Occurrence of uranium in metasedimentary enclaves within basement granite, near Peddur and Kottur, Karimnagar District, Andhra Pradesh

Several radioactive anomalies due to uranium and thorium, associated with the mesedimentary enclaves (Archaean) within granite (Archaean to Early-Proterozoic) have been recorded in parts of Karimnagar Granulite Terrain, Karimnagar Dist. At Peddur and Kottur, Uraninite has been identified in the samples of metasediments. The metasediment from these two places have been subjected to granulite facies of metamorphism and host high values of uranium with negligible thorium. In Peddur, samples of metasediments have assayed as high as 1.96% U₃O₈ with negligible thorium, and in Kottur up to 0.059% U₃O₈. Leaching studies on these samples have indicated that most of the U₃O₈ present is leachable. This discovery has opened up the possibility of finding uranium mineralisation in Archaean metasediments and thus provides a thrust for uranium exploration in similar geological environs in India. Further, the basement granite along with the metasedimentary enclaves has the potential to act as a provenance for a possible unconformity type or sandstone type U-deposit in the rocks of overlying Pakhal and Gondwana Supergroup, in Pranhita-Godavari Basin, situated to the east of this area.     

Inhomogeneous Mesonic Perfect Fluid Models in Modified Theory of General Relativity

In this paper, we have investigated plane symmetric inhomogeneous cosmological models in the presence of massless scalar field in modified theory of general relativity when source of the gravitational field is a perfect fluid. The physical and geometrical aspects of the models together with singularity involved in the models are also discussed. PACS Nos.: 04.50. + h•4.20.Cv• 4.20.Dw     

Non-Existence of Five Dimensional Perfect Fluid Cosmological Model in Lyra Manifold

In this paper we have taken an attempt to construct a five dimensional perfect fluid cosmological model within the framework of Lyra manifold. It is found that neither perfect fluid nor dust distributions survive. Finally the exact solutions of the vacuum field equations are obtained.     

Sensitivity of the GCM driven summer monsoon simulations to cumulus parameterization schemes in nested RegCM3

The regional climate model (RegCM3) from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics has been used to simulate the Indian summer monsoon for three different monsoon seasons such as deficit (1987), excess (1988) and normal (1989). Sensitivity to various cumulus parameterization and closure schemes of RegCM3 driven by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting global spectral model products has been tested. The model integration of the nested RegCM3 is conducted using 90 and 30-km horizontal resolutions for outer and inner domains, respectively. The India Meteorological Department gridded rainfall (1° × 1°) and National Centre for Environment Prediction (NCEP)–Department of Energy (DOE) reanalysis-2 of 2.5° × 2.5° horizontal resolution data has been used for verification. The RegCM3 forced by NCEP–DOE reanalysis-2 data simulates monsoon seasons of 1987 and 1988 reasonably well, but the monsoon season of 1989 is not represented well in the model simulations. The RegCM3 runs driven by the global model are able to bring out seasonal mean rainfall and circulations well with the use of the Grell and Anthes–Kuo cumulus scheme at 90-km resolution. While the rainfall intensity and distribution is brought out well with the Anthes–Kuo scheme, upper air circulation features are brought out better by the Grell scheme. The simulated rainfall distribution is better with RegCM3 using the MIT-Emanuel cumulus scheme for 30-km resolution. Several statistical analyses, such as correlation coefficient, root mean square error, equitable threat score, confirm that the performance of MIT-Emanuel scheme at 30-km resolution is better in simulating all-India summer monsoon rainfall. The RegCM3 simulated rainfall amount is more and closer to observations than that from the global model. The RegCM3 has corrected its driven GCM in terms of rainfall distribution and magnitude over some parts of India during extreme years. This study brings out several weaknesses of the RegCM model which are documented in this paper.     

Crustal Strain Patterns in the Satpura Mountain Belt,Central India: Implications for Tectonics and Seismicity in Stable Continental Regions

The Satpura Mountains of central India represents an ancient orogenic belt of the Mesoproterozoic time. It has a distinct sygmoidal (S-shaped) geometry with long EW and short NE–SW alignments. The mountain belt has been affected by tectonic activities throughout the geological past. The association of high seismicity, high heat flow and high Bouguer gravity anomaly with high topography of the region is a very distinct feature of the mountain range. Present analysis demonstrates that the average velocity for central India has a value of ~54 mm/year towards N050°. The velocity field vector can be partitioned into an eastward component parallel to the Satpura Mountain Belt and a northward component across the belt. The partitioned components provide evidence for sinistral strike–slip deformation of anomalously high shear strain rate of ~3 × 10⁻⁹/year in the region. Similar high shear strain rates are also found from the strain determined by GPS data. An extremely high rate of extensional strain (~600 × 10⁻⁹/year), which is comparable to that of the continental rift systems, is recorded from geodetic data of the Satpura Mountain Belt and the adjacent regions. Regional sinistral shape of the Satpura Mountains involved in a sinistral-slip transtension regime is interpreted to be the cause of high extensional and shear strain regime of the area. The occurrence of normal faulting detected in several deep seismic sounding profiles, the Moho upwarp, crustal thinning, high heat flow and high seismicity of the Satpura region are explained by this tectonic model.     

Site-Specific Modeling of SH and P-SV Waves for Microzonation Study of Kolkata Metropolitan City, India

Kolkata, one of the oldest cities of India, is situated over the thick alluvium of the Bengal Basin, where it lies at the boundary of the zone III and zone IV of the seismic zonation map of India. An example of the study of site effects of the metropolitan Kolkata is presented based on theoretical modeling. Full synthetic strong motion waveforms have been computed using a hybrid method that combines the modal summation and finite difference techniques. The 1964 Calcutta earthquake, which was located at the southern part of Kolkata, is taken as the source region, with the focal mechanism parameters of dip?=?32°, strike?=?232° and rake?=?56°. Four profiles are considered for the computation of the synthetic seismograms from which the maximum ground acceleration (A _MAX) is obtained. Response spectra ratios (RSR) are then computed using a bedrock reference model to estimate local amplifications effects. The A _MAX varies from 0.05 to 0.17?g and the comparison of the A _MAX with the different intensity scales (MM, MSK, RF and MCS) shows that the expected intensity is in the range from VII to X (MCS) for an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 at an epicentral distance of about 100?km. This theoretical result matches with the empirical (historical and recent) intensity observations in Kolkata. The RSR, as a function of frequency, reaches the largest values (largest amplification) in the frequency range from 1.0 to 2.0?Hz. The largest site amplification is observed at the top of loose soil.     

On the Predictability of Northeast Monsoon Rainfall over South Peninsular India in General Circulation Models

In this study the predictability of northeast monsoon (Oct–Nov–Dec) rainfall over peninsular India by eight general circulation model (GCM) outputs was analyzed. These GCM outputs (forecasts for the whole season issued in September) were compared with high-resolution observed gridded rainfall data obtained from the India Meteorological Department for the period 1982–2010. Rainfall, interannual variability (IAV), correlation coefficients, and index of agreement were examined for the outputs of eight GCMs and compared with observation. It was found that the models are able to reproduce rainfall and IAV to different extents. The predictive power of GCMs was also judged by determining the signal-to-noise ratio and the external error variance; it was noted that the predictive power of the models was usually very low. To examine dominant modes of interannual variability, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was also conducted. EOF analysis of the models revealed they were capable of representing the observed precipitation variability to some extent. The teleconnection between the sea surface temperature (SST) and northeast monsoon rainfall was also investigated and results suggest that during OND the SST over the equatorial Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the central Pacific Ocean (over Nino3 region), and the north and south Atlantic Ocean enhances northeast monsoon rainfall. This observed phenomenon is only predicted by the CCM3v6 model.     

Simulations of Severe Tropical Cyclone Nargis over the Bay of Bengal Using RIMES Operational System

The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), an international, intergovernmental organization based in Thailand is engaged in disaster risk reduction over the Asia–Pacific region through early warning information. In this paper, RIMES’ customized Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model has been used to evaluate the simulations of cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar on 2 May 2008, the most deadly severe weather event in the history of Myanmar. The model covers a domain of 35oE to 145oE in the east—west direction and 12oS to 40oN in the north—south direction in order to cover Asia and east Africa with a resolution of 9?km in the horizontal and 28 vertical levels. The initial and boundary conditions for the simulations were provided by the National Center for Environmental Prediction-Global Forecast System (NCEP-GFS) available at 1o lon/lat resolution. An attempt is being made to critically evaluate the simulation of cyclone Nargis by seven set of simulations in terms of track, intensity and landfall time of the cyclone. The seven sets of model simulations were initialized every 12?h starting from 0000 UTC 28 April to 01 May 2008. Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) precipitation (mm) is used to evaluate the performance of the simulations of heavy rainfall associated with the tropical cyclone. The track and intensity of the simulated cyclone are compared by making use of Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) data sets. The results indicate that the landfall time, the distribution and intensity of the rainfall, pressure and wind field are well simulated as compared with the JTWC estimates. The average landfall track error for all seven simulations was 64?km with an average time error of about 5?h. The average intensity error of central pressure in all the simulations were found out to be approximately 6?hPa more than the JTWC estimates and in the case of wind, the simulations under predicted it by an average of 12?m?s^?1.     

Bioreduction of Hexavalent Chromium by Live and Active Phanerochaete chrysosporium: Kinetics and Modeling

In this work the potential of live and active Phanerochaete chryosporium, a white rot fungi, to remove lower Cr(VI) concentration from aqueous solutions was reported for the first time. A medium pH had significant effect on the growth of the fungus and bioremoval of Cr(VI). Substrate inhibition on the growth of Phanerochaete chrysosporium was evident beyond 20 g L^?1 of dextrose concentration. A maximum biomass concentration of 15.64 g L^?1 was obtained for an initial dextrose concentration of 20 g L^?1 in metal free medium at pH 6.0. An increase in Cr(VI) concentration beyond 10 mg L^?1 inhibited the growth of the fungi, thereby, reducing the chromium bioremoval efficiency. A maximum reduction efficiency of 98.92% was reported for an initial metal concentration of 10 mg L^?1. A mathematical expression for the bioreduction of Cr(VI) considering the organic compounds in the cells was proposed.