flow deposits, trachyandesitic lavas and submarine pyroclastic flow deposits interbedded with turbidites. Eight lithofacies have been distinguished based on relict sedimentary structures and textures, which indicate deposition on a continental shelf below wave base. The explosive phase that generated the pyroclastic succession was associated with the intrusion of dykes and sills, and was succeeded by the eruption of pillowed basalts. Debris flow deposits overlie the basalts. Ordovician volcanism in this region, therefore, alternated between effusive and explosive phases of submarine intermediate to mafic volcanism.

Based on geochemical data, the volcanic and pyroclastic rocks are classified as basalts and trachyandesites. According to their geochemical characteristics, especially to their variable concentrations of incompatible elements such as the High Field Strength Elements (HFSE), they can be divided into three groups. Group I, which is formed by massive lavas at the base of the succession, has extraordinarily high contents of HFSE. The magmas of this group were probably derived from a mantle source in the garnet stability field by low (ca. 1%) degrees of partial melting and subsequent fractionation. Group II, which comprises the pillow lavas at the top of the sequence, displays moderate enrichment of HFSE. This can be explained by a slightly higher degree of melting (ca. 1.6%) for the primary magma. Group I and II melts fractionated from their parental magmas in different magma chambers. The eruption centres of Groups I and II, therefore, cannot be the same, and the volcanic rocks must have originated from different vents. The sills and pyroclastic flow deposits of Group III stem at least partly from the same source as Group I. Rocks of Group I most likely mixed together with Group II components during the formation of the Group III flows, which became hybridised during eruption, transportation and emplacement.

The sedimentological and geochemical data best support a rift as the tectonic setting of this volcanism, analogous to modern continental rift zones. Hence, the rift-associated volcanic activity preserved in the Vogtendorf beds and Randschiefer Series represents an early Ordovician stage of rift volcanism when the separation of the Saxothuringian Terrane from Gondwana had just commenced.     

Oiled birds' bibliography

Mussels collected from hydrocarbon polluted areas of the Lagoon of Venice were transferred to the relatively unpolluted port entrance of Malamocco. Hydrocarbon elimination was quite rapid in the first 10–15 days but then slow and incomplete: 12% of the initial content persisted in the tissues for 8 weeks. Elimination of hydrocarbons was almost independent of water temperature between 7.5–26.0°C but virtually ceased in one lot when the temperature abruptly dropped from about 11°C to 4.5–6.0°C. The biological half-life of hydrocarbons in the mussels was calculated to be a little over $\text{3}\text{1}\text{2}$ days, but this relates only to the initial rapid phase of elimination.     

Turam response of a permeable inhomogeneous cylindrical conductor surrounded by a thin shell

Summary Electromagnetic response characteristics of an inhomogeneous permeable cylinder surrounded by a thin insulated concentric dissipative shell is obtained in presence of a line-source of current. The 3-layer boundary value problem is solved by assuming the thickness of the shell to be much smaller than the skin-depth in the shell. Numerically computed results are presented in the form of argand diagrams to examine the influence of the shell parameters (conductivity and its proximity with the core) and magnetic contrast. The multi-frequency response of the system is also given which resolves the two conducting layers and analyzes the frequency dependence of screening behavior of the shell.N.G.R.I. Contribution No. 282.