Gas-hydrodynamic analysis of the genesis of green and orange glasses in lunar rocks

In order to elucidate the genesis of green and orange glasses in Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 samples of lunar rocks, two alternative hypotheses are analyzed, according to which the glasses are produced either (1) by a comet or meteorite impact (impact model) or (2) by volcanic activity (volcanic model). The green and orange glasses are clearly genetically and petrochemically autonomous, i.e., the composition of the glasses themselves differs from those of the major types of the primary rocks. The mechanisms responsible for the origin of the glasses are analyzed along with mathematical models of their genesis. The theoretically calculated size distribution of glass particles is in good agreement with those measured in Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 samples. Simulation results and the analysis of the composition and structure of the green and orange glasses lead to the conclusion that the impact hypothesis of their genesis is the most realistic.     

Vacuumless topological defects in Lyra geometry

Few years ago, Cho and Vilenkin have proposed that topological defects can arise in symmetry breaking models without having degenerate vacua. These types of defects are known as vacuumless defects. In the present work, the gravitational field of a vacuumless global string and global monopole have been investigated in the context of Lyra geometry. We find the metric of the vacuumless global string and global monopole in the weak field approximations. It has been shown that the vacuumless global string can have repulsive whereas global monopole exerts attractive gravitational effects on a test particle. It is dissimilar to the case studied in general relativity.     

Spectroscopic characterization of fulvic acids extracted from the rock exudate Shilajit

The present work describes the extraction of fulvic acids (FA) from Shilajit and its spectroscopic and mass spectrometric characterization. The spectral features obtained from FT-IR and ¹HNMR were similar to those reported for humic substances from other sources. The molecular elemental composition analysis by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) in electrospray negative ion mode resulted in extraordinary high average O/C ratios (0.55) which might be caused by a significant contribution of carbohydrates in Shilajit. A very high average H/C ratio of 1.27 also points to dominant aliphatic or alicyclic structures and relatively low aromaticity. The average molecular formula of the nitrogen free elemental compositions measured by FT-ICR mass spectrometry is C_18.2H_23.0O_10.0.     

Cartographic model of river basins of European Russia

An analysis made of the worldwide existing geoinformation systems (HydroSHEDS, CCM, Ecrins, WBD, etc.) suggests that there are as yet no models of adequate quality for the basin boundaries of small rivers in the European part of Russia. For the territory of the European part of Russia with a total area of more than 4 mln. km2 the GIS technology tools were used to construct the electron vector map of river basins and their interbasin spaces. The map thus obtained displays the basins of first-order rivers for a given level of generalization (sc 1:1 000 000). The GMTED2010 model was used as the digital elevation model. A total of 63 553 basin geosystems were identified on the map, averaging 68 km2 in area. Accuracy verification of identifying the basin boundaries showed a good agreement of areal and geometric characteristics of the method used with expert approach. In test areas, the men difference of the indicators of the area of the basins identified automatically and by use of the expert approach made up 3.6%. For areas with weakly dissected lowland topography this error does not exceed 5% while it is about 2% in areas with relatively dissected elevated topography. The basin geosystems thus identified are operational-territorial units with respect to which the geospatial data base is generated to characterize the natural-resource potential of the European territory of Russia. An example is provided for the generation of the geospatial database containing hydrological information covering 1763 hydrological stations collecting streamflow data.     

Community responses to mountain tourism: A case in Bhyundar Valley, Indian Himalaya

Tourism industry has become an important part of Indian economy, and tourism development has been, however, concentrated to a few areas. Accumulation of tourism activities has reached the critical stage in most of the tourism centers, which pose serious threats to the natural environment. The Bhyundar Valley of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve （NDBR） in Uttarakhand State of the Indian Himalaya is a burning example of such problems. Land use/cover changes, deforestation and accumulation of garbage are some of the negative impacts of unregulated tourism in the valley. Unsustainable activities of tourists and villagers in the valley make such problems very severe. To deal with the ongoing problems and ensure community involvement in tourism management and environmental conservation, the Biosphere Reserve Authority introduced ecotourism in the form of Eco Development Committees （EDCs） in the Bhyundar Valley. Study reveals that many problems associated with tourism have been minimized to some extent with the help of EDCs but few are still prevailing in valley. However, the existing attempts to conserve the valley from the negative effects of tourism are inadequate and modifications are needed in the current initiatives.     

Soil erosion modeling of a Himalayan watershed using RS and GIS

Employing the remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS), an assessment of sediment yield from Dikrong river basin of Arunachal Pradesh (India) has been presented in this paper. For prediction of soil erosion, the Morgan-Morgan and Finney (MMF) model and the universal soil loss equation (USLE) have been utilized at a spatial grid scale of 100 m × 100 m, an operational unit. The average annual soil loss from the Dikrong river basin is estimated as 75.66 and 57.06 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ using MMF and USLE models, respectively. The watershed area falling under the identified very high, severe, and very severe zones of soil erosion need immediate attention for soil conservation.     

A local forecasting model of formaldehyde atmospheric pollution in Tomsk based on statistical and hydrodynamic methods

A hybrid statistical hydrodynamic model of the formaldehyde pollution forecasting adapted for the town of Tomsk is presented. A statistical component of the model gives the prognostic concentration averaged for the city and the detailing of the spatial distribution is based on the hydrodynamic method. The model tests based on the independent data demonstrated the accuracy of not less than 70%. The hydrodynamic block of the model enables to obtain the relative estimates of contribution of separate enterprises or groups of sources (including the motor vehicle emissions) to the total pollution of the atmosphere in the city.