Geostatistical analysis of arsenic concentration in the groundwater of Malda district of West Bengal, India

The problem of arsenic (As) poisoning in the upper deltaic plain of the Ganga-Bhagirathi river system in the Bengal Basin of West Bengal, India is an alarming issue. Four blocks (Kaliachak-1, 2, 3 and English Bazar) of Malda district, West Bengal were critically studied. Geomorphologically, the area exhibits three terraces: the present Youngest terrace (T₀-terrace), the Older Shaugaon Surface (T₁-terrace) and the Oldest Baikunthapur Surface (T₂-terrace). On the basis of numerous measurements, including As-content, pH, DO, specific conductivity and salinity, it was observed that maximum As-content beyond the permissible limit (0.05 mg/L, Indian standard) occurs within a depth range of 10–30 m with a non-linear distribution pattern. Variance test also found that a block effect was highly significant in an As-distribution pattern. Mean arsenic level of Kaliachak block-1 is 0.2253 mg/L, followed by Kaliachak-2 with arsenic level 0.1923, Kaliachak-3 with arsenic level 0.1755 and English Bazar with arsenic level 0.1324. The arsenious belt lies mainly within the Older terrace (T₁). The very recent flood plain deposits of silvery white, fine sands lying very close to the Ganga River margin do not contain significant amounts of As. Elevated As-concentration in the ground water was observed in alluvial sands, grayish white to brownish in color and occurring away from the Ganga margin. The Oldest terrace (T2) further away from the Ganga margin (e.g. English Bazar) and Barind surface contains less arsenic. Barind surface acts as a hard capping with ferruginous sands and lateritic concretions-chocolate, mottled and purple brown in color-occurring northeast of the studied area. Arsenic content of ground water in the same locality within a radius of ∼ 20 m varies within wide limits. Thus, it poses problem to delineate its distribution pattern. Such a patchy occurrence possibly could not be explained satisfactorily solely by geomorphology. Chemical analysis of aquifer clay samples of the cores shows a maximum Ascontent of up to 3 mg/kg, whereas the bulk samples (sandclay mixture) of the cores contain a maximum of 17 mg/kg As-value. Therefore, it is not always true that clay contains elevated As-value.     

Coastal erosion in response to wave dynamics operative in Sagar Island, Sundarban delta, India

Coastal erosion at Sagar Island of Sunderban delta, India, has been critically studied. The area is in the subtropical humid region. There are mainly three seasons viz: winter, summer and the monsoon. Different wave dynamic parameters were measured from theodolite observations with leveling staff and measuring gauges during lunar days at two sections of the western and eastern parts of the coastal zone during post-and pre-monsoons. A comparative study was made on the erosion/depositional pattern between the two sections in relation to different hydrodynamic parameters prevailing in these two sections. Plane table mapping was carried out to demarcate the different geomorphic units. The marine coastal landforms show dune ridges with intervening flats bordered by gently sloping beach on one side and a flat beach on the other side. The western part of the beach is mainly sandy; whereas the eastern part is silty and clayey with mud bank remnants. Actual field measurements indicate that the coastal dune belt has retreated to the order by about 20 m since 1985. The eastern part of the beach has lowered by about 2 m since 1985 and the western part was raised almost to the same tune. It is observed that accretion in the western and central parts of the beach took place; whereas severe erosion in the eastern part made the beach very narrow with remnants of mud banks and tree roots. Frequent embankment failures, submergence and flooding, beach erosion and siltation at jetties and navigational channels, cyclones and storm surges made this area increasingly vulnerable.     

The use of grain‐size distribution patterns to elucidate aeolian processes on a transverse dune of Thar Desert,India

The grain‐size distribution of aeolian dune sands in the Thar Desert, India was analyzed and compared with three model distributions – log‐normal, log‐hyberbolic and log‐skew‐Laplace – to determine the best‐fit statistical model. In total, 51 samples were collected along a single transect over a transverse dune, of which 15 were from the stoss side, 12 from the crest and 24 from the lee side. Samples were collected during a calm period in the afternoon of a winter's day. It was observed that of these 51 samples, 33 fit best to a log‐hyperbolic distribution, 14 fit best to a normal distribution and only four fit best to a Laplace distribution. However, it was further observed that of 24 samples from the lee side, 13 fit best to a normal distribution, eight fit best to a hyperbolic distribution, and three fit best to a Laplace distribution. Of 12 samples from the crest of the dune, 11 fit best to the log‐hyperbolic distribution, only one to the Laplace distribution but none to a normal distribution. Of 15 samples from the stoss side of the dune, only one sample best‐fits a normal distribution, 14 fit best to a log‐hyperbolic distribution, and none best fit to a Laplace distribution. During sample collection a calm period prevailed and there was no dusty wind. It was therefore assumed that in the initial stage a mixture of coarse, medium and fine sands was laid down on the stoss side of the dune. As wind speeds increased and saltation started, the coarser fractions were segregated and lagged behind on the stoss slope. In the final stage when the remaining intermediate and finer fractions reached the dune crest, the finer fractions were winnowed away to suspension from the crest of the dune. As a result, a narrow range of intermediate sized sediments was deposited by rolling down the lee side to explain the development of log‐normality. In such a situation, both the coarser and finer fractions, to which the skewed distributions can be attributed, are separated from the initial mixture of coarse, intermediate and fine fractions. Hence the main criteria for the development of a normal distribution is the lack of skewed fractions and the concentration of the narrow, intermediate size fractions in the final grain size distribution. This is also corroborated with the index of symmetry, which is a measure of the difference between the angle of two slopes of the hyperbolic distribution as represented by the coarser and finer fractions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of current directions in the bends of an ephemeral river and its geological implications

Sediment transport directions in four point bars of an ephemeral meandering river Usri, India, were measured from sedimentary structures and compared with the flow directions of the adjacent river-channel flow. As the bars were crescentic in shape, each bar has been divided into several sectors along with the adjacent river-channel bend. Vector means of sediment transport directions in each sector were computed and compared with the vector means of the flow directions of the corresponding river-channel sector. The relationship between the sediment transport direction in the bar and the water flow direction of the adjacent river-channel is sometimes divergent and sometimes convergent. However, the difference between the vector means of the sediment transport direction in the bar and the flow direction of the adjacent river-channel water is subtle. Hence, it can be concluded that the sediment transport direction in the bar is parallel to the flow direction of the adjacent river-channel water. Therefore, the result of the present study implies reconstructing the paleo-river channel course.     

Mineralogy and genesis of the metamorphosed manganese silicate rocks (gondite) of Gowari Wadhona,Madhya Pradesh,India

Manganese silicate rocks, interbanded with manganese oxide orebodies, constitute an important stratigraphic horizon in the Mansar formation of the Sausar Group of Precambrian age in India. The manganese silicate rocks of Gowari Wadhona occupy the westernmost flank of the manganese belt of the Sausar Group. These rocks are constituted of spessartite, calcium-rich rhodonite, quartz, manganoan diopside, blanfordite (manganese bearing member of diopside-acmite series), brown manganese pyroxene (manganese bearing aegirine-augite), winchite (manganese bearing richterite-tremolite), juddite (manganese bearing amphibole with richterite, tremolite, magnesioriebeckite and glaucophane molecules), tirodite (manganese bearing amphibole with richterite, cummingtonite and glaucophane molecules), manganophyllite, alurgite, piedmontite, braunite, hollandite (and other lower oxides of manganese) with minor apatite, plagioclase, calcite, dolomite and microcline. A complete mineralogical account of the manganese-bearing phases has been given in the text. It has been shown that the juxtaposition of manganese silicate rocks with dolomitic marble, regional metamorphism to almandine-amphibolite facies and assimilation of pegmatite veins cutting across the manganese formation, were responsible for the development of these manganese silicate rocks and the unusual chemical composition of some of the constituent minerals. It has been concluded that the manganese silicate rocks of Gowari Wadhona were originally laid down as sediments comprising manganese oxides admixed with clay, silica etc. and were later regionally metamorphosed to almandine-amphibolite facies. All evidences indicate that rhodochrosite was not present in the original sediment and the bulk composition of the sediments was rich in manganese. These rocks agree entirely to the detailed nomenclature of the gondites enunciated by Fermor (1909) and amplified by Roy and Mitra (1964) and Roy (1966).     

Grain‐size distribution patterns of a point bar system in the Usri River,India

Grain‐size distribution patterns in a point bar system of the Usri River, India, were critically analysed in the light of log‐normal, log‐hyperbolic and log‐skew‐Laplace distribution models. Sand samples were collected from the cross‐bedding foreset of different sizes of bedform; the objectives were to (i) study whether bedform heights have any role in grain‐size distribution patterns, (ii) offer a best‐fit statistical model, (iii) study the downstream variation of size‐sorting in a point bar system, and (iv) study the mechanism of grain sorting. The results indicate that the bedform heights have no role in grain‐size distribution patterns. Quantitatively when the errors in three distribution models were analysed, it was observed that the log‐normal distribution is the best‐fit statistical model and the next one is the log‐skew‐Laplace. However, in the upper reaches of the river, log‐normal distribution is the best‐fit model in the case of large bedforms, whereas in the lower reaches the log‐normal model is the best‐fit one in the case of small bed forms. It is also observed that within a point bar, for large and small bedforms, there is a tendency for mean grain size to decrease downstream. Between point bars for large bedforms there is no consistency in decreasing grain size downstream, whereas for small bed forms the decrease of grain size downstream is observed except near the confluence at Palkia. With distance of transport, the coarser and finer fractions of sediments are gradually chopped off. The coarser fractions are buried below the advancing bedforms on the lee sides and the finer ones are transported further downstream. Thus the finer admixture giving rise to the fining‐upward sequence overlies a carpet of coarser materials. This mechanism provides a clue to the process of grain sorting in the fluvial environment. An interpretation has been offered for the log‐normality of the grain‐size distribution pattern. During prolonged transportation in a fluvial environment, the larger grain‐size fractions are gradually chopped off and buried below the advancing bedforms on their lee sides. On the other hand, the finer fractions are transported further downstream in suspension. Thus the narrow, intermediate size fraction takes active part in the distribution patterns leading to the generation of unimodality and a symmetric distribution pattern downstream, which are the main criteria for log‐normality. Similarly, increase of bedform size is the effect of increase of stream power and Froude number leading to the selective segregation of bed materials. Thus the intermediate size fractions take a more active part than the coarser and the finer size fractions in developing log‐normality. Besides the hydrodynamic parameters of the Usri, coarsening of grain size downstream has been attributed to (i) the aggrading nature of the Usri downstream, and (ii) the contribution of coarser materials to the Usri by its tributaries and bank erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nearshore bedform instability in the eastern entrance to the Qiongzhou Strait,South China Sea

Six bathymetric transect profiles were drawn from the nautical charts of 1942, 1962 and 1992 to show that the nearshore seabed remained unstable during the recent 50 years in the middle channel of the eastern entrance to the Qiongzhou Strait, South China Sea. Our results demonstrate that the multi-year averaged seabed aggradational rate was 25 cm/a and erosion rate was 12.5 cm/a. Lateral migration rate of the sea bedform identified from the historical contours was about 100 m/a in the SE direction. Bedform measurements were made using GPY Shallow Seismic Profiler in 1994 in the study area. The records revealed four types of distinctive bedforms that were composed of fine and medium sands. The average spacing of large and small-scale sand dunes is 416 m and 144 m and the average height remains 8.8 mand 4.9 m. The spatial and temporal equilibrium-range spectra of numerical bedform records were applied to estimate short term celerity of bedform movement. Results indicate that large and small dunes migrated at an average celerity of 0.02 cm/hr eastward and 0.09 cm/hr westward in the calm sea weather, while their celerity can reach 53 cm/hr eastward during typhoon season and is only 0.008 cm/hr westward when NNE winds prevail. The results also show that the larger the temporal and spatial scale is, the smaller the bedform movement celerity appears. On the other hand, the smaller-scale bedform celerity of the present study is much greater than that of flume, empirical and theoretical data, but close to the wind tunnel and field-measured data of similar grain size.     

Modulational instability of two obliquely interacting waves in two-layer fluid domain

Ocean Dynamics - This research report is concerned with the derivation of two evolution equations of two obliquely interacting wave packets in a two-layer fluid domain in which the lower fluid is...     

Bed roughness and grain sorting-an experimental study over fine to medium sand beds

The relation between grain-size distribution of the bed and in suspension was critically examined under a uniform flow velocity of 50 cm/s over two beds: one of mainly fine sands and the other of medium sands. Two sections – one 2.85 m downstream and the other 6.35 m downstream in the experimental channel-were selected for sampling to study the grain-sorting pattern in the vertical direction along the direction of transport. The shape and type of the grain-size distribution pattern were critically studied with height above the bed. The change in the distribution pattern has been attributed to the change of local bed roughness causing scouring against the protruded relatively coarse grains on the bed. Such trends are important to predict the nature of river bed topography. The sand of Bed-1 initially exhibits a log-skew-Laplace distribution at different heights of suspension. The distribution pattern, however, changes but this changing pattern is not consistent along the upstream side. For Bed-2, which initially exhibits a log-normal distribution, the same pattern persists from the height of suspension at 5 cm up to 20 cm. Such consistency in log-normality is also observed at the downstream points of measurement. It is generally expected that the mean grain-size would reduce with increases of suspension height but the results of the experiments, in some occasions, differ significantly from the gradual fining upward trend. This result has been attributed to local changes of bed roughness arising from the protruded relatively coarse grains causing eddies, scouring, and turbulent phenomena which moves coarse particles higher in suspension adding a coarse tail to the distribution increasing the mean grain-size.     

Grain-size distributions of bed load: Inferences from flume experiments using heterogeneous sediment beds

The grain-size fractions in the bedload transported over the five heterogeneous sediment beds of different values of bed roughness were computed from the flume experiments. The existence of an entrapment factor associated with the sorting observed from the bed to active layer was modeled based on the modified critical shear stress to estimate the grain-size fractions in the transport layer under given hydraulic conditions. The efficiency of these models was tested with the observed data. Subsequently, the patterns of observed grain-size distributions in the transport layer were tested to identify the distributions developed in the active layer due to sorting using three probability density functions (pdf), such as, log-normal, log-hyperbolic and log-skew-Laplace. Tests indicated that a log-skew-Laplace distribution fitted best for 49%, a log-hyperbolic for 31%, and a log-normal for 20% out of forty-five bedload samples collected under unidirectional flow with changes in flow discharge and bed roughness. The results of this study would be useful to specify the grain-size distributions in the bedload formed under different hydrodynamic conditions in various sedimentary environments.