Extension of the CSM‐FEMA440 to plan‐asymmetric real building structures

The capacity spectrum method (CSM) has established itself as one of the most used Nonlinear Static Procedures for the seismic assessment of structures, since its introduction in 1975, when it was first presented by Freeman. More recently, this procedure was implemented in the ATC40 guidelines and lately improved in the FEMA‐440 report. The first step of work addressed by this paper relates to the comparison between the two features of the CSM. In the second part, an extension of the FEMA‐440CSM version is proposed for plan‐asymmetric real RC building structures. The case studies under analysis are the SPEAR building—an irregular 3D structure representing typical old three‐storey buildings in the Mediterranean region, from the early 1970s—and two real Turkish buildings with five and eight storeys. The CSM‐ATC40, the CSM‐FEMA440 and the proposed extended CSM‐FEMA440 method are applied and the results obtained duly compared with nonlinear dynamicit timehistory analyses. For the latter, semi‐artificial ground motions are used to define the seismic action. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbonate petrology of an Upper Ordovician—Silurian section at the Lone Mountain,Eureka County,Nevada

This preliminary petrographic study of a Paleozoic carbonate section (Upper Ordovician to Silurian) in the Lone Mountain district in east-central Nevada provides new information on its microfacies and dolomitization. The occurrence of diversified microfacies in rocks from this section reveals the complex nature of their depositional history, as well as the subsequent diagenesis. Most microfacies from these rocks fall into two general groups: (1) dolomite facies which predominates in the Hanson Creek Formation (Upper Ordovician to Lowest Silurian) and the Lone Mountain Unit 1; and (2) dolomitized limestone facies which is common in the Lone Mountain Formation (Upper Silurian).The dolomite in the mid-Paleozoic carbonate section of the Lone Mountain is overwhelmingly diagenetic in origin. The early diagenetic dolomite is characterized by its homogeneous texture, uniform medium-to-coarse grain size and poorly preserved fossil impressions. The fossil content in this type of dolomite indicates its original calcareous nature. On the other hand, the late-diagenetic dolomite is characterized by its heterogeneous texture, non-uniform grain-size, detrital-quartz content and the presence of partly or incompletely altered fossil structures.     

Morphotectonic analysis in Anandpur Sahib area,Punjab (India) using remote sensing and gis approach

Anandpur Sahib area of Rupnagar district (Punjab) was investigated using an integrated multi-disciplinary approach of geomorphological, structural, drainage and morphotectonic analysis through satellite data and GIS. Most commonly used geomorphic indices viz., channel sinuosity, drainage basin asymmetry, basin elongation ratio, mountain front sinuosity and valley floor to valley width ratio index have been used to identify the geomorphic indicators of active tectonics in the area. Existence of fluvial anomalies viz., abrupt changes in flow direction, flow against gradient, beheaded streams and river terraces reflect the strong structural control on the fluvial features. Asymmetric nature of drainage basin, elongated nature of the sub-watersheds, straight to curvilinear mountain fronts and narrow incised valley floors further substantiate the role of active tectonics in the region.     

X-ray emission from O-type stars: DH Cep and HD 97434

We present X-ray emission characteristics of the massive O-type stars DH Cep and HD 97434 using archival XMM-Newton observations. There is no convincing evidence for short-term variability in the X-ray intensity during the observations. However, the analysis of their spectra reveals X-ray structure being consistent with two-temperature plasma model. The hydrogen column densities derived from X-ray spectra of DH Cep and HD 97434 are in agreement with the reddening measurements for their corresponding host clusters NGC 7380 and Trumpler 18, indicating that the absorption by stellar wind is negligible. The X-ray emission from these hot stars is interpreted in terms of the standard instability-driven wind-shock model.     

HAND (height above nearest drainage) tool and satellite-based geospatial analysis of Hyderabad (India) urban floods,September 2016

Urban flooding needs to be understood holistically and addressed geospatially by all stakeholders. In the present study, an attempt is made to understand the problem of urban flooding in part of Hyderabad city (Zone-12) geospatially considering the satellite-based changes in land use/land cover between 1989 and 2016, identifying low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding using HAND (height above nearest drainage) model in conjunction with the analysis of high-resolution satellite images and ground based validation of affected locations during rains of September 2016. The study shows that Zone-12 has undergone significant increase in impervious cover by 42% between 1989 and 2016. The impact of urbanization has obliterated the footprints of stream network, significantly changing the hydrological landscape due to burial of channels and concretization of lake beds. The interconnected channel network and lake system acting as sinks to absorb high runoff during monsoons have been encroached upon aggravating the urban flooding problem. The study shows that HAND model can be an effective tool under data scarce environments, limited cloud-free high-resolution satellite data availability during floods to have first cut baseline information on flood vulnerable areas.     

Geo-environmental appraisal of the Meda creek,Saurashtra, Gujarat

Water chemistry, sediment texture, clay mineralogy and foraminiferal contents from the bottom of Meda creek were studied to assess the geo-environmental status of the creek. Water quality data for three seasons suggests domination of marine environment as pH remained above 8 and salinity above 35‰ throughout. Clay dominate the bottom sediments, except near mouth. Montmorillonite, illite and kaolinite are the major clay minerals in the sediments. In absence of any source rock in the catchment of the Meda creek, the presence of illite and kaolinite indicates their transportation and depositions from near coastal waters during high tides. Ammonia sp. is the most dominating foraminifera. Reworked forms as well as angular asymmetric forms of foraminifera were dominant in clay rich areas of the creek.     

Rapeseed-mustard acreage estimation using IRS LISS-II data

The present paper describes the remote sensing-based acreage estimation of rapeseed-mustard crop in Mehsana and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat, using four-band data and Maximum Likelihood classification. IRS LISS-II data of November 25, 1989 has been used to estimate the acreage of rapeseed-mustard. It is found that the data of November 25 is useful in discriminating rapeseedmustard from other rabi crops. Talukawise acreage estimation has also been done for three talukas of Mehsana and two talukas of Banaskantha district.     

Trace fossil assemblages in mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments of the Kaladongar Formation (Middle Jurassic), Patcham Island,Kachchh, Western India

The Middle Jurassic rocks of the Kaladongar Formation well exposed in the Kaladongar Hill range of the Patcham Island and Kuar Bet of the Northern Kachchh comprises of ∼450 m thick sequence of mixed siliciclasticcarbonate sediments intercalated with shales. These Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments show wide variation in textural and mineralogical composition and represent genetically related six rock types: micritic sandstone, allochemic sandstone, sandy allochemic limestone, micrtic mudrock, sandy micrite and muddy micrite; which are highly bioturbated and show behaviourally diverse groups of trace fossils. Total 34 ichnogenera are identified, which includes, Arenicolites, Asterosoma, Beaconites, Bergaueria, Chondrites, Cochlichnus, Dactylophycus, Daedalus, Didymaulichnus, Diplocraterion, Gordia, Gyrochorte, Gyrolithes, Ichnocumulus, Laevicyclus, Lockeia, Margaritichnus, Monocraterion, Nereites, Ophiomorpha, Palaeophycus, Phoebichnus, Phycodes, Pilichnus, Planolites, Plug Shaped Form, Protovirgularia, Rhizocorallium, Scolicia, Skolithos, Taenidium, Teichichnus, Thalassinoides and Walcottia. These trace fossils are classified into six morphological groups namely, circular and elliptical structures; simple structures; branched structures; rosette structures; spreiten structures; and winding and meandering structures. These trace fossils are further group into eight assemblages which occurred together into mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, include, Asterosoma assemblage, Gyrochorte assemblage, Rhizocorallium assemblage, Thalassinoides assemblage, Planolites-Palaeophycus assemblage, Phycodes assemblage, Ophiomorpha assemblage and Skolithos assemblage. The recurring pattern of these assemblages through the sequence displays the development of Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies and at places the mixed Skolithos-Cruziana ichnofacies which suggest a low wave and current energy conditions with intervening period of high wave and current energy conditions and an intermediate period of stressful environments, respectively. Sedimentological and ichnological data suggest that the deposition of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments of the Kaladongar Formation took place in the foreshore to offshore environment under fluctuating wave and current energy condition.     

CaMg ratio classification of main limestones (Mississippian) in South Wales,U.K.

The highly dolomitized Main Limestones of approximately Mississippian age, which crop out in South Wales, are classified according to their $\text{Ca}\text{Mg}$ ratio values. The results based upon the $\text{Ca}\text{Mg}$ ratio determination of these rocks permitted their classification into six major categories, namely: (1) limestone; (2) slightly dolomitized limestone; (3) dolomitic limestone; (4) calcitic dolostone; (5) dolostone proper; and (6) magnesian dolostone.It is concluded that dolostone proper and calcitic dolostone tend to dominate in the Main Limestone rocks of South Wales.     

Current Vegetation Pattern along Glacial Landscape in Central （Garhwal） Himalaya, India

Introduction High mountain ecosystems are comparatively thrilling and sensitive at least at the upper elevation levels, and are determined by abiotic climate related ecological factors. Therefore, the ecosystems at the low temperature limits of plant life are generally considered to be particularly sensitive to climate changes (Koerner 1999). As temperature is a key factor for high mountain plants (Koerner and Larcher 1988, Gottfried et al. 1998), an upward migration of species must be conse…