An ocean-bottom hydrophone recorder for seismic refraction experiments

A new and inexpensive pop-up ocean-bottom hydrophone recorder has been developed for use in seismic refraction experiments. It is capable of operating in water depths of up to 4000 m and in very rugged topography, and uses an acoustic command system built by the U.K. Institute of Oceanographic Sciences for recovery. The instrument is mounted in an inexpensive cylindrical pressure case based on commercially available extruded aluminium alloy tubing, and uses glass spheres and syntactic foam for buoyancy. Hydrophone and clock signals are frequency modulated and recorded on tape cassettes, with a recording duration of three hours allowing up to 18 programmed shot windows. The prototype has made seven free descents on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and in the Gulf of Oman, and successfully recorded shots under operational conditions for the first time in September 1979. The total component cost of the prototype was £2740 (1979 prices).(Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge Contribution No. ES135).     

Response of active tectonics on the alluvial Baghmati River, Himalayan foreland basin, eastern India

Active tectonics in a basin plays an important role in controlling a fluvial system through the change in channel slope. The Baghmati, an anabranching, foothills-fed river system, draining the plains of north Bihar in eastern India has responded to ongoing tectonic deformation in the basin. The relatively flat alluvial plains are traversed by several active subsurface faults, which divide the area in four tectonic blocks. Each tectonic block is characterized by association of fluvial anomalies viz. compressed meanders, knick point in longitudinal profiles, channel incision, anomalous sinuosity variations, sudden change in river flow direction, river flow against the local gradient and distribution of overbank flooding, lakes, and waterlogged area. Such fluvial anomalies have been identified on the repetitive satellite images and maps and interpreted through DEM and field observations to understand the nature of vertical movements in the area. The sub-surface faults in the Baghmati plains cut across the river channel and also run parallel which have allowed us to observe the effects of longitudinal and lateral tilting manifested in avulsions and morphological changes.     

Fold-Thrust-Belt Structure of the Proterozoic Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt: A Proposed Correlation Between India and Antarctica in Gondwana

The Proterozoic Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt along the east coast of India shares a thrusted lower contact with the surrounding cratons. The thrust, known as the Terrane Boundary shear zone, is associated with two large lateral ramps resulting in a curved outline on the northwestern corner of the mobile belt. The Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt is divided into two lithotectonic units, the Lathore Group and the Turekela Group, based on their lithological assemblages and deformational history. On the basis of published data from a Deep Seismic Sounding (DSS) profile of the Eastern Ghats crust, the Terrane Boundary Shear Zone is considered to be listric in nature and acts as the sole thrust between craton and mobile belt. The Lathore and Turekela Groups are nappes. With this structural configuration the NW part is described as a fold thrust belt. However, the thrusting postdates folding and granulite metamorphism that occurred in the Eastern Ghats, as in the Caledonide type of fold thrust belt of NW Scotland. The Terrane Boundary Shear Zone is interpreted to be contiguous with the Rayner-Napier boundary of the Enderby Land in a Gondwana assembly.     

Seasonal variation of pteropods from the Western Arabian Sea sediment trap

Sediment trap samples collected from the Western Arabian Sea yielded a rich assemblage of intact and non-living (opaque white) pteropod tests from a water depth of 919 m during January to September 1993. Nine species of pteropods were recorded, all (except one) displaying distinct seasonality in abundance, suggesting their response to changing hydrographical conditions influenced by the summer/winter monsoon cycle. Pteropod fluxes increased during the April–May peak of the intermonsoon, and reached maximum levels in the late phase of the southwest summer monsoon, probably due to the shallowing of the mixed layer depth. This shallowing, coupled with enhanced nutrient availability, provides ideal conditions for pteropod growth, also reflected in corresponding fluctuations in the flux of the foraminifer Globigerina bulloides. Pteropod/planktic foraminifer ratios displayed marked seasonal variations, the values increasing during the warmer months of April and May when planktic foraminiferal fluxes declined. The variation in fluxes of calcium carbonate, organic carbon and biogenic opal show positive correlations with fluxes of pteropods and planktic foraminifers. Calcium carbonate was the main contributor to the total particulate flux, especially during the SW monsoon. In the study area, pteropod flux variations are similar to the other flux patterns, indicating that they, too could be used as a potential tool for palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the recent past.     

Quantifying groundwater sensitivity and resilience over peninsular India

Groundwater in India plays an important role to support livelihoods and maintain ecosystems and the present rate of depletion of groundwater resources poses a serious threat to water security. Yet, the sensitivity of the hydrological processes governing groundwater recharge to climate variability remains unclear in the region. Here we assess the groundwater sensitivity (precipitation–recharge relationship) and its potential resilience towards climatic variability over peninsular India using a conceptual water balance model and a convex model, respectively in 54 catchments over peninsular India. Based on the model performance using a comprehensive approach (Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency [NSE], bias and variability), 24 out of 54 catchments are selected for assessment of groundwater sensitivity and its resilience. Further, a systematic approach is used to understand the changes in resilience on a temporal scale based upon the convex model and principle of critical slowing down theory. The results of the study indicate that the catchments with higher mean groundwater sensitivity (GWS) encompass high variability in GWS over the period (1988–2011), thus indicating the associated vulnerability towards hydroclimatic disturbances. Moreover, it was found that the catchments pertaining to a lower magnitude of mean resilience index incorporates a high variability in resilience index over the period (1993–2007), clearly illustrating the inherent vulnerability of these catchments. The resilience of groundwater towards climatic variability and hydroclimatic disturbances that is revealed by groundwater sensitivity is essential to understand the future impacts of changing climate on groundwater and can further facilitate effective adaptation strategies.     

Spectral factorization technique for estimation of an ARMA operator for multichannel deconvolution of seismic data

A new spectral factorization method is presented for the estimation of a causal as well as a causally invertible ARMA operator from the correlation sequence of seismic traces. The method has been implemented for multichannel deconvolution of seismic traces with the aim of exploiting the trace-to-trace correlation that exists within seismograms. A layered earth model with a small reflectivity sequence has been considered, and the seismic traces have been considered as the output of a linear system driven by white noise reflection coefficient sequences. The present method is the concatenation of three algorithms, namely Kung's method for state variable ( F , G , H ) realization using a singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm, Faurre's technique for computation of the strong spectral factor and Leverrier's algorithm for ARMA representation of the spectral factor. The inverted ARMA operator is used as a recursive filter for deconvolution of seismic traces. In the example shown, two traces with a covariance sequence of 160 ms length have been considered for multichannel deconvolution of stacked seismic traces. The results presented, when compared with those obtained from a conventional deconvolution algorithm, have shown encouraging prospects.     

Peperite occurrence and its implications on origin and temporal development of the Proterozoic Dhala basin,Mohar area,Shivpuri district,Madhya Pradesh

In the western part of Bundelkhand massif, a caldera with intra-caldera sediments, known as Dhala Formation, occurs as an outlier in and around Mohar village of Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh. For the first time, occurrence of peperite is being reported from the basal part of the Dhala sediment. Two types of peperites have been recognized: blocky and fluidal or globular with variable morphology. In peperitic zones, features like soft sediment deformations, presence of sediment into the rhyolite along cracks, vesiculation of the sediments and other evidences suggestive of sediment fluidization are some definite characteristics of interaction of hot magma with wet sediments forming peperite. The occurrence of peperites reflects the contemporaniety of deposition of the Dhala sediments and volcanism, which is well in accordance to the volcanic origin of Dhala structure. Further, the nature of unconformity between the Dhala and overlying Kaimur which is characterized by merely a few centimeter thick pebbly/conglomeratic bed does not appear to represent a large hiatus as expected between the Semri and Kaimur of Vindhyan Supergroup. So, the contemporaniety of the Dhala Formation (at least the lower part) as reflected by occurrence of peperites, coupled with the available age of the rhyolite and the nature of the unconformity between the Dhala and overlying Kaimur provide convincing evidence to correlate the Dhala Formation with the Lower part of the Kaimur and unlikely with the Semri Group or Bijawar as proposed earlier.