Deformation Pattern in the Kurnool and Nallarnalai Groups in the Northeastern Part (Palnad Area) of the Cuddapah Basin, South India and its Implication on Rodinia/Gondwana Tectonics

The Proterozoic basins of India adjoining the Eastern Ghats Granulite Belt (EGGB) in eastern and southern India contain both Mesproterozoic and Neoproterozoic successions. The intracratonic set-up and contractional deformation fo the Neoproterozoc successions in the Paland sub-basin in the northeastern part of Cuddapah basin and similar crustal shortening in contemporaneous successions lying west of the EGGB and Nellore Schist Belt (NSB) are considered in relation to the proposed geodynamic evolution of the the Rodinia and Gondwana supercontinents. Tectonic shortening in the Palnad sub-basin (northeast Cuddapah), partitioned into top-to-westnorthwest thrust shear, flexural folds and cleavage development under overall E-W contraction, suggests foreland style continental shortening within an intracratonic set-up. A thrust sheet containing the Nallamalai rocks and overlying the Kurnool rocks in the northeastern part of Palnad sub-basin exhibits early tight to isoclinal folds and slaty (phylllitic) cleavage, which can be correlated with early Mesoproterozoic deformation structures in the nothern Nallamalai Fold Belt (NFB). NNE-SSW trending folds and cleavage affect the Kurnool Group and overprint earlier structures in the thrust sheet. Thrusting of the Nallamalai rocks and the later structures may have been related to convergence of the Eastern Ghats terrane and the East-Dharwar-Bastar craton during Early Neoproterozoic (Greenvillian) and/or later rejuvenation related to Pan-African amalgamation of East and West Gondwana.     

Major ion chemistry and metal distribution in coal mine pit lake contaminated with industrial effluents: constraints of weathering and anthropogenic inputs

Ion chemistry of mine pit lake water reveals dominance of alkaline earths (Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺) over total cation strength, while SO₄ ^2? and Cl^? constitute the majority of total anion load. Higher value of Ca²⁺?+?Mg²⁺/Na⁺?+?K⁺ (pre-monsoon 5.986, monsoon 8.866, post-monsoon 7.09) and Ca²⁺?+?Mg²⁺/HCO₃ ^??+?SO ₄ ² (pre-monsoon 7.14, monsoon 9.57, post-monsoon 8.29) is explained by weathering of Ca?CMg silicates and dissolution of Ca²⁺-bearing minerals present in parent rocks and overburden materials. Silicate weathering supposed to be the major geological contributor, in contrast to bicarbonate weathering does a little. Distribution coefficient for dissolved metals and sorbed to surface sediments is in the order of Cd?>?Pb?>?Fe?>?Zn?>?Cu?>?Cr?>?Mn. Speciation study of monitored metals in surface sediments shows that Fe and Mn are dominantly fractionated in exchangeable-acid reducible form, whereas rest of the metals (Cr, Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu) mostly in residual form. Cd, Pb, and Zn show relatively higher recalcitrant factor that indicates their higher retention in lake sediments. Factor loading of monitored physico-chemical parameters resembles contribution/influences from geological weathering, anthropogenic inputs as well as natural temporal factors. Ionic load/strength of lake water accounted for geochemical process and natural factors, while pollutant load (viz BOD, COD and metals, etc.) is associated with anthropogenic inputs through industrial discharge.     

Assessment of heavy metal accumulation in macrophyte, agricultural soil, and crop plants adjacent to discharge zone of sponge iron factory

The present study deals with the characterization of effluent released from sponge iron industries and distribution of heavy metals in soil and macrophytes near to effluent discharge channel. Apart from this, accumulation of heavy metals in nearby soil and vegetation system irrigated with effluent-contaminated water is also the subject of this study. Physico-chemical analysis of effluent reveals that the concentration of total suspended solids (TSS), total hardness (TH), iron (Fe²⁺), and oil and grease are greater than the IS (1981) norms for discharge of water into inland water body. The soil along the sides of the effluent channel also shows higher concentration of heavy metals than the background soil. The enrichment of the heavy metals are in the order of Chromium (Cr) > Iron (Fe) > Manganese (Mn) > Zinc (Zn) > Copper (Cu) > Cadmium (Cd). Macrophytes growing along the sides of the effluent channel also show significant accumulation of heavy metals almost in the same order as accumulated in soil. Higher uptake of heavy metals by these varieties reveals that these species can be used for future phytoremediation. The effluent as well as contaminated water is extensively used for irrigation for growing vegetables like tomato (Lycopersicon esculatum) in the surrounding areas. Heavy metal accumulation in this agricultural soil are in the sequence of Cr > Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cd. More or less similar type of accumulation pattern are also found in tomato plants except Fe and Zn exceeding Cr and Mn. Transfer Factor of heavy metals from soil to tomato plants (TF_S) shows average value of <1, suggesting less uptake of heavy metals from soil. Among the plant parts studied, fruit shows least accumulation. Although tomato plants show some phenotypic changes, the survival of tomato plants as well as least accumulation of metals in fruit reveals their tolerance to heavy metals. Therefore it may be suggested that this plant can be grown successfully in the heavy metal contaminated soil. Further research work on in situ toxicity test will be necessary in order to identify the most resistive variety on this particular type of contaminated site.     

An index to assess the propensity of landfall in Australia of a tropical cyclone

Every year, Australian oceans experience the genesis of many tropical cyclones (TCs). About 40 percent of these make landfall. Because of the enormous difference in impacts between landfalling and non-landfalling TCs on coastal communities, the benefits would be enormous if it were possible to capture early the potentiality of landfall of a TC that has undergone genesis. Published literature identifies many factors such as location, warm sea surface temperature above 26 °C, conditional instability and high relative humidity in the middle troposphere and low vertical wind shear for the genesis of cyclones. Some of these factors could hold information about the potentiality of landfall while a TC is forming. An investigation into these factors actually revealed that a landfall potential index can be developed that can capture the potentiality of making a landfall. An attractive feature of this index is that it uses values at the time and location of genesis, providing a long and useful lead time. Furthermore, it is made into a dimensionless number, which makes for easy comprehension and interpretation.     

Bianchi type VI cosmological models: a Scale-Covariant study

A model for an anisotropic Bianchi type VI universe in a Scale Covariant theory of gravitation (Canuto et al. in Phys. Rev. D 16:6, 1977a; Phys. Rev. Lett. 39:8, 1977b) is analyzed. Exact solutions to the corresponding field equations are found under some specific assumptions. A finite singularity is found in the model at the initial time t=0. All the physical parameters are studied and thoroughly discussed. The model behaves like a big bang singular model o f the universe.     

Comparison of Water Quality and the Chemical Nature of the Sediments of River and Wells at Bhagalpur,India

Bottom sediments of a river and of two sites of well showed significant changes in relation to different water factors. Comparatively, organic carbon, organic matter and free CaCO₃ concentration were higher in the Sutapatti well than at other sites which may affect the quality of potable water considerably.     

Post-2004 mega-earthquake temporal velocity variation at Andaman Islands from GPS measurements

Post-mega-earthquake velocity adjustment at Andaman region was found to vary with time. Coordinate repeatability for 5-year span shows changeover from post-seismic to inter-seismic period in between 900 and 1,000 days from the mega-earthquake. Excluding Havlock Island, all sites move from south to north and from east to west. Velocity vectors gradually rotated from the nearly perpendicular orientation after the mega-earthquake to parallel orientation with the subduction interface in later phase. Velocities in India 2005 reference frame indicate the presence of a structural discontinuity between Bedonabad and Chidiatapu at south Andaman, between Padmanavapuram and Kaushalyanagar at middle Andaman and between Aerial Bay and Radhanagar at north Andaman.     

Geomorphologic,stratigraphic and sedimentologic evidences of tectonic activity in Sone–Ganga alluvial tract in Middle Ganga Plain,India

The basement of the Ganga basin in the Himalayan foreland is criss-crossed by several faults, dividing the basin into several sub-blocks forming horsts, grabens, or half-grabens. Tectonic perturbations along basement faults have affected the fluvial regime and extent of sediment fill in different parts of the basin during Late Quaternary. The East Patna Fault (EPF) and the West Patna Fault (WPF), located in Sone–Ganga alluvial tract in the southern marginal parts of Middle Ganga Plain (MGP), have remained tectonically active. The EPF particularly has acted significantly and influenced in evolving the geomorphological landscape and the stratigraphic architecture of the area. The block bounded by the two faults has earlier been considered as a single entity, constituting a half-graben. The present investigation (by morpho-stratigraphic and sedimentologic means) has revealed the existence of yet another fault within the half-graben, referred to as Bishunpur–Khagaul Fault (BKF). Many of the long profile morphological characters (e.g., knick-zone, low width–depth ratio) of the Sone River at its lower reaches can be ascribed to local structural deformation along BKF. These basement faults in MGP lie parallel to each other in NE–SW direction.     

Pre-onset land surface processes and ��internal�� interannual variabilities of the Indian summer monsoon

It is proposed that, land?Catmosphere interaction around the time of monsoon onset could modulate the first episode of climatological intraseasonal oscillation (CISO) and may generate significant ??internal?? interannual variation in the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. The regional climate model RegCM3 is used over Indian monsoon domain for 27?years of control simulation. In order to prove the hypothesis, another two sets of experiment are performed using two different boundary conditions (El Ni?o year and non-ENSO year). In each of these experiments, a single year of boundary conditions are used repeatedly year after year to generate ??internal?? interannual monsoon variability. Simulation of monsoon climate in the control model run is found to be in reasonably good agreement with observation. However, large rainfall bias is seen over Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The interannual monsoon rainfall variability are of the same order in two experiments, which suggest that the external influences may not be important on the generation of ??internal?? monsoon rainfall variability. It is shown that, a dry (wet) pre-onset land-surface condition increases (decreases) rainfall in June which in turn leads to an anomalous increase (decrease) in seasonal (JJAS) rainfall. The phase and amplitude of CISO are modulated during May?CJune and beyond that the modulation of CISO is quite negligible. Though the pre-onset rainfall is unpredictable, significant modulation of the post-onset monsoon rainfall by it can be exploited to improve predictive skill within the monsoon season.     

Why is Indian Ocean warming consistently?

Observations have shown that the Indian Ocean is consistently warming and its warm pool is expanding, particularly in the recent decades. This paper attempts to investigate the reason behind these observations. Under global warming scenario, it is expected that the greenhouse gas induced changes in air–sea fluxes will enhance the warming. Surprisingly, it is found that the net surface heat fluxes over Indian Ocean warm pool (IOWP) region alone cannot explain the consistent warming. The warm pool area anomaly of IOWP is strongly correlated with the sea surface height anomaly, suggesting an important role played by the ocean advection processes in warming and expansion of IOWP. The structure of lead/lag correlations further suggests that Oceanic Rossby waves might be involved in the warming. Using heat budget analysis of several Ocean data assimilation products, it is shown that the net surface heat flux (advection) alone tends to cool (warm) the Ocean. Based on above observations, we propose an ocean-atmosphere coupled positive feedback mechanism for explaining the consistent warming and expansion of IOWP. Warming over IOWP induces an enhancement of convection in central equatorial Indian ocean, which causes anomalous easterlies along the equator. Anomalous easterlies in turn excite frequent Indian ocean Dipole events and cause anti-cyclonic wind stress curl in south-east and north-east equatorial Indian ocean. The anomalous wind stress curl triggers anomalous downwelling oceanic Rossby waves, thereby deepening the thermocline and resulting in advection of warm waters towards western Indian ocean. This acts as a positive feedback and results in more warming and westward expansion of IOWP.