Formation of solitary structures in uniform and nonuniform magnetoplasmas with superthermal electrons: a non-reductive perturbative approach

Electrostatic solitary structures are studied in uniform and nonuniform magnetoplasmas with superthermal electrons. In the linear analysis, the differences in the acoustic frequencies for Maxwellian, Cairns, and Kappa distributed electrons for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous plasmas are highlighted and discussed. It is shown that using the linear dispersion relation, nonlinear Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) equation can be derived both for the homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetoplasmas. The solution of the ZK equation is presented using the tangent hyperbolic method. It is found that the increasing magnetic field and the angle of propagation enhances the amplitude whereas the increasing number density mitigates the amplitude of the acoustic drift solitary wave. Furthermore, it is observed that the amplitude of the solitary structure is maximum for Cairns, intermediate for Maxwellian, and minimum for the Kappa distributed electrons. The results presented in this paper may be beneficial to understand the formation of electrostatic drift solitary waves in planetary environments where the nonthermal population of electrons are observed by various satellite missions.     

Vortex formation in nonlinearly coupled modes in a magnetized quantum plasma

Linear and nonlinear properties of coupled modes in a magnetized quantum plasma in the presence of electron Fermi pressure are studied in a nonuniform magnetoplasma composed of electrons, ions, and extremely massive and negatively charged immobile dust grains. Stationary solutions of the nonlinear equations that govern the dynamics of coupled modes are presented. It is found that electrostatic dipolar vortex structure can form in such a plasma. The dipolar structures in dense plasmas are observed to be formed on a much shorter scalelength by comparison with their classical counterparts. It is found that the increasing Fermi temperature shortens the scalelength over which the nonlinear coherent structures are formed. The relevance of the present investigation with regard to the dense astrophysical plasmas is also pointed out.     

Recent Sea Level and Sea Surface Temperature Changes Along the Maldives Coast

Maldives, a South Asian small island nation in the northern part of the Indian Ocean is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR) due to its low altitude from the mean sea level. This artricle attempts to estimate the recent rates of SLR in Maldives during different seasons of the year with the help of existing tidal data recorded in the Maldives coast. Corresponding Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends, utilizing reliable satellite climatology, have also been obtained. The relationships between the SST and mean sea level have been comprehensively investigated. Results show that recent sea level trends in the Maldives coast are very high. At Male, the capital of the Republic of Maldives, the rising rates of Mean Tidal Level (MTL) are: 8.5, 7.6, and 5.8 mm/year during the postmonsoon (October-December), Premonsoon (March-May) and southwest monsoon (June-September) seasons respectively. At Gan, a station very close to the equator, the increasing rate of MTL is maximum during the period from June to September (which is 6.2 mm/year). These rising trends in MTL along the Maldives coast are certainly alarming for this small developing island nation, which is hardly one meter above the mean sea level. Thus there is a need for careful monitoring of future sea level changes in the Maldives coast. The trends presented are based on the available time-series of MTL for the Maldives coast, which are rather short. These trends need not necessarily reflect the long-term scenario. SST in the Maldives coast has also registered significant increasing trend during the period from June to September. There are large seasonal variations in the SST trends at Gan but SST and MTL trends at Male are consistently increasing during all the seasons and the rising rates are very high. The interannual mode of variation is prominent both in SST as well as MTL. Annual profile of MTL along the Maldives coast is bimodal, having two maxima during April and July. The April Mode is by far the dominant one. The SST appears to be the main factor governing the sea level variations along the Maldives coast. The influence of SST and sea level is more near the equatorial region (i.e., at Gan). There is lag of about two months for the maximum influence of SST on the sea level. The correlation coefficient between the smoothed SST and mean tidal level at Gan with lag of two months is as high as ~ +0.8, which is highly significant. The corresponding correlation coefficients at Male with the lags of one and two months are +0.5 and +0.3, respectively. Thus, the important finding of the present work for the Maldives coast is the dominance of SST factor in sea level variation, especially near the region close to the equator.     

Sea Level Variations and Geomorphological Changes in the Coastal Belt of Pakistan

The UNEP in its regional seas program in 1989 has included Pakistan in a group of countries which are vulnerable to the impact of rising sea level. If the present trend of sea level rise (SLR) at Karachi continues, in the next 50 years the sea level rise along the Pakistan Coast will be 50 mm (5 cm). Since the rising rates of sea level at Karachi are within the global range of 1-2 mm/year, the trends may be treated as eustatic SLR. Historical air temperature and sea surface temperature (SST) data of Karachi also show an increasing pattern and an increasing trend of about 0.67°C has been registered in the air temperature over the last 35 years, whereas the mean SST in the coastal waters of Karachi has also registered an increasing trend of about 0.3°C in a decade. Sindh coastal zone is more vulnerable to sea level rise than Baluchistan coast, as uplifting of the coast by about 1-2 mm/year due to subduction of Indian Ocean plate is a characteristic of Baluchistan coast. Within the Indus deltaic creek system, the area nearby Karachi is more vulnerable to coastal erosion and accretion than the other deltaic region, mainly due to human activities together with natural phenomena such as wave action, strong tidal currents, and rise in sea level. Therefore, The present article deals mainly with the study of dynamical processes such as erosion and accretion associated with sea level variations along the Karachi coast and surrounding Indus deltaic coastline. The probable beach erosion in a decade along the sandy beaches of Karachi has been estimated. The estimates show that 1.1 mm/year rise in sea level causes a horizontal beach loss of 110 mm per year. Therefore, coast eroded with rise in sea level at Karachi and surrounding sandy beaches would be 1.1 m during a period of next 10 years. The northwestern part of Indus delta, especially the Gizri and Phitti creeks and surrounding islands, are most unstable. Historical satellite images are used to analyze the complex pattern of sediment movements, the change in shape of coastline, and associated erosion and accretion patterns in Bundal and Buddo Islands. The significant changes in land erosion and accretion areas at Bundal and Buddo Islands are evident and appear prominently in the images. A very high rate of accretion of sediments in the northwestern part of Buddo Island has been noticed. In the southwest monsoon season the wave breaking direction in both these islands is such that the movement of littoral drift is towards west. Erosion is also taking place in the northeastern and southern part of Bundal Island. The erosion in the south is probably due to strong wave activities and in the northeast is due to strong tidal currents and seawater intrusion. Accretion takes place at the northwest and western parts of Bundal Island. By using the slope of Indus delta, sea encroachment and the land area inundation with rising sea level of 1 m and 2 m have also been estimated.     

Migration of female construction labourers to Dhaka City,Bangladesh

The author analyzes migration patterns and processes of female construction workers in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, and considers the impact of this migration. "Interviews...reveal that the major goal of these female migrants, whose mobility and employment have traditionally been restricted, is to take responsibility in the struggle for livelihood.... Success of many migrations is linked with participation in construction work in the city. Employment in such activities is largely by women from male-headed households, indicating male support in the work, followed by females heading their own households."     

Seasonal and Interannual Sea Surface Temperature Variability in the Coastal Cities of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

The sea surface temperature (SST) variations play a veryimportant role in the genesis and maintenance of meteorological and oceanographic processessuch as monsoon depressions and subsequent floods, large-scale sea level fluctuationsand genesis of tropical cyclones. Many low lying coastal regions of South Asia are adjacentto river deltas and have large population. The dense population, poor economy and severalother socio-economic factors make these areas most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.Variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is importantas the duration and intensity of SST provide the basis for studies related to climatic changescenario. In this study an attempt has been made to estimate the recent SST trends in the coastalwaters of some cities, which lie on the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The annual andinterannual variability has also been studied. The SST variations have then been linkedwith the El Nino and La Nina events.The NOAA-NASA Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) SST fields from 1985-1998, created in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL), USA are used in this study. Here the quality of data is an important factor toobtain reliable estimates of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends and other related parameters.However, this is not possible with the conventional type data, due to low quality as wellas sparse data in the region. Though the satellite based SST climatologies have shorterobservation lengths, they can provide reliable estimates of recent SST variability overa large oceanic areas with sparse or no data.Increasing trend of SST is observed throughout all theseasons in the northern Arabian Sea extending from Oman to Karachi and Mumbai and furthersouth to Salalah and Colombo. However, in coastal islands stations further south ofIndia such as at Colombo the increment is not significant. Though the increasing trend in SSTduring winter is not significant, nevertheless it shows the increasing influence of coldspells on this Island. An interesting situation has been observed in the Bay of Bengal. On anaverage, increasing trends in the annual SST were observed in Visakhaputnam. But at thestations located in the northeastern part of Bay of Bengal, namely Hiron Point and Cox'sBazar reverse conditions are observed. In the Southern Bay of Bengal variations in SST isnot significant which reflects in the SST analysis of Chennai and Port Blair stations. Locationof these stations at lower latitudes (near by equator) probably is the reason for this insignificantchange. It has been found that the interannual mode of SST variations dominate the linear SSTtrends which is characterized by the El Nino Southern Oscillations (ENSO) scale cycle.     

Late Quaternary tectono-geomorphological investigations of Zanskar Basin,NW Himalaya,India, using geospatial techniques

Geospatial techniques play a crucial role in geomorphic studies, particularly in the challenging terrains like mountainous regions, inaccessible areas and densely vegetated landscapes, where geomorphic features cannot be recorded easily. Tectono-geomorphologic observations provide important clues regarding the landscape evolution, morpho-dynamics and ongoing tectonism of the region. The present study has been carried out in the Zanskar Basin (ZB), located to the south of the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ), in the hinterland of the NW Himalaya. This study has been carried out to assess and evaluate active tectonics by employing tectono-geomorphic analysis, dynamics in drainage networks, geomorphological field observations and the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. High-resolution satellite images, topographic maps and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were used to generate primary data sets, which were corroborated with field investigations for valid inferences. The geometry of the ZB suggests that continuous tectonic activity exerts first-order control on the overall shape, size and structure of the ZB. This first-order response is clearly reflected in the landforms modified by tectonic processes, namely, linear mountain fronts, elongated shape and tilting of the basin, braided and meandering river courses and lower stream length gradient index values in hard rock terrain. The ZB exhibits several eye-catching geomorphic features, such as well-defined triangular facets with wide base lengths and wine-glass valleys with small outlets along the footwall block of the Zanskar Shear Zone/South Tibetan Detachment System (ZSZ/STDS), as well as the presence of wind gaps, water gaps, bedrock incision, incised and entrenched valleys, narrow gorges and a high incision rate inferring active tectonics and recent uplift in the region. In addition, the existence of uplifted river terraces, as well as the stepped morphology of fans and strath terraces, suggests that the region is experiencing recent activity and ongoing tectonic uplift. These modified geomorphic characteristics suggest that the hinterland, which is part of the NW Himalaya, is tectonically quite active and has experienced a differential rate of tectonics during its evolution. The quantified geomorphic indices and their relations with the tectonics, climate and erosion activity infer that the basin geometry is mostly controlled by the ZSZ/STDS that dips 20°–70° NE, the south-dipping Zanskar Counter Thrust (ZCT) and other local tectonic elements like the Choksti Thrust (CT), Stondgey Thrust, Zangla Thrust and tectonic structures. The synergised results of quantified geomorphic indices and tectono-geomorphic evidence in the ZB strongly indicate that both the past and ongoing tectonism have significantly shaped and modified geomorphology of the ZB.     

Regolith thickness modeling using a GIS approach for landslide distribution analysis,NW Himalayas

Regolith thickness is considered as a contributing factor for the occurrence of landslides. Although, mostly it is ignored because of complex nature and as it requires more time and resources for investigation. This study aimed to appraise the role of regolith thickness on landslide distribution in the Muzaffarabad and surrounding areas, NW Himalayas. For this purpose regolith thickness samples were evenly collected from all the lithological units at representative sites within different slope and elevation classes in the field. Topographic attributes (slope, aspect, drainage, Topographic Wetness Index, elevation and curvature) were derived from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (12.5 m resolution). ArcGIS Model Builder was used to develop the regolith thickness model. Stepwise regression technique was used to explore the spatial variation of regolith thickness using topographic attributes and lithological units. The derived model explains about 88% regolith thickness variation. The model was validated and shows good agreement (70%) between observed and predicted values. Subsequently, the derived regolith model was used to understand the relationship between regolith thickness and landslide distribution. The analysis shows that most of the landslides were located within 1–5 m regolith thickness. However, landslide concentration is highest within 5–10 m regolith thickness, which shows that regolith thickness played a significant role for the occurrence of landslide in the studied area.     

Nonlinear kinetic Alfven waves in space plasmas with generalized ($$) distribution

In this paper, we have investigated linear and nonlinear propagation of kinetic Alfven waves in which the electrons have been assumed to follow generalized (\(r,q\)) distribution. We have shown that (\(r,q\)) distribution gives us most of the distributions observed in space plasmas. We have varied the flatness parameter \(r\) and the tail parameter \(q\) to explore the linear and nonlinear propagation characteristics of kinetic Alfven waves. We have also discussed the limiting cases. It has been shown that our results agree well with Fast and Freja observations of the nonlinear kinetic Alfven waves. An important feature of our study is the formation of rarefactive solitary structures. It has been shown that this result cannot be obtained with Maxwellian distribution and that it agrees well with the observations of Fast and Freja satellites.