Investigating spatial contribution of land use types and land slope classes on soil erosion distribution under tropical environment

Natural Hazards - Increasing land occupancy for farming without conservation principles, particularly in the Indonesian island of Java, is resulting in a severe erosion problem. This study...     

Back-thrusting in Lesser Himalaya: Evidences from magnetic fabric studies in parts of Almora crystalline zone,Kumaun Lesser Himalaya

The present study aims to understand evolution of the Lesser Himalaya, which consists of (meta) sedimentary and crystalline rocks. Field studies, microscopic and rock magnetic investigations have been carried out on the rocks near the South Almora Thrust (SAT) and the North Almora Thrust (NAT), which separates the Almora Crystalline Zone (ACZ) from the Lesser Himalayan sequences (LHS). The results show that along the South Almora Thrust, the deformation is persistent; however, near the NAT deformation pattern is complex and implies overprinting of original shear sense by a younger deformational event. We attribute this overprinting to late stage back-thrusting along NAT, active after the emplacement of ACZ. During this late stage back-thrusting, rocks of the ACZ and LHS were coupled. Back-thrusts originated below the Lesser Himalayan rocks, probably from the Main Boundary Thrust, and propagated across the sedimentary and crystalline rocks. This study provides new results from multiple investigations, and enhances our understanding of the evolution of the ACZ.     

Contribution of offshore islands in the prediction of water levels due to tide�Csurge interaction for the coastal region of Bangladesh

In this study, a doubly nested tide?Csurge interaction model was established for the coastal region of Bangladesh. A fine grid model, capable of incorporating all major offshore islands, was nested into a coarse grid model extending up to 15°N latitude of the Bay of Bengal. To take into account the thickly populated small and big islands between Barisal and Chittagong and the extreme bending of the coastline accurately, a very fine grid model for this region was again nested into the fine grid model. Along the northeast corner of this very fine grid model, the Meghna River discharge was taken into account. The boundaries of the coast and islands were approximated through proper stair step, and the model equations were solved by semi?Cimplicit finite difference technique using staggered grid. Appropriate tidal regime over the model domain was generated by forcing the sea level to be oscillatory with the constituent M2 along the southern open boundary of the coarse grid model omitting wind stress. This previously generated tidal regime was introduced as the initial state of the sea for nonlinear tide?Csurge interaction phenomenon. The model was applied to estimate water levels along the coastal region of Bangladesh due to the interaction of tide and surge associated with the storm April 1991, and the results were found to be in a reasonable agreement with those observed. The model was used to investigate the influence of offshore islands on water levels and water levels were found to be significantly influenced by offshore islands.     

Heavy metals accumulation and ecophysiological effect on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Typha angustifolia</Emphasis> L. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyperus esculentus</Emphasis> L. growing in distillery and tannery effluent polluted natural wetland site,Unnao, India

Distillery and tanneries are major source of heavy metals pollution in natural wetland sites in India. Present study deals with the heavy metals accumulation potential of Typha angustifolia and Cyperus esculentus growing in distillery and tannery effluent polluted wetland sites. The metal accumulation pattern in both macrophytes showed direct correlation with the metal content in sediments. Both macrophytes were observed root accumulator for Fe, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Cd. The metal accumulation in T. angustifolia was found higher than C. esculentus, and accumulation pattern was Fe > Mn > Cr > Zn > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cd. Simultaneously, chlorophyll, protein, cysteine, and ascorbic acid were also induced in T. angustifolia than C. esculentus. In addition, formation of multinucleolus in shoot of T. angustifolia was found an evidence of extra protein synthesis for tolerance under stress conditions. Hence, C. esculentus was observed potential but less tolerance for metals than T. angustifolia. Therefore, these wetland plants could be used for phytoremediation of heavy metals from wastewater.     

Concentration of arsenic by selected vegetables cultivated in the Yamuna flood plains (YFP) of Delhi,India

High Arsenic (As) concentrations have been reported in superficial water in the Yamuna flood plains (YFP), Delhi, which is being extensively used for agriculture. The concentration of As in some common vegetables such as Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), Abelmoschus esculentus (lady’s finger), Solanum melongena (brinjal), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd), Raphanus sativus (radish), Zea mays (corn), and Luffa acutangula (ridge gourd) has been studied in this work. The range of As concentrations (dry weight) varies from 0.6 to 2.52 mg/kg with the highest accumulation of 2.52 mg/kg in radish followed by tomato (2.36 mg/kg). The order of As concentration in the decreasing order is R. sativus > S. lycopersicum > Z. mays > L. acutangula > L. siceraria > S. melongena > A. esculentus. Thus, As accumulation is the highest in roots and the lowest in least juicy fruits. The daily dietary intake of As through the consumption of various vegetables was also calculated. Though the mean As concentration was the highest in radish (2.52 mg/kg) but the highest amount of As is being consumed through tomato (0.383 mg/day), which is nearly three times the World Health Organization’s provisional maximum tolerable daily intake limit of 0.126 mg/day for a 60 kg person. High concentration of As in vegetables grown in YFP, Delhi is being reported here. This high contamination is primarily due to the presence of As in irrigation water having its source from coal-based thermal power plants in the vicinity of the area. If not checked properly, it will pose a serious health risk to people living in these densely populated areas surrounding YFP.     

Equatorial electrojet in east Brazil longitudes

This paper describes the morphology of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) along 45°W longitude in east Brazil, where the ground magnetic (dip) equator is associated with the largest declination in the world. Daily range of the horizontal field (ΔH), as expected, was largest at the station in the chain closest to the dip equator, Sao Luiz (inclination −0.25°S). ΔZ was largest positive at Eusebio (inclination 9.34°S) and largest negative at Belem (inclination 7.06°N); both near the fringe of EEJ belt. ΔZ at Sao Luiz during the daytime was unexpectedly large negative in-spite of a small dip and also located south of the dip equator where ΔZ should be positive. Center of EEJ was found to be shifted southward of the dip equator by about 1° in latitude. During southern summer, ΔY started decreasing from 00 h and reached a minimum value in the afternoon, an abnormal feature not discussed for any station so far. The mid-day value of the direction of ΔH vector was 22°–24°W compared to the declination of 19°–21°W in the region.