The Himalayan cryosphere: A critical assessment and evaluation of glacial melt fraction in the Bhagirathi basin

The cryosphere constitutes an important subset of the hydrosphere.The Himalayan cryosphere is a significant contributor to the hydrological budget of a large river system such as the Ganges.Basic data on the cryosphere in the Himalaya is inadequate and also has large uncertainties.The data on glacial melt component in the Himalayan rivers of India also shows high variability.The Gangotri glacier which constitutes nearly a fifth of the glacierized area of the Bhagirathi basin represents one of the fastest receding,large valley glaciers in the region which has been surveyed and monitored for over sixty years.The availability of measurement over a long period and relatively small glacier-fed basin for the Bhagirathi river provides suitable constraints for the measurement of the glacial melt fraction in a Himalayan river.Pre- and post-monsoon samples reveal a decreasing trend Of depletion of δ~(18)O in the river water from glacier snout(Gaumukh) to the confluence of the Bhagirathi river with the Alaknanda river near Devprayag.Calculations of existing glacial melt fraction(~ 30%at Rishikesh) are not consistent with the reported glacial thinning rates.It is contended that the choice of unsuitable end-members in the three component mixing model causes the overestimation of glacial melt component in the river discharge.Careful selection of end members provides results(~11%at Devprayag) that are consistent with the expected thinning rates.     

Geochemical and isotope hydrological characterisation of geothermal resources at Godavari valley,India

Thermal waters at the Godavari valley geothermal field are located in the Khammam district of the Telangana state, India. The study area consists of several thermal water manifestations having temperature in the range 36–76 °C scattered over an area of ~35 km². The thermal waters are Na–HCO₃ type with moderate silica and TDS concentrations. In the present study, detailed geochemical (major and trace elements) and isotope hydrological investigations are carried out to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of these thermal waters. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) are performed to classify the thermal waters and to identify the different geochemical processes controlling the thermal water geochemistry. From correlation matrix, it is seen that TDS and EC of the thermal springs are mainly controlled by HCO₃ and Na ions. In PCA, thermal waters are grouped into two distinct clusters. One cluster represents thermal waters from deeper aquifer and other one from shallow aquifer. Lithium and boron concentrations are found to be similar followed by rubidium and caesium concentrations. Different ternary plots reveal rock–water interaction to be the dominant mechanism for controlling trace element concentrations. Stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O, δ²H) data indicate the meteoric origin of the thermal waters with no appreciable oxygen-18 shift. The low tritium values of the samples originating from deeper aquifer reveal the long residence time (>50 years) of the recharging waters. XRD results of the drill core samples show that quartz constitutes the major mineral phase, whereas kaolinite, dolomite, microcline, calcite, mica, etc. are present as minor constituents. Quartz geothermometer suggests a reservoir temperature of 100 ± 20 °C which is in good agreement with the values obtained from K–Mg and Mg-corrected K–Mg–Ca geothermometers.     

Recharge mechanism and processes controlling groundwater chemistry in a Precambrian sedimentary terrain: a case study from Central India

Unplanned and unsustainable extraction has created stress on groundwater resources in many parts of India. The stress symptoms are more pronounced in hard rock areas, where the aquifer potentials are comparatively low. Present research targeted an area of 3000 km² in the interstream region between the Kharun and Seonath rivers, which is one such region in Central India. In spite of being a water-stressed area, so far, little is understood about processes of recharge, amount of recharge and processes controlling chemical quality, which are key inputs for groundwater management in the area. This study presents an appraisal of recharge mechanism, recharge rate and prevailing water–rock interactions in the study area. Stable isotope composition of groundwater when compared to that of rainfall indicates monsoon rainfall as the primary source of groundwater recharge. Winter rains, which are characteristically enriched in heavier isotopes, do not contribute notably to groundwater recharge. Recharge is rapid with minor or no evaporative enrichment before recharge. Further, analysis of stable isotopes show that ‘macropore recharge’ is dominant in limestone or calcareous shale, covering more than 70% of the study area. Also apparent is the vertical connectivity amongst the aquifers. However, active intermixing of surface water and groundwater is not a predominant process. Annual groundwater recharge from rainfall, as derived from chloride mass balance, is 105.26 million cubic metre. Groundwater is predominantly of bicarbonate type, irrespective of its hydrostratigraphic (lithology) setting. Dissolution of carbonates and gypsum (occurring as veins), weathering of feldspar and ion exchange of clay minerals are amongst the most likely processes controlling the regional groundwater chemistry.     

Proposed Adsorption–Diffusion Model for Characterizing Chromium(VI) Removal Using Dried Water Hyacinth Roots

Experiments have been carried out to characterize the adsorption of chromium(VI) in the aqueous phase onto dried roots of water hyacinth. Results revealed a very high degree of removal efficiency (∼100%). Theoretical analyzes are also made for describing the sorption and diffusion processes. The effective pore diffusivity of chromium(VI) in the water hyacinth roots is determined by a suitable global optimization technique. The depth of penetration, on the other hand, has been estimated for various initial concentrations of chromium(VI). Theoretically predicted concentration profiles are in excellent agreement with the experimental values.     

A Kaapvaal craton debate: Nucleus of an early small supercontinent or affected by an enhanced accretion event?

Incorporation of the Kaapvaal craton within a speculative Neoarchaean–Palaeoproterozoic supercontinent has long been debated, and this idea provides a potential solution to solving the apparently enigmatic provenance of the huge quantities of gold within the famous Witwatersrand auriferous deposits of Kaapvaal. Within a framework of a postulated Neoarchaean “Kenorland” (“northern”; present-day reference) supercontinent, we examine possible “southern” cratons that may have been contiguous with Kaapvaal: Pilbara, Zimbabwe, Dharwar, São Francisco, Amazon, Congo. Brief reviews of their basic geology and inferred evolution in syn-Witwatersrand basin times (c. 3.1–2.8 Ga) show no obvious support for any such supercontinental amalgamations. An alternative idea to explain a measure of gross similarity amongst several Neoarchaean cratons is through global events, such as a c. 3125–3000 Ma cratonic-scale erosive event interpreted for both Pilbara and Kaapvaal, and a much more widespread magmatic event at c. 2760–2680 Ma. We postulate that a global superplume event at c. 3.0 Ga included a plume beneath the Kaapvaal cratonic nucleus, thus halting any subduction around that terrane due to the thermal anomaly. Such a speculative global magmatic event is assumed to have enhanced production of juvenile oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges, including those “offshore” of the thermally elevated Kaapvaal nucleus. Intra-oceanic obduction complexes may have built up fairly rapidly under such conditions, globally, and once the plume event had abated, “normal” plate tectonics would have resulted in composite (greenstone-tonalite, possibly also including granite) terranes accreting with nuclei such as Kaapvaal. This enhanced plume-related cratonic growth can be seen as a rapid accretion event. Formation of the envisaged ophiolite complexes possibly encompassed deformation-related first-order concentration of gold, and once accretion occurred around Kaapvaal's nucleus, from north and west (present-day frame of reference), a second-order (deformation-related) gold concentration may have resulted. The third order of gold concentration would logically have occurred once placer systems reworked detritus derived from the orogens along the N and W margins of Kaapvaal. Such conditions and placer gold deposits are known from many Neoarchaean cratons. The initial source of gold was presumably from the much hotter Mesoarchaean mantle and may have been related to major changes in Earth's tectonic regime at c. 3.0 Ga. The unique nature of Kaapvaal is probably its early stabilization, enabling formation of a complex flexural foreland basin system, in which vast quantities of placer sediments and heavy minerals could be deposited, and preserved from younger denudation through a unique post-Witwatersrand history.     

Polarized microwave forward model simulations for tropical storm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fanoos</Emphasis>

In the present study, forward radiative transfer simulations are carried out for the tropical cyclone Fanoos that hit the coast off south India in December 2005. The in-house radiative transfer package used for this study employs the doubling and adding method to calculate radiances leaving the top of the one dimensional precipitating atmosphere. The particle drop size distribution is assumed to follow a modified gamma distribution in respect of the cloud liquid water and cloud ice water content. For precipitation, the Marshall-Palmer particle size distribution is used. All the hydrometeor particles are assumed to be spherical and Lorentz Mie theory is used to evaluate the interaction parameters like absorption, scattering coefficients and polarized scattering matrix. In order to validate the drop size distributions and interaction parameter calculations, the simulated brightness temperatures are compared with the TMI measured brightness temperatures for all the channels. For carrying out this exercise, vertical hydrometeors retrieved by TMI are used as input. The differences between simulated and measured brightness temperatures are found to be within ±10%. The maximum difference in the brightness temperatures between the present work and the Eddington model which the TRMM algorithm employs is about 4.5K. This may become significant when retrieval of precipitation is attempted by combining the forward model with a suitable retrieval strategy, under tropical conditions.     

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.     

Can an annual flood induce changes in channel geomorphology?

The present study has been a pioneering effort examining the role of an annual flood as a potent stimulus inducing changes in channel geomorphology of the Mayurakshi River, India. Twenty cross sections have been considered for the measurement of various hydro-geomorphic attributes of the river in both the pre- and post-flood conditions in 2018. The study sensed an escalating trend for channel width, width/depth ratio, and wetted perimeter while the reverse was also detected for average depth, maximum depth, cross-sectional area, and hydraulic radius. For example, the width/depth ratio recorded an increase of?~?11%, and the hydraulic radius depicted a decrease of?~?8%. Furthermore, channel asymmetry, bed asymmetry and bed relief index experienced a decrease after the flood. The sudden hydraulic impulse during monsoon flood as manifested in velocity, discharge, specific stream power, Reynolds number, Froude number increases the erosivity of the fluid. Besides the hydraulic factors, bank material (massive sandbank susceptible to hydraulic action and mixed bank constituted by alternate bands of sand and silt, and vulnerable to failure by piping action) brings substantial changes in channel morphology. Moreover, anthropogenic interventions such as sand mining are found to play a significant role in channel behaviour. The role of the multiple factors driving the morphological changes of the cross sections has been unpacked using canonical component analysis.

     

Rock slope stability assessment using finite element based modelling – examples from the Indian Himalayas

Numerical modelling of rock slides is a versatile approach to understand the failure mechanism and the dynamics of rock slopes. Finite element slope stability analysis of three rock slopes in Garhwal Himalaya, India has been carried out using a two dimensional plane strain approach. Two different modelling techniques have been attempted for this study. Firstly, the slope is represented as a continuum in which the effect of discontinuities is considered by reducing the properties and strength of intact rock to those of rock mass. The equivalent Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters of generalised Hoek-Brown (GHB) criterion and modified Mohr-Coulomb (MMC) criterion has been used for this continuum approach. Secondly, a combined continuum-interface numerical method has been attempted in which the discontinuities are represented as interface elements in between the rock walls. Two different joint shear strength models such as Barton-Bandis and Patton’s model are used for the interface elements. Shear strength reduction (SSR) analysis has been carried out using a finite element formulation provided in the PHASE². For blocky or very blocky rock mass structure combined continuum-interface model is found to be the most suitable one, as this model is capable of simulating the actual field scenario.     

Stability analysis and remedial measures of a landslip at Keifang,Mizoram – a case study

Landslips are often triggered due to non-engineered excavation of potential unstable slopes. Such slips can be stabilized by implementing suitable remedial measures.A landslip occurred at a drilling site of Oil India Limited in Mizoram State due to slope excavation. There was an immediate concern to protect the slope as the drilling platform and the highway at the top of the slope are at risk if further landslide occurs in future. Slope stability analysis of the failed slope was carried out to design suitable control measures for the protection of the slope from further sliding. Slope stability using various methods indicated that the slope is marginally stable. To improve the stability of the slope, suitable retaining structure at the toe of the slope was suggested and designed. Stability analysis performed with inclusion of retaining wall showed a significant increase in factor of safety of the slope. The suggested remedial measure has been implemented at the site and there is no landslip reported since then. The paper presents the results of the slope stability analysis and the design details of the retaining structure prescribed as the protection measure.