Lamprey (Geotria australis; Agnatha) reddening syndrome in Southland rivers,New Zealand 2011–2013: laboratory findings and epidemiology,including the incidental detection of an atypical Aeromonas salmonicida

From 2011, lamprey (Geotria australis) populations in Southland, New Zealand have been affected by reddening along the length of the body and increased mortalities, termed lamprey reddening syndrome (LRS). Molecular testing, bacteriology, histopathology and epidemiology were used to determine if an infectious agent was present and to increase the understanding of this syndrome. An atypical Aeromonas salmonicida was detected from affected lamprey in 2011. This organism has not previously been reported from New Zealand. Investigative molecular testing indicated the organism was an uncharacterised, unculturable, atypical A. salmonicida and a likely incidental finding. Histopathology did not indicate an infectious process was involved, but suggested the reddening may be due to blunt trauma. Epidemiological investigation found the Mokoreta River had a significantly higher prevalence of LRS than others in the Southland region, but there was no clear reason why. To date, no infectious aetiology for this syndrome has been identified.     

40Ar–39Ar dating of volcanic rocks of the Shyok suture zone in north–west trans-Himalaya: Implications for the post-collision evolution of the Shyok suture zone

⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar geochronological studies carried out on the Khardung volcanics of Ladakh, India and our earlier Ar–Ar results from the volcanics of the Shyok suture along with the available geological and geochemical data provide good constraints for post-collision evolution of the Shyok suture zone. Whole-rock samples from the Shyok volcanics yielded disturbed age-spectra and we have demonstrated earlier that the youngest tectonic event in the Shyok suture zone responsible for the thermal disturbance of these samples is Karakoram fault activation at ～14 Ma. Contrastingly whole-rock samples from the Khardung volcanics, which are in tectonic contact with these Shyok volcanics, and are exposed in the form of thick rhyolitic and ignimbritic flows, yielded undisturbed age-spectra and good plateau-ages. The whole-rock plateau-ages of two rhyolite samples are 52.8 ± 0.9 and 56.4 ± 0.4 Ma. We interpret these ages to be the time and duration of emplacement of these volcanics over thickened margin of the continental crust, which appears to be coeval with the initiation of the collision between the Indian and Asian plate. The lesser extent of post-emplacement isotopic re-equilibration in these samples unlike the Shyok volcanics indicate that these samples were present in different tectonic settings, away from the Karakoram fault, at the time of deformation in the Shyok suture zone. We propose that the two volcanic belts of contrasting nature were brought together in juxtaposition by the Karakoram strike slip faulting at ～14 Ma.     

Playa sediments of the Didwana Lake,Rajasthan: A new environment for surficial-type uranium mineralisation in India

The Didwana playa, the second largest playa in the eastern part of the Thar desert, is 5.6 km long and 2.4 km wide and supports commercial salt production. The thickness of lake sediment package is reported to be 20 m and comprises fine grained clays and silts, with abundant calcite, gypsum, and halite, associated with hypersaline water. Isolated hills of graphitic phyllite and quartzite are seen on the western side of the lake. During the course of investigations for uranium in surficial environment of semi-arid terrain of Rajasthan, ground water sampling defined a NE-SW trending uranium halo encompassing the Didwana playa. Subsequent sampling of unlined dug wells, up to water table in central part of the playa, indicated uranium values up to 190 ppm and 2072 ppb in lake sediments and brine respectively. These values are of the order of 21 ppm and 192 ppb towards the southwestern periphery of the lake. The average uranium content, as inferred from 12 samples in the central part of the lake, is around 60 ppm over a thickness of 5 m. It appears that the uranium is loosely bonded to the sediments in amorphous form and is, hence, easily leachable. Samples of brine (n=10), from both the central and southwestern portions of the lake, analysed high (1,67,500–3,00,000 mg/l) TDS, HCO₃⁻ (1128–8395 mg/l), and SO₄ (30,536–88,000 mg/l). These are of alkaline (pH: 7.2–9.3) and reducing (Eh: −200 to −340 mV) nature. Under these Eh-pH conditions below the groundwater table, and for such uranium bearing groundwater, precipitation of primary uranium is expected. It is, therefore, modelled that uranium in lake sediment package above water table is concentrated by evaporation process and by chemical reduction below the water table.     

Effect of non-aqueous drilling fluid and its synthetic base oil on soil health as indicated by its dehydrogenase activity

Drilling fluids are used for drilling natural gas, oil and water wells. These spill over into the surrounding soil at the point of drilling, which may impair soil health. A laboratory investigation was carried out to determine the effect of non aqueous drilling fluid (NADF) and synthetic base oil used with it on soil health as indicated by the dehydrogenase activity. A non-sterile sandy loam soil was treated with different amounts of NADF and base oil at a rate of 800, 8,000 and 16,000 mg kg⁻¹. Initially, reduction in dehydrogenase activity was observed, but it increased with the incubation time. On the 60th day of incubation dehydrogenase activity in untreated control was 1.04 mg TPF g⁻¹ h⁻¹ whereas in the soil samples treated with NADF and the base oil (16,000 mg kg⁻¹), the activity was 1.53 mg TPF h⁻¹ and 1.90 mg TPF h⁻¹, respectively, which was 72 and 82% more than in untreated control. Base oil-treated soil showed more dehydrogenase activity than that observed with NADF. Both NADF and base oil stimulated the soil dehydrogenase activity.     

On a multilaminate model for soil incorporating small strain stiffness

In this paper a constitutive model for soils incorporating small strain stiffness formulated in the multilaminate framework is presented. In the multilaminate framework, the stress–strain behaviour of a material is obtained by integrating the mechanical response of an infinite number of randomly oriented planes passing through a material point. Such a procedure leads to a number of advantages in describing soil behaviour, the most significant being capture of initial and induced anisotropy due to plastic flow in a physically meaningful manner. In the past, many soil models of varying degree of refinement in the multilaminate framework have been presented by various authors. However, the issue of high initial soil stiffness in the range of very small strains and its degradation with straining, commonly referred to as ‘small strain stiffness’, has not been addressed within the multilaminate framework. In this paper, we adopt a micromechanics‐based approach to derive small strain elastic stiffness of the soil mass. Comparison of laboratory test data with results obtained from numerical simulations based on the proposed constitutive model incorporating small strain stiffness is performed to demonstrate its predictive capabilities. The model is implemented in a finite element code and numerical simulations of a deep excavation are presented with and without incorporation of small strain stiffness to demonstrate its importance in predicting profiles of deformation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Free convection effects on the unsteady laminar boundary-layer flow past a porous limiting surface with uniform suction in stellar atmospheres

Unsteady two-dimensional free convection flow of a viscous fluid (e.g., of a stellar atmosphere) past a porous limiting surface (e.g., of a star) through which suction with uniform velocity occurs is considered when the free-stream velocity and the temperature of the limiting surface are arbitrary functions of time. General solution of the equations governing the flow is obtained in closed form with the help of two-sided Laplace transform technique under the assumption that there exists a mean steady flow to which is superimposed the unsteady flow. Further, in order to demonstrate the applications of the results of the general theory, four particular cases have been considered by prescribing physically acceptable different time-dependent forms to the temperature of the limiting surface and to the free-stream velocity. The results thus obtained for these four cases are discussed quantitatively.