FEG-EPMA mapping and Fe-Ti oxide mineral chemistry of Brahmaputra River sediments in Bangladesh: provenance and petrogenetic implications

The present research deals with the FEG-EPMA mapping and Fe-Ti oxide mineral chemistry of Brahmaputra River sediments in Bangladesh. Major heavy minerals in the sediments consist of garnet (8.5–21.3%), kyanite (5.35–11.9%), monazite (2.3–5.3%), sillimanite (1.8–4.7%), zircon (3.6–9.1%), and a considerable amount of opaques mainly Fe-Ti oxide minerals (23.1–35.4%). The detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals carry significant clues to the parent rocks or sources. In these contexts, detrital opaques (Fe-Ti oxides) have been analyzed with an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). These opaques (Fe-Ti oxide) display six types of textural patterns, dominantly seriate with granular, emulsion, and acicular sandwich structures and trellis type of textural patterns. These textural patterns belong to five intergrowths of Fe-Ti oxide minerals such as (1) ilmenite-hematite, (2) magnetite-ilmenite, (3) hematite-rutile, (4) ilmenite-hematite-rutile, and (5) ilmenite-rutile, where ilmenite-hematite intergrowth is common. Alteration is seen in both exsolved and unexsolved ilmenites. Textural patterns and mineral chemistry of the studied ilmenite minerals provide lines of evidence of low-temperature magmatic inheritance, later modified by diffusional processes. The estimated temperature and oxygen fugacity from the magnetite-ilmenite exsolution range from 547.6 to 558.2 °C and from 10^?21.4 to 10^?21.7, respectively. The data are also consistent with hematite-ilmenite temperature (between 537 and 540 °C) and oxygen fugacity (10^?21.7 to 10^?21.9) measurements in Cox’s Bazar beach placers. These temperatures and oxygen fugacities specify Fe-Ti oxide assemblages equilibrated in a T-fO₂ field very near to the FMQ buffer curve suggesting a crustal source (magmatic and/or metamorphic), which is modified significantly by metamorphic processes.     

Hydrological behaviour of a drained agricultural peat catchment in the tropics. 1: Rainfall,runoff and water table relationships

Abstract

Hydrological data of a drained tropical peat catchment have been analysed through conventional quantitative hydrological approaches to characterize its hydrological behaviours and changes due to continuous drainage for a long period. The results show that the hydrology of the catchment is extremely dynamic and the catchment is flashy in nature. A decreasing trend in peak flow amount and an increasing trend in baseflow amount was observed in the catchment, indicating that continuous drainage has reduced the risk of both flooding and water scarcity in the catchment. Correlation analysis among rainfall, runoff and groundwater table reveals that saturation excess-near surface flow is the dominant mechanism responsible for rapid runoff generation in the catchment. Therefore, any physical alterations or disturbances to the upper part of the peat profile would definitely affect the overall hydrological behaviour of the peat catchment.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor D. Hughes

Citation Katimon, A., Shahid, S., Abd Wahab, A.K., and Ali, M.H., 2013. Hydrological behaviour of a drained agricultural peat catchment in the tropics. Part 1: Rainfall, runoff and water table relationships. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (6), 1297–1309.     

Societal application of geophysics as an aid to a rescue operation at Jaipur

Geophysical techniques are normally employed to explore the subsurface and determine the anomalies but they are always much larger in dimension. However, a very precise measurement was needed to pin point a misaligned horizontal tunnel made at 47 m depth to intercept an old bore well and rescue a four year child fallen accidently on 9^th November at Jagatpura village in Jaipur, India. Due to the greater depth and presence of iron casing, electric power, etc., no equipment could work to determine the orientation of the tunnel that has lost its direction. The dimension of the site and many other constrains didn’t allow conventional geophysical methods to be used. An innovative method was then designed and successfully applied, which determined 1.92 m deviation of the tunnel end point to the east from the old bore well. The digging was redirected accordingly and the bore well was intercepted. This paper describes the theoretical background, forward simulations and the field experiment of the newly designed geophysical method.     

Australian baby boomers switched to more environment friendly modes of transport during the global financial crisis

The global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 rocked economies around the world. Several intermediate outcomes of the GFC included loss of jobs and reduced income. Relatively little research has, however, examined the impacts of the GFC on individual level travel behaviour change. To address this shortcoming, HABITAT panel data were employed to estimate a multinomial logit model to examine mode switching behaviour between 2007 and 2009 of a baby boomers cohort in Brisbane, Australia—a city within a developed country that has been on many metrics the least affected by the GFC. In addition, a Poisson regression model was estimated to model the number of trips made by individuals in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The South East Queensland travel survey datasets were used to develop this model. Four linear regression models were estimated to assess the effects of the GFC on time allocated to travel during a day: one for each of the three travel modes including public transport, active transport, less environmentally friendly transport; and an overall travel time model irrespective of mode. The results reveal that the baby boomers switched to more environmentally friendly travel modes during the GFC.     

Uptake of Indosol Dark-blue GL dye from aqueous solution by water hyacinth roots powder: adsorption and desorption study

Adsorption characteristics of water hyacinth roots powder for the removal of Indosol Dark-blue GL dye were investigated in batch mode. Operating variables, such as initial solution pH, presence of detergent, adsorbent dosage, initial concentration and contact time, were studied. The results showed that the adsorption of dye increased with increasing the initial concentration and contact time. The adsorption is highly pH dependent and adsorption capacity increased with decrease in pH. Kinetic study revealed that the uptake of Indosol Dark-blue GL was very rapid within the first 15 min and equilibrium time was independent of initial concentration. Batch equilibrium experiments were carried out at different pH and found that equilibrium data fitted well to Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum sorption capacity of the adsorbent was found as 86 mg g^?1 at pH 3 which reduced to 64 mg g^?1 at pH 5. The presence of detergent reduced the sorption capacity of the adsorbent significantly. Using equilibrium and kinetic data, the forward and backward rate constants were determined from the unified approach model. Desorption study revealed that the dye can be recovered by swing the pH from low to high.     

Petrography and provenance of subsurface Neogene sandstones of Bengal Basin, Bangladesh

This study deals with petrography and provenance of the Neogene reservoir sandstones encountered in the Kailas Tila, Titas, Bakhrabad and Shahbazpur Gas Fields of Bengal Basin. Framework grains are sand-sized to silt-sized particles of mainly detrital origin. The most common detrital grains are quartz, feldspars, and rock fragments. Mica occurred as minor and non-opaque heavy minerals found as minor accessories. Among the main detrital framework grains, quartz constitutes 51–60%, feldspar 3–15%, lithic fragments 8–22%. Sandstones encountered in the studied wells have been classified as sublithic arenite, feldspathic arenite and lithic arenite in order of abundance. Different triangular plots reveal that the Neogene sandstones of the studied wells exhibit a quartzolithic composition, low feldspar, very low volcanic grains and abundant sedimentary and low grade metamorphic lithic clasts indicating that the sands were derived from quartzose recycled orogen province, such as a fold thrust province or a collision suture zone. This study suggests that either the eastern Himalayas or Indo-Burman Ranges might act as the source of the sandstones of the studied wells of the Bengal Basin.     

Spatiotemporal pattern of the dynamics in area,production, and yield of Aus rice in Bangladesh and its response to droughts from 1980 to 2018

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters such as droughts in the world. The pre-monsoon Aus rice in Bangladesh depends on rainfall and is threatened by increasing droughts. However, limited information on the changes in Aus rice as well as droughts hamper our understanding of the country’s agricultural resilience and adaption to droughts. Here, we collected all the official statistical data of Aus rice at the district level from 1980 to 2018, and examined the inter...     

Hydrogeochemical characteristics of acid mine drainage and water pollution at Makum Coalfield,India

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the severe environmental problems that coal mines are facing. Generation of AMD in the northeastern part of India due to the coal mining activities has long been reported. However detailed geochemical characterization of AMD and its impact on water quality of various creeks, river and groundwater in the area has never been reported. Coal and coal measure rocks in the study area show finely disseminated pyrite crystals. Secondary solid phases, resulted due to oxidation of pyrite, occur on the surface of coal, and are mainly consisting of hydrated sulphate complexes of Fe and Mg (copiapite group of minerals). The direct mine discharges are highly acidic (up to pH 2.3) to alkaline (up to pH 7.6) in nature with high concentration of SO₄²⁻. Acidic discharges are highly enriched with Fe, Al, Mn, Ni, Pb and Cd, while Cr, Cu, Zn and Co are below their maximum permissible limit in most mine discharges. Creeks that carrying the direct mine discharges are highly contaminated; whereas major rivers are not much impacted by AMD. Ground water close to the collieries and AMD affected creeks are highly contaminated by Mn, Fe and Pb. Through geochemical modeling, it is inferred that jarosite is stable at pH less than 2.5, schwertmannite at pH less than 4.5, ferrihydrite above 5.8 and goethite is stable over wide range of pH, from highly acidic to alkaline condition.