Indian record for Kepler's supernova: Evidence from Kashmir Valley

We revisit a strange representation of the Sagittarius constellation painted on a door arch of a tomb in Kashmir. We show that it is a very strong case of a representation of Kepler's supernova (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Identification of the Phytoremediation Potential of Indian mustard Genotypes for Copper,Evaluated from a Hydroponic Experiment

The effectiveness of 10 Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) genotypes (viz. Agrani, BTO, Kranti, Pusa Bahar, Pusa Basant, Pusa Bold, Pusa Jai Kisan, Vaibhav, Vardhan, and Varuna) were evaluated for their potential to phytoremediate copper from contaminated waters under laboratory controlled conditions. The genotypes were grown for 20 days in aqueous solutions containing various concentrations of copper sulfate (0–50 µM) in a hydroponic chamber. Throughout plant development, changes in growth variables, biomass accumulation, and total Cu content were evaluated. The results suggested that Indian mustard cv. Pusa Jai Kisan possesses the best capacities of Cu sequestration and tolerance amongst all the genotypes studied. Thus, Pusa Jai Kisan has the greatest potential to become a viable candidate in the development of practical phytoremediation technologies for Cu contaminated sites.     

Adaptive state estimation of groundwater contaminant boundary input flux in a 2-dimensional aquifer

In many circumstances involving heat and mass transfer issues,it is considered impractical to measure the input flux and the resulting state distribution in the domain.Therefore,the need to develop techniques to provide solutions for such problems and estimate the inverse mass flux becomes imperative.Adaptive state estimator(ASE)is increasingly becoming a popular inverse estimation technique which resolves inverse problems by incorporating the semi-Markovian concept into a Bayesian estimation technique,thereby developing an inverse input and state estimator consisting of a bank of parallel adaptively weighted Kalman filters.The ASE is particularly designed for a system that encompasses independent unknowns and/or random switching of input and measurement biases.The present study describes the scheme to estimate the groundwater input contaminant flux and its transient distribution in a conjectural two-dimensional aquifer by means of ASE,which in particular is because of its unique ability to efficiently handle the process noise giving an estimation of keeping the relative error range within 10%in 2-dimensional problems.Numerical simulation results show that the proposed estimator presents decent estimation performance for both smoothly and abruptly varying input flux scenarios.Results also show that ASE enjoys a better estimation performance than its competitor,Recursive Least Square Estimator(RLSE)due to its larger error tolerance in greater process noise regimes.ASE's inherent deficiency of being slower than the RLSE,resulting from the complexity of algorithm,was also noticed.The chosen input scenarios are tested to calculate the effect of input area and both estimators show improved results with an increase in input flux area especially as sensors are moved closer to the assumed input location.     

Quaternary fossil coral communities in uplifted strata along the Balochistan coast of Pakistan: understanding modern coral decline in the Arabian Sea

Uplifted reefs due to being important palaeoclimate archives and a rich source of information on past physical and geochemical changes globally have become the centre of marine research. The uplifted fossil Quaternary coral communities of Jiwani and Gwadar are perfect places to study the palaeoclimatic and geological changes that have shaped the Balochistan coast. Studies on the palaeodiversity of corals along the Makran coast of Pakistan are lacking. In the present study, the samples collected using line intercept method from four uplifted sites (Balochistan coast: one at Gwadar and three at Jiwani) were analysed. The relative distribution and diversity of scleractinian fossil corals was determined, and the factors responsible for coral decline along Pakistan coast were compared with modern coral distribution and diversity. A total of 48 fossil coral species were recorded in nine families and 22 genera. High coral diversity was recorded in the uplifted landward sites of Jiwani and Gwadar headland. Terraces close to the shore at Jiwani had lower diversity. The corals seem to be Quaternary: most likely Pleistocene to Holocene. The modern fauna lacks many species recorded in the fossil community, thus suggesting a faunal turnover in diversity and redistribution of coral fauna which may be linked with past geological events and increasing anthropogenic pressure.     

利用GIS定量评价太湖流域的非点源污染

利用流域地图和地理信息系统(Arcview)软件评估的不同土地利用状况下的基本污染负荷,以太湖流域的子流域——锡山流域为例定量评价了流域的非点源污染. 本文包括根据流域面积和污染物平均浓度模拟流域污染负荷,进而在设施流域最优管理措施的情况下评价非点源污染. 最优管理措施提供最有效的、最实用、最大成本效益的步骤减少流域的非点源污染. 结合流域边界和土地利用资料、营养物的平均浓度、及点源负荷资料,利用WATERSHEDS 3.0 软件的扩展的PLOAD GIS模型评价了非点源污染,并利用表格和图形对模型的模拟结果进行了评估.     

Calibration of local magnitude scale for Hindukush continental subduction zone

Hindukush is an active subduction zone where at least one earthquake occurs on daily basis. For seismic hazard studies, it is important to develop a local magnitude scale using the data of local seismic network. We have computed local magnitude scale for Hindukush earthquakes using data from local network belonging to Center for Earthquake Studies (CES) for a period of three years, i.e. 2015–2017. A total of 26,365 seismic records pertaining to 2,683 earthquakes with magnitude 2.0 and greater, was used with hypocentral distance less than 600 km. Magnitude scale developed by using this data comes to be M_L = logA + 0.929logr + 0.00298r – 1.84. The magnitude determined through formulated relation was compared with that of standard relation for Southern California and relation developed by the same authors for local network for Northern Punjab. It was observed that Hindukush region has high attenuation as compared to that of Southern California and Northern Punjab which implies that Hindukush is tectonically more disturbed as compared to the said regions, hence, seismically more active as well. We have calculated station correction factors for our network. Station correction factors do not show any pattern which probably owes to the geological and tectonic complexity of this structure. Standard deviation and variance of magnitude residuals for CES network determined using Hutton and Boore scale and scale developed in this study were compared, it showed that a variance reduction of 44.1% was achieved. Average of magnitude residuals for different distance ranges was almost zero which showed that our magnitude scale was stable for all distances up to 600 km. Newly developed magnitude scale will help in homogenization of earthquake catalog. It has been observed that b-value of CES catalog decreases when magnitude is calculated by using newly developed magnitude scale.     

Assessment of Air Temperature Trends in the Source Region of Yellow River and Its Sub-Basins,China

Changes in climatic variables at the sub-basins scale (having different features of land cover) are crucial for planning, development and designing of water resources infrastructure in the context of climate change. Accordingly, to explore the features of climate changes in sub-basins of the Source Region of Yellow River (SRYR), absolute changes and trends of temperature variables, maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), mean temperature (Tavg) and diurnal temperature range (DTR), were analyzed annually and seasonally by using daily observed air temperature dataset from 1965 to 2014. Results showed that annual Tmax, Tmin and Tavg for the SRYR were experiencing warming trends respectively at the rate of 0.28, 0.36 and 0.31°C (10 yr)^?1. In comparison with the 1st period (1965-1989), more absolute changes and trends towards increasing were observed during the 2nd period (1990-2014). Apart from Tangnaihai (a low altitude sub-basin), these increasing trends and changes seemed more significant in other basins with highest magnitude during winter. Among sub-basins the increasing trends were more dominant in Huangheyan compared to other sub-basins. The largest increase magnitude of Tmin, 1.24 and 1.18°C (10 yr)^?1, occurred in high altitude sub-basins Jimai and Huangheyan, respectively, while the smallest increase magnitude of 0.23°C (10 yr)^?1 occurred in a low altitude sub-basin Tangnaihai. The high elevation difference in Tangnaihai probably was the main reason for the less increase in the magnitude of Tmin. In the last decade, smaller magnitude of trend for all temperature variables signified the signal of cooling in the region. Overall, changes of temperature variables had significant spatial and seasonal variations. It implies that seasonal variations of runoff might be greater or different for each sub-basin.