Geochemical processes regulating groundwater chemistry with special reference to nitrate and fluoride enrichment in Chhatarpur area, Madhya Pradesh, India

The present study focuses on the hydrogeochemical composition of groundwater in Chhatarpur area with special focus on nitrate and fluoride contamination, considering the fact that groundwater is the only major source of drinking water here. Carbonate and silicate mineral weathering followed by ground water–surface water interactions, ion exchange and anthropogenic activities are mainly responsible for high concentrations of cations and anions in the groundwater in the region. The average concentration of nitrate and fluoride found in 27 samples is 1.08 and 61.4 mg/L, respectively. Nitrate enrichment mainly occurs in areas occupied with intense fertilizer practice in agricultural fields. Since the area is not dominated by industrialization, the possibility of anthropogenic input of fluoride is almost negligible, thus the enrichment of fluoride in groundwater is only possible due to rock–water interaction. The highly alkaline conditions, which favor the fluorite dissolution, are the main process responsible for high concentration of fluoride.     

Earthquake risk assessment in NE India using deep learning and geospatial analysis

Earthquake prediction is currently the most crucial task required for the probability, hazard, risk mapping, and mitigation purposes. Earthquake prediction attracts the researchers' attention from both academia and industries. Traditionally, the risk assessment approaches have used various traditional and machine learning models. However, deep learning techniques have been rarely tested for earthquake probability mapping. Therefore, this study develops a convolutional neural network (CNN) model for earthquake probability assessment in NE India. Then conducts vulnerability using analytical hierarchy process (AHP), Venn's intersection theory for hazard, and integrated model for risk mapping. A prediction of classification task was performed in which the model predicts magnitudes more than 4 Mw that considers nine indicators. Prediction classification results and intensity variation were then used for probability and hazard mapping, respectively. Finally, earthquake risk map was produced by multiplying hazard, vulnerability, and coping capacity. The vulnerability was prepared by using six vulnerable factors, and the coping capacity was estimated by using the number of hospitals and associated variables, including budget available for disaster management. The CNN model for a probability distribution is a robust technique that provides good accuracy. Results show that CNN is superior to the other algorithms, which completed the classification prediction task with an accuracy of 0.94, precision of 0.98, recall of 0.85, and F1 score of 0.91. These indicators were used for probability mapping, and the total area of hazard (21,412.94 km²), vulnerability (480.98 km²), and risk (34,586.10 km²) was estimated.     

Spatial Distribution of Shear Wave Velocity for Late Quaternary Alluvial Soil of Kanpur City,Northern India

Empirical correlation between standard penetration resistance (SPT-N) and shear wave velocity measured by seismic downhole techniques are prepared of the alluvial soil of quaternary age for the Kanpur city. The Kanpur city is having seismic threat from Himalaya and it falls in seismic zone III according to seismic zones of India. Standard penetration test as well seismic downhole test has been carried out up to 30 m at twelve different locations of Kanpur city. The measured SPT-N values and shear wave velocity values are used to develop empirical correlation between SPT-N and shear wave velocity. The proposed correlations have been compared with the existing regression equations by various other investigators. It is found that the proposed correlation exhibit good performance (10 % error bar). Also the measured shear wave velocity has been used to prepare spatially distributed contour map of 50, 75 and 100 m/s using ArcGIS-9 software. It is observed that the shear wave velocity values for the northern part of Kanpur city vary from 125 to 825 m/s. In southern part, it is varying from 125 to 500 m/s where as in the central part of the city the shear wave velocity varies from 125 to 375 m/s. The eastern part of the city also shows some variation in shear wave velocity which ranges from 250 to 625 m/s. The western part of the city shows the variation of shear wave velocity from ≤125 to 500 m/s. The soil type of the study area are classified as per NEHRP and new Italian O.P.M.C classification system as B, C and D type soil with having site period of 0.1–0.9 s and Poisson’s ratio varying from 0.1 to 0.4.     

Tracking the relationship between changing skyline and population growth of an Indian megacity using earth observation technology

Temporal analysis of Landsat-TM imageries reveals a saturated state of Kolkata (Calcutta) Metropolitan Area. However, the city has witnessed accelerated growth in real estate construction in recent past. This study applies digital photogrammetry to quantify the changes in Kolkata’s skyline. Recently, released SRTM DEM of 1 Arc Second and a digital surface model derived from WorldView-1 stereo images were used to account for the past and recent surface heights, respectively. Consequently, this paper examines whether the sustained addition in housing capacity has been necessarily driven by a growth in the urban population/number of households. Results show that 40.31% of the area experienced vertical growth, majorly by replacing older dwellings with taller apartment blocks. Further analysis reveals that part of these newly added residences has remained unoccupied as they were purchased by non-resident Indians for using as a second home or was never sold due to recent economic slowdown.     

Heating of the intracluster medium by quasar outflows

We study the possibility of quasar outflows in clusters and groups of galaxies heating the intracluster gas in order to explain the recent observation of excess entropy in this gas. We show that radio galaxies alone cannot provide the energy required to explain the observations but the inclusion of Broad Absorption Line (BAL) outflows can do so, and that in this scenario most of the heating takes place atz ∼ 1–4, the “preheating” epoch being at a lower redshift for lower mass clusters.     

Investigation of Environmental-Concern Trace Elements in Coal and Their Combustion Residues from Thermal Power Plants in Eastern India

Natural Resources Research - The bituminous-to-sub-bituminous quality feed coals of thermal power plants contain several environmental-concern trace elements (As, Se, Ni, Cr, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, Co and...     

Stratigraphic correlation between different Gondwana Basins of India

Gondwana Basins of India occur within the suture zones of Precambrian cratonic blocks of Peninsular India along some linear belts. More than 99% of the total coal resource of the country is present within these basins. The basins are demarcated by boundary faults having graben or half-graben geometry.