A comparative study of ANN and Neuro-fuzzy for the prediction of dynamic constant of rockmass

T N Singh1, R Kanchan2, A K Verma2 and K Saigal2
1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai 400 076, India.
e-mail: tnsingh@iitb.ac.in
2Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.

Physico{mechanical properties of rocks have great significance in all operational parts in mining activities, from exploration to final dispatch of material. Compressional wave velocity (p-wave velocity) and anisotropic behaviour of rocks are two such properties which help to understand the rock response under varying stress conditions. They also in°uence the breakage mechanism of rock. There are different methods to determine the p-wave velocity and anisotropy in situ and in the
laboratory. These methods are cumbersome and time consuming. Fuzzy set theory, Fuzzy logic and Neural Networks techniques seem very well suited for typical geotechnical problems. In conjunction with statistics and conventional mathematical methods, hybrid methods can be developed that may prove to be a step forward in modeling geotechnical problems. Here, we have developed and compared two di®erent models, Neuro-fuzzy systems (combination of fuzzy and artificial neural
network systems) and Artificial neural network systems, for the prediction of compressional wave velocity.


Facies, dissolution seams and stable isotope compositions of the Rohtas Limestone (Vindhyan Supergroup) in the Son valley area, central India

S Banerjee1, S K Bhattacharya2 and S Sarkar3
1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076, India.
e-mail: santanu@iitb.ac.in
2Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009, India.
3Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India.

The early Mesoproterozoic Rohtas Limestone in the Son valley area of central India represents an overall shallowing-upward carbonate succession. Detailed facies analysis of the limestone reveals outer- to inner-shelf deposition in an open marine setting. Wave-ripples, hummocky cross strat- ifications and edgewise conglomerates argue against a deep marine depositional model for the Rohtas Limestone proposed earlier. Stable isotope analysis of the limestone shows that ±13C and ±18O values are compatible with the early Mesoproterozoic open seawater composition. The ribbon limestone facies in the Rohtas Limestone is characterized by micritic beds, each decoupled in a lower band enriched and an upper band depleted in dissolution seams. Band-wise isotopic analysis reveals systematic short-term variations. Comparative enrichment of the heavier isotopes in the
upper bands is attributed to early cementation from sea water and water derived from the lower band undergoing dissolution because of lowering of pH at depth. The short-term positive shifts in isotopic compositions in almost every upward gradational transition from a seamed band to a non-seamed band support the contention that dissolution seams here are of early diagenetic origin, although their formation was accentuated under overburden pressure.


Compositional variation and genesis of ferromanganese crusts of the Afanasiy{Nikitin Seamount, Equatorial Indian Ocean

R P Rajani, V K Banakar¤, G Parthiban, A V Mudholkar and A R Chodankar
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
¤e-mail: banakar@darya.nio.org

Eight ferromanganese crusts (Fe{Mn crusts) with igneous and sedimentary substrates collected at different water depths from the Afanasiy{Nikitin Seamount are studied for their bulk major, minor and rare earth element composition. The Mn/Fe ratios < 1:5 indicate the hydrogenetic accretion of the Fe{Mn hydroxides. These Fe{Mn crusts are enriched in Co (up to 0.9%, average » 0:5%) and Ce. The Ce-content is the highest reported so far (up to 3763 ppm, average » 2250 ppm) for global ocean seamount Fe{Mn crusts. In spite of general similarity in the range of major, minor, and strictly trivalent rare earth element composition, the dissimilarity between the present Fe{Mn crusts and the Paci¯c seamount Fe{Mn crusts in Co and Ce associations with major mineral phases indicates inter-oceanic heterogeneity and region-speci¯c conditions responsible for their enrichment.  The decrease in Ce-anomaly (from » 8 to » 1:5) with increasing water depth (from » 1:7km to » 3:2 km) might suggest that the modern intermediate depth low oxygen layer was shifted and sustained at a deeper depth for a long period in the past.


Development and propagation of a pollution gradient in the marine boundary layer during INDOEX (1999)

Matthew Simpson and Sethu Raman¤
Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh,
NC 27695-8208, USA.
¤e-mail: sraman@ncsu.edu

The development and propagation of a pollution gradient in the marine boundary layer over the Arabian Sea during the Intensive Field Phase of the Indian Ocean Experiment (1999) is inves- tigated. A hypothesis for the generation of the pollution gradient is presented. Infrared satellite images show the formation of the pollution gradient as the leading edge of a polluted air mass
in the marine boundary layer and also its propagation over the Arabian Sea and the northern Indian Ocean. Aerosol data measured from two research vessels over the Arabian Sea show a varia- tion in the concentrations caused by the passage of this pollution gradient. Depth of the pollution gradient was found to be about 800 m. A numerical model was used to simulate the development of this gradient and its propagation over the ocean. Results show that its formation and structure are significantly in°uenced by the diurnal cycle of coastal sea-land breeze circulations along India's west coast. Transport of aerosols and gases over the Arabian Sea in the lower troposphere from land sources appears to be through this mechanism with the other being the elevated land plume.

Biological productivity, terrigenous in°uence and noncrustal elements supply to the Central Indian Ocean Basin: Paleoceanography during the past » 1 Ma

J N Pattan1¤, Toshiyuki Masuzawa2, D V Borole1, G Parthiban1,
Pratima Jauhari1 and Mineko Yamamoto3
1National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
2Department of Hydrospheric{Atmospheric Sciences, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya
University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
3Hydrospheric{Atmospheric Research Centre, Nagoya University, Nagoya 468-601, Japan.
¤e-mail: pattan@darya.nio.org

A 2 m-long sediment core from the siliceous ooze domain in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB; 13±030S: 74±440E; water depth 5099 m) is studied for calcium carbonate, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, biogenic opal, major and few trace elements (Al, Ti, Fe, K, Mg, Zr, Sc,V, Mn, Cu, Ni, Zn, Co, and Ba) to understand the productivity and intensity of terrigenous supply. The age model of the sediment core is based on U{Th dating, occurrence of Youngest Toba Tu® of » 74 ka and
Australasian microtektites of » 770 ka. Low carbonate content (< 1%) of sediment core indicates deposition below the carbonate com- pensation depth. Organic carbon content is also very low, almost uniform (mean 0.2 wt%) and is of marine origin. This suggests a well-oxygenated bottom water environment during the past » 1100 ka. Our data suggest that during » 1100 ka and » 400 ka siliceous productivity was lower, complimented by higher supply of terrigenous material mostly derived from the metasedimen- tary rocks of High Himalayan crystalline. However, during the last » 400 ka, siliceous productivity
increased with substantial reduction in the terrigenous sediment supply. The results suggest that intensity of Himalayan weathering, erosion associated with monsoons was comparatively higher prior to 400 ka. Manganese, Ba, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Co have around 90% of their supply from noncrustal (excess) source and their burial to sea°oor remained una®ected throughout the past » 1100 ka.

Seasonal variability of physico{chemical characteristics of the Haldia channel of Hooghly estuary, India

Y Sadhuram¤, V V Sarma, T V Ramana Murthy and B Prabhakara Rao
National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Visakhapatnam, India.
¤e-mail: sadhuram@darya.nio.org

Physical and chemical characteristics of the Hooghly estuary during winter (December 1997{ January 1998), summer (May 1998) and post-monsoon (November 1998) seasons have been stud-ied. Salinity varied spatially and temporally and seasonally during ebb and °ood tide conditions. Water temperature showed a di®erence of 10±C in winter to summer. Temperature did not vary much vertically as it is a well-mixed estuary. Strong currents exceeding 100 cm s¡1 were observed during peak ebb and °ood tide conditions irrespective of the season. Longitudinal eddy diffusion coe±cient (Kx) was estimated as 757m s¡1 and 811m2 s¡1 during summer and post-monsoon sea-sons, respectively. The vertical eddy di®usion coe±cient ("v) was estimated as 0:0337m2 s¡1 dur-ing post-monsoon season. The salinity and current observations are compared with those obtained
from models reported earlier. Values of pH, Dissolved Oxygen and Biological Oxygen Demand are within the threshold limits of the estuarine environment. Nutrients show seasonal variation in the estuarine environment. High values (160{2686 mg l¡1) of total suspended matter were noticed both at surface and bottom in the study region showing the impact of fresh water and sediment transportation.


A note on 2-D lithospheric deformation due to a blind strike-slip fault

Sunita Rani1 and Sarva Jit Singh2
1Department of Applied Mathematics, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar 125 001, India.
e-mail: s¡b¡rani@redi®mail.com
2Department of Mathematics, University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi 110 021, India.
e-mail: s¡j¡singh@yahoo.com

Analytical solution for the problem of a surface-breaking long strike-slip fault in an elastic layer overlying an elastic half-space is well known. The purpose of this note is to obtain the corresponding solution for a blind fault. Since the solution is valid for arbitrary values of the fault-depth and the dip angle, the effects of these two important fault parameters can be studied numerically. The variation of the parallel displacement and shear stress with the distance from the fault is studied
numerically for different values of the fault-depth and dip angle.

Some characteristics of very heavy rainfall over Orissa
during summer monsoon season
M Mohapatra1 and U C Mohanty2¤
1India Meteorological Department, Guwahati 781 015, India.
2Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India.
¤e-mail: mohanty@cas.iitd.ernet.in
Orissa is one of the most °ood prone states of India. The °oods in Orissa mostly occur during
monsoon season due to very heavy rainfall caused by synoptic scale monsoon disturbances. Hence
a study is undertaken to ¯nd out the characteristic features of very heavy rainfall (24 hours rainfall
¸ 125mm) over Orissa during summer monsoon season (June{September) by analysing 20 years
(1980{1999) daily rainfall data of di®erent stations in Orissa. The principal objective of this study
is to ¯nd out the role of synoptic scale monsoon disturbances in spatial and temporal variability
of very heavy rainfall over Orissa.
Most of the very heavy rainfall events occur in July and August. The region, extending from
central part of coastal Orissa in the southeast towards Sambalpur district in the northwest, expe-
riences higher frequency and higher intensity of very heavy rainfall with less interannual vari-
ability. It is due to the fact that most of the causative synoptic disturbances like low pressure
systems (LPS) develop over northwest (NW) Bay of Bengal with minimum interannual varia-
tion and the monsoon trough extends in west{northwesterly direction from the centre of the
system. The very heavy rainfall occurs more frequently with less interannual variability on the
western side of Eastern Ghat during all the months and the season except September. It occurs
more frequently with less interannual variability on the eastern side of Eastern Ghat during Sep-
tember. The NW Bay followed by Gangetic West Bengal/Orissa is the most favourable region
of LPS to cause very heavy rainfall over di®erent parts of Orissa except eastern side of East-
ern Ghat. The NW Bay and west central (WC) Bay are equally favourable regions of LPS to
cause very heavy rainfall over eastern side of Eastern Ghat. The frequency of very heavy rain-
fall does not show any signi¯cant trend in recent years over Orissa except some places in north-
east Orissa which exhibit signi¯cant rising trend in all the monsoon months and the season as a
whole.

Deformation of two welded elastic half-spaces
due to a long inclined tensile fault
Anil Kumar1, Sarva Jit Singh2;¤ and Jagdish Singh1
1Department of Mathematics, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak 124 001, India.
2Department of Mathematics, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110 021, India.
¤e-mail: s¡j¡singh@yahoo.com
The calculation of the deformation caused by shear and tensile faults is necessary for the inves-
tigation of seismic and volcanic sources. The solution of the two-dimensional problem of a long
inclined shear fault in two welded half-spaces is well known. The purpose of this note is to
present the corresponding solution for a tensile fault. Closed-form analytical expressions for the
Airy stress function for a tensile line source in two welded half-spaces are ¯rst obtained. These
expressions are then integrated analytically to derive the Airy stress function for a long tensile
fault of arbitrary dip and ¯nite width. Closed-form analytical expressions for the displacements
and stresses follow immediately from the Airy stress function. These expressions are suitable for
computing the displacement and stress ¯elds around a long inclined tensile fault near an internal
boundary.