Static spherically-symmetric perfect fluids with pressure equal to energy density

The present Letter represents an exact, static, and spherically-symmetric solution of Einstein's field equations for a homogeneous perfect fluid core surrounded by a field of Zeldovich's fluid which is asymptotically homaloidal.     

Inventory of degraded lands of Palamau district, Bihar — A remote sensing approach

In this study, an attempt has keen made for the identification, categorisation and mapping of degraded lands in Palamau district of Bihar using remotely sensed data (IRS-1A, raise colour composite, on 1:50,000 scale), It was observed that water erosion is the main cause of land degradation affecting 6.27 per cent area of the district, of which 5.22 per cent is subjected to severe to very severe erosion and remaining 1.05 per cent is moderately to severely gulleid land Degradation due to rock quarries, mine spoils and dumps accounted for only 0.01 per cent of the district area. Degraded lands were mostly confined to agricultural areas (4.76%) follwed by forest lands (1.10%) and opert-scrub/pastures (0.42%), respectively, Subdivision-wise categorisation of degraded lands was also attempted for efficient location-speeific reclamation planning and easy monitoring.     

Reflection and refraction at an imperfectly bonded interface between poroelastic solid and cracked elastic solid

Porous solid is in contact with a cracked elastic solid at a plane interface between them. For the presence of vertically aligned microcracks, the elastic solid behaves transversely isotropic to wave propagation. The coefficients of elastic anisotropy depend on the crack density and crack porosity in the medium. A loose bonding is considered between the two solids so that a limiting case could be the welded contact. At the plane interface, the imperfection in welded bonding is represented by tangential slipping and, hence, results in the dissipation of a part of strain energy. Three types of waves propagate in an isotropic fluid-saturated porous medium, which are considered for incidence at the interface. Incidence of a wave results in three reflected waves and two refracted waves. Partition of incident energy among the reflected and refracted waves is studied for each incidence, varying from normal to grazing directions. Numerical example calculates the energy shares of reflected and refracted waves at the plane interface between water-saturated sandstone and basalt. These energy shares are computed and analyzed for different values of crack parameters as well as loose bonding parameter.     

Temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment load in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers in Himalaya, India

The Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers originate in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas (Garhwal) and result in high sediment yields causing flood hazards downstream of the Ganga River and high sediment flux to the Bay of Bengal. The rivers are perennial, since runoff in these rivers is controlled by both precipitation and glacial melt. In the present study, three locations in the upper reaches of the Ganga River were monitored for 1 yr (daily observations of, more than >1000 samples) for suspended sediment concentrations. In addition, more than one hundred samples were collected from various locations of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers at different periods to observe spatial and temporal variations in river suspensions. Further, multi-annual data (up to 40 yrs) of water flow and sediment concentrations were used for inferring the variations in water flow and sediment loads on longer time scales. In most previous studies of Himalayan Rivers, there has been a general lack of long term water flow and sediment load data. In the present study, we carried out high frequency sampling, considered long term discharge data and based on these information, discussed the temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment loads in the rivers in the Himalayan region. The results show that, >75% of annual sediment loads are transported during the monsoon season (June through September). The annual physical weathering rates in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi River basins at Devprayag are estimated to be 863 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (3.25 mm yr⁻¹) and 907 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (3.42 mm yr⁻¹) respectively, which are far in excess of the global average of 156 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ (0.58 mm yr⁻¹).     

Reconstruction of Last Glacial to early Holocene monsoon variability from relict lake sediments of the Higher Central Himalaya,Uttrakhand, India

Proglacial lake sediments at Goting in the Higher Central Himalaya were analyzed to reconstruct the summer monsoon variability during the Last Glacial to early Holocene. Sedimentary structures, high resolution mineral magnetic and geochemical data suggest that the lacustrine environment experienced fluctuating monsoonal conditions. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating indicates that the lake sedimentation occurred before 25 ka and continued after 13 ka. During this period, Goting basin witnessed moderate to strengthened monsoon conditions around 25 ka, 23.5 ka–22.5 ka, 22 ka–18 ka, 17 ka–16.5 ka and after14.5–13 ka. The Last Glacial phase ended with the deposition of outwash gravel dated at ～11 ka indicating glacial retreat and the onset of Holocene condition. Additionally, centennial scale fluctuations between 16.5 ka and 12.7 ka in the magnetic and geochemical data are seen.A close correspondence at the millennial scale between our data and that of continental and marine records from the Indian sub-continent suggests that Goting basin responded to periods of strengthened monsoon during the Last Glacial to early Holocene. We attribute the millennial scale monsoon variability to climatic instability in higher northern latitudes. However, centennial scale abrupt changes are attributed to the result of albedo changes on the Himalaya and Tibetan plateau.     

Mineral shock signatures in rocks from Dhala (Mohar) impact structure,Shivpuri district,Madhya Pradesh,India

A concrete study combining optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry, was carried out on subsurface samples of basement granite and melt breccia from Mohar (Dhala) impact structure, Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Optical microscopy reveals aberrations in the optical properties of quartz and feldspar in the form of planar deformation feature-like structures, lowered birefringence and mosaics in quartz, toasting, planar fractures and ladder texture in alkali feldspar and near-isotropism in bytownite. It also brings to light incidence of parisite, a radioactive rare mineral in shocked granite. Raman spectral pattern, peak positions, peak widths and multiplicity of peak groups of all minerals, suggest subtle structural/crystallographic deviations. XRD data further reveals minute deviations of unit cell parameters of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase, with respect to standard \({\upalpha }\)-quartz, high- and low albite and microcline. Reduced cell volumes in these minerals indicate compression due to pressure. The \(\hbox {c}_{0}/\hbox {a}_{0}\) values indicate an inter-tetrahedral angle roughly between \(120^{\mathrm{o}}\) and \(144^{\mathrm{o}}\), further pointing to a possible pressure maxima of around 12 GPa. The observed unit cell aberration of minerals may indicate an intermediate stage between crystalline and amorphous stages, thereby, signifying possible overprinting of decompression signatures over shock compression effects, from a shock recovery process.     

Heavy metal distribution and environmental status of Doon Valley soils, Outer Himalaya, India

 Doon Valley is surrounded by two major river systems (Ganga and Yamuna) on either side, with a water divide passing nearly across the centre of the valley, and is sandwiched between two mountain ranges in the fragile ecological systems of the Himalayan foothills. In total 398 soil samples were collected from the valley in a grid pattern (∼1 sample per 2 km²) and investigated for their heavy metal (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) abundances that are environmentally sensitive. Comparison of the heavy metal abundances with the contamination threshold values (CTV) revealed that most of these elemental abundances in Doon Valley soils fall well within the range of the uncontaminated to slightly contaminated category. In the case of Cr and Ni, a sizeable number of samples exceeded the CTV (250 and 100 mg kg^–1 respectively) with an overall background value of 109 and 52 mg kg^–1 respectively. Sites of high Cr and Ni mostly occur in the Ganga Catchment (GC) sector that includes even relatively undisturbed forestland. The source of this contamination is attributed to geological factors which indicate contribution from the mafic volcanics of the Lesser Himalaya. This is also consistent with the distribution pattern of Mn and Fe, though their abundance levels are not alarming. The background concentration of Pb is low (22 mg kg^–1) in Doon Valley soils; however, signs of gradual Pb contamination are palpable in and around the centre of the Dehra Dun city and along the highways. Aluminium normalized heavy metal ratios were found to exhibit narrow variability in the case of Cu, Ni and Cr and had good correlation with Al, indicating their affinity and association with the clay minerals. On the other hand, Pb and Zn seem to be associated with non-silicate sources. Received: 7 January 2000 · Accepted: 30 July 2000     

Coupled hydrodynamic response of concrete gravity dams using finite and infinite elements

This paper presents the application of the finite element method for analysing the two-dimensional response of reservoir-dam systems subjected to horizontal ground motion. The interaction between the dam and the reservoir as well as the compressibility of water has been taken into account. The complete system has been considered to be composed of two substructures, namely the reservoir and the dam. To take into account the large extent of the reservoir, it has been idealized using specially developed infinite elements coupled with standard finite elements while the dam is represented using finite elements alone. Structural damping of the dam and radiation damping in the fluid phase have been accounted for in the analysis. It is concluded that the effect of radiation damping is considerable at high frequencies of excitation. The coupled response of the system is significantly large at and near the fundamental natural frequency of the system in comparison to the uncoupled responses. The method is computationally quite economical, capable of taking into account the arbitrary geometry of the system and is recommended for practical application. Further applications and extensions of the approach to three dimensional analyses are possible.     

Analyses of fission track etching and annealing phenomena in muscovite

Variation of fission track density with etching time has been analysed to standardize the etching conditions. The relations between the etching parameters (i.e., temperature, concentration and time) have been established. The differences in unheated samples and samples heated for different times at a constant temperature have been studied Graphs of thermal annealing vs. optimum etching time and of density reduction vs. length shrinkage have been constructed for applications in fission track geochronology.