Identification of groundwater prospective zones by using remote sensing and geoelectrical methods in Jharia and Raniganj coalfields, Dhanbad district, Jharkhand state

The Dhanbad district in Jharkhand faces acute water scarcity and is chronically drought-prone. The groundwater resources in the area have not been fully exploited. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the groundwater prospective zones. Landsat-5 Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) data of band 2 and band 4 and false colour composite (FCC) of band 2, 3, 4 were interpreted visually to differentiate different hydromorphogeological units and to delineate the major trends of lineaments. The different geomorphic features identified are linear ridges, residual hills, and pediplain, buried pediment and dissected pediplain, besides lineaments. The study shows that the pediplain and buried pediments are promising zones for groundwater prospecting. The occurrence and movement of groundwater is restricted to the unconsolidated material, weathered and fractured rocks. For the selection of tube well sites, geoelectrical resistivity investigations have been carried out at the sites, which were found suitable based on hydrogeomorphological and hydrogeological studies. Twenty-six Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) have been carried out by using Schlumberger electrode configuration, which have brought out 3 to 7 layered sub-surface layers. The resistivity of water-bearing weathered/fractured rocks varies from 120–150 ohm m. The integrated studies have revealed that the blue colour zones are most promising for groundwater exploration and dug wells may be dug up to depths of 30±5m.     

Critical evaluation and geological correlation of teleseismic phase data from Indian seismological stations

We evaluated the quality of seismic phase data from Indian seismological stations through the analysis of teleseismic travel times reported during 1976–83 and infer that only WWSSN stations (NDI, SHL, POO, KOD) apart from GBA and HYB can be rated satisfactory while the majority of stations (more than 40) produce very poor quality data sets. Detailed analysis of teleseismic P-wave travel time residuals shows that while the average structure of the upper mantle beneath India has high velocity (negative residuals) there are marked lateral variations. In particular, three zones of anomalous positive residuals (low velocity) are observed: one beneath the north western part of the Deccan trap, the second covering the southernmost peninsula (granulite terrain) and a third rather localized one, to the north of Delhi coinciding with Delhi-Haridwar ridge. New Delhi exhibits strong negative residuals in the E-SE quadrant along with negative station anomaly, implying that it is underlain by an anomalous high velocity crust/upper mantle. The negative residuals observed over India, continue beneath the Himalaya till the south of Lhasa but change sign further northward, suggesting the northern limit of the Indian upper mantle structure.     

Physico-Chemical and Phycological Assessment of Certain Polluted Environs of Varanasi and Neighbouring Areas

A general survey of the various polluted environs e.g., (i) The cement factory, (ii) The aluminium factory; (iii) The fertilizer factory; (iv) Dairy waste, and (v) Township sewage, has been made with a view to studying the distribution, dominance and diversity of algal communities growing therein. This study has revealed that the algal community structure along with physico-chemical factors can be best used for the assessment of water pollution. Oscillatoria has been found dominant in all those polluted environs containing a high amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, thereby indicating that this alga is tolerant to organic pollution. However, a sparse vegetation of algae as recorded in other situations is indicative of either a poor nutrient status of the habitat or the presence of some growth inhibitory substances.     

The Orientational Relaxation of Bipolar Active Regions

In the mean, bipolar active regions are oriented nearly toroidally, according to Hale's polarity law, with a latitude-dependent tilt known as Joy's Law. The tilt angles of individual active regions deviate from this mean behavior and change over time. It has been found that on average the change is toward the mean angle at a rate characteristic of 4.37 days (Howard, 1996). We show that this orientational relaxation is consistent with the standard model of flux tube emergence from a deep dynamo layer. Under this scenario Joy's law results from the Coriolis effect on the rising flux tube (D'Silva and Choudhuri, 1993), and departures from it result from turbulent buffeting of the tubes (Longcope and Fisher, 1996). We show that relaxation toward Joy's angle occurs because the turbulent perturbations relax on shorter time scales than the perturbations from the Coriolis force. The turbulent perturbations relax more rapidly because they are localized to the topmost portion of the convection zone while the Coriolis perturbations are more widely distributed. If a fully-developed active region remains connected to the strong toroidal magnetic field at the base of the convection zone, its tilt will eventually disappear, leaving it aligned perfectly toroidally. On the other hand, if the flux becomes disconnected from the toroidal field the bipole will assume a tilt indicative of the location of disconnection. We compare models which are connected and disconnected from the toroidal field. Only those disconnected at points very deep in the convection zone are consistent with observed time scale of orientational relaxation.     

Stable isotopic composition of precipitation in the River Bhagirathi Basin and identification of source vapour

River Ganges one of important rivers in the northern part of India receives water from two of its tributaries, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. In this present study, we have tried to characterise the precipitation in the Bhagirathi River Basin. The study shows that isotopic composition of precipitation shows depleted nature during monsoon period due to moisture source from the oceanic region and from African region of Indian Ocean and enriched isotopic composition during non-monsoon period due to moisture source from westerlies and local evaporation. The study also shows that temperature and amount show expected positive and negative relationship with individual locations. A positive relationship is exhibited by amount for the entire region due to depleted isotopic composition with increase in altitude. The altitude effect shows that there is a depletion of up to ?0.24 to ?0.29 ‰ of isotopic composition with an increase in 100 m of elevation.     

Quenching of Meridional Circulation in Flux Transport Dynamo Models

Guided by the recent observational result that the meridional circulation of the Sun becomes weaker at the time of the sunspot maximum, we have included a parametric quenching of the meridional circulation in solar dynamo models such that the meridional circulation becomes weaker when the magnetic field at the base of the convection zone is stronger. We find that a flux transport solar dynamo tends to become unstable on including this quenching of meridional circulation if the diffusivity in the convection zone is less than about 2×10¹¹ cm² s⁻¹. The quenching of α, however, has a stabilizing effect and it is possible to stabilize a dynamo with low diffusivity with sufficiently strong α-quenching. For dynamo models with high diffusivity, the quenching of meridional circulation does not produce a large effect and the dynamo remains stable. We present a solar-like solution from a dynamo model with diffusivity 2.8×10¹² cm² s⁻¹ in which the quenching of meridional circulation makes the meridional circulation vary periodically with solar cycle as observed and does not have any other significant effect on the dynamo.     

Chemical weathering in the plain and peninsular sub-basins of the Ganga: Impact on major ion chemistry and elemental fluxes

Concentrations of major ions, Sr and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr have been measured in the Gomti, the Son and the Yamuna, tributaries of the Ganga draining its peninsular and plain sub-basins to determine their contribution to the water chemistry of the Ganga and silicate and carbonate erosion of the Ganga basin. The results show high concentrations of Na and Sr in the Gomti, the Yamuna and the Ganga (at Varanasi) with much of the Na in excess of Cl. The use of this ‘excess Na’ (Na∗ = Na_riv − Cl_riv) a common index of silicate weathering yield values of ∼18 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ for silicate erosion rate (SER) in the Gomti and the Yamuna basins. There are however, indications that part of this Na∗ can be from saline/alkaline soils abundant in their basins, raising questions about its use as a proxy to determine SER of the Ganga plain. Independent estimation of SER based on dissolved Si as a proxy give an average value of ∼5 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ for the peninsular and the plain drainages, several times lower than that derived using Na∗. The major source of uncertainty in this estimate is the potential removal of Si from rivers by biological and chemical processes. The Si based SER and CER (carbonate erosion rate) are also much lower than that in the Himalayan sub-basin of the Ganga. The lower relief, runoff and physical erosion in the peninsular and the plain basins relative to the Himalayan sub-basin and calcite precipitation in them all could be contributing to their lower erosion rates.Budget calculations show that the Yamuna, the Son and Gomti together account for ∼75% Na, 41% Mg and ∼53% Sr and ⁸⁷Sr of their supply to the Ganga from its major tributaries, with the Yamuna dominating the contribution. The results highlight the important role of the plain and peninsular sub-basins in determining the solute and Sr isotope budgets of the Ganga. The study also shows that the anthropogenic contribution accounts for ?10% of the major ion fluxes of the Ganga at Rajmahal during high river stages (October). The impact of both saline/alkaline soils and anthropogenic sources on the major ion abundances of the Ganga is minimum during its peak flow and therefore the SER and CO₂ consumption rates of the river is best determined during this period.     

Palaeoweathering,composition and tectonics of provenance of the Proterozoic intracratonic Kaladgi–Badami basin,Karnataka, southern India: Evidence from sandstone petrography and geochemistry

Petrographic and geochemical data on the sandstones of the Proterozoic intracratonic Kaladgi–Badami basin, southern India are presented to elucidate the palaeoweathering pattern, and composition and tectonics of their provenance. The Kaladgi–Badami basin, hosting the Kaladgi Supergroup, occupies an E–W trending area. The Supergroup unconformably overlies Archaean basement TTG gneisses, granites and greenstones, comprises a cyclic arenite–pelite–carbonate association and is divided into the Bagalkot and Badami Groups. The immature arkosic character of the basal Saundatti Quartzite Member (Bagalkot Group) containing fresh and angular feldspars, along the northern margin of the basin, suggests that during the initial stage of deposition, this part of the basin received sediments from a restricted, uplifted and less weathered source dominated by K-rich granites occurring to the north. In contrast, the Saundatti Quartzite along the southern margin displays a mostly mature, quartz-rich character with less abundant but severely weathered feldspars, and higher SiO₂ and CIA but lower Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Rb, Sr, Ba, K₂O, K₂O/Na₂O, Zr/Ni and Zr/Cr. This is interpreted in terms of a tectonically stable, considerably weathered mixed source (Archaean gneisses, granites and greenstones) along the southern fringe of the basin. The highly mature (quartz arenite) Muchkundi Quartzite Member (also of the Bagalkot Group), occurring higher up in the succession, exhibits minor but severely altered feldspars, and higher SiO₂, Na₂O, CIA, Cr and Ni with lower K₂O, Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and K₂O/Na₂O. This reflects that with the passage of time the source evolved to a uniform, extensively weathered, tectonically stable peneplained provenance which consisted of less evolved TTG gneisses and greenstones. This was followed by closure, deformation and upliftment of the basin hosting the Bagalkot Group and subsequent deposition of the Badami Group. Sandstone Members of this younger Group (Cave-Temple Arenite and Belikhindi Arenite) range widely in mineralogy (quartz arenite to arkose) and chemistry (including CIA), and point to a source that varied from uplifted, less weathered K-rich granites to less evolved, peneplained TTG gneisses and greenstones or even Bagalkot sediments. Variable alteration of feldspars in the Kaladgi sandstones and severe depletion of Ca, Na and Sr in the associated shales indicate a humid tropical (tropical and subtropical) climate facilitating chemical weathering.