Clay mineralogy of the ocean sediments from the Wilkes Land margin,east Antarctica: implications on the paleoclimate,provenance and sediment dispersal pattern

Core U1359 collected from the continental rise off Wilkes Land, east Antarctica, is analyzed for the clay mineralogy and carbon content. The temporal variation of the clay mineralogical data shows a dominance of illite with chlorite, smectite and kaolinite in decreasing concentration. Clay mineral illite is negatively correlated with smectite which shows enrichment during 6.2–6.8, 5.5–5.8, 4.5 and 2.5 Ma. The mineralogical analyses on the silt size fraction (2–53 μm) of some selected samples were also carried out. The combined result of both the size fractions shows the presence of chlorite and illite in both size fractions, smectite and kaolinite only in clay size fraction (<2 μm) and similarity in the crystallinity and chemistry of illite in both fractions. Similar nature of illite in both fractions suggests negligible role of sorting probably due to the deposition from the waxing ice sheet. During times of ice growth, nearby cratonic east Antarctica shield provided biotite-rich sediments to the depositional site. On the other hand, the presence of smectite, only in the clay size fraction, suggests the effective role of sorting probably due to the deposition from distal source in ice retreat condition. During times of ice retreat, smectite-rich sediment derived from Ross Orogen is transported to the core site through surface or bottom water currents. Poor crystallinity of illite due to degradation further corroborates the ice retreat condition. The ice sheet proximal sediments of U1359 show that in the eastern part of Wilkes Land, the ‘warming’ was initiated during late Miocene.     

Solitons and other solutions to the quantum Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation

In this paper, we present G′/G-expansion method, exp-function method, modified F-expansion method as well as the traveling wave hypothesis for finding the exact traveling wave solutions of the quantum Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation which arises in quantum magneto-plasmas. By these methods, rich families of exact solutions have been obtained, including soliton solutions. This work continues to reinforce the idea that the proposed methods, with the help of symbolic computation, provide a powerful mathematical tool for solving nonlinear partial differential equations.     

Relative Radiometric Normalisation - performance testing of selected techniques and impact analysis on vegetation and water bodies

In this paper, six image-based Relative Radiometric Normalization (RRN) techniques were applied to normalize the bi-temporal Landsat 5 TM data-set. RRN techniques do not require any atmospheric and ground information at the time of image acquisition. The target image for the year 2009 was normalized in such a way that it resembled the atmospheric and sensor conditions similar to those under which the reference image of the same season for the year 1990 was acquired. Among the selected methods applied, it was found that the Iteratively Reweighted Multivariate Alteration Detection (IR-MAD) method performed better, based on the error statistic. The IR-MAD technique was found to be advantageous as it identified a large set of true time-invariant pixels automatically from the change background using iterative canonical component analysis. The technique also stretches the values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Normalized Difference Water Index and may help to distinguish different vegetation and water bodies better.     

An approach for GIS-based statistical landslide susceptibility zonation—with a case study in the Himalayas

Landslide susceptibility zonation (LSZ) is necessary for disaster management and planning development activities in mountainous regions. A number of methods, viz. landslide distribution, qualitative, statistical and distribution-free analyses have been used for the LSZ studies and they are again briefly reviewed here. In this work, two methods, the Information Value (InfoVal) and the Landslide Nominal Susceptibility Factor (LNSF) methods that are based on bivariate statistical analysis have been applied for LSZ mapping in a part of the Himalayas. Relevant thematic maps representing various factors (e.g., slope, aspect, relative relief, lithology, buffer zones along thrusts, faults and lineaments, drainage density and landcover) that are related to landslide activity, have been generated using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The LSZ derived from the LNSF method, has been compared with that produced from the InfoVal method and the result shows a more realistic LSZ map from the LNSF method which appears to conform to the heterogeneity of the terrain.     

Dispersion-flocculation studies on hematite-clay systems

Studies have been made on the separability of clay minerals such as kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite from hematite in dispersant-starch flocculant systems. The grossly different dispersibility of hematite from that of clay minerals aided separation by selective dispersion and flocculation. Moderate success has been achieved with a selectivity index nearing 4.0 (average recovery values around 80%).The studies have been extended to hematite recovery and clay rejection from the slimes of the Barsua iron ore washing plant owned by Rourkela Steel Plant, India. Limited success achieved in the starch selective flocculation method has been attributed to the difficulties associated with fine grain size, clay mineraloty and liberation.The ore exhibits the phenomenon of differential grinding. Hematite-rich coarser particles in the slime can be separated by differential settling in dispersant systems followed by selective flocculation in low-starch systems.     

Comparative Analysis of Phytoplankton Composition and Abundance over a Two-Decade Period at the Land–Ocean Boundary of a Tropical Mangrove Ecosystem

Inter-annual variations of phytoplankton abundance and community organization were observed over a two-decade period along with the ancillary parameters at the land–ocean boundary associated with the Sundarban mangrove forest (21°32′ and 22°40′ N and 88°05′ and 89° E), along the NE Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The number of definable Bacillariophyceae species exceeded Dinophyceae taxa, and the total number of bloom-forming species declined from a maximum of ten in 2000 and a minimum of two in 2007. Blooms of the diatom Coscinodiscus radiatus were common in 2000 and 2007. Tide cycles and the onset of the monsoon season played important roles in diurnal and seasonal variability of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton biovolume showed seasonality, with the highest levels during post-monsoon periods and lowest levels during the monsoon period. Phytoplankton abundance was correlated to rainfall patterns, which may be altered by long-term changes in climate.     

Transmission of elastic waves through a second-order fluid layer sandwiched between elastic media

Summary The present paper is concerned with the transmission of elastic waves through a second-order fluid layer sandwiched between homogeneous elastic media having identical properties. It is concluded that the transmission ratio increases with the increasing absolute values of visco-elastic co-efficient and also with the wavelength of the wave transmitted.     

On the propagation of love waves in a heterogeneous layer lying on a homogeneous medium

Summary The present note is devoted to find out the possibility of propagation of love waves in a heterogeneous layer of finite depth lying on a homogenous semi-infinite elastic medium, the rigidity and density in the upper layer varying as (1–sinz), where is a constant andz is the vertical distance from the interface. The numerical results for the phase velocity for some special Earth models are given.