Accumulation of Heavy Metals by Chickpea Grown in Fly Ash Treated Soil: Effect on Antioxidants

Chickpea grown in fly ash (FA) treated soil (25, 50, and 100% FA) was used to evaluate the effect of FA on antioxidants, metal concentration (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Cd), photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a (chl‐a), chlorophyll b (chl‐b), total chlorophyll (total chl), and carotenoids), growth and yield performance. All antioxidants in roots, shoots and leaves of chickpea increase with increasing FA doses to combat FA stress. The activities of antioxidants were more in the root tissues to cope with stress induced in the plants as compared to shoot and leaf. Concentration of metals was found maximum in roots than the shoots and seeds. The highest concentration of Fe and lowest level of Cd were recorded in all treatments of FA for different parts of the plant. The treated crop showed reduced level of chlorophyll but enhanced level of carotenoids and protein. However, root length, number of nodules and biomass in 25 and 50% FA treatments did not differ significantly in comparison to respective control plants. These results suggest that heavy metals of FA causes oxidative stress in this crop and the antioxidant enzymes could help a pivotal role against oxidative injury.     

Spatio-temporal evaluation of event detection and measurement coherence among satellite rainfall products for ensembled dataset generation

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Selection of a best suited satellite-based gridded rainfall product (SGRP) is challenging due to their significant variations at spatial and temporal scale....     

Simulating the daily discharge of the Mandovi River,west coast of India

Abstract

A hydrological modelling framework was assembled to simulate the daily discharge of the Mandovi River on the Indian west coast. Approximately 90% of the west-coast rainfall, and therefore discharge, occurs during the summer monsoon (June–September), with a peak during July–August. The modelling framework consisted of a digital elevation model (DEM) called GLOBE, a hydrological routing algorithm, the Terrestrial Hydrological Model with Biogeochemistry (THMB), an algorithm to map the rainfall recorded by sparse raingauges to the model grid, and a modified Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method. A series of discharge simulations (with and without the SCS method) was carried out. The best simulation was obtained after incorporating spatio-temporal variability in the SCS parameters, which was achieved by an objective division of the season into five regimes: the lean season, monsoon onset, peak monsoon, end-monsoon, and post-monsoon. A novel attempt was made to incorporate objectively the different regimes encountered before, during and after the Indian monsoon, into a hydrological modelling framework. The strength of our method lies in the low demand it makes on hydrological data. Apart from information on the average soil type in a region, the entire parameterization is built on the basis of the rainfall that is used to force the model. That the model does not need to be calibrated separately for each river is important, because most of the Indian west-coast basins are ungauged. Hence, even though the model has been validated only for the Mandovi basin, its potential region of application is considerable. In the context of the Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) framework, the potential of the proposed approach is significant, because the discharge of these (ungauged) rivers into the eastern Arabian Sea is not small, making them an important element of the local climate system.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor S. Grimaldi

Citation Suprit, K., Shankar, D., Venugopal, V. and Bhatkar, N.V., 2012. Simulating the daily discharge of the Mandovi River, west coast of India. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (4), 686–704.     

Palyno-petrographical facet and depositional account of Gondwana sediments from East Bokaro coalfield,Jharkhand

Palynological and petrological studies have been undertaken on the Gondwana coal and associated lithologies encountered in borehole EBM-2 of East Bokaro coalfield of Damodar Basin, India. The palynological investigation resulted in the recognition of Assemblage–III (Densipollenites, 27.9 m–214.30 m), Assemblage–II (Striatopodocarpites + Faunipollenites, 225.00 m–297.60 m) and Assemblage–I (Faunipollenites + Scheuringipollenites, 307.00m–433.00 m). Lithofacies study was also done for better understanding of the preservation and abundance/paucity of the spores and pollen in different lithologies as the current borehole has significant thickness of mudstones, shales and siltstone. Palynofacies study and Petrographical studies of coal samples encountered in the borehole were used to determine the depositional environment of the coal precursor peat swamp. Palynological data has revealed the presence of younger Raniganj palynoflora between 27.00-214.30 m depth that is lithologically defined as Barren Measures Formation. This spore pollen study has proved that these sediments were deposited during late early Permian to late Permian period. Further the maceral analysis of organic sediments as well as the Thermal Alteration Index (TAI) has revealed that the coaly shale at 336.5 m depth has hydrocarbon generation potential.     

Groundwater demand management at local scale in rural areas of India: a strategy to ensure water well sustainability based on aquifer diffusivity and community participation

Watershed development programmes provide an opportunity for sustainable management strategies, although currently, they remain largely supply-side mechanisms of water resources development. Hydrogeological conditions, community participation and status of groundwater usage are important in evolving strategies on demand-side groundwater management.Neemkheda aquifer is a typical low-storage, low-hydraulic conductivity aquifer from a watershed in the dryland regions of Madhya Pradesh State of central India. A shallow unconfined aquifer, it consists of an upper coarse, calcareous sandstone unit underlain by a fine-grained sandstone unit. A well commune of seven wells is poised to test the concept of joint groundwater management, wherein wells are mechanisms of tapping a common water source, the Neemkheda aquifer.The strategy for systematic groundwater management in the Neemkheda well commune is based upon the relationship between Transmissivity (T) and Storage coefficient (S), i.e. aquifer diffusivity, and its variation within the aquifer. Wells within a high diffusivity domain tend to dewater more quickly than wells within a low diffusivity domain. A well-use schedule during the dry season, based upon aquifer diffusivity forms the basis of the groundwater management concept. The distribution of local aquifer diffusivities governs the relationship between local and regional aquifer depletion times and forms the basis of the groundwater management exercise being proposed for the Neemkheda aquifer.

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Resumen Los programas de desarrollo de una cuenca hídrica son una oportunidad para el uso de estrategias de gestión sostenible, aunque hoy en día estas siguen siendo principalmente mecanismos para el desarrollo de recursos hídricos con énfasis en la oferta. Las condiciones hidrogeológicas, la participación comunitaria y la condición de utilización del agua subterránea, son importantes en el desarrollo de estrategias para la gestión del agua subterránea, desde el punto de vista de la demanda.El acuífero de Neemkheda es un acuífero típico de almacenamiento bajo y conductividad hidráulica baja, perteneciente a una cuenca hídrica ubicada en las regiones secas del Estado de Madhya Pradesh, en la parte central de India. Un acuífero de tipo libre, somero, formado por una unidad superior de arenisca calcárea de grano grueso, subyacida por una unidad de arenisca de grano fino.Un campo de pozos comunitario compuesto por siete pozos, pone a prueba el concepto de gestión conjunta del agua subterránea, dentro del cual los pozos son mecanismos para usar una fuente de agua común: El acuífero de Neemkheda.La estrategia usada para la gestión sistemática del agua subterránea, en el campo de pozos comunitario de Neemkheda, se basa en la relación existente entre Transmisividad (T) y Coeficiente de Almacenamiento (S), es decir en la Difusividad del Acuífero y en su variación observada dentro del mismo acuífero. Los pozos cuya difusividad esta dentro de un rango alto, tienden a experimentar un descenso en su nivel mas rápidamente que aquellos pozos con una difusividad baja. El concepto de gestión de agua subterránea se basa en un programa especial de operación para cada pozo durante la estación seca, el cual a su vez se basa en la difusividad del acuífero. La distribución de difusividades locales del acuífero rige las relaciones entre las épocas de descensos de nivel en el acuífero a escala regional y local, y además constituyen la base del ejercicio de la gestión del agua subterránea que se esta proponiendo para el acuífero de Neemkheda.

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Résumé Les programmes de développement des bassins versants offrent une occasion de développer des stratégies pour une gestion durable, bien qu à présent elles restent en grande mesure le terme source dans le mécanisme de développement de la ressource en eau. Les conditions hydrogéologiques, la participation de la communauté et lusage des eaux souterraines sont importants pour le terme demande dans les stratégies de gestion des eaux souterraines. Laquifère de Neemkheda presents des caractéristiques typiques pour un bassin versant dans les régions arides de létat Madhya Pradesh de lInde centrale en ce qui concerne les faible valeurs de la conductivité hydraulique et du coéfficient demmagasinement. Il sagit dun aquifère phrèatique dont la partie supérieure est constitué par des grès calcaire qui restent sur des grés plus fins. Afin dessayer le concept de gestion integrée, on a réalisé dans laquifère de Neemkheda un captage ayant sept forages qui forment la ressource en eau communale. La stratégie de la gestion systématique du captage est basée sur la relation entre la transmissivité (T), le coéfficient demmagasinement (S), donc la diffusivité hydraulique ainsi que sa variation spatiale. Les puits forés dans les zones à grande diffusivité tendent à sassècher plus vite que ceux creusés dans des zones à faible diffusivité. Le concept de la gestion des eaux souterraines est donc basé sur la distribution spatiale des diffusivités. À partir de ce concept on a développé un programme dexploitation des forages pendant les saisons sèches. La relation entre les temps d épuissment locaux et régionaux est determiné par la distribution spatiale de la diffusivitée et forme la base de lexercice sur la gestion des eaux proposée pour laquifère de Neemkheda.

     

Shifted cosmological parameter and shifted dust matter in a two-phase tachyonic field universe

We propose a model of the evolution of the tachyonic scalar field over two phases in the universe. The field components do not interact in phase I, while in the subsequent phase II, they change flavours due to relative suppression of the radiation contribution. In phase II, we allow them to interact mutually with time-independent perturbation in their equations of state, as Shifted Cosmological Parameter (SCP) and Shifted Dust Matter (SDM). We determine the solutions of their scaling with the cosmic redshift in both phases. We further suggest the normalised Hubble function diagnostic, which, together with the low- and high-redshift H(z) data and the concordance values of the present density parameters from the CMBR, BAO statistics etc., constrain the strength of interaction by imposing the viable conditions to break degeneracy in 3-parameter $(\gamma, \varepsilon, \dot{\phi}^{2})$ space. The range of redshifts (z=0.1 to z=1.75) is chosen to highlight the role of interaction during structure formation, and it may lead to a future analysis of power spectrum in this model vis a vis Warm Dark Matter (WDM) or ΛCDM models. We further calculate the influence of interaction in determining the age of the universe at the present epoch, within the degeneracy space of model parameters.     

Documenting channel features associated with gas hydrates in the Krishna–Godavari Basin,offshore India

During the India National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 01 in 2006 significant sand and gas hydrate were recovered at Site NGHP-01-15 within the Krishna–Godavari Basin, East Coast off India. At the drill site NGHP-01-15, a 5–8 m thick interval was found that is characterized by higher sand content than anywhere else at the site and within the KG Basin. Gas hydrate concentrations were determined to be 20–40% of the pore volume using wire-line electrical resistivity data as well as core-derived pore-fluid freshening trends. The gas hydrate-bearing interval was linked to a prominent seismic reflection observed in the 3D seismic data. This reflection event, mapped for about 1 km² south of the drill site, is bound by a fault at its northern limit that may act as migration conduit for free gas to enter the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) and subsequently charge the sand-rich layer. On 3D and additional regional 2D seismic data a prominent channel system was imaged mainly by using the seismic instantaneous amplitude attribute. The channel can be clearly identified by changes in the seismic character of the channel fill (sand-rich) and pronounced levees (less sand content than in the fill, but higher than in surrounding mud-dominated sediments). The entire channel sequence (channel fill and levees) has been subsequently covered and back-filled with a more mud-prone sediment sequence. Where the levees intersect the base of the GHSZ, their reflection strengths are significantly increased to 5- to 6-times the surrounding reflection amplitudes. Using the 3D seismic data these high-amplitude reflection edges where linked to the gas hydrate-bearing layer at Site NGHP-01-15. Further south along the channel the same reflection elements representing the levees do not show similarly large reflection amplitudes. However, the channel system is still characterized by several high-amplitude reflection events (a few hundred meters wide and up to ~ 1 km in extent) interpreted as gas hydrate-bearing sand intervals along the length of the channel.     

A quantitative study of deformation mechanisms and finite strain in quartzites

The Weverton quartzites in the Maryland Blue Ridge are deformed by one major period of greenschist-grade deformation. The components of finite strain due to different independent mechanisms have been measured for these rocks. The total strain is split up into two major components: $$\varepsilon ^t = \varepsilon ^p + \varepsilon ^d .$$ The finite natural strain caused by dislocation creep (? ^d ) is measured by a new technique using folded and stretched rutile needles which are good strain markers within the quartz crystals. Pressure solution strain (? ^p ) is measured from the ratio of the area of new crystals and fibers to the whole rock area in principal sections. Grain boundary sliding is a dependent process which accompanies both mechanisms. Pressure solution obeys a linear Newtonian flow law, \(\left| {\dot \gamma _0^p } \right| = A_p \left| {\tau _0 } \right|\) , while dislocation creep obeys a power law of the form \(\left| {\dot \gamma _0^d } \right| = A_d \left| {\tau _0 } \right|^n \) where \(\dot \gamma _0^p ,\dot \gamma _0^d \) are octahedral shear strain rates, τ₀ is the octahedral shear stress and A _p , A _p and n are constants. A direct correlation between finite strain measurements and the operating flow laws can be made. Application of these methods and principles to a few field examples indicates that the rocks obey a flow law partly governed by each mechanism. Any set of physical conditions defines a unique flow law and there is a transition in creep behavior from dominantly Newtonian to a power law with increasing strain rate.     

Signal enhancement and multiple suppression using Radon transform: an application to marine multichannel seismic data

Radon filters are often used for removal of multiple reflections from normal move-out-corrected seismic reflection data. In the conventional Radon transform, integration surfaces are hyperbolic rather than linear. This specific hyperbolic surface is equivalent to a parabola in terms of computational expense, but more accurately distinguishes multiples from primary reflections. The forward transform separates seismic arrivals by their differences in travel time move-out. Multiples can be suppressed by an inverse transform of the seismic data. Examples show that multiples are effectively attenuated in pre-stack and stacked seismograms. Based on the parabolic Radon transform, a new method is utilized for missing offset restoration, resampling and regularization of pre-stack individual common depth point (CDP) gathers. The method is also valid for resampling spatially aliased seismic data. Restoration of missing offsets and trace interpolation is an interesting and important problem in seismic data processing. Here we present an application of Radon transform on a multichannel seismic data set from the western continental margin of India (WCMI), which shows remarkable signal enhancement.