Charnockitic magmatism in southern India

Large charnockite massifs cover a substantial portion of the southern Indian granulite terrain. The older (late Archaean to early Proterozoic) charnockites occur in the northern part and the younger (late Proterozoic) charnockites occur in the southern part of this high-grade terrain. Among these, the older Biligirirangan hill, Shevroy hill and Nilgiri hill massifs are intermediate charnockites, with Pallavaram massif consisting dominantly of felsic charnockites. The charnockite massifs from northern Kerala and Cardamom hill show spatial association of intermediate and felsic charnockites, with the youngest Nagercoil massif consisting of felsic charnockites. Their igneous parentage is evident from a combination of features including field relations, mineralogy, petrography, thermobarometry, as well as distinct chemical features. The southern Indian charnockite massifs show similarity with high-Ba-Sr granitoids, with the tonalitic intermediate charnockites showing similarity with high-Ba-Sr granitoids with low K₂O/Na₂O ratios, and the felsic charnockites showing similarity with high-Ba-Sr granitoids with high K₂O/Na₂O ratios. A two-stage model is suggested for the formation of these charnockites. During the first stage there was a period of basalt underplating, with the ponding of alkaline mafic magmas. Partial melting of this mafic lower crust formed the charnockitic magmas. Here emplacement of basalt with low water content would lead to dehydration melting of the lower crust forming intermediate charnockites. Conversely, emplacement of hydrous basalt would result in melting at higher {ie565-01} favoring production of more siliceous felsic charnockites. This model is correlated with two crustal thickening phases in southern India, one related to the accretion of the older crustal blocks on to the Archaean craton to the north and the other probably related to the collision between crustal fragments of East and West Gondwana in a supercontinent framework.     

High-Ti type N-MORB parentage of basalts from the south Andaman ophiolite suite,India

A complete dismembered sequence of ophiolite is well exposed in the south Andaman region that mainly comprises ultramafic cumulates, serpentinite mafic plutonic and dyke rocks, pillow lava, radiolarian chert, and plagiogranite. Pillow lavas of basaltic composition occupy a major part of the Andaman ophiolite suite (AOS). These basalts are well exposed all along the east coast of southern part of the south AOS. Although these basalts are altered due to low-grade metamorphism and late hydrothermal processes, their igneous textures are still preserved. These basalts are mostly either aphyric or phyric in nature. Aphyric type exhibits intersertal or variolitic textures, whereas phyric variety shows porphyritic or sub-ophitic textures. The content of alkalies and silica classify these basalts as sub-alkaline basalts and alkaline basalts. A few samples show basaltic andesite, trachy-basalt, or basanitic chemical composition. High-field strength element (HFSE) geochemistry suggests that studied basalt samples are probably derived from similar parental magmas. Al₂O₃/TiO₂ and CaO/TiO₂ ratios classify these basalts as high-Ti type basalt. On the basis of these ratios and many discriminant functions and diagrams, it is suggested that the studied basalts, associated with Andaman ophiolite suite, were derived from magma similar to N-MORB and emplaced in the mid-oceanic ridge tectonic setting.     

The Indus-Tsangpo suture zone in Ladakh, northwest Himalaya: Further palaeomagnetic data and implications

A total of 81 samples (244 specimens) from Upper Cretaceous Indus Molasse and Middle to Upper Cretaceous Dras Flyschoids of the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone in Ladakh (northwest Himalaya) has been studied by thermal demagnetization methods.Both formations showed a characteristic magnetization component indicative for equatorial to low northern palaeolatitudes of acquisition. Similar palaeolatitudes have been obtained before from secondary magnetization components of Early Tertiary age in the Ladakh Intrusives and in the Tibetan Sedimentary Series of central Nepal. The present characteristic components are interpreted likewise as secondary magnetizations which stabilized between 50 and 60 m.y. ago, during Greater India's collision with Asia's southern margin.The Dras Flyschoids show another magnetic component which, in case of primary origin, indicates acquisition at a low southern palaeolatitude. If correct, this interpretation supports recent suggestions for Late Cretaceous obduction of an island arc on Greater India's northern margin.     

Design principles for origin-destination flow maps

Origin-destination flow maps are often difficult to read due to overlapping flows. Cartographers have developed design principles in manual cartography for origin-destination flow maps to reduce overlaps and increase readability. These design principles are identified and documented using a quantitative content analysis of 97 geographic origin-destination flow maps without branching or merging flows. The effectiveness of selected design principles is verified in a user study with 215 participants. Findings show that (a) curved flows are more effective than straight flows, (b) arrows indicate direction more effectively than tapered line widths, and (c) flows between nodes are more effective than flows between areas. These findings, combined with results from user studies in graph drawing, conclude that effective and efficient origin-destination flow maps should be designed according to the following design principles: overlaps between flows are minimized; symmetric flows are preferred to asymmetric flows; longer flows are curved more than shorter or peripheral flows; acute angles between crossing flows are avoided; sharp bends in flow lines are avoided; flows do not pass under unconnected nodes; flows are radially distributed around nodes; flow direction is indicated with arrowheads; and flow width is scaled with represented quantity.     

Use of landsat in mapping land-utilization of north maidan,Karnatka

North Maidan consist of seven districts of North Karnataka. It is named after its relatively low and subdued relief or landscape of monoto-nous plateau. Most of the area lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats. The land utilization map shows majority of the area during December and January months is under agriculture with fallow land as the second largest category Large areas of North Maidan are under grassland which look barren by the beginning of summer. A total of nine landuse categories were delineated wifh the help of Landsat data.     

Use of aerial photographs in mapping alkali soils with respect to their management in a part of north-west India

An area of 6000 ha covering four villages was adopted by the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal under Operational Research Project to transfer the technology of alkali soil reclamation in the farmer’s fields. This necessitated mapping and characterisation of alkali soils of the area. Use of black and white photographs in 1∶25,000 scale proved effective in delineating alkali soils quickly and inexpensively. The physiography and photo elements like tone, landuse, drainage and parcelling facilitated identification and demarcation of four mapping units viz; P₁, P₃, P₄ and C. The unit P represented nearly flat upland alluvial plain while C represented low lying filled up old channel. The alkali soils confined mainly to the upland plain were recorded in white toned barren stretches and accounted for 36.6 percent of surveyed area. In addition, patchy occurrence of alkali soils admist the cultivated fields giving mottled appearance on the photographs was noticed over 11.3 percent area. In this case the photo scale proved limiting for demarcating alkali and non-alkali soils separately. The prtactical utility of the soil inventory in planning reclamation and management of alkali soil in the area has also been discussed.     

Modelling long-term HFC emissions from India's residential air-conditioning sector: exploring implications of alternative refrigerants,best practices,and a sustainable lifestyle within an integrated assessment modelling framework

India's growing role in the global climate debate makes it imperative to analyse emission reduction policies and strategies across a range of GHGs, especially for under-researched non-CO₂ gases. Hydrofluorocarbons' (HFCs) usage in cooling equipment and subsequent emissions are expected to increase dramatically in India with the phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as coolants in air-conditioning equipment. We focus on the residential air-conditioning sector in India and analyse a suite of HFC and alternative coolant gas scenarios for understanding the implications for GHG emissions from this sector within an integrated assessment modelling framework. We find that, if unabated, HFC410A emissions will contribute to 36% of the total global warming impact from the residential air-conditioner sector in India in 2050, irrespective of the future economic growth trajectory, and the remaining 64% is from energy to power residential air-conditioners. A move towards more efficient, low global warming potential (GWP) alternative refrigerants will significantly reduce the cumulative global warming footprint of this sector by 37% during the period 2010–2050, due to gains both from energy efficiency as well as low GWP alternatives. Best practices for reducing direct emissions are important, but only of limited utility, and if a sustainable lifestyle is adopted by consumers with lower floorspace, low GWP refrigerants, and higher building envelope efficiencies, cumulative emissions during 2010–2050 can be reduced by 46% compared to the Reference scenario.

Policy relevance

Our analysis has important implications for Indian climate policy. We highlight that the Indian government's amendment proposal to the Montreal Protocol is a strong signal to the Indian market that the transition away from high GWP refrigerants towards low/zero GWP alternatives will happen sooner or later. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency should extend building energy conservation code policy to residential buildings immediately, and the government should mandate it. Government authorities should set guidelines and mandate reporting of data related to air-conditioner coolant recharge frequency and recovery of scrapped air-conditioner units. For contentious issues like flammability where there is no consensus within the industry, the government needs to undertake an independent technical assessment that can provide unbiased and reliable information to the market.     

Correcting lateral boundary biases in regional climate modelling: the effect of the relaxation zone

Climate Dynamics - Regional climate models (RCM) are an important tool for simulating atmospheric information at finer resolutions often of greater relevance to local scale climate change impact...     

Homogenization of Earthquake Catalog for Northeast India and Adjoining Region

A catalog for northeast India and the adjoining region for the period 1897–2009 with 4,497 earthquakes events is compiled for homogenization to moment magnitude M _w,GCMT in the magnitude range 3–8.7. Relations for conversion of m _b and M _s magnitudes to M _w,GCMT are derived using three different methods, namely, linear standard regression, inverted standard regression (ISR) and orthogonal standard regression (OSR), for different magnitude ranges based on events data for the catalog period 1976–2006. The OSR relations for M _s to M _w,GCMT conversion derived in this paper have significantly lower errors in regression parameters compared to the relations reported in other studies. Since the number of events with magnitude ≥7 for this region is scanty, we, therefore, considered whole India region to obtain the regression relationships between M _w,GCMT and M _s,ISC. A relationship between M _w,GCMT and M _w,NEIC is also obtained based on 17 events for the range 5.2 ≤ magnitude ≤ 6.6. A unified homogeneous catalog prepared using the conversion relations derived in this paper can serve as a reference catalog for seismic hazard assessment studies in northeast India and the adjoining region.     

Surface wave propagation in a transversely isotropic elastic layer overlying a liquid saturated porous solid half-space and lying under the uniform layer of liquid

Dispersion of Rayleigh-type surface wave is studied in a homogeneous transversely isotropic elastic layer overlying a nondissipative liquid-saturated porous solid half-space and lying under a uniform layer of homogeneous liquid. The frequency equation in the form of ninth-order determinant is obtained.Special cases have been deduced by reducing the depth of the layers to zero and by changing the transverse isotropic layer to an isotropic layer. Dispersion curves for the phase velocity have been plotted for a particular model.