Lower Miocene (Aquitanien-Burdigalian) palaeobiogeography of the Indian subcontinent

The paper analytically discusses certain palaeoecological criteria in the reconstruction of Lower Miocene (Aquitanian-Burdigalian) palaeobiogeography of the Indian subcontinent. The period is characterised by major marine transgressions and a prolific marine invertebrate and terrestrial vertebrate faunas. Faunal affinities of molluscs from western (Sind-Baluchistan) and eastern (Garo Hills) sectors are distinct and different. Molluscs of Garo Hills show affinity to Burmese species, whereas Sind-Baluchistan species shows similarity to that of the Mediterranean region. Marine molluscs resemble with the present-day taxa of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, where more than 35% species are common. This similarity is also evidenced by marine elasmobranchs, where approximately 33% species and 86% genera are similar to that of the Recent taxa. Terrestrial mammals show an intermingling of southern U.S.S.R. and African forms along with the presence of probably some groups belonging to the Indian subcontinent.Angiosperms are the dominant group. The Lower Miocene floras of the eastern and the western sectors are entirely different. The palm,Sabal major andPinus are reported from various localities. The climate in the western sector and South India was tropical, whereas in the eastern sector, it was variable.The Lower Miocene period is also marked by the contraction of Sindhu Sea, Bangla Sea and the Burmese Gulf southwards resulting in the final disappearance of the sea by the Pliocene.

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Zusammenfassung Die Paläobiogeographie des unteren Miocän (Aquitan-Burdigal) läßt sich auf dem indischen Subkontinent aus den palökologischen Daten rekonstruieren. Zu dieser Zeit gab es viele marine Invertebraten und terrestrische Vertebraten-Faunen, die große marine Transgression anzeigen. Die Mollusken des Westens (Find-Baluchistan) und Ostens (Garo-Gebirge) sind unterschiedlich. Die Mollusken des Garo-Gebirges sind mit den Spezies von Burma verwandt. Dagegen sind die Faunen von Sind-Baluchistan für die mediterrane Faunenprovinz typisch. Die marinen Mollusken sind verwandt mit den Faunen des Arabischen Meeres und der Bucht von Bengalen; etwa 35% der Spezies sind gleich. Von den marinen Elasmobranchien sind ungefähr 33 % Spezies und 86% Genera gleich wie man sie in den rezenten Faunen findet. Terrestrische Sänger zeigen eine Mischung von südlicher U.S.S.R. und Afrika mit einigen Teilen des Indischen Subkontinentes.In den Pflanzen-Gruppen herrschen die Angiospermen vor. Die Untermiocän-Flora der östlichen und westlichen Gebiete ist ganz unterschiedlich. Der Palme, dieSabal Major undPinus sind aus verschiedenen Lokalitäten bekannt. Das Klima im Westen und im Süden Indiens war tropisch, im Osten dagegen war es wechselfeucht.Das Untermiocän-Meer im Gebiet Sind, Bangladesh und Burma verschwindet vor dem Pliozän.

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Résumé Cet article analyse certains critères paléoécologiques dans la reconstitution de la paléogéographie du Miocène inférieur (Aquitanien-Burdigalien) de l'Inde subcontinentale. La période est caractérisée par de grandes transgressions marines et par des faunes abondantes d'invertébrés marins et de vertébrés terrestres. Les affinités fauniques des mollusques sont différentes dans les secteurs occidentaux (Sind-Baluchistan) et orientaux (Garo Hills). Les mollusques des Garo Hills montrent des affinités avec les espèces de Burma, tandis que les espèces de Sind-Béloutchistan montrent des similitudes avec celles de la région méditerranéenne. Les mollusques marins ont des ressemblances avec les taxons actuels de la Mer d'Arabie et du Golfe du Bengal, où plus de 35% des espèces sont les mÊmes. Cette similarité vaut aussi pour les élasmobranches marin, dont 33% des espèces et 86% des genres ressemblent aux taxons récents. Les mammifères terrestres montrent un mélange de formes du sud de l'U.S.S.R. et de formes africaines, allant de pair avec la présence de certains groupes probables appartenant au sous-continent indien.Les angiospermes forment le groupe dominant. Les formes du Miocène inférieur des secteurs orientaux et occidentaux sont entièrement différentes. Le palmier, le grand Sabal et le pin, sont connus dans différentes localités. Le climat dans le secteur occidental et dans l'Inde méridionale était tropical, tandis que dans le secteur oriental, il était variable.La période du Miocène inférieur est également marquée par le rétrécissement de la Mer de Sindhu, de la Mer de Bangla et du Golfe de Burma vers le sud, avec comme résultat la disparition finale de la mer au Pliocène.

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(Aquitanian Nurdigalian) . . (Sind- Beluchistan) (Garo Hills) . , . : 35% . Elasmobranchs 33 % 86 % . , . . , Sabal major . , , , , , — . Sindhu, .

     

Role of hydrological regime and floodplain sediments in channel instability of the Bhagirathi River,Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta,India

Abstract

This research deals with the surface dynamics and key factors – hydrological regime, sediment load, and erodibility of floodplain facies – of frequent channel shifting, intensive meandering, and lateral instability of the Bhagirathi River in the western part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). At present, the floodplain of the Bhagirathi is categorized as a medium energy (specific stream power of 10–300 W m^?2), non-cohesive floodplain, which exhibits a mixed-load and a meandering channel, an entrenchment ratio >2.2, width–depth ratio >12, sinuosity >1.4, and channel slope <0.02. In the study area, since 1975, four meander cutoffs have been shaped at an average rate of one in every 9–10 years. In the active meander belt and sand-silt dominated floodplains of GBD, frequent shifting of the channel and meander migration escalate severe bank erosion (e.g. 2.5 × 10⁶ m³ of land lost between 1999 and 2004) throughout the year. Remote sensing based spatio-temporal analysis and stratigraphic analysis reveal that the impact of the Farakka barrage, completed in 1975, is not the sole factor of downstream channel oscillation; rather, hydrogeomorphic instability induced by the Ajay–Mayurakshi fluvial system and the erodibility of floodplain sediments control the channel dynamics of the study area.     

Radiative recombination in some ions of astrophysical interest

Radiative recombination coefficients for some quadruply and quintuply ionized atoms, present in the Sun and its atmosphere, are investigated in the temperature range 10–10⁴ K by using the method of detailed balance. Simple expressions are given for a quick estimation.     

Temperature in transition region and inner corona

The investigation of Alamet al. (1979), of the temperature distribution in spherically-symmetric transition region and inner corona, appears to be in error.     

Modulational instability of electron-acoustic waves in relativistically degenerate quantum plasma

Using the Quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model the modulational instability of electron-acoustic waves (EAWs) has been examined theoretically by deriving a nonlinear Schrodinger equation in a two-electron-populated relativistically degenerate super dense plasma. Through numerical analysis it is shown that the relativistic degeneracy parameter significantly influence the stability conditions and the formation and properties of the envelop solitons.     

Five dimensional Bianchi type-V cosmological models described by a binary mixture of perfect fluid and dark energy with Λ-term

Some recent experimental observations have been shown that inclusion of electron collisions damping in inertial Alfvén wave (IAW) dynamics may be important for laboratory as well as space plasmas. This paper presents the numerical simulation of model equation governing the nonlinear dynamics of IAW in low-beta plasmas. When the nonlinearity arises due to the ponderomotive force and Joule heating driven density perturbations, the model equation turns out to be a modified nonlinear Schr?dinger equation (MNLS). The electron collisions are introduced only in the electron momentum equation. The damped localized structures of IAW with sidebands are obtained. Also, the effect of collisional damping on power spectra of magnetic fluctuations with different scaling laws has been studied. These turbulent structures may be responsible for particle acceleration in laboratory and space plasmas.     

Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings

This paper offers a systematic analysis of the concepts and contexts that frame the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) discourse in the academic and policy literature. Documents (n?=?113) related to CSA and published in peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and scientific reports from 2004 to 2016 were reviewed. Three key trends emerged from the analysis: studies are biased towards global policy agendas; research focuses on scientific and technical issues; and the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and food security (the three pillars of CSA) is becoming a popular scholarly solution. Findings suggest that CSA is a fairly new concept used to describe a range of adaptation and mitigation practices without a specific set of criteria. Although CSA is often framed around the three pillars, the underlying issues constructing the discourse differ at global, developing, and developed country scales. Although there is increasing research on developing countries, particularly in relation to how CSA can transform smallholder agriculture, there is a paucity of research documenting the experiences from developed countries. The findings suggest that research on CSA needs to move beyond solely focussing on scientific approaches and only in certain geographical contexts. If CSA is to be applicable for farmers across the globe, then cross-disciplinary research that is underpinned by broad socio-economic and political contexts is essential to understand how differences in narratives might affect implementation on-the-ground in both developing and developed countries.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Although policy makers are increasingly supportive of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach, the rhetoric has largely been developed on the basis of scientific and technical arguments. The political implications of varying perspectives have resulted in a growing divide between how developing and developed countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Different framings are part of the explanation for why the scope of CSA is being rethought, with the scientific community redirecting attention to seeking a separate work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current policy framing of CSA will give no new policy direction unless it grounds itself in the smallholder farmer and civil society contexts.     

Prediction of weather parameters on a very short time scale by an Auto Regressive process for aviation flight planning

Forecasting weather parameters such as temperature and pressure with a reasonable degree of accuracy three hours ahead of the scheduled departure of an aircraft helps economic and efficient planning of aircraft operations. However, these two parameters exhibit a high degree of persistency and have nonstationary mean and variance at sub-periods (i.e. at 0000, 0300, 0600,…, 2100UTC). Hence these series have been standardised (to have mean 0 and variance 1) and thereafter seasonal differenced (lag 8) to achieve almost near stationarity. An attempt has been made to fit the standardised and seasonal differenced series of Chennai (a coastal station) and Trichy (an inland station) airport into an Auto Regressive (AR) process. The model coefficients have been estimated based on adaptive filter algorithm which uses the method of convergence by the steepest descent. The models were tested with an independent data set and diagnostic checks were made on the residual error series. An independent estimation of fractal dimension has also been made in this study to conform the number parameters used in the AR processes. The models contemplated in this study are parsimonious and can be used to forecast surface temperature and pressure.     

Suggestion for Search of Malononitrile (CH2(CN)2) in a Cosmic Object: Potential Spectral Lines

Astronomy Reports - Though accurate laboratory studies of malononitrile (CH2(CN)2), a dinitrile molecule, have been carried out from time to time, and it has large electric dipole moment $$\mu =...