Determination of specific yield using a water balance approach – case study of Torla Odha watershed in the Deccan Trap province, Maharastra State, India

Specific yield is an essential parameter for any groundwater management plan. Volumetric analysis in the domain of groundwater budgeting for the non-monsoon months has been undertaken for a typical watershed of the Deccan basalt province. The Torla Odha watershed covers an area of over 22 km² on a third-order tributary of the westerly flowing Bhima River. The watershed receives a normal annual rainfall of 643 mm. The entire water demand is supplied by dug wells, which penetrate a shallow aquifer. The specific yield was estimated by comparing the monthly net volume of water removed from the aquifer, with the volume of aquifer de-saturated, based on monthly water level data. The estimated specific yield ranges from 0.0019 in May to 0.0173 in November with an average value of 0.0093. A correlation of the groundwater levels with the detailed geology suggests that the higher specific yield value (0.017) corresponds to dewatering of the weathered zone within the shallow aquifer. The specific yield of the massive basalt immediately below the weathered zone varies from 0.0089 to 0.0103. The underlying vesicular basalt, which is dissected by sheet joints, has a relatively higher specific yield (0.0121). The massive basalt, which forms the base of the shallow aquifer system, has a lower specific yield from 0.0019 to 0.0022.

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Résumé Le débit spécifique est un paramètre essentiel pour tout plan de gestion des eaux souterraines. Les analyses volumétriques, dans le cadre des bilans hydriques des eaux en dehors des mois de mousson, ont été entreprises pour un bassin-versant typique de la province basaltique du Deccan. Le bassin-versant du Torla Odha couvre une superficie de 22 km², et alimente l’affluent du troisième ordre de la rivière Bhima, qui coule vers l’Ouest. La pluviométrie annuelle atteint 643 mm. Toute la demande en eau es assurée par des puits foncés pénétrant dans l’aquifère phréatique. Le débit spécifique a été estimé en comparant le volume net mensuel d’eau captée dans l’aquifère, avec le volume de l’aquifère dé-saturé, basé sur les données des niveaux piézométriques mensuels. Le débit spécifique estimé s’étend entre 0,0019 en Mai et 0.173 en Novembre; la moyenne se situe à 0,0093. Une corrélation entre les niveaux des eaux souterraines et la géologie, suggère que les débits spécifiques les plus importants (0,017) correspondent aux zones altérées de l’aquifère phréatique. Le débit spécifique du massif basaltique, immédiatement sous la zone altérée, varie entre 0,0089 et 0,0103. Le basalte vésiculaire, situé juste en dessous et traversé par des diaclases parallèles, possède un débit spécifique sensiblement plus élevé (0,0121). Le basalte massif, qui forme la base de l’aquifère phréatique, possède un débit spécifique moins important, compris entre 0,0019 et 0,0022.

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Resumen El rendimiento específico es un parámetro esencial para cualquier plan de manejo de aguas subterráneas. Se ha llevado a cabo el análisis volumétrico, en el entorno de balance de aguas subterráneas, para los meses sin monzón de una cuenca típica de la provincia de basaltos Deccan. La cuenca Rorla Odha cubre un área de 22 km² en un tributario de tercer orden del Río Bhima que fluye al oeste. La cuenca capta una lluvia anual normal de 643 mm. La totalidad de la demanda de agua es abastecida por pozos manuales que penetran un acuífero somero. Se estimó el rendimiento específico al comparar el volumen neto mensual de agua removido del acuífero con el volumen de agua de-saturado estimado a partir de datos de niveles de agua mensuales. Los valores estimados de rendimiento específico varían de 0.0019 en mayo a 0.0173 en noviembre con un valor promedio de 0.0093. La correlación de niveles de agua subterránea con la geología de detalle sugieren que el valor más alto (0.017) de rendimiento específico corresponden con el desaguado de la zona de intemperismo dentro del acuífero somero. El rendimiento específico del basalto masivo que se encuentra inmediatamente debajo de la zona de intemperismo varía de 0.0089 a 0.0103. El basalto vesicular subyacente, el cual está disectado por fracturas laminares, tiene un rendimiento específico relativamente más alto (0.0121). El basalto masivo, que forma la base del sistema de acuífero somero, tiene un rendimiento específico más bajo el cual varía de 0.0019 a 0.0022. Palabras clave: basalto Deccan. India. Rendimiento específico. Recarga de agua subterránea. Balance hídrico.

     

Field based index of flood vulnerability(IFV): A new validation technique for flood susceptible models

The flood hazard management is one of the major challenges in the floodplain regions worldwide. With the rise in population growth and the spread of infrastructural development, the level of risk has increased over time.Therefore, the prediction of flood susceptible area is a key challenge for the adoption of management plans.Flood susceptibility modeling is technically a common work, but it is still a very tough job to validate flood susceptible models in a very rigorous and scientific manner. Therefore, the present work in the Atreyee River Basin of India and Bangladesh was planned to establish artificial neural network(ANN), radial basis function(RBF), random forest(RF) and their ensemble-based flood susceptibility models. The flood susceptible models were constructed based on nine flood conditioning parameters. The flood susceptibility models were validated in a conventional way using the receiver operating curve(ROC). To validate the flood-susceptible models, a two dimensional(2 D) hydraulic flood simulation model was developed. Also, the index of flood vulnerability model was developed and applied for validating the flood susceptible models, which was a very unique way to validate the predictive models. Friedman test and Wilcoxon Signed rank test were employed to compare the generated flood susceptible models. Results showed that 11.95%–12.99% of the entire basin area(10188.4 km2) comes under very high flood-susceptible zones. Accuracy evaluation results have shown that the performance of ensemble flood susceptible models outperforms other standalone machine learning models. The flood simulation model and IFV model were also spatially adjusted with the flood susceptibility models. Therefore, the present study recommended for the ensemble flood susceptibility prediction and IFV based validation along with conventional ways.     

Mobility centre-oriented urban regeneration: examining place value of railway stations

Urban regeneration involves the notion of reconstruction of places, where regeneration initiatives are undertaken to ameliorate the quality of physical and social spaces, accrue economic profitability of space, and finally encourage environmental sustainability. Railway stations all around the world have a very important role to play in contemporary urban regeneration strategies as places of both social and material interest. With the progress of the twentieth century several issues like rapidly growing population, seemingly relentless urbanisation, an alarming rate of vehicle emission, and consequent pollution emphasised railway stations as critical places with great potentials of infrastructure development for the optimised functioning of urban centres. Thus the huge value of railway stations and their adjacent land has been acknowledged since the last quarter of the previous century. This paper aims to analyse the place value of railway stations and their immediate neighbourhoods within the urban fabric of a city using a relevant theoretical concept i.e. the ‘Node-Place Model’. Simultaneously it also draws attention to the notion of (re)development of functional spaces in and around the railway stations as a dimension of contemporary urban regeneration strategies, with the help of some global examples. This paper thereby reveals that in the urban centres throughout the entire world the railway stations are progressively attaining the focal position within integrated transport and land use planning strategies, either under the larger concept of 'Transit-Oriented Development' (TOD) or more simply, with the label of (re)development programme. This paper will significantly contribute to the ability of spatial policymakers to direct the future of urban growth towards public transit stations so as to achieve sustainable urban development.

     

New U-Pb ages of zircons in the Owk Shale (Kurnool Group) with reflections on proterozoic porcellanites in India

Felsic tuff beds with some presumed sedimentary components were reported from the Owk Shale (Kurnool Group; bearing Neoproterozoic fossils) in the upper part of the sedimentary succession in the Cuddapah basin in India by Saha and Tripathy (2012a). Our optical and SEM petrographic study of three thin sections, however, indicates that the parent samples are sandy mudstones with variable amounts of a felsic volcaniclastic component. New highquality U-Pb (SHRIMP and LA-MC-ICPMS) ages of 133 detrital zircon grains from a sample show that one grain is ca. 1880 Ma, one grain is ca. 3300 Ma, and the ages of the remaining 131 grains fall between 2690 Ma and 2429 Ma, the population averaging 2522 ± 36 Ma. The data indicate that the zircons are detrital grains derived from the ca. 2.5 Ga granitic/gneissic/greenstone basement of the Dharwar cratons that also host minor older Archean enclaves. The single 1880 Ma grain could have come from a ca. 1.9 Ga LIP. In the absence of any younger magmatic zircon, the absolute age of the Owk Shale remains elusive.     

Deformation behavior of migmatites: insights from microstructural analysis of a garnet–sillimanite–mullite–quartz–feldspar-bearing anatectic migmatite at Rampura–Agucha,Aravalli–Delhi Fold Belt,NW India

International Journal of Earth Sciences - In the present study we investigate the microstructural development in mullite, quartz and garnet in an anatectic migmatite hosted within a Grenvillian-age...     

Complete preservation of ophiolite suite from south Andaman,India: A mineral-chemical perspective

Field studies supplemented by petrographic analyses clearly reveal complete preservation of ophiolite suite from Port Blair (11°39′N: 92°45′E) to Chiriyatapu (11°30′24″N: 92°42′30″E) stretch of South Andaman. The ophiolite suite reveals serpentinite at the base which is overlain unconformably by cumulate ultramafic-mafic members with discernible cumulus texture and igneous layering. Basaltic dykes are found to cut across the cumulate ultramafic-mafic members. The succession is capped by well exposed pillow basalts interlayered with arkosic sediments. Olivine from the basal serpentinite unit are highly magnesian (Fo_80.1–86.2). All clinopyroxene analyses from cumulate pyroxenite, cumulate gabbro and basaltic dyke are discriminated to be ‘Quad’ and are uniformly restricted to the diopside field. Composition of plagioclase in different lithomembers is systematically varying from calcic to sodic endmembers progressively from cumulate pyroxenite to pillow basalt through cumulate gabbro and basaltic dyke. Plagioclase phenocrysts from basaltic dyke are found to be distinctly zoned (An_60.7-An_35.3) whereas groundmass plagioclase are relatively sodic (An₃₃-An_23.5). Deduced thermobarometric data from different lithomembers clearly correspond to the observed preservation of complete ophiolite suite.     

Trace fossils from the late cretaceous Lameta Formation,Jabalpur area,Madhya Pradesh: Paleoenvironmental implications

In Jabalpur area about 18 m to 45 m thick Lameta Formation is stratigraphically divisible into five lithounits namely, Green Sandstone, Lower Limestone, Mottled Nodular Beds, Upper Limestone and Upper Sandstone. Having differentiated lithofacies constitution and here grouped as facies associations, these units are intensively burrowed and sparingly fossiliferous. Ichnogenera including Arenicolites, Calycraterion, Fucusopsis, Laevicyclus, Macanopsis, Ophiomorpha, Paleomeandron, Rhizocorallium, Stipsellus, Thalassinoides and Zoophycos are recovered from the Lower Limestone, Mottled Nodular Beds and Upper Limestone associations of the Lameta Formation of Jabalpur area.Among these, Arenicolites, Calycraterion, Laevicyclus, Ophiomorpha, Rhizocorallium, Stipsellus and Thalassinoides belong to mixed Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies and indicate sandy backshore to sublittoral condition of deposition. Additionally rhyzocretes, some times chertified, are also present in different parts of the Lameta Formation. Ichnofacies assemblage supported by sedimentological information suggests that the Lameta Formation of Jabalpur area was deposited in coastal marine settings where sediments were subaerially exposed intermittently.     

Coral microatoll as geodetic tool in North Andaman and Little Andaman,India

Coral microatolls were examined from North Andaman and Little Andaman to understand the relative sea level change due to vertical tectonic deformation above the subduction interface. The highest level of survival of coral microatoll before the 26 December, 2004 earthquake at eastern coast of North Andaman has been determined by Global Ocean Tide Model. The present position of recently dead flat top microatoll with preserved internal structure at the eastern coast of North Andaman mainland indicates 31.21 cm uplift due to the 26 December, 2004 earthquake. Comparatively old cup shaped microatoll at the eastern fringe of North Andaman group of islands and highly bioeroded fossil microatolls at the intertidal zone of Little Andaman bear the signature of permanent vertical deformation in the past.     

Self-consistent response of a galactic disc to vertical perturbations

We study the self-consistent, linear response of a galactic disc to vertical perturbations, as induced, say, by a tidal interaction. We calculate the self-gravitational potential corresponding to a non-axisymmetric, self-consistent density response of the disc using the Green's function method. The response potential is shown to oppose the perturbation potential because the self-gravity of the disc resists the imposed potential, and this resistance is stronger in the inner parts of a galactic disc. For the   m = 1  azimuthal wavenumber, the disc response opposes the imposed perturbation up to a radius that spans a range of 4–6 disc scalelengths, so that the disc shows a net warp only beyond this region. This physically explains the well known but so far unexplained observation that warps typically set in beyond this range of radii. We show that the inclusion of a dark matter halo in the calculation only marginally changes (by ∼10 per cent) the radius for the onset of warps. For perturbations with higher azimuthal wavenumbers, the net signature of the vertical perturbations can only be seen at larger radii – for example, beyond 7 exponential disc scalelengths for   m = 10  . Also, for the high- m cases, the magnitude of the negative disc response due to the disc self-gravity is much smaller. This is shown to result in corrugations of the mid-plane density, which explains the puzzling scalloping with   m = 10  detected in H  i in the outermost regions ∼30 kpc in the Galaxy.     

Integrated geophysical and chemical study of saline water intrusion

Surface geophysical surveys provide an effective way to image the subsurface and the ground water zone without a large number of observation wells. DC resistivity sounding generally identifies the subsurface formations-the aquifer zone as well as the formations saturated with saline/brackish water. However, the method has serious ambiguities in distinguishing the geological formations of similar resistivities such as saline sand and saline clay, or water quality such as fresh or saline, in a low resistivity formation. In order to minimize the ambiguity and ascertain the efficacy of data integration techniques in ground water and saline contamination studies, a combined geophysical survey and periodic chemical analysis of ground water were carried out employing DC resistivity profiling, resistivity sounding, and shallow seismic refraction methods. By constraining resistivity interpretation with inputs from seismic refraction and chemical analysis, the data integration study proved to be a powerful method for identification of the subsurface formations, ground water zones, the subsurface saline/brackish water zones, and the probable mode and cause of saline water intrusion in an inland aquifer. A case study presented here illustrates these principles. Resistivity sounding alone had earlier failed to identify the different formations in the saline environment. Data integration and resistivity interpretation constrained by water quality analysis led to a new concept of minimum resistivity for ground water-bearing zones, which is the optimum value of resistivity of a subsurface formation in an area below which ground water contained in it is saline/brackish and unsuitable for drinking.