On the interaction of mesoscale eddies and a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal

Natural Hazards - Oceanic eddies span over a wide range of sizes and affect the thermodynamic properties of water column. By modifying the thermal structure of the upper ocean, these eddies...     

Ice Height and Backscattering Coefficient Variability over Greenland Ice Sheets Using SARAL Radar Altimeter

Ice sheets investigation is important with regard to climate change and contribution to the sea level rise or fall. Radar altimetry in complement with laser altimetry can serve as a suitable candidate for precise monitoring of ice sheet evaluations. SARAL due to higher observation into the polar region (up to 82.5°N) can cover nearly 100% of the Greenland ice sheet. Continuous ice tracking mode retracker can provide useful information about ice surfaces, that is, determining the snow coverage, ice sheet transaction margin, and the evolution of snow depth during winter more accurately. This study present the results obtained with SARAL satellite Altika radar altimeter over the Greenland ice sheet region. The altimeter high rate waveforms products are used for utilizing the full capability of the instrument. High resolution DEM (1 km) generated using ICESAT/GLAS altimeter has been used for selecting the good quality data over the study region. Four different retrackers—Ocean, ICE-1, ICE-2, and Sea-Ice—were tested on the SARAL altimeter data set and compared with the DEM extracted ice sheet elevations. Three different data analysis—region of interest (ROI), track analysis, and cross-over analysis—were performed for in-depth analysis of the ice height changes and back scattering coefficient variability. ROI's (1° × 0.5°) were selected based on accumulation dry snow zone, percolation zone, wet snow zone, and ablation zone. Finally to observe the effect of Ka band, SARAL results has been compared with the Envisat altimeter in terms of back scatter and error in the height retrieval due to penetration problem within the ice sheet layer. The new SARAL data set confirms the potential of ice altimetry and provides a new opportunity to monitor the ice sheet surface topography evolution.     

Land Use Changes in Himalaya and Their Impacts on Environment, Society and Economy： A Study of the Lake Region in Kumaon Himalaya India

The traditional resource use structure in Himalaya has transformed considerably during the recent past, mainly owing to the growth of population and the resultant increased demand of natural resources in the region. This transformation in resource use practices is particularly significant in the densely populated tracts of Himalaya. As a result, cultivated land, forests, pastures and rangelands have been deteriorated and depleted steadily and significantly leading to their conversion into degraded and non-productive lands. These rapid land use changes have not only disrupted the fragile ecological equilibrium in the mountains through indiscriminate deforestation, degradation of land resources and disruption of the hydrological cycle, but also have significant and irreversible adverse impacts on the rural economy, society, livelihood and life quality of mountain communities. It has been observed that the agricultural production has declined, water sources are drying up fast due to decreased ground water recharge and a large number of villages are facing enormous deficit of critical resources, such as food, fodder, firewood and water, mainly due to unabated deforestation. As a result, the rural people, particularly the women, have to travel considerably long distances to collect fodder and firewood and to fetching water. It is therefore highly imperative to evolve a comprehensive and integrated land use framework for the conservation of the biophysical environment and sustainable development of natural resources in Himalaya. The land use policy would help local communities in making use of their natural resources scientifically and judiciously, and thus help in the conservation of the biophysical environment and in the increasing of the productivity of natural resources. The study indicates that conservation of forests and other critical natural resources through community participation, generation of alternative means of livelihood, and employment in rural areas can help increase rural income as well as restore ec     

Arsenic-enriched aquifers: Occurrences and mobilization of arsenic in groundwater of Ganges Delta Plain, Barasat, West Bengal, India

Hydrogeochemical characteristics and elemental features of groundwater and core sediments have been studied to better understand the sources and mobilization process responsible for As-enrichment in part of the Gangetic plain (Barasat, West Bengal, India). Analysis of water samples from shallow tubewells (depth 24.3–48.5 m) and piezometer wells (depth 12.2–79.2 m) demonstrate that the groundwater is mostly the Ca-HCO₃ type and anoxic in nature (mean Eh_SHE = 34 mV). Arsenic concentrations ranged from <10–538 μg/L, with high concentrations only present in the shallow to medium depth (30–50 m) of the aquifer along with high Fe (0.07–9.8 mg/L) and relatively low Mn (0.15–3.38 mg/L) as also evidenced in core sediments. Most groundwater samples contained both As(III) and As(V) species in which the concentration of As(III) was generally higher than that of As(V), exhibiting the reducing condition. Results show lower concentrations of NO₃, SO₄ and NO₂ along with higher values of DOC and HCO₃, indicating the reducing nature of the aquifer with abundant organic matter that can promote the release of As from sediments into groundwater. Positive correlations of As with Fe and DOC were also observed. The presence of DOC may actively drive the redox processes. This study revealed that reduction processes of FeOOH was the dominant mechanism for the release of As into the groundwater in this part of the Ganges Delta plain.     

Petrological evolution of the high pressure and ultrahigh-temperature mafic granulites from Karur, southern India: evidence for decompressive and cooling retrograde trajectories

The Madurai Block, southern India, lies between the Palghat-Cauvery and the Achankovil shear zones. The Karur area represents a portion of the granulite-facies terrain of the Madurai block. High-pressure (HP) and ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) mafic granulites have been found as enclaves within the gneisses. The peak assemblage (M1) consists of garnet, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, quartz, and plagioclase. Garnet breaking down during isothermal decompression is indicated by the development of pyroxene+plagioclase symplectites, which characterize the M2 stage of metamorphism. Late stage hornblende-plagioclase symplectites rimming garnet is related to the decompression-cooling M3 stage of metamorphism. Peak metamorphism M1 occurs at ~12 kbar pressure and temperatures in excess of 1,000°C. This was followed by a retrograde M2 stage when the mafic granulites suffered isothermal decompression to 6 kbar to 7 kbar at 800–900°C. At the terminal retrograde stage M3 solid-melt back reaction took place at 4.5–5.5 kbar and 650–700°C. The proposed clockwise P-T path implies that rocks from the study area could have resulted from thickened continental crust undergoing decompression. The SHRIMP data presented here from the Karur area provide evidence for a Neoproterozoic (521?±?8 Ma) metamorphic event in the Madurai block. The formation of symplectic assemblages during near isothermal decompression can be attributed to tectonic activity coinciding with the Pan-African phase of a global orogeny.     

Hydrogeologic framework of the Deccan terrain of the Koyna River basin, India

The Koyna River basin in India drew the attention of geoscientists after an earthquake (magnitude 7) in 1967. Since then, detailed geological, tectonic, and seismic investigations of this river basin have been carried out by several workers. However, very little study has been done on its hydrogeological framework. The present work aims at filling this gap. Basalts, laterites, alluvium, soils, and talus deposits form shallow unconfined aquifers, with transmissivity of 27–135 m²/d and a regional specific yield of 0.012. In shallow basaltic aquifers, the lower part of the highly weathered and highly jointed horizon above, and the poorly weathered and highly jointed horizon below, form the most potential zone for groundwater occurrence. Well yields in the deeper basaltic aquifers are directly related to the occurrence of lineaments, whereas at a shallower level they are related to geomorphic features. Spring discharges are highly dependent on their source aquifers and areas of recharge. They have a mean winter discharge of 46 m³/d and a summer discharge of 28 m³/d. Chemically, groundwaters are dominated by alkaline earths (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) and weak acids (HCO₃ ^–, CO₃ ^–); they are calcium-bicarbonate type (53%) and calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type (27%) at shallower levels; and calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type (29%), sodium-bicarbonate type (24%), calcium-bicarbonate type (19%), and calcium-magnesium-sodium-bicarbonate type (19%) in deeper aquifers. The Koyna River basin is characterized by both scarcity and abundance of groundwater. In the water-scarce areas in the dissected plateaus, artificial recharge of aquifers through construction of several recharge structures at suitable locations is highly recommended. In the water-abundant areas in the central valley, on the other hand, expanded consumptive use of water resources is encouraged. Electronic Publication     

Petrochemical studies on trap rocks around tandur,Andhra Pradesh,India

The basalts of Tandur and adjoining areas in Andhra Pradesh are olivinefree tholeiites. Major element abundances in thirty samples indicate that these basalts are poorer in silica and richer in iron, magnesium, phosphorous and titanium relative to the normal basalts. The high Fe₂O₃/FeO ratio (1.07) could mean either that the traps were extruded under oxidising conditions or that the magma held excess amount of water. The relative enrichment of iron and depletion of silica in the Tandur basalts may have been controlled by the partial pressure of oxygen, presence of significant amounts of water, depth of generation of source magma etc.     

Determination of moisture changes prior to the onset of south-west monsoon over Kerala using NOAA/TOVS satellite data

Summary The temperature and moisture data from TIROS operational vertical sounder (TOVS) are examined to obtain humidity parameters like, mid and upper tropospheric water vapour, and scale height of water vapour. Their usefulness in characterizing the onset of south-west (SW) monsoon over India is studied. The NOAA satellite data (finished product) with a resolution of 2.5° lat/lon are used to obtain these parameters during and prior to the SW monsoon season over selected regions during 1979 to 1985. The pentad averaged values in the western Indian Ocean showed an increase in scale height of water vapour and mid-tropospheric moisture (700–500 mb) over about 8 to 10 days prior to the onset over Kerala coast. The association of the moisture flux across the Indian Ocean and the rainfall over Kerala coast has also been examined. Results showed that the gradient of middle level moisture is stronger in the case of rainfall deficit years.With 13 Figures     

Terrestrial heat flow in the North Island of New Zealand

Large variations in terrestrial heat flow from 21 to 209 mW/m² have been observed over the North Island, New Zealand. This is generally in good agreement with the pattern of existing geological and geophysical observations. A high heat flow zone with a value of 92 ±3 mW/m², which corresponds to melting temperatures near the base of the crust, is delineated in the northern part of the Taranaki Basin. In the rest of the island, heat flow appears to be low to normal, but some isolated high values are also found. Observed results are interpreted in terms of crust and mantle structure in a region of plate subduction.     

Correlation analysis of geothermal data for the sedimentary basins of India

Correlation coefficients are calculated from the available geothermic data for the sedimentary basins of India to reveal some significant association between: (1) heat flow and thermal conductivity, (2) heat flow and geothermal gradient, (3) geothermal gradient and thermal conductivity, and (4) heat flow and related crustal thickness. The observed negative correlationship between heat flow and thermal conductivity for all Indian sedimentary basins suggests corresponding changes in crustal thickness.