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.     

A new kinematic evolutionary model for the growth of a duplex — an example from the Rangit duplex, Sikkim Himalaya, India

The Lesser Himalayan duplex (LHD) is a prominent structure through much of the Lesser Himalayan fold–thrust belt. In the Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya a component of the LHD is exposed in the Rangit window as the Rangit duplex (RD). The RD consists of ten horses of the upper Lesser Himalayan Sequence (Gondwana, Buxa, Upper Daling). The duplex varies from hinterland-dipping in the north, through an antiformal stack in the middle to foreland-dipping in the south. The Ramgarh thrust (RT) is the roof thrust and, based on a balanced cross-section, the Main Himalayan Sole thrust is the floor thrust at a depth of ~ 10 km and with a dip of ~ 3.5° N.Retrodeformation suggests that the RD initiated as a foreland-dipping duplex with the Early Ramgarh thrust as the roof thrust and the RT as the floor thrust. The RT became the roof thrust during continued duplexing by a combination of footwall imbrication and concurrent RT reactivation. This kinematic history best explains the large translation of the overlying MCT sheets. The restoration suggests that RD shortening is ~ 125 km, and the original Gondwana basin extended ~ 142 km northward of its present northernmost exposures within the window.     

Determination of the orbital parameters of binary pulsars

We present a simple method for determination of the orbital parameters of binary pulsars, using data on the pulsar period at multiple observing epochs. This method uses the circular nature of the velocity space orbit of Keplerian motion and produces preliminary values based on two one-dimensional searches. Preliminary orbital parameter values are then refined using a computationally efficient linear least-squares fit. This method works for random and sparse sampling of the binary orbit. We demonstrate the technique on (i) the highly eccentric binary pulsar PSR J0514−4002 (the first known pulsar in the globular cluster NGC 1851) and (ii) 47 Tuc T, a binary pulsar with a nearly circular orbit.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113001345

Many elongated, lenticular plutons of porphyritic granitoids are distributed mainly near the southern and northern margin of the Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex （CGC） which belongs to the EW to ENE-WSW tending 1500 km long Proterozoic orogenic belt amalgamat ng the North and South Indian cratonic blocks. The late Grenvillian （1071 ±64 Ma） Raghunathpur porphyritic granitoid gneiss （PGG） batholith comprising alkali feldspar granite, granite, granodiorite, tonalite, quartz syenite and quartz monzonite intruded into the granitoid gneisses of southeastern part of CGC in the Purulia district, West Bengal and is aligned with ENE-WSW trending North Purulia sr~ear zone, Mineral chemistry, geochemistry, physical condition of crystallization and petrogenetic model of Raghunathpur PGG have been discussed for the first time. The petrographic and geochemical features （including major and trace- elements, mineral chemistry and S7Sr/S6Sr ratio） suggest these granitoids to be classified as the shosh- onitic type. Raghunathpur batholith was emplaced at around 800 ~C and at 6 kbar pressure tectonic discrimination diagrams reveal a post-collision tectonic setting while structural studies reveal its emplacement in the extensional fissure of North Purulia shear zone. l＇he Raghunathpur granitoid is compared with some similar granitoids of Europe and China to draw its petrogenetic model. Hybridi- zation of mantle-generated enriched mafic magma and crustal magma at lower crust and later fractional crystallization is proposed for the petrogenesis of this PGG. Mafic magma generated in a post-collisional extension possibly because of delamination of subducting slab. Raghunathpur batholith had emplaced in the CGC during the final amalgamation （~ 1.0 Ga） of the North and South Indian cratonic blocks. Granitoid magma, after its generation at depth, was transported to its present level along megadyke channel, ways within shear zones.     

Did Tsunami tremor jolt microbial biomass and their activities in soils? A case study in Andaman Island,India

The nature of selected soil-chemical and microbial properties influenced by tsunami affected and non-affected areas along the border areas of the alluvial Andaman Island in India were investigated. Soils of these areas have turned saline and saline-sodic due to the ingression of sea water. The electrical conductivity of the saturation extract of the surface soil varied from 11.2 to 23.8 dS m^?1 in 2005, and it was decreased to 0.8–10.3 dS m^?1 in 2006 due to the heavy rain in the following year after the tsunami. Soil quality indicators, like microbial biomass C, microbial metabolic quotient, microbial respiration quotient and fluorescein diacetate hydrolyzing activity, decreased in the tsunami affected soil in 2005, but slightly increased in 2006. All microbial parameters were significantly negatively correlated with the electrical conductivity, sodium absorption ratio and exchangeable sodium percentage. Suppression of microbial biomass and their activities in the soils due to the increased-salinity is of great agronomic significance and needs suitable intervention for sustainable crop production. Significant differences were found in soil-chemical and microbial characteristics between tsunami affected and non-affected areas. Hierarchical clustering algorithm on the basis of different soil-chemical and microbial characteristics revealed that there is significant difference in grouping between tsunami affected and non-affected zones. From this study, it can be concluded that the sea water ingression detrimentally influenced the microbial properties of tsunami affected soil.     

Effect of some climatic parameters on tropospheric and total ozone column over Alipore (22.52 ∘ N, 88.33 ∘ E), India

The paper presents the nature of variations of tropospheric and total ozone column retrieved from the Convective Cloud Differential (CCD) technique, Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data, National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA), USA, respectively; surface temperature, relative humidity, total rainfall, ozone precursors (non-methane hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide) that are collected from India Meteorological Department (IMD), Alipore, Kolkata; solar insolation obtained from Solar Geophysical Data Book and El-Niño index collected from National Climatic Data Center, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA. The effect of these climatic parameters and ozone precursors on ozone variations is critically analyzed and explained on the basis of linear regression and correlation. It has been observed that the maximum, minimum and mean temperature, relative humidity, solar insolation, tropospheric, and total ozone column (TOC) showed slight increasing tendencies from October 2004 to December 2011, while total rainfall and El-Niño index showed little decreasing tendencies for the same period. Amongst selected climatic parameters and ozone precursors, the solar insolation and the average temperature had a significant influence on both, the tropospheric ozone and total ozone column formation. The solar insolation had contributed more in tropospheric ozone than in total ozone column; while El-Niño index had played a more significant role in total ozone column build up than in tropospheric ozone. Negative correlation was observed between almost all ozone precursors with the tropospheric and total ozone. The tropospheric ozone and total ozone column were also significantly correlated. The level of significance and contribution of different climatic parameters are determined from correlation technique and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) method. The related chemical kinetics for ozone production processes has been critically described.     

Interaction between felsic granitoids and mafic dykes in Bundelkhand Craton: A field,petrographic and crystal size distribution study

In Bundelkhand Craton of central India, mafic dykes intruded when granitoids was partly crystallized. Cuspate–lobate boundary along the contact of granitoids and mafic magma indicates magma mingling in outcrop scale while textural evidence of mingling is represented by acicular apatite morphologies, titanite–plagioclase ocelli and ophitic–subophitic texture, mafic clots, resorbed plagioclase, and hornblende–zircon associations. Mingling also caused thermal exchange and fluid activity along the boundary between two coeval magmas. Crystal size distribution analyses for hornblende in the mafic rocks yield concave up curves which is also consistent with interaction of felsic and mafic magmas.     

Masses of binary stars for general orbits

The masses of a pair of stars in the visual binary system have been estimated. The angle between the orbital plane of the stars and the plane of the sky has been taken into account. Inclination of the major axes of the orbits of the stars with the line of interaction between the orbital plane and the plane of the sky has also been considered. These two inclinations are also computed in terms of the observed quantities. Major and minor axes of actual orbits of the stars are determined.     

Dissolved trace metals in the shallow aquifers of the Jia Bharali River Basin, North Brahmaputra Plain

The lower Jia Bharali catchment and adjoining areas in central part of North Brahmaputra Plain (NBP) is characterized by more than 800m thick Older and Younger Alluvium deposited by the west flowing Brahmaputra river and the south flowing trans Himalayan rivers. Unconfined, shallow alluvial aquifers of the area with a general southward flow are largely tapped for domestic use through numerous dug well attached with almost every household. Monitoring of 180 dug wells for two hydrological years show strong seasonal fluctuation of the groundwater table linked to the summer monsoon that brings more than 1500mm precipitation in the area between June-September. This study has presents the first ever systematic database on toxic trace elements viz., As, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn from the shallow aquifers in north Brahmaputra plain based on water samples from 50 monitoring wells collected in both dry and wet seasons. The data was analysed with respect to WHO standards for drinking water and significantly, 2 % of the measurements show As in excess of the WHO limit while 60% of the samples in the wet season and as much as 90 % of the same in dry season have Cr content more than the WHO permissible limit. Pb concentration is above permissible limit of 0.05 mg/L in most of the dry season samples although 88 % of the rainy season samples show Pb concentration exceeding this limit. 34 % of the samples in the wet seasons and 86 % of the samples in the dry seasons have Mn above the permissible limit of 0.1 mg/L while in case of Ni, 56 % of the aquifers in the wet season and 72 % of the aquifers in the dry season show Ni content above the permissible limit of 0.02 mg/L. Zn contents of the aquifers are however very low throughout the year.