Assessing coastal landscape vulnerability using geospatial techniques along Vizianagaram–Srikakulam coast of Andhra Pradesh,India

Vizianagaram–Srikakulam coastal shoreline consisting of beaches, mangrove swamps, tidal channel and mudflats is one of the vulnerable coasts in Andhra Pradesh, India. Five site-specific parameters, namely rate of geomorphology, coastal elevation, coastal slope, shoreline change and mean significant wave height, were chosen for constructing coastal vulnerability index and assessing coastal landscape vulnerability. The findings revealed a shift of 2.5 km in shoreline towards the land surface because of constant erosion and that of 1.82 km towards the sea due to accretion during 1997–2017. The rate of high erosion was found in zones IV and V, and high accretion was found in zones II and III. Coastal vulnerability index analysis revealed constant erosion along shoreline and sea level rise in the study area. Most of the coast in zone V has recorded very high vulnerability due to erosion, high slope, significant wave height and sea level rise. Erosion and accretion, significant wave height, sea level rise and slope are attributed to high vulnerability in zones III and IV. Zone II recorded moderate vulnerability. Relatively lower slope, mean sea wave height and sea level rise have made this zone moderately vulnerable. Very low vulnerability was found in zone I, and low vulnerability was recorded in zone II. Accretion, low slope and low sea level rise were found to be causative factors of lower vulnerability. Thus, zones III, IV and V should be accorded higher priorities for coastal management. The findings can be helpful in coastal land planning and management and preparing emergency plans of the coastal ecosystems.     

A review of b-value imaging and fractal dimension studies in the Andaman Sumatra subduction

The present study analyses the spatial pattern of quaternary gravitational slope deformations (GSD) and historical/present-day instabilities (HPI) inventoried in the Swiss Rhone Valley. The main objective is to test if these events are clustered (spatial attraction) or randomly distributed (spatial independency). Moreover, analogies with the cluster behaviour of earthquakes inventoried in the same area were examined. The Ripley’s K-function was applied to measure and test for randomness. This indicator allows describing the spatial pattern of a point process at increasing distance values. To account for the non-constant intensity of the geological phenomena, a modification of the K-function for inhomogeneous point processes was adopted. The specific goal is to explore the spatial attraction (i.e. cluster behaviour) among landslide events and between gravitational slope deformations and earthquakes. To discover if the two classes of instabilities (GSD and HPI) are spatially independently distributed, the cross K-function was computed. The results show that all the geological events under study are spatially clustered at a well-defined distance range. GSD and HPI show a similar pattern distribution with clusters in the range 0.75–9 km. The cross K-function reveals an attraction between the two classes of instabilities in the range 0–4 km confirming that HPI are more prone to occur within large-scale slope deformations. The K-function computed for GSD and earthquakes indicates that both present a cluster tendency in the range 0–10 km, suggesting that earthquakes could represent a potential predisposing factor which could influence the GSD distribution.     

Satellite-Derived Regional Apparent Thermal Inertia and Gravity for Mapping Different Rock Types in Parts of Banswara,Rajasthan

The present study deals with the delineation of lineaments over Sir Creek offshore and its surroundings from EGM2008 gravity data using various derivative techniques owing to their costeffectiveness in prospective hydrocarbon exploration. Initially, 2-D and 3-D synthetic models have been generated with vertical prismatic objects at different depths. The effectiveness of total horizontal derivative (THD) technique has been established by comparing with E-W and N-S Horizontal derivatives and First Vertical derivative techniques. The residuals of Bouguer gravity data have been estimated with different cut-off wavelengths. Further, the residual anomaly map has been enhanced by the derivative techniques for the delineation of the structural features. Possible depths of the delineated lineaments have been estimated using Euler deconvolution of the Bouguer gravity data, which indicates maximum clustering over the delineated lineaments. It is observed that most of the lineaments are in the depth range of 1.0 km to 5.5km, which correlate well with the previous seismic studies. The present study reveals that the major lineament trends in the N-S, E-W and NNW-SSE directions followed by NE-SW, NW-SE and ENE-WSW directions. These major lineament trends are due to the tectonic activities occurred during Precambrian and Cretaceous period. Different small circular features, rectangular features and shorter wavelength features have also been identified, which could be the key parameter for mapping potential location for hydrocarbon exploration.