Multisite observations of surface structures on AB Doradus in 1994 November

We present time-resolved optical spectroscopy and broad-band photometry of the rapidly rotating southern K0 dwarf star AB Doradus, obtained during 1994 November. The data were obtained as part of a collaboration dedicated to MUlti-SIte COntinuous Spectroscopy (MUSICOS), and entailed coordinated observations on three continents to obtain the fullest phase coverage possible subject to limitations of local weather conditions. The Doppler images from the three consecutive nights of the run show excellent mutual agreement, with a dark polar cap and numerous intermediate- and low-latitude features. Simultaneous optical photometry showed numerous short-duration U -band flares, and two longer duration optical flares with durations of the order of hours. The latter produced broad-band continuum enhancements throughout the optical spectrum. Where simultaneous spectroscopy was available, both types of flare were seen to have counterparts in H and the Ca  ii H line. Simultaneous time-resolved ultraviolet spectroscopy from the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope , reported elsewhere, shows that at least one of the short-duration U -band flares was also observed in C  iv with the GHRS. Time-series H spectra showed significant evolution of the circumstellar prominence system over five consecutive stellar rotations. One prominence underwent a dramatic increase in distance from the stellar rotation axis. We speculate that this event may have been associated with one of the long-duration flares.     

Vulnerability assessment through index modeling: a case study in Muriganga–Saptamukhi estuarine interfluve,Sundarban, India

The coastal regions, deltas, and estuaries are severely affected by the sea level rise and cyclonic activities and climate changes. Sundarban delta is one of the most mysterious landscapes in the world, which has successively evolved due to sediment accumulation by the great Ganga and Brahmaputra river system. The area is characterized by low-lying islands and a flat topography coupled with macro-tidal activities, powerful surges, and seasonal cyclonic events. All these conditions put together this landscape defenseless to frequent flood and erosion. Since the last hundred years, the face of Sundarban has been changed remarkably from wildest to human-occupied territory by protecting this low-lying flat plain from tidal inundation through artificial embankment. In this background, the current study attempts to highlight the spatial extent and magnitudes of internal risk factors of the region using the composite vulnerability index. Coastal vulnerability defines a system’s openness to flood and erosion risk due to hydrogeomorphic exposures and socio-economic susceptibility in conjunction with its capacity/incapacity to be resilient and to cope, recover, or adapt to an extent. Coastal vulnerability assesses the potential risk from erosion and flooding of any low-lying coastal region due to its physiographical and hydrological exposures, socio-economic and political susceptibility, and resilience capacity. A natural system affects the socio-economic scenario of any region. Hence, multidimensional databases can be more effective to understand the extent of exposure, susceptibility, and resilience of any system. To throw some light on the situation of vulnerability of western estuarine Sundarban, between Muriganga and Saptamukhi interfluve, the composite vulnerability index has been carried out to delineate the magnitude and spatial extent of vulnerability with the help of quantitative techniques and geospatial tools. The estuarine tracts and coastal parts of the Ganga delta are two of the most densely populated areas in the world. The study highlights the critical situation of the population under different potential risk classes residing in the study area with the intention of suggesting some proper course of action of planning and management to conserve coastal communities in their original habitat.     

Pull-apart origin of the Satpura Gondwana basin, central India

The Gondwana basins of peninsular India are traditionally considered as extensional-rift basins due to the overwhelming evidence of fault-controlled synsedimentary subsidence. These basins indeed originated under a bulk extensional tectonic regime, due to failure of the attenuated crust along pre-existing zones of weakness inherited from Precambrian structural fabrics. However, disposition of the basins and their structural architecture indicate that the kinematics of all the basins cannot be extensional. To maintain kinematic compatibility with other basins as well as the bulk lateral extension, some basins ought to be of strike-slip origin. The disposition, shape and structural architecture of the Satpura basin, central India suggest that the basin could be a pull-apart basin that developed above a releasing jog of a left-stepping strike-slip fault system defined by the Son-Narmada south fault and Tapti north fault in consequence to sinistral displacement along WSW-ENE. Development of a sedimentary basin under the above-mentioned kinematic condition was simulated in model experiments with sandpack. The shape, relative size, stratigraphic and structural architecture of the experimental basin tally with that of the Satpura basin. The experimental results also provide insights into the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Satpura basin in particular and pull-apart basins in general.     

Isolation and characterization of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria from seagrass rhizosphere soil

Phosphate-solubilizing bacterial strains(6 Nos.) were isolated from the rhizosphere soils of two seagrasses(Halophila ovalis(R.Br.) Hook and Halodule pinifolia(Miki) Hartog) in the Vellar estuary.Experimental studies found that the strain PSSG6 was effective in phosphate solubilization with Phosphate Solubilization efficiency index E = 375 ± 8.54,followed by the strain PSSG5 with Phosphate Solubilization efficiency index E = 275 ± 27.3.Of the 6 strains isolated,the strains PSSG4 and PSSG5 be-longed to the genus Bacillus,and PSSG1,PSSG2 and PSSG3 were identified as Citrobacter sp.,Shigella sp.,and Klebsiella sp.,respectively,by conventional method,and PSSG6 was identified as Bacillus circulans using conventional and molecular methods.     

Identification of flood seasonality and drivers across Canada

Floods are the most frequently occurring natural hazard in Canada. An in-depth understanding of flood seasonality and its drivers at a national scale is essential. Here, a circular, statistics-based approach is implemented to understand the seasonality of annual-maximum floods (streamflow) and to identify their responsible drivers across Canada. Nearly 80% and 70% of flood events were found to occur during spring and summer in eastern and western watersheds across Canada, respectively. Flooding in the eastern and western watersheds was primarily driven by snowmelt and extreme precipitation, respectively. This observation suggests that increases in temperature have led to early spring snowmelt-induced floods throughout eastern Canada. Our results indicate that precipitation (snowmelt) variability can exert large controls on the magnitude of flood peaks in western (eastern) watersheds in Canada. Further, the nonstationarity of flood peaks is modelled to account for impact of the dynamic behaviour of the identified flood drivers on extreme-flood magnitude by using a cluster of 74 generalized additive models for location scale and shape models, which can capture both the linear and nonlinear characteristics of flood-peak changes and can model its dependence on external covariates. Using nonstationary frequency analysis, we find that increasing precipitation and snowmelt magnitudes directly resulted in a significant increase in 50-year streamflow. Our results highlight an east–west asymmetry in flood seasonality, indicating the existence of a climate signal in flood observations. The understating of flood seasonality and flood responses under the dynamic characteristics of precipitation and snowmelt extremes may facilitate the predictability of such events, which can aid in predicting and managing their impacts.     

Point Discharge Current During a Solar Eclipse

The effect of solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, obscuring up to 91 %, upon the value of point discharge current (PDC) has been reported in this paper. The observation had been taken from Kolkata (Lat. 22.56°N, Long. 88.5°E). During the eclipse period, significant variations in the magnitude of PDC were observed than their average value for the same period in other days. The average value of the PDC for the successive ±10 days adjacent to the solar eclipse day was about 2.253 A.U. (Arbitrary Unit), while the minimum value showed about 2.242 A.U. at the time of greatest phase at 06:26.4 IST (Indian Standard Time). The results are mainly interpreted in terms of changes of the conductivity of the medium during the solar eclipse.     

Comparative Analysis of Phytoplankton Composition and Abundance over a Two-Decade Period at the Land–Ocean Boundary of a Tropical Mangrove Ecosystem

Inter-annual variations of phytoplankton abundance and community organization were observed over a two-decade period along with the ancillary parameters at the land–ocean boundary associated with the Sundarban mangrove forest (21°32′ and 22°40′ N and 88°05′ and 89° E), along the NE Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The number of definable Bacillariophyceae species exceeded Dinophyceae taxa, and the total number of bloom-forming species declined from a maximum of ten in 2000 and a minimum of two in 2007. Blooms of the diatom Coscinodiscus radiatus were common in 2000 and 2007. Tide cycles and the onset of the monsoon season played important roles in diurnal and seasonal variability of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton biovolume showed seasonality, with the highest levels during post-monsoon periods and lowest levels during the monsoon period. Phytoplankton abundance was correlated to rainfall patterns, which may be altered by long-term changes in climate.     

Kinematics of large scale asymmetric folds and associated smaller scale brittle — Ductile structures in the proterozoic somnur formation, pranhita — Godavari Valley, South India

The development of structural elements and finite strain data are analysed to constrain kinematics of folds and faults at various scales within a Proterozoic fold-and-thrust belt in Pranhita-Godavari basin, south India. The first order structures in this belt are interpreted as large scale buckle folds above a subsurface decollement emphasizing the importance of detachment folding in thin skinned deformation of a sedimentary prism lying above a gneissic basement. That the folds have developed through fixed-hinge buckling is constrained by the nature of variation of mesoscopic fabric over large folds and finite strain data. Relatively low, irrotational flattening strain (X:Z-3.1-4.8, k<1) are associated with zones of near upright early mesoscopic folds and cleavage, whereas large flattening strain (X:Z-3.9-7.3, k<1) involving noncoaxiality are linked to domains of asymmetric, later inclined folds, faults and intense cleavage on the hanging wall of thrusts on the flanks of large folds. In the latter case, the bulk strain can be factorized to components of pure shear and simple shear with a maximum shearing strain of 3. The present work reiterates the importance of analysis of minor structures in conjunction with strain data to unravel the kinematic history of fold-and-thrust belts developed at shallow crustal level.     

Temperature control,emission abatement and costs: key EMF 27 results from Environment Canada’s Integrated Assessment Model

This paper investigates the potential impacts of alternative international climate change scenarios based on different policies and technological circumstances on future emission pathways and abatement costs. It also examines if these hypothetical scenarios could result in significant emission reductions required to control the global temperature from rising to no more than 2.5 °C above preindustrial level. Using an integrated assessment model, this paper examines these issues under 12 scenarios derived from four policy perspectives and three technology dimensions. Results show that the no-policy-change baseline scenarios lead to high global average temperatures in the future. To control the temperature efficiently, every global region will be required to undertake considerable abatement efforts. Current country pledges alone, even if fully implemented, cannot control the global temperature in the future to within a comfortable zone. There will still be large gap between the reductions needed to meet the 2.5 degree objective, associated with 550 ppm and the reductions associated with existing abatement efforts. Further stringent policies together with favourable technological conditions may lead to the desired level of temperature control. Participation by only a subset of nations not only makes achieving the temperature goal difficult but also costly. To achieve temperature control efficiently, global coordination and full participation by all regions are necessary and global participation may reduce global abatement costs. It is worth noting that abatement costs vary widely across regions under different policy and technology scenarios.