Petrology, geochemistry and genesis of rift-related carbonatites of Ambadungar, India

Summary The Ambadungar (Amba Dongar) alkaline carbonatite complex is emplaced in the Deccan traps igneous province. A wide range of carbonatites and alkaline rocks are exposed around Ambadungar. The alkaline rocks have been classified as tinguaite, phonolite and/or phononephelinite, melanephelinite, and syenite and/or nepheline syenite whereas carbonatites vary from calcio-carbonatites to ferro- and silicocarbonatites. The enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (LILE), P, and rare-earth elements (REE) in carbonatites is considered to result from fractionation of a mantle derived magmatic liquid, i.e. nephelinitic magma, by liquid immiscibility which also produced melanephelinite and/or phononephelinite with high field strength elements (HFSE) such as Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn in the alkaline silicate liquid fraction. The La:Lu ratios of the carbonatites are typical of igneous rocks and vary between 590 and 1945, similar to many known magmatic carbonatites. The ¹³C concentration varies between –2 and –8 whereas ¹⁸O-values vary between 7.7 and 26.8. The ¹³C concentration is typical of primary igneous carbonatites but ¹⁸O enrichment is thought to be the result of post-magmatic processes such as interaction with meteoric water and re-equilibration with hydrous fluids at low temperatures.

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Petrologie, Geochemie und Genese der riftgebundenen Karbonatite von Ambadungar, Indien

Zusammenfassung Der Ambadungar (Amba Dongar) Alkalikarbonatit-Komplex liegt in der magmatischen Deccan Provinz. Er umfaßt eine Vielzahl von karbonatitischen und alkalischen Gesteinen, die in der Umgebung von Ambadungar aufgeschlossen sind. Die Alkaligesteine sind als Tinguaite, Phonolite und/oder Phononephelinite, Melanephelinite, Syenite und/oder Nephelinsyenite zu klassifizieren, die Karbonatite als Calcio-, bis Ferro- and Silicokarbonatite. Die Anreicherung an LIL-Elementen und Seltenen Erden in den Karbonatiten werden als das Ergebnis der Fraktionierung von Mantelschmelzen, i.e. eines nephelinitisches Magmas, infolge von Nichtmischbarkeit interpretiert. Melanephelinite und/oder Phononephelinite and hohe Gehalte an HFS-Elementen (Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn) in der alkalisch-silikatischen Schmelzfraktion sind ebenfalls das Ergebnis dieser Prozesse. Die La/Lu-Verhältnisse sind typisch für magmatische Karbonatite and variieren zwischen 590 and 1945. Die ¹³C Konzentrationen variieren zwischen -2 and -8 %o, die ¹⁸O Werte zwischen 7.7 and 26.8 %0. Während die ¹³C Konzentration typisch für primär magmatische Karbonatite ist, ist die ¹⁸O-Anreicherung mit postmagmatischen Prozessen, wie etwa die Interaktion mit meteorischen Wässern and die Reequilibration mit niedrig temperierten wäßrigen Fluiden, erklärbar.

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with 11 figures     

Testing of coupled SCS curve number model for estimating runoff and sediment yield for eleven watersheds

The soil conservation service (SCS) methodology for computing direct run-off, using soil-cover-moisture complexes involves the selection of a runoff curve number (CN) for such complex events. This method has been further simplified by introducing an assumption on initial abstraction, with only one unknown parameter CN, which is represented by the potential retention capacity of the watershed (S). In this study, coupled SCN-CN with USLE model was used for the estimation of the runoff and sediment yield for eleven watersheds of different land uses (urban, agricultural, and forest) from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, India. For the validation, runoffsediment yield model is employed to a large set of rainfall-runoff-sediment yield data (68 storm events) observed from eleven watersheds. Model performance was assessed by using Nash and Sutcliffe statistical method. The efficiency of results was varying from 60.42 to 92.99 % for sediment yield and 54.23 to 96.12 % for runoff; this efficiency showed a reliable performance of model for estimating the sediment yield and runoff.     

Discovery of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Elephas</Emphasis> cf. <Emphasis Type="Italic">namadicus</Emphasis> from the late Pleistocene strata of Marginal Ganga Plain

We describe an elephant skull recovered from a cliff section of Dhasan river of Marginal Ganga Plain. The dental morphology and cranial features of the skull have been compared with the known species of Elephas from the Indian subcontinent. Although it shows very near resemblance to Elephas namadicus, but being an isolated specimen its specific identity cannot be proclaimed with certainty. As such, the specimen is provisionally referred as E. cf. namadicus. The Optically Stimulated Luminescence ages place this find at ~56 ka BP. This is the first chronologically well constrained report of E. cf. namadicus from the Ganga Plain.     

Intercomparison of High-Resolution Bay of Bengal Circulation Models Forced with Different Winds

The high-resolution Bay of Bengal circulation modeling in the region [80E–95E; 5N–22N] is performed with a horizontal resolution of 10 km and the highest vertical resolution of 5 m near the surface. The intercomparison experiments, with ocean model forced with the near-surface (1) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis winds and (2) blended seawinds data (a combination of remotely sensed scatterometer and in situ observations) are carried out for a period of 17 years during 1998–2014. The seasonal variability of the realistically simulated surface hydrographic (temperature and salinity) and circulation (currents) variables from both the experiments is compared and contrasted with the observational data. The mixed layer depth seasonal variability of the region is also studied. The mesoscale features of currents at 50 and 100 m are also studied. The volume transport across different sections in the Bay of Bengal is computed and its relation with summer monsoon rainfall is investigated. The results suggest that there is no real advantage of using high-resolution blended seawinds over the much coarser NCEP reanalysis winds.     

Lightning activity and its relationship with typhoon intensity and vertical wind shear for Super Typhoon Haiyan (1330)

Super Typhoon Haiyan (1330), which occurred in 2013, is the most powerful typhoon during landfall in the meteorological record. In this study, the temporal and spatial distributions of lightning activity of Haiyan were analyzed by using the lightning data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network, typhoon intensity and position data from the China Meteorological Administration, and horizontal wind data from the ECMWF. Three distinct regions were identified in the spatial distribution of daily average lightning density, with the maxima in the inner core and the minima in the inner rainband. The lightning density in the intensifying stage of Haiyan was greater than that in its weakening stage. During the time when the typhoon intensity measured with maximum sustained wind speed was between 32.7 and 41.4 ms^?1, the storm had the largest lightning density in the inner core, compared with other intensity stages. In contrast to earlier typhoon studies, the eyewall lightning burst out three times. The first two eyewall lightning outbreaks occurred during the period of rapid intensification and before the maximum intensity of the storm, suggesting that the eyewall lightning activity could be used to identify the change in tropical cyclone intensity. The flashes frequently occurred in the inner core, and in the outer rainbands with the black body temperature below 220 K. Combined with the ECMWF wind data, the influences of vertical wind shear (VWS) on the azimuthal distribution of flashes were also analyzed, showing that strong VWS produced downshear left asymmetry of lightning activity in the inner core and downshear right asymmetry in the rainbands.     

Origin of the marine magnetic quiet zones in the Labrador and Greenland Seas

The central part of the northern Labrador Sea is a magnetic quiet zone, and is flanked by regions exhibiting well developed linear magnetic anomalies older than anomaly 24. The quiet zone dies out progressively to the south, where it becomes possible to correlate anomalies between adjacent profiles. A 45 degree change in spreading direction at anomaly 25 time was accompanied by a major jump in ridge position and orientation. As a consequence of this reorganisation, spreading in the northern Labrador Sea next occurred within a rift that was oriented at 45 degrees to the spreading direction, while to the south spreading occurred within in a rift that was orientated at 90 degrees to the spreading direction. Obliquity of spreading changed, between these limits, progressively along the ridge. The quiet zone may be present to the north because the oblique northern geometry resulted in a fragmented ridge composed of many small-offset transform faults joining many short spreading ridge segments. Each magnetic source block produced by magnetisation of sea floor at these small ridge segments will be surrounded by similar small blocks that have opposite polarity, so that none can be resolved at the sea surface. Supporting evidence comes from multi-channel seismic profiles across the Labrador Sea, which show that the basement is more textured within the quiet zone than outside, suggesting the presence of numerous small fracture zones in the quiet zone.A magnetic quiet zone is present in the northern Greenland Sea between margins that are oblique to the spreading direction. In contrast, there are clear lineated magnetic patterns in adjacent areas to north and south where the margins are orthogonal to the spreading direction. This quiet zone may also be due to the geometry of spreading.     

RS CVn-binary RW com: A possible three-body system

A first detailed period study of the eclipsing RS CVn-binary system RW Com is presented. A new period (P=0^d.2373455) based on 223 minima is given. The O–C diagrams of RW Com have been presented for the first time. Types of ten minima have been corrected judging the period trend. Period changes in different portions of the O–C diagram (Figure 2) have been estimated. The total change in period (P/P) ranges from 5.5×10^–7 to 6.4×10^–6. Thus, P ranges from 1.3×10^–7 d to 1.5×10^–6 d. Numerous minima are available in the time interval 1967 to 1986. This part of the O–C diagram (Figure 2) shows a sinusoidal variation, thus, it is suspected that RW Com could be a three-body system. The period of variation due to third body appears to be nearly 16 years.