Spatial Variability of Rock Depth in Bangalore Using Geostatistical, Neural Network and Support Vector Machine Models

Geospatial technology is increasing in demand for many applications in geosciences. Spatial variability of the bed/hard rock is vital for many applications in geotechnical and earthquake engineering problems such as design of deep foundations, site amplification, ground response studies, liquefaction, microzonation etc. In this paper, reduced level of rock at Bangalore, India is arrived from the 652 boreholes data in the area covering 220 km². In the context of prediction of reduced level of rock in the subsurface of Bangalore and to study the spatial variability of the rock depth, Geostatistical model based on Ordinary Kriging technique, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) models have been developed. In Ordinary Kriging, the knowledge of the semi-variogram of the reduced level of rock from 652 points in Bangalore is used to predict the reduced level of rock at any point in the subsurface of the Bangalore, where field measurements are not available. A new type of cross-validation analysis developed proves the robustness of the Ordinary Kriging model. ANN model based on multi layer perceptrons (MLPs) that are trained with Levenberg–Marquardt backpropagation algorithm has been adopted to train the model with 90% of the data available. The SVM is a novel type of learning machine based on statistical learning theory, uses regression technique by introducing loss function has been used to predict the reduced level of rock from a large set of data. In this study, a comparative study of three numerical models to predict reduced level of rock has been presented and discussed.     

Analysis of the 2003 Varunawat Landslide,Uttarkashi, India using Earth Observation data

Mass movements such as landslides in mountainous terrains are natural degradation processes and one of the most important landscape-building factors. Varunawat Parbat overlooking Uttarkashi town witnessed a series of landslides on 23 September 2003 and the debris slides and rock falls continued for 2 weeks. This landslide complex was triggered due to the incessant rainfall prior to the event, and its occurrence led to the blockage of the pilgrim route to Gangotri (source of the Ganges river) and evacuation of thousands of people to safer places. Though there was no loss of lives due to timely evacuation, heavy losses to the property were reported. High-resolution stereoscopic earth observation data were acquired after the incidence to study the landslide in detail with emphasis on the cause of the landslide and mode of failure. Areas along the road and below the Varunawat foothill region are mapped for landslide risk. It was found that the foothill region of the Varunawat Parbat was highly disturbed by man-made activities and houses are dangerously located below steep slopes. The potential zones for landslides along with the existing active and old landslides are mapped. These areas are critical and their treatment with priority is required in order to minimise further landslide occurrences.     

Monitoring Large-Scale Tests for Nuclear Waste Disposal

Two large-scale “in situ” demonstration experiments and their instrumentation are described. The first test (FEBEX Experiment) involves the hydration of a compacted bentonite barrier under the combined effect of an inner source of heat and an outer water flow from the confining saturated granite rock. In the second case, the progressive de-saturation of Opalinus clay induced by maintained ventilation of an unlined tunnel is analyzed. The paper shows the performance of different sensors (capacitive cells, psychrometers, TDR’s) and a comparison of fill behaviour with modelling results. The long term performance of some instruments could also be evaluated specially in the case of FEBEX test. Capacitive sensors provide relative humidity data during long transient periods characterised by very large variations of suction within the bentonite.     

Zur Ermittlung der bestanschmiegenden Ebene zu einer Anzahl von,aus Erdbeben bestimmten Richtungen

Zusammenfassung Es werden mit Hilfe der sphärischen Trigonometrie und der Ausgleichsrechnung Methoden angegeben, die die Berechnung der bestanschmiegenden Ebene an eine Anzahl von Geraden mit einem gemeinsamen Punkt ermöglichen.

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Summary With the aid of the spherical trigonometry and the adjustment, methods are given to determin the best-fitting plane for a given set of directions through a common point.

     

An attempt to the explanation and to the prediction of the eleven-year cycle of solar activity

Summary According to the author the reason of the subsistence of the 11 years' sunspot cycle is to be found in the conjunction of the planets. As a result of the investigations it has been stated that from among the nine planets the joint tidal effect of Venus-Jupiter-Earth is a decisive factor in the variations of sunspot activity. The above three planets are every 10.4 years and 12.0 years respectively, in a close conjunction. The mean value (11.2 years) is in an almost full accordance with the average cycle-period. The fluctuations of the period of the cycle come from the fact that the planets' getting into approximately one line takes a different time within each cycle. This time delay is the cause of the stronger or weaker sunspot activity, and of the shorter or longer cycles.     

Climatic satellite monitoring of the external heat balance of the oceans and Black Sea

The long-wave outgoing radiation, effective cloudiness equal to the product of the total cloud amount by their optical density, and the sea-surface temperature determined from the satellites are used to determine the annual course of the components of external heat balance on the sea surface whose climatic anomalies, parallel with the meridional heat and water transfer in the ocean-atmosphere system, specify the intraannual and interannual large-scale variations of weather in different regions of the Earth. The development of these studies is connected with the progress of satellite hydrophysics because the data obtained from the space become sufficiently exact, regular, and global. The increase in the existing data array on the external heat balance of the oceans from ∼15–20 to 100 yr and more would promote the solution of the problem of oscillations of Earth's climate. We present examples of coordinated numerical analysis of the heat balance of the upper (0–100 m ) layer of the Black Sea performed on the basis of the shipborne and satellite data. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 59–75, November–December, 2007.     

Basalt from Louisiana continental shelf

A basalt outcrop was discovered on Alderdice Bank on the outer Louisiana continental shelf. The basalt shows an age of 76.8 ± 3.3 × 10⁶ years. Textural, mineralogical, and chemical characteristics indicate that it is an alkali basalt of shallow intrusive origin. It was probably brought to the seafloor by salt tectonics and exposed due to salt dissolution.An accurate account of the Mesozoic geologic history of the Gulf of Mexico must consider the apparent consanguinity of all magmatic rocks of the region, including the Alderdice Bank basalt, and the apparent basinward decrease in age of magmatic activities.     

An ocean-bottom hydrophone recorder for seismic refraction experiments

A new and inexpensive pop-up ocean-bottom hydrophone recorder has been developed for use in seismic refraction experiments. It is capable of operating in water depths of up to 4000 m and in very rugged topography, and uses an acoustic command system built by the U.K. Institute of Oceanographic Sciences for recovery. The instrument is mounted in an inexpensive cylindrical pressure case based on commercially available extruded aluminium alloy tubing, and uses glass spheres and syntactic foam for buoyancy. Hydrophone and clock signals are frequency modulated and recorded on tape cassettes, with a recording duration of three hours allowing up to 18 programmed shot windows. The prototype has made seven free descents on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and in the Gulf of Oman, and successfully recorded shots under operational conditions for the first time in September 1979. The total component cost of the prototype was £2740 (1979 prices).(Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge Contribution No. ES135).     

Performance efficiency of swim fins

Design improvements on swim fins are most difficult, if not impossible, to assess quantitatively by swimmers alone. In order to make reliable measurements of swim fin performance, an instrumented mechanical swimming device was developed and operated in a water tank. Using this facility, the performance of the more popular conventional fins and that of a new design concept were evaluated. The comparative performance of the various fins was correlated with their physical characteristics.