A study on Bianchi-IX cosmological model

In this paper the inflationary solutions are studied for the Bianchi-IX space-time in presence of a massless scalar field with a flat potential. Also a class of cosmological solutions of massive strings are obtained following the techniques used by Letelier and Stachel. Some solutions are calculated for pure massive strings following the Takabayashi equation of state =(1+w).     

Duration of Eo-Alpine metamorphic events obtained from multicomponent diffusion modeling of garnet: a case study from the Eastern Alps

Rocks from the Micaschist–Marble Complex of the Wölz Tauern, which are part of the middle Austroalpine unit, contain large (up to 2 cm) garnet crystals that show clear evidence of multistage growth. Isotopic dating indicates that a Variscan (～270 Ma) garnet core was overgrown by new garnet formed during Eo-Alpine metamorphism at Cretaceous times. P-T paths for the Eo-Alpine metamorphism were obtained using the method of pseudosections (Powell and Holland in Metam Geol 16:309–343, 1998) and are consistent with earlier results from independent thermobarometry. Due to the large size of the garnets, growth zoning was preserved during amphibolite facies metamorphism at both Variscan and Alpine times. Full multicomponent diffusion modeling of compositional zoning at the interface of the Alpine and Pre-Alpine garnets in conjunction with the retrieved P-T paths allow average subduction/exhumation as well as heating/cooling rates to be retrieved. The modeling suggests that a minimum subduction/exhumation rate of ～4 cm/a and heating/cooling rates on the order of 100–260°C/Ma for a 60°C subduction angle are required to preserve the observed compositional zoning overall while modifying the zoning at the interface between two garnets to the extent observed. Such rapid rates of burial/exhumation are consistent with the results of direct GPS measurements of convergence rates at several orogenic belts as well as with inferred rates from modeling in the Alps and other areas. In combination, this indicates that such rapid rates are commonplace during metamorphism in collisional orogens and places important constraints on the rheological behavior of crustal blocks in such orogens.     

Disturbances in a viscoelastic medium due to impulsive forces on a spherical cavity

Summary The disturbances produced in a visco-elastic medium by impulsive forces on the surface of a spherical cavity inside the medium have been studied.     

Determination of Free Nickel Ion Concentrations Using the Ion Exchange Technique: Application to Aqueous Mining and Municipal Effluents

Free metal ion concentration is generally considered a useful indicator of a metal’s bioavailability and ecotoxicity to aquatic biota. This article reports the speciation of nickel in mining and municipal effluents from Sudbury (Ontario, Canada), and also in model solutions containing a fully characterized laurentian fulvic acid (LFA) at environmentally relevant concentrations. A column ion exchange technique (IET) using a cation exchange resin (Dowex 50W-X8) was applied to determine free nickel ion concentrations. In model solutions, reasonable correlation was found between the predictions of an equilibrium-based computer speciation code, Windermere Humic Aqueous Model (WHAM) VI, and the results obtained by IET at low nickel-to-fulvic acid ratios. However at higher mole ratios, the WHAM VI predicted higher free nickel ion concentrations than IET. Only three out of six effluent samples showed reasonable agreement between the IET and the WHAM VI results, indicating the need for further development of IET for application to effluent waters.     

Implementing a Spatial Model to Derive Potential Fishing Zones in the Northern Bay of Bengal Lying Adjacent to West Bengal Coast,India

Potential fishing zones (PFZ’s) are those regions where the fishes aggregate due to an abundance of food and they are demarcated by tracing those regions in the ocean, where a sharp sea surface temperature (SST) gradient along with optimal chlorophyll (Chl) concentration co-exists at a given time. In this regard, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) disseminates the daily PFZ forecasts in Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea to aid the fishermen community. The present study is an endeavor to develop a local spatial model derived Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) in the northern Bay of Bengal (nBoB) lying adjacent to the West Bengal coast. Satellite derived SST and chlorophyll data obtained for two consecutive winter seasons of 2010–11 and 2011–12 were used to generate line density (LD) raster. Shapefiles of INCOIS predicted PFZs were overlaid on these LD raster to extract the corresponding pixel values. Histogram ranges of the extracted pixels were fixed and same values lying in the LD raster of both SST and chlorophyll other than INCOIS PFZs were detected by a spatial model in ERDAS. The PFZs thus derived were validated against the ground fish catch data and it was observed that good fish catch was seen in the model derived additional PFZs also. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) values was found to be very close to that of the CPUE value of PFZ advisories of INCOIS. However, the CPUE in the non PFZ areas were significantly lower than the former two categories.     

Magmatism in western Cuddapahs: The mafic sills and lava flows of Vempalle and Tadpatri formations

The western part of Cuddapah basin has been considered as a foreland to the fold-thrust belt represented by eastern Nallamalais and Nellore schist belt. The igneous activities, in the form of lava flows and sills, in western Cuddapahs have been a subject of controversy since tectonogenetic models ranging from a mantle plume to lithospheric extension have been suggested. The present work covers a detailed study of the mafic sills and lava flows of Vempalle and Tadpatri formations in western Cuddapahs, which earlier workers have also noted. A detailed field and laboratory work in this study brings out, for the first time, five distinct petrographic and geochemical varieties of sills. Geochemical studies also suggest that the different sill types have originated from varying degrees of partial melting of a metasomatized subcrustal lithospheric mantle, the metasomatism of source being attributed to older Archaean convergent settings/greenstone belts that the basin unconformably overlies. The possible contribution of any small plume is only heating and doming of overlying mantle that induced incipient crustal rifting. Our geochemical studies on the lava flows of Vempalle Formation also suggest that the magma was derived from small degree of partial melting of spinel-garnet peridotite mantle in a rift setting.     

Constraining the conditions of Barrovian metamorphism in Sikkim,India: P–T–t paths of garnet crystallization in the Lesser Himalayan Belt

Garnet crystallization in metapelites from the Barrovian garnet and staurolite zones of the Lesser Himalayan Belt in Sikkim is modelled utilizing Gibbs free energy minimization, multi‐component diffusion theory and a simple nucleation and growth algorithm. The predicted mineral assemblages and garnet‐growth zoning match observations remarkably well for relatively tight, clockwise metamorphic P–T paths that are characterized by prograde gradients of ～30 °C kbar^?1 for garnet‐zone rocks and ～20 °C kbar^?1 for rocks from the staurolite zone. Estimates for peak metamorphic temperature increase up‐structure toward the Main Central Thrust. According to our calculations, garnet stopped growing at peak pressures, and protracted heating after peak pressure was absent or insignificant. Almost identical P–T paths for the samples studied and the metamorphic continuity of the Lesser Himalayan Belt support thermo‐mechanical models that favour tectonic inversion of a coherent package of Barrovian metamorphic rocks. Time‐scales associated with the metamorphism were too short for chemical diffusion to substantially modify garnet‐growth zoning in rocks from the garnet and staurolite zones. In general, the pressure of initial garnet growth decreases, and the temperature required for initial garnet growth was reached earlier, for rocks buried closer toward the MCT. Deviations from this overall trend can be explained by variations in bulk‐rock chemistry.