Concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediment cores of Sundarban mangrove wetland, northeastern part of Bay of Bengal (India)

The paper presents the first comprehensive survey of congener profiles (12 congeners) of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in core sediment samples (<63 microm) covering seven sites in Sundarban mangrove wetland (India). Gas-chromatographic analyses were carried out in GC-Ms/Ms for tri- to hepta- brominated congeners. Results pointed out a non-homogenous contamination of the wetland with summation operator(12) PBDE values ranging from 0.08 to 29.03 ngg(-1), reflecting moderate to low contamination closely in conformity to other Asian aquatic environments. The general order of decreasing congener contribution to the total load was: BDE 47>99>100>154, similar to the distribution pattern worldwide. Although tetrabromodiphenyl ether BDE 47 was found in all samples followed by hexabromodiphenyl ether BDE-154, they were not necessarily the dominant congeners. No uniform temporal trend on PBDE levels was recorded probably due to particular hydrological characteristics of the wetland and/on non-homologous inputs from point sources (untreated municipal wastewater and local industries, electronic wastes from the dump sites, etc.) of these compounds. Because of the propensity of PBDEs to accumulate in various compartments of wildlife and human food webs, evaluation of biological tissues should be undertaken as a high priority.     

Conservation of biodiversity of the coastal resources of Sundarbans,Northeast India: an integrated approach through environmental education

The Indian Sundarbans, a diversified coastal wetland on the southern fringe of the State of West Bengal, harbors a luxuriant biodiversity and acts as a potential refuge of living marine resources. Girdled with thick mangrove foliage, this estuarine delta system offers an excellent nursery ground for most of the brackishwater finfish and shellfish. Since supply of hatchery-produced tiger prawn seed (Penaeus monodon) is highly inadequate in West Bengal, the aquaculture farms of this region largely depend on the supply from natural resources. Being motivated by a regular cash income, the majority of coastal people from Sundarbans have adopted prawn seed collection as their profession almost throughout the year as an important source of earning. The users are neither trained nor guided at any stage from collection to marketing and are fully dependent on traditional methods. They first sort out the tiger prawn seeds (mainly the postlarval stage PL 20) accounting only 0.25-0.27% of the total catch and thereafter the major portion of the haul are thrown away on the beach flats or the tidal mudflats. This wasted by-catch contains the juveniles of economic and uneconomic varieties of finfish and shellfish along with a bulk of holoplankters and meroplankters (non-target species). This practice causes several ecological and occupational consequences, namely, (i) the huge destruction of the pelagic biota that can lead to severe stock depletion as well as hamper the energy transference through the marine ecosystem food webs; (ii) constant dragging of nets along the coast and tidal creeks paves the way for soil erosion, uprooting the mangrove seedlings and saltmarsh vegetation; (iii) the water quality is deteriorating in the catchment areas due to mud erosion and (iv) due to constant contact with the seawater, the collectors are affected with waterborne diseases, skin infections, reproductive tract disease in women and many other contagious diseases.This paper, in addition to identifying the challenge to environmental quality and resource abundance, emphasizes the need for grass-root public education so that local people come to understand, support and implement sustainable resource conservation and environmental protection activities now and in the future. As a follow-up course of action, the authors have initiated a general awareness program for developing consciousness among the coastal people regarding proper use of natural resources. Initiatives are taken for educating coastal people by holding workshops and seminars with the use of educational resource materials. Exclusive awareness camps and grass root level training for coastal people are also being proposed as a future course of action by means of exhibitions, audiovisuals etc. It is proposed that local government bodies come forward to mitigate this problem with scientific and rational approaches and to take proper actions towards conservation.     

Generating MODFLOW grids from boundary representation solid models

Complex stratigraphy can be difficult to simulate in MODFLOW models. MODFLOW uses a structured grid that requires that each grid layer be continuous throughout the model domain. This makes it difficult to explicitly represent common features such as pinchouts and embedded seams in a MODFLOW model. In this paper, we describe a method for automatically generating MODFLOW-compatible grids from boundary-representation solid models. Solid models are data structures developed originally for computer-aided design applications that define the geometry of three-dimensional objects. Solid models can be used to represent arbitrarily complex stratigraphy. The elevations defined by the solids are then extracted from the solids in a manner that preserves the continuous-layer requirement imposed by MODFLOW. Two basic approaches are described: The first method adjusts the MODFLOW grid dimensions (layer elevations) to fit the solid model boundaries, and the second method creates a regular MODFLOW grid and adjusts the material properties to match the changes in stratigraphy. One of the main benefits of using solid models to define stratigraphy for MODFLOW models is that it provides a grid-independent definition of the layer elevations that can be used to immediately re-create the MODFLOW grid geometry after any change to the grid resolution.     

地震学资料的综合性中期预报

论文简介了用于中期（1～2年）地震预报的一些地震学方法。其中有重复率曲线斜率γ值（译者注：即b值）、弱震活跃—平静法（RTE）、纵横波波速比（VP／VS）方法、中等地震（M≥3．0活跃—平静法及据此得到的前兆显示时间与震级之间的经验关系式、地震活跃迁移法及据此得到的震中距（R）及前兆持续时间（△T）与震级的经验关系式。文章最后给出了综合适用上述方法编制的最近1～2年内哈萨克斯坦及邻区（吉尔吉斯斯坦等）可能发生5＜M＜6．5级地震的中期预报危险区图。     

哈萨克斯坦地震预报

哈萨克斯坦各类自然灾害中地震及其伴生的次生地质作用是最危险的一种。国家对地震的综合防御十分重视，90年代以来，地震研究所开展了地壳及上地幔结构特征、震源区时空分布规律的研究；编制了地球物理、流体地球动力学、形变和地震活动性前兆形成的物理数学模型；研究出用各种观测资料进行超长期、长期、中期和短期地震预报的方法及相应的软件系统。地震是现今地球动力过程的一种表现形式，产生地震的必要条件是应力积累超过构造非均匀性之间的内聚力的强度，应力的积累和松弛伴随着构造和物质的变化，它表现在岩石物理性质、地球物理场及其它场的变化。观测微小地震活动的发展、物理化学场的变化就可以预测未来地震的地点，并估计震源区的大小。实践证明，前兆机理和预测地震方法的基础研究在哈萨克斯坦具有广阔的发展前景。     

Rank-size distribution and primate city characteristics in India — A temporal analysis

This paper is an analysis of the historical change in city size distribution in India from the perspectives provided by Zipf and Jefferson. Rank-size distribution at national level and primate city-size distribution at regional levels are examined. India's national urban system is gradually evolving towards Zipf's rank-size distribution. But primate cities have persisted in three of the four macro-regions in India. The paper also examines, in the Indian context, the relation between rank-size distribution and an integrated urban system, and the normative nature of the latter as a spatial organization of human society. Finally, we have made a modest attempt to locate the research on city-size distribution, especially Berry's system-theoretic interpretation of rank-size distribution, on the realm of the political economy of urbanization.