Toxicity of organophosphorus pesticide sumithion on larval stages of stinging catfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heteropneustes fossilis</Emphasis>

Sumithion is widely used to control brittle in paddy fields and tiger bug in fish larval rearing ponds. The objective of this study was to elucidate the toxic effects of sumithion on larval stages of stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis. Larvae were exposed to two concentrations (150 and 250 μg/L) of sumithion with one control in three replicates of each. Larvae samples were collected at 20- and 24-h intervals followed by observation under a digital microscope. Exposures of stinging catfish larvae to sumithion produced deformities including irregular head shape, lordosis, yolk sac edema, body arcuation, tissue ulceration, etc. The mortality rates of larvae were significantly increased in response to increase in sumithion concentrations. Furthermore, around 30% of the total adult stinging catfish reared in sumithiontreated aquaculture ponds were found to be deformed permanently. These findings highlight that exposure of stinging catfish to sumithion at the critical and sensitive stages in their life cycle may significantly reduce the number of returning adults. Therefore, the use of sumithion for crop protection needs to be considered carefully and alternatives to sumithion should to be developed for controlling aquatic insects in aqua-ponds during larval rearing.     

Cyclic liquefaction screening of sand with non-plastic fines:Critical state approach

There have been significant advances in the application of critical state,CS,in liquefaction potential assessment.This was done by comparing state parameter,j with estimated characteristic cyclic stress ratio,CSR due to an earthquake.A cyclic resistance ratio,CRR curve,which can be determined from cyclic liquefaction tests,separates historical liquefied and non-liquefied data points(j,CSR).On the other hand,the concepts of equivalent granular state parameter,j*,which was developed for sands with fines,can be used in lieu j to provide a unifying framework for characterizing the undrained response of sands with non/low plasticity fines,irrespective of fines content(fc).The present work combines these two propositions,and by merely substituting j*for j into the aforementioned CS approach to capture the influence of fc.A series of static and cyclic triaxial tests were conducted,separately and independently of the concept of j*,for sand with up to fc of 30%.The clean sand was collected from Sabarmati river belt at Ahmedabad city in India which was severely affected during the Bhuj earthquake,2001.The experimental data gave a single relation for CRR and j*which was then used to assess liquefaction potential for a SPT based case study,where fc varies along the depth.The prediction matched with the field observation.     

Recent Sea Level and Sea Surface Temperature Changes Along the Maldives Coast

Maldives, a South Asian small island nation in the northern part of the Indian Ocean is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR) due to its low altitude from the mean sea level. This artricle attempts to estimate the recent rates of SLR in Maldives during different seasons of the year with the help of existing tidal data recorded in the Maldives coast. Corresponding Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends, utilizing reliable satellite climatology, have also been obtained. The relationships between the SST and mean sea level have been comprehensively investigated. Results show that recent sea level trends in the Maldives coast are very high. At Male, the capital of the Republic of Maldives, the rising rates of Mean Tidal Level (MTL) are: 8.5, 7.6, and 5.8 mm/year during the postmonsoon (October-December), Premonsoon (March-May) and southwest monsoon (June-September) seasons respectively. At Gan, a station very close to the equator, the increasing rate of MTL is maximum during the period from June to September (which is 6.2 mm/year). These rising trends in MTL along the Maldives coast are certainly alarming for this small developing island nation, which is hardly one meter above the mean sea level. Thus there is a need for careful monitoring of future sea level changes in the Maldives coast. The trends presented are based on the available time-series of MTL for the Maldives coast, which are rather short. These trends need not necessarily reflect the long-term scenario. SST in the Maldives coast has also registered significant increasing trend during the period from June to September. There are large seasonal variations in the SST trends at Gan but SST and MTL trends at Male are consistently increasing during all the seasons and the rising rates are very high. The interannual mode of variation is prominent both in SST as well as MTL. Annual profile of MTL along the Maldives coast is bimodal, having two maxima during April and July. The April Mode is by far the dominant one. The SST appears to be the main factor governing the sea level variations along the Maldives coast. The influence of SST and sea level is more near the equatorial region (i.e., at Gan). There is lag of about two months for the maximum influence of SST on the sea level. The correlation coefficient between the smoothed SST and mean tidal level at Gan with lag of two months is as high as ~ +0.8, which is highly significant. The corresponding correlation coefficients at Male with the lags of one and two months are +0.5 and +0.3, respectively. Thus, the important finding of the present work for the Maldives coast is the dominance of SST factor in sea level variation, especially near the region close to the equator.     

Inversion of Gravity Data for Imaging of a Sediment-basement Interface: A Case Study in the Northwestern Part of Bangladesh

Gravity data collected by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh are processed and interpreted for imaging of a sediment-basement interface over the northwestern part of Bangladesh. The observed gravity data are processed for discriminating gravitational fields contributed subtly from the shallow basement topographic feature with the twelve nodal piecewise cubic polynomial–based finite–element approach. In spectral analysis, the presence of a widely spread shallow basement feature has been detected and interpretation of gravity data using a two-dimensional gravity inversion technique indicates that its depth ranges from 0.041 km to 0.570 km relative to ground surface. In the northern part of the study area, the inferred basement configuration shows a general depression of the basement in the Takurgaon-Panchagar and Lalmonirhat districts and reaches a maximum depth of about 0.570 km. In the Nilphamari district and its southwestern part, the basement occurs at the most shallow depth due to its upliftment. However, the estimated sediment-basement interface depths are compared with the borehole and other geophysical interpretative information and are found to be consistent.     

Geological and soil engineering properties of shallow landslides occurring in the Kutupalong Rohingya Camp in Cox’s Bazar,Bangladesh

Landslides - The Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN), historically known as ‘Rohingya’ who fled the 2017 ethnic atrocities and genocide in the Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar,...     

GIS-based Assessment and Management of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in R?nne? River Catchment, Sweden

Eutrophication in lakes, estuaries and rivers occur due to over-enrichment with nutrients. Amongst the various nutrients Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) are the elements which are considered as the major pollutants. The present study looks into the problem of managing nutrient losses both from point sources and diffuse sources. The study was carried out in the River R?nne? catchment in South of Sweden where N and P have been assessed by creation of a pollution inventory based on GIS technology. The nutrient loads from different land use types were estimated using export coefficients and evaluated using monitoring data. A comparative analysis is done on the measured and estimated N and P leaching from diffused sources and point sources. Protective zones were suggested to decrease the P export from agricultural land, and the distribution of construction cost was analyzed among administrative regions according to the proportion of catchments, cultivated land, nutrient leaching, protective zone and length of river section within each municipality. The estimated error of the nutrient amount from landuse using GIS is 9.75% and 12.71% for N and P, respectively. The diffused sources contribute 91.53% and 94.74% of the total N and total P respectively, so the creation of a protective zone could be an effective way to decrease the nutrient export. The study demonstrates the power of GIS as a tool to analyze problems related to environmental monitoring and planning at administrative level, which could help in decision making and support for better management of the water resources.     

Sea level rise and tigers: predicted impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangroves

The Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem, shared by India and Bangladesh, is recognized as a global priority for biodiversity conservation. Sea level rise, due to climate change, threatens the long term persistence of the Sundarbans forests and its biodiversity. Among the forests’ biota is the only tiger (Panthera tigris) population in the world adapted for life in mangrove forests. Prior predictions on the impacts of sea level rise on the Sundarbans have been hampered by coarse elevation data in this low-lying region, where every centimeter counts. Using high resolution elevation data, we estimate that with a 28 cm rise above 2000 sea levels, remaining tiger habitat in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans would decline by 96% and the number of breeding individuals would be reduced to less than 20. Assuming current sea level rise predictions and local conditions do not change, a 28 cm sea level rise is likely to occur in the next 50–90 years. If actions to both limit green house gas emissions and increase resilience of the Sundarbans are not initiated soon, the tigers of the Sundarbans may join the Arctic’s polar bears (Ursus maritimus) as early victims of climate change-induced habitat loss.     

Effect of soil cohesion and friction angles on reverse faults

Severe faults have caused many earthquakes around the world throughout history.More recently,earthquakes have occurred in Taiwan,China(Chi-Chi fault),and elsewhere,causing loss of lives and destroying many buildings and structures.These tectonic movements have gained attention from engineers,and in the past 15 years,the focus has been on faulting mechanisms.In this study,a physical model(1 g)was fabricated and used to evaluate the impact of a reverse fault in a field with a tunnel.In the 1 g model,researchers installed additional gauges on the tunnel,so that all the displacements could be adjusted,and all the responses could be monitored during faulting.An experimental study of various soil properties(cohesion and friction angles)in reverse faults on the tunnel lining were carried out and are described herein.A comparison of results for different levels of soil cohesion revealed that it can dramatically reduce the displacement by as much as 40%,and that friction angles of 27ocan record approximately 60%more displacements than at 37o.Furthermore,a comparison of fault angles of 30oand 60oindicates that the displacements can be different by more than 43%in cohesionless soil and about 64%for a friction angle of 27o.