Geobotany of red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) – a case study from the southeastern portion of Andhra Pradesh

 RedSanders in their natural distribution occur almost exclusively in quartzites and shales. This indicates the geobotanical response to these rock types in the semi-arid tract of the southeastern portion of Andhra Pradesh in the tropical dry deciduous forests of Chittoor, Cuddapah and Nellore districts. Thus Red Sanders are important from a commercial point of view and also a useful tool to demarcate stratigraphic formations. Received: 27 April 1998 · Accepted: 21 July 1998     

Soil,landuse and land evaluation studies of Patna area Bihar

The soil and landuse surveys have been conducted in Patna area, Bihar, using aerial photos of 1:25,000 scale. Three major systems, Ganges Gandak and interfluvial plain, have been identified in the area. These were further sub-divided into levees plains and channels etc. The soils were classified according to Soil axonomy. The major land use of the area is cultivation (62.2%) (Upland, lowland and wet land crops) plantation (1.8%) habitation (16.0%), water bodies (8.8%), barren lands (9.4%) and miscellaneous (1.8%). The soils of the area have been evaluated for different land utilization types-upland crops, lowland crops, and habitation. For paddy 75.:%, upland crops 8.2% and for habitation 57%, area was found suitable.     

Evolution of oceanographic conditions off Baja California: 1997–1999

This paper examines the oceanic response off Baja California, Mexico, to the 1997–1998 El Niño and the transition to La Niña conditions. The data presented were gathered during seven cruises over a grid based on the CalCOFI station plan, from lines 100–130, out to station 80. T–S diagrams with data obtained during the peak phase of El Niño, demonstrate that warmer and saltier (spicier) than normal conditions prevailed in the upper 600 m over this region. Temperature and salinity anomalies calculated for CalCOFI line 120 revealed waters near the coast at 50 m depth to be up to 8.7 °C warmer and S=0.8 saltier than the climatology during October 1997. These large anomalies persisted through January 1998, with some slight diminution in the magnitudes near the surface. This study suggests that anomalously warm and salty waters were fed from a source of spicy water to the southwest, identified as Subtropical Surface Water (StSW), and that low-salinity Tropical surface waters (TSW) were blocked to the southeast in the vicinity of the tip of the Peninsula. Subsurface waters associated with the California undercurrent (CU), fed from the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), were also warmer and saltier than normal, and indicate a significant expansion in volume of the CU, presumably a result of intensification of poleward flow at depth. We postulate that the well defined near-surface and deep poleward flows in the study area reflect anomalous large-scale cyclonic circulation affecting the flow in the southeastern region of the North Pacific subtropical gyre east of 125°W. Following the El Niño event, warm and salty upper waters retreated to latitudes south of Punta Eugenia. With the return to normal and cooler conditions, equatorward flow over the sampling grid predominated with an increased meandering and mesoscale activity. Transition to La Niña conditions would have been associated with re-establishment of normal anticyclonic flow in the southeastern quadrant of the Pacific subtropical gyre.     

Long waves due to a symmetrical wind stress on the surface of a rotating ocean

Abstract

The problem of unsteady long waves generated by any horizontal and symmetrically distributed, time-periodic surface wind on a rotating ocean is analysed for large times and distances. Uniform asymptotic estimates of the surface displacement in the unsteady state are obtained. The steady-state wave and velocity fields at any distance are also determined. Some characteristics of the unsteady and steady motions are described. Also noted are the features that distinguish the motion from its one-dimensional analogue for which a non-uniform analysis in the unsteady state along with a large-distance form of the surface elevation are already known.     

On the accuracy of initial seismological data in the problem of seismic hazard assessment

The parameters of the September 3, 1978, earthquake in the Western Caucasus are presented according to data from different seismological agencies. This event, along with the 1966 earthquake in Anapa, is the strongest seismic event in the region. The solutions suggested in the main international and national seismological agencies contradict the well-known fact that the earthquake did not have catastrophic consequences. This is confirmed only by the position of the epicenter according to GCMT data intended for determining somewhat different earthquake parameters: the focal mechanism and seismic moment. Despite the fact that there was no expedition to perform a macroseismic study of the earthquake, some information was collected by phone survey. Information on the spatial distribution of the macroseismic effect made it possible to more accurately determine the epicenter position according to the GCMT data.     

Petrology and Rare Earth Elements Mineral Chemistry of Chadegan Metabasites (Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone,Iran): Evidence for Eclogite-Facies Metamorphism during Neotethyan Subduction

The metabasites of Chadegan, including eclogite, garnet amphibolite and amphibolite, are forming a part of Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone. These rocks have formed during the subduction of the Neo–Tethys ocean crust under Iranian plate. This subduction resulted in a subduction metamorphism under high pressuremedium temperature of eclogite and amphibolites facies condition. Then the metamorphic rocks were exhumed during the continental collision between the Afro–Arabian continent and the Iranian microcontinent. In the metabasite rocks, with typical MORB composition, garnet preserved a compositional zoning occurred during metamorphism. The magnesium (X_Mg) gradually increases from core to rim of garnets, while the manganese (X_Mn) decreases towards the rim. Chondrite–normalized Rare Earth Element patterns for these garnets exhibit core–to–rim increases in Light Rare Earth Elements. The chondrite–normalized REE patterns of garnets, amphiboles and pyroxenes display positive trend from LREEs to Heavy Rare Earth Elements (especially in garnet), which suggests the role of these minerals as the major controller of HREE distribution. The geochemical features show that the studied eclogite and associated rocks have a MORB origin, and probably formed in a deep–seated subduction channel environment. The geothermometry estimation yields average pressure of ~22 kbar and temperature of 470–520°C for eclogite fomation. The thermobarometry results gave T = 650–700°C and P ≈ 10–11 kbar for amphibolite facies.     

Mechanism of loading on plates due to explosive detonation

This paper investigates the various mechanisms and parameters that are responsible for delivering impulse to a vehicle that is unfortunate enough to detonate a buried mine. Small scale tests are used to examine the effects of air blast or ejected sand in imparting impulse to a plate that is located above the surface of the saturated soil that contains the explosive. Parameters such as confinement, stand off distance, depth of burial of the explosive, density of the soil, and saturation level of the soil are also examined.