Carbonate aeolianites of western Saurashtra,India: experimental decipherment of the depositional mechanisms

Granular carbonate deposits of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene age, commonly referred to as ‘miliolite limestone’, occur in a linear belt, parallel to the southern coast of Saurashtra, India. In the present study area these carbonate deposits are found in select valleys between ridges and mounds of pyroclastic material present in the Deccan trap plateau. Two different depositional histories have been proposed for these sediments. The presence of marine bioclasts led to the postulation of a marine origin for these deposits. The second school of thought propounded redeposition of the coastal sediments by aeolian processes. Although a few features could not be explained by the proposed aeolian model, critical comparison of these two views favoured the aeolian origin. The mode of occurrence, lithological and structural attributes, and microscopic evidence presented here, also support a possible aeolian origin for these deposits. Experimental observation indicates that these carbonate aeolianites represent backflow deposits, which accumulated because of the flow separation caused by the presence of topographic highs. The conspicuous concave‐up geometry of the deposit conformed to the shape of the separation bulb. In view of the inferred depositional mechanism, the disposition of the deposits and the signature of the palaeoflow direction suggest that the carbonate particles were derived from the north‐western coast of Saurashtra by strong south‐easterly winds. Massive granular carbonates with outsized basement clasts appear to be the product of avalanching of granular material from the higher contours because of oversteepening of the primary deposit.     

U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology and T–t–d history of the Kampa Dome, southern Tibet

Structural, petrographic and geochronologic studies of the Kampa Dome provide insights into the tectonothermal evolution of orogenic crust exposed in the North Himalayan gneiss domes of southern Tibet. U–Pb ion microprobe dating of zircons from granite gneiss exposed at the deepest levels within the dome yields concordia ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age populations of 506 ± 3 Ma and 527 ± 6 Ma, with no evidence of new zircon growth during Himalayan orogenesis. However, the granite contains penetrative deformation fabrics that are also preserved in the overlying Paleozoic strata, implying that the Kampa granite is a Cambrian pluton that was strongly deformed and metamorphosed during Himalayan orogenesis. Zircons from deformed leucogranite sills that cross-cut Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks yield concordant Cambrian ages from oscillatory zoned cores and discordant ages ranging from ca. 491–32 Ma in metamict grains. Since these leucogranites clearly post-date the metasedimentary rocks they intrude, the zircons are interpreted as xenocrysts that are probably derived from the Kampa granite. The Kampa Dome formed via a series of progressive orogenic events including regional ~ N–S contraction and related crustal thickening (D₁), predominately top-to-N ductile shearing and crustal extension (D₂), top-to-N brittle–ductile faulting and related folding on the north limb of the dome, localized top-to-S faulting on the southern limb of the dome, and crustal doming (D₃), and continued N–S contraction, E–W extension and doming (D₄). Structural and geochronologic variability amongst adjacent North Himalayan gneiss domes may reflect changes in the magnitude of crustal exhumation along the North Himalayan antiform, possibly relating to differences in the mid-crustal geometry of the exhuming fault systems.     

Implications of Kali-Hindon inter-stream aquifer water balance for groundwater management in western Uttar Pradesh

The Kali-Hindon inter-stream region extends over an area of 395 km² within the Ganga-Yamuna interfluve. It is a fertile tract for sugarcane cultivation. Groundwater is a primary resource for irrigation and industrial purposes. In recent years, over-exploitation has resulted in an adverse impact on the groundwater regime. In this study, an attempt has been made to calculate a water balance for the Kali-Hindon inter-stream region. Various inflows and outflows to and from the aquifer have been calculated. The recharge due to rainfall and other recharge parameters such as horizontal inflow, irrigation return flow and canal seepage were also evaluated. Groundwater withdrawals, evaporation from the water table, discharge from the aquifer to rivers and horizontal subsurface outflows were also estimated. The results show that total recharge into the system is 148.72 million cubic metres (Mcum), whereas the total discharge is 161.06 Mcum, leaving a deficit balance of −12.34 Mcum. Similarly, the groundwater balance was evaluated for the successive four years. The result shows that the groundwater balance is highly sensitive to variation in rainfall followed by draft through pumpage. The depths to water level are shallow in the canal-irrigated northern part of the basin and deeper in the southern part. The pre-monsoon and post-monsoon water levels range from 4.6 to 17.7 m below ground level (bgl) and from 3.5 to 16.5 m bgl respectively. It is concluded that the groundwater may be pumped in the canal-irrigated northern part, while withdrawals may be restricted to the southern portion of the basin, where intense abstraction has led to rapidly falling water table levels.     

Use of sinkhole and specific capacity distributions to assess vertical gradients in a karst aquifer

The carbonate-rock aquifer in the Great Valley, West Virginia, USA, was evaluated using a database of 687 sinkholes and 350 specific capacity tests to assess structural, lithologic, and topographic influences on the groundwater flow system. The enhanced permeability of the aquifer is characterized in part by the many sinkholes, springs, and solutionally enlarged fractures throughout the valley. Yet, vertical components of subsurface flow in this highly heterogeneous aquifer are currently not well understood. To address this problem, this study examines the apparent relation between geologic features of the aquifer and two spatial indices of enhanced permeability attributed to aquifer karstification: (1) the distribution of sinkholes and (2) the occurrence of wells with relatively high specific capacity. Statistical results indicate that sinkholes (funnel and collapse) occur primarily along cleavage and bedding planes parallel to subparallel to strike where lateral or downward vertical gradients are highest. Conversely, high specific capacity values are common along prominent joints perpendicular or oblique to strike. The similarity of the latter distribution to that of springs suggests these fractures are areas of upward-convergent flow. These differences between sinkhole and high specific capacity distributions suggest vertical flow components are primarily controlled by the orientation of geologic structure and associated subsurface fracturing.     

Evaluation of approaches to calculate debris-flow parameters for hazard assessment

Many different runout prediction methods can be applied to estimate the mobility of future debris flows during hazard assessment. The present article reviews the empirical, analytical, simple flow routing and numerical techniques. All these techniques were applied to back-calculate a debris flow, which occurred in 1982 at La Guingueta catchment, in the Eastern Pyrenees. A sensitivity analysis of input parameters was carried out, while special attention was paid to the influence of rheological parameters. We used the Voellmy fluid rheology for our analytical and numerical modelling, since this flow resistance law coincided best with field observations. The simulation results indicated that the “basal” friction coefficients rather affect the runout distance, while the “turbulence” terms mainly influence flow velocity. A comparison of the velocity computed on the fan showed that the analytical model calculated values similar to the numerical ones. The values of our rheological parameters calibrated at La Guingueta agree with data back-calculated for other debris flows. Empirical relationships represent another method to estimate total runout distance. The results confirmed that they contain an important uncertainty and they are strictly valid only for the conditions, which were the basis for their development. With regards to the simple flow routing algorithm, this methods could satisfactorily simulate the total area affected by the 1982 debris flow, but it was not able to directly calculate total runout distance and velocity. Finally, a suggestion on how different runout prediction methods can be applied to generate debris-flow hazard maps is presented. Taking into account the definition of hazard and intensity, the best choice would be to divide the resulting hazard maps into two types: “final hazard maps” and “preliminary hazard maps”. Only the use of numerical models provided final hazard maps, because they could incorporate different event magnitudes and they supplied output-values for intensity calculation. In contrast, empirical relationships and flow routing algorithms, or a combination of both, could be applied to create preliminary hazard maps. The present study only focussed on runout prediction methods. Other necessary tasks to complete the hazard assessment can be looked up in the “Guidelines for landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning” included in this Special Issue.     

Assessment of disaster resilience capacity of hillslope communities with high risk for geological hazards

This study presents a novel preparedness assessment method for assessing hazard mitigation and environmental planning of hillslope communities. A professional questionnaire was utilized to weight each indicator. Communities in Hsinchu, Taichung and Nantou counties with debris flow hazards were taken as study samples. Debris flow risk and landslide susceptibility for each community were determined using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and logistic regression analysis. Thus, a novel risk assessment method for evaluating disaster resilience capacity of hillslope communities was established. This method was then applied to assess casualties caused by Typhoon Herb in 1996 and Typhoon Mindulle in 2004. Additionally, the analytical results generated by this assessment method were discussed with the aim of developing references for implementation of risk analysis, increasing the effectiveness of disaster mitigation, and reducing future loss of life and property.     

舟山国家石油储备基地堆载预压加固效果分析

介绍了舟山国家石油储备基地试验区软基堆载预压大型现场试验结果,根据现场试验测得的数据,分析了软土地基堆载预压下沉降变化规律、分层沉降变化规律、深层土体位移变化规律、超静孔隙水压力变化规律,进一步探讨了根据应力和应变分析得到的地基固结性状,其中通过应变分析得到适用于储备基地的沉降经验系数m。结果表明,打设塑料排水板结合堆载预压处理软弱地基具有良好的效果。     

采用钻孔倾斜仪监测滑坡深部水平位移方法和仪器的研究

介绍了目前滑坡深部水平位移钻孔倾斜仪人工监测方法存在的问题,钻孔深部位移自动化监测通信方法的选择。地质滑坡灾害监测中广泛使用钻孔倾斜仪,介绍了CZ-2型钻孔倾斜仪的构成及现场测试方法。     

Numerical Experiment on Two-Dimensional Line Thermal

The time evolution of a two-dimensional line thermal-a turbulent flow produced by an initial element with signifi-cant buoyancy released in a large water body, is numerically studied with the two-equation k - e model for turbulence closure. The numerical results show that the thermal is characterized by a vortex pair flow and a kidney shaped concentra-tion structure with double peak maxima; the computed flow details and scalar mixing characteristics can be described by self-similar relations beyond a dimensionless time around 10. There are two regions in the flow field of a line thermal: a mixing region where the concentration of tracer fluid is high and the flow is turbulent and rotational with a pair of vortex eyes, and an ambient region where the concentration is zero and the flow is potential and well-described by a model of doublet with strength very close to those given by early experimental and analytical studies. The added virtual mass coeffi-cient of the thermal motion is found to be approximat