Role of Quaternary stratigraphy on arsenic-contaminated groundwater from parts of Barak Valley, Assam, North–East India

Groundwater arsenic survey in Cachar and Karimganj districts of Barak Valley, Assam shows that people in these two districts are drinking arsenic-contaminated (max. 350 μg/l) groundwater. 66% of tubewells in these two districts have arsenic concentration above the WHO guideline value of 10 μg/l and 26% tubewells have arsenic above 50 μg/l, the Indian standards for arsenic in drinking water. 90% of installed tubewells in these two districts are shallow depth (14–40 m). Shallow tubewells were installed in Holocene Newer Alluvium aquifers are characterised by grey to black coloured fine grained organic rich argillaceous sediments and are mostly arsenic contamination in groundwater. Plio-Pleistocene Older Alluvium aquifers composed of shale, ferruginous sandstone, mottle clay, pebble and boulder beds, which at higher location or with thin cover of Newer Alluvium sediments are safe in arsenic contamination in groundwater. 91% of tubewell water samples show significantly higher concentrations of iron beyond its permissible limit of 1 mg/l. The iron content in these two districts varies from 0.5 to as much as 48 mg/l. Most of the arsenic contaminated villages of Cachar and Karimganj districts are located in entrenched channels and flood plains of Newer Alluvium sediments in Barak-Surma-Langai Rivers system. However, deeper tubewells (>60 m) in Plio-Pleistocene Older Alluvium aquifers would be a better option for arsenic-safe groundwater. The arsenic in groundwater is getting released from associated Holocene sediments which were likely deposited from the surrounding Tertiary Barail hill range.     

Comment on Gazi et al. (2020): Detecting Coral Reef Degradation on St. Martin’s Island,Bangladesh?

Ocean Science Journal - St. Martin’s Island is a small sedimentary island situated at the southernmost part of Bangladesh (20°37.6′ N and 92°19.3′ E). The island is...     

Adaptive state estimation of groundwater contaminant boundary input flux in a 2-dimensional aquifer

In many circumstances involving heat and mass transfer issues,it is considered impractical to measure the input flux and the resulting state distribution in the domain.Therefore,the need to develop techniques to provide solutions for such problems and estimate the inverse mass flux becomes imperative.Adaptive state estimator(ASE)is increasingly becoming a popular inverse estimation technique which resolves inverse problems by incorporating the semi-Markovian concept into a Bayesian estimation technique,thereby developing an inverse input and state estimator consisting of a bank of parallel adaptively weighted Kalman filters.The ASE is particularly designed for a system that encompasses independent unknowns and/or random switching of input and measurement biases.The present study describes the scheme to estimate the groundwater input contaminant flux and its transient distribution in a conjectural two-dimensional aquifer by means of ASE,which in particular is because of its unique ability to efficiently handle the process noise giving an estimation of keeping the relative error range within 10%in 2-dimensional problems.Numerical simulation results show that the proposed estimator presents decent estimation performance for both smoothly and abruptly varying input flux scenarios.Results also show that ASE enjoys a better estimation performance than its competitor,Recursive Least Square Estimator(RLSE)due to its larger error tolerance in greater process noise regimes.ASE's inherent deficiency of being slower than the RLSE,resulting from the complexity of algorithm,was also noticed.The chosen input scenarios are tested to calculate the effect of input area and both estimators show improved results with an increase in input flux area especially as sensors are moved closer to the assumed input location.     

Dam-break risk analysis of the Attabad landslide dam in Pakistan and emergency countermeasures

The Attabad landslide dam caused significant property losses and many human casualties in Pakistan, and also greatly affected the operation of the China-Pakistan Karakoram Highway (KKH). This paper discusses the risk of dam breach and hazards to the KKH project construction site following a dam breach. The paper examines the following three topics. (1) The geomorphologic dimensionless blockage index (DBI) and the analogy method were used to analyze the stability of the Attabad landslide dam. The long-term behaviors of landslide dams downstream of the Attabad landslide dam indicate that the risk of a dam breach exists, but the probability of a total dam failure is low. (2) The peak discharge of a potential breach of the Attabad landslide dam was calculated for scenarios in which 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and total failure of the dam was breached. The potential breach discharge decreases with the downstream distance. (3) The potential impacts of the landslide dam breach on the KKH project construction site were analyzed. Based on the composition of the landslide dam, the probability of a 1/3 dam breach is high. To ensure the safety of downstream areas, disaster preparedness plans that correspond to the 1/2 dam breach scenario should be developed. Based on experience in addressing the landslide dam that was caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake, artificial controlled drainage measures are suggested and provide a technical reference for addressing the Attabad landslide dam and achieving recovery and normal operation of KKH.     

The source and fate of sediment and mercury in Hunza River basin,Northern Areas,Pakistan

This article presents results of mercury in surface waters from Hunza River basin, Northern Areas, Pakistan. Small‐scale gold mining activities along the Hunza and Gilgit rivers are long known to be discharging mercury in the amalgamation and roasting processes. Previous studies reported high mercury concentrations in soils close to mining operations as well as serious health problems for miners. However, none of the studies have focused on the level of contamination in aqueous environments. This is the first study on the investigation of source and fate of sediment and river‐borne mercury in the Hunza River. The samples collected near gold panning sites showed higher mercury concentrations than critical levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The observed dissolved mercury concentrations ranged from 5.10 to 25.25 ng/l, whereas particulate‐bound mercury ranged from 4.85 to 154.62 ng/l. Particulate‐phase mercury corresponded to more than 75% of the total observed mercury concentrations for all of the sampled rivers. Thus, suspended sediments represented the major pathway of the riverine mercury transport. A mass balance calculation suggested an annual mercury flux of 48.6 g/km² into the Hunza River basin. The samples collected from the most affected river, the Shimsal River, averaged to have 108 ng/l total mercury. This amount was close to the average soil mercury data of 151 ng/l as reported by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation in 2001. The dominant source of contamination was shown to be the leaching of large quantities of mercury from the mercury‐rich sediment and flood plain soil into the rivers, rather than the direct release from mining activities. Significant decrease in both dissolved and particulate‐bound mercury concentration downstream of Attabad Lake suggested that mercury is being accumulated or consumed in the lake. Although minimization or elimination of mercury loses from the mining process seems important for the well‐being of the miners, preventing the remobilization of accumulated mercury is equally important in mercury control in this region. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GCM Hindcasts of SST Forced Climate Variability over Agriculturally Intensive Regions

The NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) climatemodel is forced with globally observed sea-surfacetemperatures (SST) in five simulations, 1969–1991,with individual runs beginning from altered initialatmospheric conditions. The interannual variability ofmodeled anomalies of the Southern Oscillation Index,mid-tropospheric temperatures, 850 mb zonal winds andOutgoing Longwave Radiation over the tropical PacificOcean, which has the largest SST anomaly forcing, arestrongly correlated with observed trends which reflectENSO cycles. The model's rainfall variability overthree agriculturally intensive regions, two tropicaland one mid-latitude, is investigated in order toevaluate the potential usefulness of GCM predictionsfor agricultural planning. The correct sign ofZimbabwe seasonal precipitation anomalies was hindcastwithin a useful range of consensus only for selectseasons corresponding to extreme ENSO events for whichanomalous circulation patterns were ratherrealistically simulated. The correlation betweenhindcasts of Nordeste monthly precipitation andobservations increases with time smoothing, reaching0.64 for 5-month running means. Consensus betweenindividual runs is directly proportional to theabsolute value of Niño3 SST so that during ElNiño and La Niña years most simulations agreeon the sign of predicted Nordeste rainfall anomalies.We show that during selected seasons the uppertropospheric divergent circulation and near surfacemeridional displacements of the ITCZ are realisticallyrepresented by the ensemble mean of the simulations.This realistic simulation of both the synopticmechanisms and the resulting precipitation changesincreases confidence in the GCM's potential forseasonal climate prediction.     

Sediment Hosted Primary Tin Deposit Associated with Biotite Granite and Fault Zone at Gunung Paku, Klian Intan, Upper Perak, Malaysia

Gunung Paku near Klian Intan, Perak, is a primary tin deposit in Malaysia mined since 200 years ago, contributing 3–5% of tin ore concentrates previously, and recently over 70% of the Malaysian tin. Gunung Paku is located within the western Tin belt of Peninsular Malaysia associated with biotite granite (184–230 Ma) of the Main Range Granitoid which extends up to the southern part of Peninsular and Central Thailand. The primary tin mineralization style at the Gunung Paku is mainly associated with widespread occurrence of sheet-like quartz veining systems parallel to the strike of the host rocks and confined within a narrow N–S trending fault zone. The mineralization formed within a thick sequence of metasedimentry rock that belongs to the Baling Formation of Palaeozoic age. The host rock of weakly metamorphosed argillite generally experienced strong tropical weathering that resulted in a thick sequence of light grey to light brown oxidized profile. The mineralized veins range from simple quartz-cassiterite, quartz-tourmaline-cassiterite to complex quartz-cassiterite-polymetallic sulfide veins. Wall rock alterations at Gunung Paku are mainly characterized by the hypogene type alteration consisting of silicification, tourmalinization, chloritization, sericitization and kaolinization normally adjacent to mineralized quartz veins and brecciated-fault gouge zones. Pyrite, arsenopyrite, cassiterite, rutile, chalcopyrite, trippkeite (CuAsO4), scorodite, covellite and other secondary iron-oxyhydroxide are the common metallic minerals that accompanied the tin mineralization. Other minor occurrences include trace amounts of complex lead-bismuth-antimony-molybdenum bearing minerals.     

Geochemistry and origin of Mn-deposits in the Waziristan ophiolite complex, north Waziristan, Pakistan

The Waziristan ophiolite complex is located along the western margin of the Indian plate in northwestern Pakistan. The Mn-deposits in the Saidgi and Shuidar areas are part of this ophiolite complex. These deposits, both banded and massive in nature, are hosted by metachert and are generally overlying metavolcanics. Braunite and cryptocrystalline quartz are the main constituents of the manganese ores in both areas. Hematite occurs in the Shuidar deposits as a minor phase. Metacherts are microcrystalline aggregates of microcrystalline quartz, chalcedony, and lesser hematite. Chemically, the studied Mn-deposits and associated metacherts are very similar to those formed by submarine hydrothermal effusive processes. The deposits originated along sea-floor spreading centers (mid-ocean ridges) within the Neo-Tethys Ocean and were later obducted as part of the Waziristan ophiolite complex. Received: 9 January 1998 / Accepted: 10 March 1999     

Nickel sulphide fire assay for the collection of the platinum group elements and gold from chromitites using reduced bead size

Summary Fire assay is a classical method for the separation of the platinum group elements and gold (PGE + Au). In nickel sulphide fire assay nickel and sulphur are used for the preconcentration of PGE + Au. In the past the authors have successfully reduced the weight of the collectors used without affecting the recovery of the elements from silicate material and eliminated the reagent blank problem. In this work the authors have applied the small bead size to chromitites. Chromitites can be difficult to fuse, and the authors have applied their modified technique to improve the dissolution of chromitites. This paper describes the application of the reduced bead size to the preconcentration of the PGE + Au from chromitites, by using only 0.5 g of nickel compared to the 10 g used by other fire assay workers.

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Nickelsulfid Fire assay zur Anreicherung von Platingruppenelementen und Gold aus Chromititen

Zusammenfassung Fire assay ist die klassische Methode um Platingruppenelemente und Gold (PGE + Au) vor der Analyse anzureichern und von der Matrix abzutrennen. Zum Sammeln der PGE und Au wird Nickelsulfid verwendet. Durch Verwendung möglichst kleiner Mengen konnte das Problem eventueller Verunreinigung der verwendeten Reagenzien ausgeschaltet werden. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird diese Methode bei Chromititen angewendet, wobei hier ein modifiziertes Verfahren zum Lösen dieser Gesteine verwen det wird. Es werden 0.5 g Nickel zum Abtrennen der PGE und Au von Chromititen verwendet, was einer 20-fachen Mengenreduktion des Kollektormaterials gegenüber herkömmlichen Methoden entspricht.