Kinematics of the Gondwana basins of peninsular India

The Gondwana successions (1–4 km thick) of peninsular India accumulated in a number of discrete basins during Permo-Triassic period. The basins are typically bounded by faults that developed along Precambrian lineaments during deposition, as well as affected by intrabasinal faults indicating fault-controlled synsedimentary subsidence. The patterns of the intrabasinal faults and their relationships with the respective basin-bounding faults represent both extensional and strike-slip regimes. Field evidence suggests that preferential subsidence in locales of differently oriented discontinuities in the Precambrian basement led to development of Gondwana basins with varying, but mutually compatible, kinematics during a bulk motion, grossly along the present-day E–W direction. The kinematic disparity of the individual basins resulted due to different relative orientations of the basement discontinuities and is illustrated with the help of a simple sandbox model. The regional E–W motion was accommodated by strike-slip motion on the transcontinental fault in the north.     

Sensitivity of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to the complexity of aquifer systems for monitoring of groundwater

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission is aimed at assessment of groundwater storage under different terrestrial conditions. The main objective of the presented study is to highlight the significance of aquifer complexity to improve the performance of GRACE in monitoring groundwater. Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, central India, was selected as the study area for analysis, since the region comprises a simple aquifer system in the western region and a complex aquifer system in the eastern region. Groundwater-level-trend analyses of the different aquifer systems and spatial and temporal variation of the terrestrial water storage anomaly were studied to understand the groundwater scenario. GRACE and its field application involve selecting four pixels from the GRACE output with different aquifer systems, where each GRACE pixel encompasses 50–90 monitoring wells. Groundwater storage anomalies (GWSA) are derived for each pixel for the period 2002 to 2015 using the Release 05 (RL05) monthly GRACE gravity models and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) land-surface models (GWSA_GRACE) as well as the actual field data (GWSA_Actual). Correlation analysis between GWSA_GRACE and GWSA_Actual was performed using linear regression. The Pearson and Spearman methods show that the performance of GRACE is good in the region with simple aquifers; however, performance is poorer in the region with multiple aquifer systems. The study highlights the importance of incorporating the sensitivity of GRACE in estimation of groundwater storage in complex aquifer systems in future studies.     

Gutter casts from the Proterozoic Bijaygarh Shale Formation,India: Their implication for storm-induced circulation in shelf settings

The orientations of elongate gutter casts occurring in inner shelf storm deposits of the Proterozoic Bijaygarh Shale Formation, India reveal a modal population oriented roughly parallel to the average trend of the associated wave ripples. Assuming that the wave ripple trend approximately represents the orientation of the contemporary shoreline, the shore-parallel gutters appear to have been formed by the geostrophic current. Some gutters oriented at high angles to the inferred shoreline presumably represent incision by wave orbital currents in a storm-induced combined flow regime. The gutters also show variations in the style of incision and infill, which may be useful in distinguishing between gutters formed by wave orbital and geostrophic currents, independently of their orientation pattern with respect to the palaeo-shoreline.     

Lagoon–tidal flat sedimentation in an epeiric sea: Proterozoic Bhander Group,Son Valley,India

The Bhander Group, the uppermost stratigraphic unit of the Proterozoic Vindhyan Supergroup in Son Valley, exhibits in its upper part a 550 m thick, muddy siliciclastic succession characterized by features indicative of deposition in a wave‐affected coastal, lagoon–tidal flat environment suffering repeated submergence and emergence. The basic architecture of the deposit is alternation of centimetre‐ to decimetre‐thick sheet‐like interbeds of coarser clastics (mainly sandstone) and decimetre‐thick mudstones. The coarser interlayers are dominated by a variety of ripple‐formed laminations. The preserved ripple forms on bed‐top surfaces and their internal lamination style suggest both oscillatory and combined flows for their formation. Interference, superimposed, ladder‐back and flat‐topped ripples are also common. Synsedimentary cracks, wrinkle marks, features resembling rain prints and adhesion structures occur in profusion on bed‐top surfaces. Salt pseudomorphs are also present at the bases of beds. The mudstone intervals represent suspension settlement and show partings with interfaces characterized by synsedimentary cracks. It is inferred that the sediments were deposited on a coastal plain characterized by a peritidal (supratidal–intertidal) flat and evaporative lagoon suffering repeated submergence and emergence due to storm‐induced coastal setup and setdown in addition to tidal fluctuations. The 550 m thick coastal flat succession is surprisingly devoid of any barrier bar deposits and also lacks shoreface and shelfal strata. The large areal extent of the coastal flat succession (c. 100,000 km²) and its great thickness indicate an extremely low‐gradient epeiric basin characterized by an extensive coastal flat sheltered from the deeper marine domain. It is inferred that the Bhander coastal flat was protected from the open sea by the Bundelkhand basement arch to the north of the Vindhyan basin, instead of barrier bars. Such a setting favoured accumulation of a high proportion of terrigenous mud in the coastal plain, in contrast to many described examples from the Proterozoic. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding Diurnality and Inter-Seasonality of a Sub-tropical Urban Heat Island

We quantify the spatial and temporal aspects of the urban heat-island (UHI) effect for Kanpur, a major city in the humid sub-tropical monsoon climate of the Gangetic basin. Fixed station measurements are used to investigate the diurnality and inter-seasonality in the urban–rural differences in surface temperature (\({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\)) and air temperature (\({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\)) separately. The extent of the spatial variations of the nighttime \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\) and \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\) is investigated through mobile campaigns and satellite remote sensing respectively. Nighttime \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\) values dominate during both the pre-monsoon (maximum of 3.6 \(^\circ \hbox {C}\)) and the monsoon (maximum of 2.0 \(^\circ \hbox {C}\)). However, the diurnality in \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\) is different, with higher daytime values during the pre-monsoon, but very little diurnality during the monsoon. The nighttime \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\) value is mainly associated with differences in the urban–rural incoming longwave radiative flux (\(r^{2}=0.33\) during the pre-monsoon; 0.65 during the monsoon), which, in turn, causes a difference in the outgoing longwave radiative flux. This difference may modulate the nighttime \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\) value as suggested by significant correlations (\(r^{2}=0.68\) for the pre-monsoon; 0.50 for the monsoon). The magnitude of \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\) may also be modulated by advection, as it is inversely related with the urban wind speed. A combination of in situ, remotely sensed, and model simulation data were used to show that the inter-seasonality in \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\), and, to a lesser extent, in \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\), may be related to the change in the land use of the rural site between the pre-monsoon and the monsoon periods. Results suggest that the degree of coupling of \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{s}\) and \({\Delta } T_\mathrm{c}\) may be a strong function of land use and land cover.     

Enhanced Joule Heating in Umbral Dots

We present a study of magnetic fields in umbral dots (UDs) and its consequences on the Joule heating of the UDs. Hamedivafa (Astron. Astrophys. 407, 761, 2003) studied the Joule heating using the vertical component of the magnetic field. In this paper the magnetic field profile in the UDs is investigated by including a new azimuthal component of the magnetic field that might explain a relatively large enhancement of Joule heating causing higher brightness near the circumference of the UDs.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment of earthquake-prone mega-city Shillong,India using geophysical mapping and remote sensing

ABSTRACT

The concept of seismic vulnerability is a yard-stick of damage estimation from a probable earthquake considering physical cum social dimension and enables a basis for decision-makers to develop preparedness and mitigation strategies. We aim at vulnerability assessment of the typical urban system of capital city Shillong situated on hilly terrain. High-resolution satellite imagery of Shillong facilitates analysis of building footprints, communication network, and open ground. Different building typologies are identified taking into account the building’s structural configuration assessed through a rapid visual survey of more than 15% of total residential households. Slope map demarcates the landslide-prone area through discrete elevation modelling. A methodology incorporating several parameters e.g. building typology, slope angle, shear wave velocity characteristics, geomorphology, and the number of occupants in correlation with a physical measurement of vulnerability is presented and is applied to estimate the dimension of vulnerability. Additionally, MASW survey indicates lithology up to 30?m deep along with the existence of stiff soil and rocks at different depths whereas resonant frequency is identified to be in the range of 6–8?Hz through H/V ratio. Integrating all, it is observed that more than 60% of Shillong city falls under moderate to higher vulnerability and the rest is less vulnerable.     

Pull-apart origin of the Satpura Gondwana basin, central India

The Gondwana basins of peninsular India are traditionally considered as extensional-rift basins due to the overwhelming evidence of fault-controlled synsedimentary subsidence. These basins indeed originated under a bulk extensional tectonic regime, due to failure of the attenuated crust along pre-existing zones of weakness inherited from Precambrian structural fabrics. However, disposition of the basins and their structural architecture indicate that the kinematics of all the basins cannot be extensional. To maintain kinematic compatibility with other basins as well as the bulk lateral extension, some basins ought to be of strike-slip origin. The disposition, shape and structural architecture of the Satpura basin, central India suggest that the basin could be a pull-apart basin that developed above a releasing jog of a left-stepping strike-slip fault system defined by the Son-Narmada south fault and Tapti north fault in consequence to sinistral displacement along WSW-ENE. Development of a sedimentary basin under the above-mentioned kinematic condition was simulated in model experiments with sandpack. The shape, relative size, stratigraphic and structural architecture of the experimental basin tally with that of the Satpura basin. The experimental results also provide insights into the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Satpura basin in particular and pull-apart basins in general.