Modeling of the strong ground motion of 25th April 2015 Nepal earthquake using modified semi-empirical technique

On 25th April, 2015 a hazardous earthquake of moment magnitude 7.9 occurred in Nepal. Accelerographs were used to record the Nepal earthquake which is installed in the Kumaon region in the Himalayan state of Uttrakhand. The distance of the recorded stations in the Kumaon region from the epicenter of the earthquake is about 420–515 km. Modified semi-empirical technique of modeling finite faults has been used in this paper to simulate strong earthquake at these stations. Source parameters of the Nepal aftershock have been also calculated using the Brune model in the present study which are used in the modeling of the Nepal main shock. The obtained value of the seismic moment and stress drop is 8.26 × 10²⁵ dyn cm and 10.48 bar, respectively, for the aftershock from the Brune model .The simulated earthquake time series were compared with the observed records of the earthquake. The comparison of full waveform and its response spectra has been made to finalize the rupture parameters and its location. The rupture of the earthquake was propagated in the NE–SW direction from the hypocenter with the rupture velocity 3.0 km/s from a distance of 80 km from Kathmandu in NW direction at a depth of 12 km as per compared results.     

Sensitivity of Indian Monsoon to Entrainment and Detrainment in Mass Flux Schemes

A new analytical formulation of entrainment and detrainment in the Tiedtke's mass flux cumulus parameterization is presented here in which cloud height is one of the key parameters. The proposed analytical profiles of entrainment and detrainment are tested in GCM for long-term simulation and are evaluated in the light of the results from the original Tiedtke's scheme and another mass flux scheme due to Emanuel. The variations of Indian monsoon rainfall have been examined with these schemes in a general circulation model. Evaluation of the simulated rainfall against observations is done by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis for the Indian Monsoon region. It is noted that the spatial and temporal variations of the all-India monsoon rainfall are sensitive to the formulation of entrainment and detrainment in a mass flux scheme, and that the new formulation can effectively represent the increased dilution with height in deep clouds.     

Satellite observations of unusual dust event over North-East India and its relation with meteorological conditions

An unusual intense dust storm occurred over North-East region of India on 17 March 2009, which was analyzed using multi-satellite data sets. Terra MODIS AOD₅₅₀ showed high values on 17 March 2009 with low values of Angstrom exponent (α), suggesting coarse mode particle loading in the atmosphere. NCEP temperature and relative humidity anomalies showed high temperature and low humidity during March 2009. Dry weather conditions due to deficit rainfall during January–March 2009 and higher winds resulted in unusual dust storm over the region. Satellite observations of aerosol optical depth variations suggested increased aerosol loading in March 2009 due to dust storm.     

Implications of precise 10Be measurements in deep-sea sediments

Precise ¹⁰Be measurements in a vertical profile of a large-diameter gravity core with uniform chemical composition from the central equatorial Pacific have not shown the expected decrease with depth. The decay-corrected ¹⁰Be activities ranged from 5.79 ± 0.21 d.p.m. kg^?1 at the top of the core to 9.88 ± 0.46 d.p.m. kg^?1 at the bottom, with a mean of 7.24 ± 1.18 d.p.m. kg^?1. This variation is attributable to the combined variations in the intensity of cosmic rays and that of the earth's magnetic field during the past ～ 1 Ma.     

Variations in sulphate aerosols concentration during winter monsoon season for two consecutive years using a general circulation model

During the field cruises of the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) extensive measurements on the atmospheric chemical and aerosol composition are undertaken to study the long-range transport of air pollution from south and southeast Asia towards the Indian Ocean during the dry monsoon season in 1998 and 1999. The present paper discusses the temporal and spatial variations in aerosols and aerosol forcing during the winter monsoon season (January-March) for INDOEX first field phase (FFP) in 1998 and INDOEX intensive field phase (IFP) in 1999. An interactive chemistry/aerosol model (LMDZ.3.3) is used to investigate the variation in the spatial distribution of tropospheric sulphate aerosols during 1998 and 1999. The model results depict major enhancement in the sulphate aerosol concentrations, radiative forcing (RF) and optical depth over the Indian subcontinent and adjoining marine areas between INDOEX-FFP and IFP. A significant increase in transport of sulphate aerosols from the continents to the Indian Ocean region has also been simulated during the winter monsoon in 1999. The mean RF over INDOEX-FFP in 1998 is found to be ?1.2 Wm^–2 while it increased to ?1.85 Wm^–2 during INDOEX-IFP in 1999. Model results reveal a mean sulphate aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.08 and 0.14 over Indian subcontinent during 1998 and 1999, respectively. The model results suggest that elevated AOD downwind of source regions in India can significantly affect the regional air quality and adjoining marine environments.     

Petrology and geochemistry of A-type granites from Khanak and Devsar areas of Bhiwani district,southwestern Haryana

Petrological and geochemical characteristics of the granites from the Khanak and Devsar areas have been discussed in this paper. Based on field, petrographical and geochemical observations, three types of granites (grey, green and pink granite) have been identified in these areas. Grey granites consist of quartz, plagioclase, biotite, hornblende as essential minerals and hematite, zircon, annite, monazite & rutile as accessory minerals. Petrographically, green granites are same as grey granites including perthite and zircon as accessory minerals. Pink granites consist of quartz, k-feldspar and biotite in Khanak whereas in Devsar granites alike as Khanak granites, but plagioclase is replaced by perthite and occurs as dominantly. Microscopically, granites of both areas show porphyritic, hypidiomorphic, granophyric, perthitic and micro granophyric textures. Geochemically, major oxide elements (except alkalies) and trace elements (Ba, Sr, Cr, Ni, V, Cu, Zn, Ga, Pb, Th and Zr) are more in green and grey granites of Khanak and Devsar areas than pink granites. Generally, they show enrichments in SiO₂, Na₂O+K₂O, Fe/Mg, Rb, Zr, Y and and AI (Agpaitic Index) (ranges from 0.10 to 1.18) and depletion in MgO, CaO, P, Ti, Ni, Cr and V indicate their A-type affinity which is very similar to the A-type granites of MIS (Malani igneous suite) in northwestern peninsular India. Green and grey granites of Devsar area show high concentrations of Heat production (HP) 9.68 & 11.70 μWm^-3 and total Heat Generation Unit (HGU) i.e 23.04 & 27.86 respectively. On the other hand, pink granites of Khanak area display a higher enrichment of HP (16.53 μWm^-3) and HGU (39.37) than those granites of Devsar area. Overall, they have much a higher values of HP and HGU than the average value of continental crust (3.8 HGU), which imply a possible linear relationship with the surface heat flow and crustal heat generation in the rocks of MIS. From the petrography as well as the chemistry of Khanak and Devsar granites, it is suggested that they might have derived from the different degree of partial melting from the similar source of magma.     

Landslide vulnerability assessment and zonation through ranking of causative parameters based on landslide density-derived statistical indicators

The research presented in this article is based on a new technique governed by three different statistical indicators determined for each causative parameter, viz. highest density, average density and co-efficient of variation of landslides. Each of these indicators was assigned a rank value between 1 and 14 depending upon its variation among the 14 causative parameters. The aggregate of the three types of rank values estimate the total ranking value (TRV) for each causative parameter. The study area is divided into 78,256 spatial units and for each such spatial unit, the influence of the different causative parameters is determined as the product of the experts' weight of the associated sub-category and the TRV of the causative parameter that categorizes the study area into various zones. The efficacy of the proposed technique is demonstrated by the occurrence of significantly high prediction accuracy of 84%.