Stepwise,earthquake-driven coastal subsidence in the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta (Sundarbans) since the eighth century deduced from submerged in situ kiln and mangrove remnants

Natural Hazards - This study reconstructs the coastal subsidence over the past 1300 years in a mangrove region along the coast of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta, an area not affected...     

Erosion potential assessment of watersheds through GIS<Emphasis Type="Bold">-</Emphasis>based hypsometric analysis: a case study of Kurram Tangi Dam

Sediment discharge due to soil and rock erosion within the watersheds is the major cause of siltation in water reservoirs. Siltation in reservoirs reduces the capacity for power production, irrigation water supply, and other domestic purposes. Hypsometric analysis has widely been used to identifying the geomorphic development stages (stabilized, equilibrium, and un-stable) to assess the erosion proneness of watersheds. In this study, watershed of Kurram Tangi Dam and its four sub-watersheds (SWs) were considered to determine their sediment discharge capacity through hypsometric analysis. The boundaries of watershed and sub-watersheds were delineated from Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The hypsometric parameters i.e., hypsometric integral (HI) and curves were generated using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. The HI values of SW-1 (0.41) and SW-2 (0.36) indicated that these two SWs were relatively more prone to erosion and contributed higher sediment discharge in Dam siltation. The results were validated through sampling the main drainage channel (Kurram River) to determine the sediment concentration at 12 sites during summer, winter, and spring seasons. Comparison of HI and sediment concentration of SWs presented high correlation (R²?=?0.87). The results emphasized the effective watershed management, extensive afforestation, and construction of silt-control structures at appropriate locations in sub-watersheds. This will ultimately maintain the water and power generation capacity as well as extending the life span of the Dam.     

Method Development and Optimisation of Sodium Peroxide Sintering for Geological Samples

This work provides a measurement procedure for the complete digestion of rock samples containing refractory minerals such as zircon and chromite. Their dissolution by wet acid digestion is often incomplete but, although providing complete digestions, alkali fusion techniques can result in solutions with a high blank and total dissolved solid content. It was established by the systematic study with reference material trachyandesite MTA‐1 that a 1:6 sample to sodium peroxide (Na₂O₂) ratio is conservative for the complete digestion and recovery of all the analytes especially those contained in zircon. The sample decomposition time was 120 min for the zircon‐bearing rhyolite reference material MRH‐1. Complete digestion of chromite was obtained in the harzburgite RM MUH‐1. The sample solutions were stable for at least 1 year. Accurate measurements of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, P₂O₅ and K₂O could be made with ICP‐MS by not discarding the supernatant of the sinter solution and by using geological reference materials for external calibration. HF digestions are slow, not universal, and may form new mineral/phases that are insoluble under high temperature conditions. The validated sample decomposition procedure combined with ICP‐MS presents an alternative to the use of HF in routine analysis of difficult to digest geological materials.     

西南印度洋中脊49.5°E离轴地壳结构

超慢速扩张西南印度洋中脊岩浆的集中供给在空间维度上表现为岩浆扩张段（NVR）与相邻的非转换断层不连续带（NTD）地壳结构的差异,而在时间维度上表现为离轴与沿轴地壳结构的差异.为了进一步揭示岩浆集中供给的时空分布特征,本文选取西南印度洋中脊热液区2010年海底地震仪深部探测中平行于洋中脊距轴部偏北约10 km的离轴测线d0d10,使用射线追踪正演和反演的方法,得到了NVR和NTD北侧离轴区域的地壳及上地幔P波速度结构,并与轴部速度结构进行了对比分析.研究结果表明：（1）NTD北侧离轴区域的地壳厚度约5.2 km,其厚度明显大于轴部NTD下方地壳厚度（~3.2 km）,由此推测洋脊轴部NTD区域形成的地壳在不断减薄;（2）NVR北侧离轴区域的地壳厚度约7.0 km,其厚度亦大于轴部NVR地壳厚度（~5.8 km）,表明在洋中脊演化过程中洋脊轴区域的岩浆供给在不断减少,其活动性在不断减弱.