DETECTION OF SHORT-PERIOD CORONAL OSCILLATIONS DURING THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 24 OCTOBER, 1995

An experiment to search for short-period oscillations in the solar corona was conducted during the total solar eclipse of 1995 October 24 at Kalpi, India. The intensity in the continuum, centred around 5500 Å and with a passband having a half-width of 240 Å, was recorded at a counting rate of 20 Hz using a thermoelectric-liquid cooled photomultiplier. The power-spectrum analysis of the data reveals that most of the power is contained in 6 frequencies below 0.2 Hz. A least-square analysis gives the periods of the 6 frequency components to be 56.5, 19.5, 13.5, 8.0, 6.1, and 5.3 s. These oscillations are found to be sinusoidal, and their amplitudes are found to lie in the rangeinebreak 0.2–1.3% of the coronal brightness. Assuming these oscillations to be fast magnetosonic modes, the calculations indicate the availability of enough flux for the heating of the active regions in the solar corona.     

Order disorder in sillimanite

AP³⁺-Si⁴⁺ disordering in sillimanite cannot be considered as ideal mixing on tetrahedral sites. Ideal free energy of mixing in sillimanite corresponding to slight disordering results in changing the kyanite-sillimanite phase equilibrium boundary by impossible magnitude. A regular solution model for the sites yields the following expression for the free energy of mixing: 1 $$G_{sill}^M = W \{ (X_{Al - T1} )^2 + (X_{Al - T2} )^2 \} + RT ln X_{Al - T1} X_{Al - T2}$$ . Calculations using the phase equilibrium data show that even small disequilibrium in intra-crystalline distribution results in significant change in pressure of the kyanite-sillimanite “equilibrium”. If information on interaction energies such as W is not available for disordering silicates, it is not advisable to use the ideal configurational entropy in calculations of phase equilibria.     

A Review of Shallow-Water Mapping Systems

In recent years shallow-water mapping systems have been developing rapidly for various applications of coastal, nearshore, and other shallow-water regions. Some systems can operate in only 0.5 m deep water, while the operating range of some systems is over 600 m depth. This article reviews the characteristics of nine shallow-water mapping systems developed by seven manufacturers. The design and the data collection methods of these systems are different from each other, and each has its advantage. Most of these systems have been tested in the real environment and are in use for various purposes around the world.     

A Certain Class of Laplace Transforms with Applications to Reaction and Reaction-Diffusion Equations

A class of Laplace transforms is examined to show that particular cases of this class are associated with production-destruction and reaction-diffusion problems in physics, study of differences of independently distributed random variables and the concept of Laplacianness in statistics, α-Laplace and Mittag-Leffler stochastic processes, the concepts of infinite divisibility and geometric infinite divisibility problems in probability theory and certain fractional integrals and fractional derivatives. A number of applications are pointed out with special reference to solutions of fractional reaction and reaction-diffusion equations and their generalizations.     

Coastal hazard mapping in the Cuddalore region, South India

It is estimated that nearly one-third of India’s population lives on the coast and is dependent on its resources. Shoreline erosion, storm surges and extreme events have resulted in severe loss of human life, damage to ecosystems and to property along the coast of India. Studies carried out in the Cuddalore region of South India reveal that this low-lying coastal zone, which suffered significant erosion during the last century, has been severely affected by the tsunami of 2004, storm floods and cyclones. In response to these impacts, a variety of coastal defense measures and adaptation strategies have been implemented in the region, although with only limited success. In order to inform future coastal planning in this region, the work reported here identifies a composite hazard line, seaward of which coastal flooding events will have a return interval of less than 1 in 100 years. The area landward of the coastal hazard line will be unaffected by 100 years of coastal erosion at present day rates. The study directly supports the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Plan of the Tamil Nadu State through the identification and assessment of coastal hazards and the overall vulnerability to coastal flooding and erosion. The key results from this pilot study will be used directly by the State of Tamil Nadu in the protection of the coastal livelihoods, better conservation measures and sustainable development along the coast. This study is a step toward mapping the hazard line for the entire coast of India that helps protect human lives and property.     

Chemical Composition and Association of Size-Differentiated Aerosols at a Suburban Site in a Semi-Arid Tract of India

Size-differentiated concentrations of SPM, F, Cl, NO₃, SO₄, Na, K, Ca, Mg and NH₄ in atmospheric aerosols were measured in a suburban area of Agra city during December 1992 to March 1993. Except for NH₄, Cl and Na, all components were found to have a bimodal distribution. The fine fraction was dominated by NH₄, K, NO₃ and SO₄, while Na, Ca, Mg, F and Cl contributed to the coarse fraction. Fifty-eight percent of SO₄ and 67% of NO₃ were found in the fine mode and the coarse mode comprised 42 and 33% of SO₄ and NO₃, respectively. SO₄ was found to have a peak above the submicron range at 1.1 µm which has been attributed to secondary sulphate formation by heterogeneous oxidation of SO₂ on alkaline particles of Ca and Mg. The total aerosol was basic in nature and dominated by the soil-derived acid neutralising components (Ca, Mg and Na).     

Proposed river-linking project of India: a boon or bane to nature

India is a vast country and is highly diversified in terms of natural resources and socio-economic setup. Moreover, its water resources are unevenly distributed in space and time. With increasing population and increasing aspiration for improved standard of living, there is an acute pressure on the demand and availability of water. Though the idea of interlinking of rivers is not a new concept in India, it had rather persisted long back as much as in other countries of ancient civilization. National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has given the real shape to the proposal of the interlinking of rivers of the country. In India the river-linking project in a sensible and scientific manner will not only allow the prevention of the colossal wastage of a vitally important natural resource, mitigate the flood and inundation by detaining flowing surface water of rainy seasons, but also ensure availability of water to drier areas; combating both flood and drought simultaneously. Moreover, this project will generate 34,000 MW of hydropower and irrigation of an additional 35 million hectares (135,135 square miles) of land. Though linking of rivers may initially appear to be a costly proposition in ecological, geological, hydrological and economical terms, in the long run the net benefits coming from it will far outweigh these costs or losses. However, in the absence of any definite international legal framework, Bangladesh has raised objections against the project. This paper aims at looking at this long-term plan, the project proposal, its involvement and impact not only on the states of India, India as a whole, but also on its neighbouring nations which are linked with India through the waterways, and share the common climatic conditions and economic status.     

Incomplete high P–T metamorphic transitions within the Kvamsøy pyroxenite complex, west Norway: a case study of disequilibrium

Abstract The Kvamsøy pyroxenite complex consists of olivine websterite, olivine gabbro and leucogabbro-norite which have been subjected to regional high P-T (HPT) metamorphism. The metamorphism has resulted in a range of disequilibrium textures with the development of coronas and pseudomorphism of the igneous phases. Reactions between felsic and mafic mineral domains have been controlled by variable and selective diffusion of elements, resulting in a variety of local plagioclase-breakdown reactions and in significant compositional variations for the product garnet. Restricted diffusion favours transient reaction stages with garnet ± spinel ± corundum ± zoisite after calcic plagioclase in olivine gabbro and olivine websterite and garnet ± spinel ± kyanite ± quartz + sodic plagioclase in leucogabbro-norite. Complete HPT reaction has produced garnet pyroxenite which consists of garnet + diopside + hornblende + zoisite in gabbroic rocks, while amphibolitization continued during the cooling and uplift history. Grt + Ky + Pl + Qtz geobarometry suggests pressures in the range 13-16 kbar for T = 750°C, comparable with the regional eclogite-forming metamorphism.     

Tsunami detectability using open-ocean bottom pressure fluctuations

Rationale for the measurement of open-ocean tsunami signatures are presented, and available pertinent data are reviewed. Models for tsunami signature and background noise are proposed in order to synthesize an optimum tsunami receiver. Using these models, the minimum tsunami amplitude (in cm) to yield the probability of correct tsunami detectionP_{D} = 0.999and probability of false alarmP_{F} = 10^{-3}is found to be0.718/sqrt{f_{0}}, wheref_{0}is the tsunami dominant frequency (in cycles/h). A realizable receiver is proposed and its performance is evaluated using actual tsunami signatures. It is demonstrated that the detection of a tsunami with an average amplitude as small as 0.7 cm is possible for theP_{D}andP_{F}as above. Simulation results using synthesized background noise are shown. Tidal effects on the receiver performance also are considered and are found negligible for a certain range of the receiver parameters, resulting in a considerable reduction of the signal processing required.