Geochemistry of banded iron formation of Orissa,India

Major and trace element analyses of representative samples of various types of banded iron-formation and its various minerals, associated sediments, iron ores and volcanic tuff from different localities of Orissa, India, are presented in this paper. The Orissa banded iron-formation is classified as Precambrian banded iron formation and is similar to the oxide facies iron formation of Lake Superior type. The Orissa iron formation consists only of iron oxide and silica with total absence of iron silicate, sulfide and carbonate minerals, and is devoid of terrigenous material. The trace element content suggests the source of the underlying quartzite to be a continental igneous rock mass, while the interbedded tuff are of undoubted volcanic origin. The overlying iron formation were chemically precipitated as oxidate sediments in which the principal iron mineral — magnetite — was formed at low temperature in a shallow marine environment. From the overwhelming similarity of major and trace element contents of all the samples from the different localities, it is postulated that these detached outcrops originated in the same continous basin.     

Rayleigh waves in granular medium

Summary The wave velocity equation in the form of a ninth order determinantal expression is derived appropriate to Rayleigh type waves in a granular half-space supporting a different granular layer. The calssical frequency equation when both media are elastic has been deduced as a particular case by limiting process.     

Prediction of sub-surface subsidence movements due to underground coal mining

Summary The theoretical model of the relationship between sub-surface and surface subsidence movements proposed earlier by the authors of this paper is briefly described and further tested against another case history example. Using this model, the magnitudes of the maximum subsidence, tilt and horizontal strain at sub-surface horizons between the ground surface and seam level are predicted in terms of the magnitudes of the corresponding components at the surface due to the extraction of subcritical panels with a wide range of width-depth ratios and the results presented in the form of nomographs and tables. These graphs and tables could be used to estimate the maximum subsidence, tilt and horizontal strain at any chosen sub-surface horizon associated with the extraction of a subcritical panel from the known corresponding maximum values at the surface.The proposed theoretical model can also be used to predict sub-surface subsidence components at any point within the zone influenced by the extraction of a panel from the corresponding surface subsidence components which may be obtained from field measurements or pre-calculated using any existing method of surface subsidence prediction. As an example, the profiles of surface and sub-surface subsidence at various horizons between the ground surface and the seam level resulting from the extraction of an assumed sub-critical longwall panel are predicted using the theoretical model together with the empirical method of surface subsidence prediction. The pattern of sub-surface subsidence movements in the strata overlying the panel is examined.     

Chhotanagpur granite gneiss in relation to the schistose rocks around Murhu,Ranchi district,Bihar: a structural approach

Structural analysis of the Chhotanagpur gneiss and the adjoining schistose rocks of the Singhbhum Group indicates perfect conformity in their structures on macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic scales. This precludes the possibility of the gneissic rocks having intruded into the deformed and metamorphozed schistose rocks. The observed features can be best explained by considering the gneissic rocks as the basement and the schistose rocks as the cover, both deformed and metamorphozed together. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the gneissic rocks being reactivated and intruding elsewhere.     

Geochemistry of braunite and associated phases in metamorphosed non-calcareous manganese ores of India

In the metamorphosed manganese oxide ores of India, braunite is ubiquitous in all assemblages from chlorite to sillimanite grades. Chemical analyses of braunite from different prograde assemblages confirm the presence of a fixed R²⁺ (=Mn²⁺+Mg+Ca) SiO₃ molecule in the mineral. Element partitioning between coexisting braunite and bixbyite indicates a near-ideal mixing of Fe⁺³/ -Mn⁺³ in the phases. This also indicates that braunite became relatively ferrian while equilibrating with associated phases such as bixbyite, hollandite and jacobsite during prograde reactions. Petrogenetic studies show that as a general trend, prograde lower oxide phases appeared by deoxidation of higher oxide phases. But braunite, a more reduced phase than bixbyite, appeared early from deoxidation of pyrolusite in presence of quartz. Bixbyite could appear later from the reacting pyrolusite-braunite-quartz assemblage. Inferred mineral reaction paths and the general trend of pro-grade deoxidation reactions suggest that the composition of ambient fluid phase was internally buffered during metamorphism.     

Copper and zinc uptake by rice and accumulation in soil amended with municipal solid waste compost

Effect of addition of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) on two metals viz. copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) contents of submerged rice paddies were studied. Experiments were conducted during the three consecutive wet seasons from 1997 to 1999 on rice grown under submergence, at the Experimental Farm of Calcutta University, India. A sequential extraction method was used to determine the metal (Cu and Zn) fractions in MSWC and cow dung manure (CDM). Both metals were significantly bound to the organic matter and Fe and Mn oxides in MSWC and CDM. Metal content in rice straw was higher than in rice grain. Metal bound with Fe and Mn oxides in MSWC and CDM best correlated with straw and grain metal followed by exchangeable and water soluble fractions. Carbonate, organic matter bound and residual fractions in MSWC and CDM did not significantly correlate with rice straw and grain metal. The MSWC would be a valuable resource for agriculture if it can be used safely, but long-term field experiments with MSWC are needed to assess by regular monitoring of the metal loads and accumulation in soil and plants.     

Living with Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as everyday life

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a legislation of the Government of India promulgated in the ‘disturbed areas’ of India’s North-East since 1958 and in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) since the 1990s merits spatial and contextual analysis. This is because in these regions where AFSPA operates, the armed forces are alleged to have committed one of the world’s least-known abuses of human rights but revel in legal impunity. For this, AFSPA is perceived as ‘draconian’ and ‘colonial’. Drawing upon ethnographic research, supplemented by 20 informal interviews, the key aim of the research is to examine the extent to which the people of these highly contested spaces continue to live with AFSPA as a part of their daily lives. Alongside, the research aims to highlight upon Ms Irom Chanu Sharmila’s silent protest; she was on her world’s longest fast for 16 years (since 4 November 2000 demanding revocation of AFSPA) until 9 August 2016. The key findings demonstrate that the ‘sense of alienation’ created by AFSPA is one of the major causes of disturbance in the regions, where the people desperately crave for peace to be restored.     

Seismic passive earth resistance using modified pseudo-dynamic method

In earthquake prone areas, understanding of the seismic passive earth resistance is very important for the design of different geotechnical earth retaining structures. In this study, the limit equilibrium method is used for estimation of critical seismic passive earth resistance for an inclined wall supporting horizontal cohesionless backfill. A composite failure surface is considered in the present analysis. Seismic forces are computed assuming the backfill soil as a viscoelastic material overlying a rigid stratum and the rigid stratum is subjected to a harmonic shaking. The present method satisfies the boundary conditions. The amplification of acceleration depends on the properties of the backfill soil and on the characteristics of the input motion. The acceleration distribution along the depth of the backfill is found to be nonlinear in nature. The present study shows that the horizontal and vertical acceleration distribution in the backfill soil is not always in-phase for the critical value of the seismic passive earth pressure coefficient. The effect of different parameters on the seismic passive earth pressure is studied in detail. A comparison of the present method with other theories is also presented, which shows the merits of the present study.     

Prospects of detecting fast radio bursts using Indian radio telescopes

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are short duration highly energetic dispersed radio pulses. We developed a generic formalism (Bera et al. 2016, MNRAS, 457, 2530) to estimate the FRB detection rate for any radio telescope with given parameters. By using this model, we estimated the FRB detection rate for two Indian radio telescope; the Ooty Wide Field Array (OWFA) (Bhattacharyya et al. 2017, J. Astrophys. Astr., 38, 17) and the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) (Bhattacharyya et al. 2018, J. Astrophys. Astr.) with three beam-forming modes. Here, we summarize these two works. We considered the energy spectrum of FRBs as a power law and the energy distribution of FRBs as a Dirac delta function and a Schechter luminosity function. We also considered two scattering models proposed by Bhat et al. (2004, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Series, 206, 1) and Macquart & Koay (2013, ApJ, 776, 125) for these works and we consider FRB pulse without scattering as a special case. We found that the future prospects of detecting FRBs by using these two Indian radio telescopes is good. They are capable to detect a significant number of FRBs per day. According to our prediction, we can detect \(\sim 10^5{-}10^8\), \(\sim 10^3{-}10^6\) and \(\sim 10^5{-}10^7\) FRBs per day by using OWFA, commensal systems of GMRT and uGMRT respectively. Even a non detection of the predicted events will be very useful in constraining FRB properties.