Simultaneous monitoring of soil 222Rn in the Eastern Himalayas and the geothermal region of eastern India: an earthquake precursor

Natural Hazards - Activity of 222Rn gas in soil has been recorded continuously at three monitoring centres, namely Ravangla and Diphu in the Eastern Himalayan region and Tantloi in the geothermal...     

Weathering of limestone beds at the great sphinx

The weathering characteristics of the sphinx limestones are evaluated in the context of their pore system. The latter consists of ink-bottle pores. This pore system varies from one stratum to another. In the lower micritic rocks the large cavities of the ink-bottle pores are interconnected through the fine capillary network of the narrow throats. In the upper skeletal-rich rocks the interconnections are provided by large as well as small throats.The pore systems in these limestones reflect the depositional regime as well as the diagenetic alterations. The development of microspar from the micritic mud resulted in the formation of microporosity, and the extended circulation of freshwater enlarged some micropores preferentially, forming large cavities.The relationship of micro- and macropores has strongly influenced the weathering of the sphinx rocks.     

An index to assess agricultural drought in India

Summary Crop drought or moisture stress is a function of the difference between actual evapotranspiration and evapotranspiration requirements of the crop under given atmospheric conditions.In the present work the climatic water balance approach is utilized to develop a crop moisture index for the kharif crop season over India.The difference between actual and climatologically derived evapotranspiration have been accumulated for different consecutive weeks of the crop season and made comparable in time and space through suitable weights. The lowest weighted deficit values have then been used for successive weeks to evolve the Crop Moisture Index. This index enables detection of degree of moisture stress experienced by the crop and can be used in drought monitoring.

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Zusammenfassung Dürre oder Feuchtestreß ist eine Funktion der Differenz zwischen tatsächlicher Verdunstung und dem Verdunstungsbedarf für bestimmte Kulturpflanzen unter gegebenen atmosphärischen Bedingungen. In vorliegender Studie wird die klimatische Wasserbilanz verwendet, um einen Feuchtigkeitsindex für die Kharif-Anbauzeit in Indien zu erstellen.Die Differenz zwischen aktueller und klimatologisch errechneter Verdunstung wurde für einige aufeinanderfolgende Wochen der Erntezeit aufsummiert und durch geeignete Gewichtungen in Zeit und Raum vergleichbar gemacht. Die am wenigsten veränderten Defizitwerte wurden dann für aufeinanderfolgende Wochen zur Errechnung eines Feuchtigkeitsindex herangezogen. Dieser Index ermöglicht die Quantifizierung des für die Pflanzen relevanten Feuchtestresses und kann für die Aufzeichnung von Dürren verwendet werden.

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With 2 Figures     

Periodicities of Sunspot Number and Coronal Index Time Series During Solar Cycle 23

We investigate the presence and temporal evolution of short- and intermediate-term periodicities in the daily data of sunspot numbers and coronal index for the time span from May 1996 to December 2008, which covers the entire Solar Cycle 23. The daily sunspot number data have been analyzed for the full disk, and for northern and southern hemispheres of the Sun. Using the wavelet power spectrum technique, we find a number of quasi-periodic oscillations in all the data sets. We also find a prominent period of 22 to 35 days in the high-frequency range, and detect the Rieger period of 150 to 160 days in both data sets during different phases of Cycle 23. We also detect ∼1.3 year oscillation in both sunspot and coronal index time series. In addition, we find a number of other short and mid-term periods. We discuss possible explanations of the observed periodicities in the light of previous results and existing numerical models.     

Morphometric Analysis and Hydrological Inference for Water Resource Management in Atrai-Sib River Basin,NW Bangladesh Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technique

Demand for irrigation water increases day by day along with meteorological vagaries and extension of irrigated area in the drought-prone Barind area of Bangladesh. This increasing stress on water resource is gradually making the area water scare. The study is aimed at studying the morphometric parameters of the Atrai-Sib river basin in the Barind area and on their relevance in water resource management based on satellite images and SRTM DEM. Computation and delineation of linear and areal aspects of the river basin and its morphometric components reveals that stream order ranges from first to eighth order showing dendritic drainage pattern. The basin represents homogeneity of soil texture; possibility of flash flood after heavy rainfall with low discharge of runoff; and is not largely affected by structural disturbance. Moderate drainage density of the river basin area indicates semipermeable soil lithology with moderate vegetation. Mean bifurcation ratio of the basin is calculated as 3.92 and elongation ratio 0.75, which indicate elongated shape of the river basin with low to moderate relief bounded in the east and west by ‘moderate to steep’ sloping land area. It reveals a flatter peak of runoff flow for longer duration and gravity flow of water. The gentle but undulating slope of the basin represents ‘excellent’ category for groundwater management as the site is favorable for infiltration due to maximum time of runoff water percolation. The east facing slopes of the basin show higher moisture content and higher vegetation than the west-facing slope. The land use pattern of the area shows that major part (95.29%) comes under the cultivated land which will support future river basin development and management. Results obtained from the study would be useful in categorization of river basins for future water resource development and management, and selection of suitable sites for water conservation structures such as check dam, percolation tank, artificial recharge of groundwater through MAR technique etc.     

Delineation of groundwater recharge zones and identification of artificial recharge sites in West Medinipur district,West Bengal,using RS,GIS and MCDM techniques

Artificial recharge plays a pivotal role in the sustainable management of groundwater resources. This study proposes a methodology to delineate artificial recharge zones as well as to identify favorable artificial recharge sites using integrated remote sensing (RS), geographical information system (GIS) and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques for augmenting groundwater resources in the West Medinipur district of West Bengal, India, which has been facing water shortage problems for the past few years. The thematic layers considered in this study are: geomorphology, geology, drainage density, slope and aquifer transmissivity, which were prepared using IRS-1D imagery and conventional data. Different themes and their corresponding features were assigned proper weights based on their relative contribution to groundwater recharge in the area, and normalized weights were computed using the Saaty’s analytic hierarchy process (AHP). These thematic layers were then integrated in the GIS environment to delineate artificial recharge zones in the study area. The artificial recharge map thus obtained divided the study area into three zones, viz., ‘suitable,’ ‘moderately suitable’ and ‘unsuitable’ according to their suitability for artificial groundwater recharge. It was found that about 46% of the study area falls under ‘suitable’ zone, whereas 43% falls under the ‘moderately suitable’ zone. The western portion of the study area was found to be unsuitable for artificial recharge. The artificial recharge zone map of the study area was found to be in agreement with the map of mean groundwater depths over the area. Furthermore, forty possible sites for artificial recharge were also identified using RS and GIS techniques. Based on the available field information, check dams are suggested as promising artificial recharge structures. The results of this study could be used to formulate an efficient groundwater management plan for the study area so as to ensure sustainable utilization of scarce groundwater resources.     

Control of porosity on durability of limestone at the great sphinx,Egypt

The study of the porosimetric data obtained from intrusion, extrusion, and reintrusion of mercury in limestone samples from the region of the sphinx reveals the characteristics of the pore system and allows analysis of durability factors.The pore system in all these rocks consists of ink-bottle pores. As the initial intrusion and extrusion have been completed, some mercury always remains in the sample. This trapped mercury represents the volume of large voids of the ink-bottle pore system. The distribution of the volume of the narrow throats of this system is revealed by the reintrusion curves.The curves obtained by plotting extrusion and reintrusion volumes against corresponding pressures enclose a loop. These curves relate to pore throats only. As entrapment of mercury does not occur in these pores, their distribution frequency and sorting seem to cause this hysteresis.The pressure/volume data also have been interpreted in terms of work needed to inject and extrude mercury from the pores. This thermodynamic analysis of the data has provided an additional, although less well-defined, means to characterize the porous stones.We have used in this study the model-dependent pore-size distributions and model-independent thermodynamic properties to develop durability factors. The factors based upon the combination of pore sizes in the range of <0.5, 0.5-5, and >5 µm precisely fit the observed durability of limestones at the sphinx, some of which have been exposed for more than 5,000 yr to the ambient atmosphere.     

Fingerprinting groundwater salinity sources in the Gulf Coast Aquifer System,USA

Understanding groundwater salinity sources in the Gulf Coast Aquifer System (GCAS) is a critical issue due to depletion of fresh groundwater and concerns for potential seawater intrusion. The study objective was to assess sources of groundwater salinity in the GCAS using ～1,400 chemical analyses and ～90 isotopic analyses along nine well transects in the Texas Gulf Coast, USA. Salinity increases from northeast (median total dissolved solids (TDS) 340 mg/L) to southwest (median TDS 1,160 mg/L), which inversely correlates with the precipitation distribution pattern (1,370– 600 mm/yr, respectively). Molar Cl/Br ratios (median 540–600), depleted δ²H and δ¹⁸O (?24.7‰, ?4.5‰) relative to seawater (Cl/Br ～655 and δ²H, δ¹⁸O 0‰, 0‰, respectively), and elevated ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios (～100), suggest precipitation enriched with marine aerosols as the dominant salinity source. Mass balance estimates suggest that marine aerosols could adequately explain salt loading over the large expanse of the GCAS. Evapotranspiration enrichment to the southwest is supported by elevated chloride concentrations in soil profiles and higher δ¹⁸O. Secondary salinity sources include dissolution of salt domes or upwelling brines from geopressured zones along growth faults, mainly near the coast in the northeast. The regional extent and large quantities of brackish water have the potential to support moderate-sized desalination plants in this location. These results have important implications for groundwater management, suggesting a current lack of regional seawater intrusion and a suitable source of relatively low TDS water for desalination.