Occurrence of volcanic ash in the Quaternary alluvial deposits, lower Narmada basin, western India
Rachna Raj
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara 390 002, India.
e-mail: naveenrachna@gmail.com

Abstract: This communication reports the occurrence of an ash layer intercalated within the late Quaternary alluvial succession of the Madhumati River, a tributary of the lower Narmada River. Petrographic, morphological and chemical details of glass shards and pumice fragments have formed the basis of this study. The ash has been correlated with the Youngest Toba Tuff. The finding of ash layer interbedded in Quaternary alluvial sequences of western Indian continental margin is significant, as ash being datable material, a near precise time-controlled stratigraphy can be interpreted for the Quaternary sediments of western India. The distant volcanic source of this ash requires a fresh re-assessment of ash volume and palaeoclimatic interpretations.



Evaluation of karstic aquifers contribution to streams by the statistical analysis of recession curves
A Cem Koc
Pamukkale University, Civil Engineering Department, Kinikli Kampusu, 20017 Denizli, Turkey.

Abstract: Pamukkale University, Civil Engineering Department, Kinikli Kampusu, 20017 Denizli, Turkey. Karstic aquifers significantly contribute to streams in most of Turkey’s river basins, so studies on karst water resources have great importance for Turkey. Karstic aquifer contributions are generally emerging at several locations near the river bed and are not readily measured by direct hydrometric methods. In this study, the extent of karstic aquifer contributions to a stream will be investigated by the statistical analysis of recession coefficients of recession curves. Six stream gauging stations on different streams in the western Mediterranean region of Turkey are selected. Recession periods of the streams are simulated by exponential and quadratic recession curve models. Recession coefficient series of the stream gauging stations are statistically investigated. The comparison of various statistical parameters shows that the recession coefficient series are fairly related to the karstic aquifer contributions. Especially, the measure of spread parameters, standard deviation and interquartile range of recession coefficient series are related to the extent of the karstic aquifer contributions to streams.



Low level of stratospheric ozone near the Jharia coal field in India
Nandita D Ganguly
Department of Physics, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad 380 009, Gujarat, India.
e-mail: nanditad@icenet.net

Abstract: The Indian reserve of coking coal is mainly located in the Jharia coal field in Jharkhand. Although air pollution due to oxides and dioxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur is reported to have increased in this area due to large-scale opencast mining and coal fires, no significant study on the possible impact of coal fires on the stratospheric ozone concentration has been reported so far. The possible impact of coal fires, which have been burning for more than 90 years on the current stratospheric ozone concentration has been investigated using satellite based data obtained from Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS MLS), Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS MLS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) in this paper. The stratospheric ozone values for the years 1992–2007, in the 28–36 km altitude range near Jharia and places to its north are found to be consistently lower than those of places lying to its south (up to a radius of 1000 km around Jharia) by 4.0–20%. This low stratospheric ozone level around Jharia is being observed and reported for the first time. However, due to lack of systematic ground-based measurements of tropospheric ozone and vertical ozone profiles at Jharia and other far off places in different directions, it is difficult to conclude strongly on the existence of a relationship between pollution from coal fires and stratospheric ozone depletion.





Implications of Kali–Hindon inter-stream aquifer water balance for groundwater management in western Uttar Pradesh
Rashid Umar1, M Muqtada A Khan1, Izrar Ahmed1 and Shakeel Ahmed2
1Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, India
2IFCGR, National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India

Abstract: The Kali–Hindon inter-stream region extends over an area of 395 km2 within the Ganga–Yamuna interfluve. It is a fertile tract for sugarcane cultivation. Groundwater is a primary resource for irrigation and industrial purposes. In recent years, over-exploitation has resulted in an adverse impact on the groundwater regime. In this study, an attempt has been made to calculate a water balance for the Kali–Hindon inter-stream region. Various inflows and outflows to and from the aquifer have been calculated. The recharge due to rainfall and other recharge parameters such as horizontal inflow, irrigation return flow and canal seepage were also evaluated. Groundwater withdrawals, evaporation from the water table, discharge from the aquifer to rivers and horizontal subsurface outflows were also estimated. The results show that total recharge into the system is 148.72million cubic metres (Mcum), whereas the total discharge is 161.06 Mcum, leaving a deficit balance of −12.34Mcum. Similarly, the groundwater balance was evaluated for the successive four years. The result shows that the groundwater balance is highly sensitive to variation in rainfall followed by draft through pumpage. The depths to water level are shallow in the canal-irrigated northern part of the basin and deeper in the southern part. The pre-monsoon and post-monsoon water levels range from 4.6 to 17.7m below ground level (bgl) and from 3.5 to 16.5m bgl respectively. It is concluded that the groundwater may be pumped in the canal-irrigated northern part, while withdrawals may be restricted to the southern portion of the basin, where intense abstraction has led to rapidly falling water table levels.




Low-Ti melts from the southeastern Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province: Evidence for a water-rich mantle source?
Alexei V Ivanov∗, Elena I Demonterova, Sergei V Rasskazov
and Tatyana A Yasnygina
Institute of the Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences,
Lermontov St. 128, Irkutsk 664 033, Russia.
∗e-mail: aivanov@crust.irk.ru

Abstract: Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (STLIP) is one of the most voluminous volcanic provinces on Earth. The dominant erupted rocks are low-Ti basalts, which make up 80% by volume of the classical Noril’sk lava sequence. In the west Siberian basin and Maymecha-Kotuy area, the low- Ti basalts make up about 99% and 50% by volume, respectively. Dolerite sills in the Angara– Taseevskaya Syncline at the southeastern STLIP exhibit trace element patterns and Sr isotope ratios typical of the low-Ti basalts of the Noril’sk sequence. The most Mg-rich (MgO  9.5–11 wt%) and hence least differentiated dolerites are characterized by trace element patterns with Ta-Nb depletion, low Ce/Pb and high Sr/Pr. These trace element features are similar to water-saturated, mantle wedge-derived island arc basalts. These imply an important role of subduction fluid-derived trace elements in the source of melting beneath the Angara–Taseevskaya Syncline and other regions of the STLIP. Less magnesium rocks (MgO 3.8–6.1 wt%) with less prominent Ta-Nb depletion, higher Ce/Pb and lower Sr/Pr could be produced via olivine-plagioclase fractionation of primary high-magnesium melts.



Application of GPR in the study of shallow subsurface sedimentary architecture of Modwa spit, Gulf of Kachchh
S B Shukla, A K Patidar and Nilesh Bhatt
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara 390 002, India.
e-mail: nilesh−geol@yahoo.com

Abstract: The coastline constitutes a very sensitive geomorphic domain constantly subjected to dynamic coastal processes. The study of its ever-changing physiography and stratigraphy provides a wealth of information on its history and evolution, in many cases at decadal and annual scales. The present study was carried out on the Modwa beach complex between Rawal Pir and Modwa, about 10 km east of Mandvi on the northern coast of the Gulf of Kachchh. The Modwa spit is a 7-km long WNW-ESE trending prograding amalgamated beach ridge complex that is about 0.5 km wide at its western end and 1.5 km wide at its eastern end. This Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey delineated a variety of the radar surfaces and radar facies which reflects not only large scale sedimentary architecture, but depositional facies of the beach ridge complex. These are bounding surfaces separating the radar facies outline beach ridge (br), washover (wo), coastal dune (cd) and swale (sw) depositional environments. The internal sedimentary structures like tangential, parallel, concave and convex upward stratifications could also be visualized from the GPR profiles. The architecture suggests the formation of this complex due to a combined process of eastward littoral drift of locally derived sediments and its onshore deposition by storms and eolian activities.



Impact of aerosols from the Asian Continenton the adjoining oceanic environments
K Parameswaran∗, Sandhya K Nair and K Rajeev
Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram 695 022, India.
∗e-mail: k−parameswaran@vssc.gov.in

Abstract: Aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 630nm wavelength over the oceanic regions adjoining the Asian Continent is examined using a seven-year long data base derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on board NOAA satellite to study the mean spatial and temporal variations as well as to understand the impact of aerosols advecting from the continent. Depending on the prevailing meteorological conditions and nature of synoptic circulation, the AOD over the oceanic region shows a systematic annual variation. This annual pattern inturn also shows an inter-annual variability because of the corresponding variations in the meteorological features over the continent as well as small-scale deviations in the nature of synoptic circulation. The annual variation over the oceanic regions also shows a pronounced spatial heterogeneity depending on the influence of continental aerosols. Making use of the wind speed dependence of sea-salt AOD at far-oceanic environments and monthly mean wind speeds at small grids of size 5◦ × 5◦, the annual variation of sea-salt AOD at different locations is studied to understand the spatial heterogeneity of this component. The residual component obtained by subtracting this from the measured AOD is the non-oceanic component due to advection from continent. The source regions for major continental advections are delineated from the analysis of air-mass back trajectories at appropriate locations identified from the annual pattern of non-oceanic component. The long-term effect of the continental impact is examined from the mean trend of AOD over the three major oceanic regions. This study shows that the continental influence is most significant over the Arabian Sea, followed by the Bay of Bengal and is almost insignificant in most of the regions over the Southern Hemispheric Indian Ocean, except for the effect of smoke aerosols over a few locations near Indonesia and Madagascar.



Identification of major sources controlling groundwater chemistry from a hard rock terrain – A case study from Mettur taluk, Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India
K Srinivasamoorthy∗, S Chidambaram, M V Prasanna, M Vasanthavihar,
John Peter and P Anandhan
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
∗e-mail: moorthy−ks@yahoo.com

Abstract: The study area Mettur forms an important industrial town situated NW of Salem district. The geology of the area is mainly composed of Archean crystalline metamorphic complexes. To identify the major process activated for controlling the groundwater chemistry an attempt has been made by collecting a total of 46 groundwater samples for two different seasons, viz., pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. The groundwater chemistry is dominated by silicate weathering and (Na + Mg) and (Cl + SO4) accounts of about 90% of cations and anions. The contribution of (Ca +Mg) and (Na + K) to total cations and HCO3 indicates the domination of silicate weathering as major sources for cations. The plot for Na to Cl indicates higher Cl in both seasons, derived from Anthropogenic (human) sources from fertilizer, road salt, human and animal waste, and industrial applications, minor representations of Na also indicates source from weathering of silicate-bearing minerals. The plot for Na/Cl to EC indicates Na released from silicate weathering process which is also supported by higher HCO3 values in both the seasons. Ion exchange process is also activated in the study area which is indicated by shifting to right in plot for Ca +Mg to SO4 +HCO3. The plot of Na − Cl to Ca +Mg − HCO3 − SO4 confirms that Ca, Mg and Na concentrations in groundwater are derived from aquifer materials. Thermodynamic plot indicates that groundwater is in equilibrium with kaolinite, muscovite and chlorite minerals. Saturation index of silicate and carbonate minerals indicate oversaturation during pre-monsoon and undersaturation during post-monsoon, conforming dissolution and dilution process. In general, water chemistry is guided by complex weathering process, ion exchange along with influence of Cl ions from anthropogenic impact.


The initiation and linkage of surface fractures above a buried strike-slip fault: An experimental approach
N Ghosh and A Chattopadhyay
Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 110 007, India.

Abstract: Surface fractures in the overburdened sedimentary rocks, formed above a deep-seated basement fault, often provide important information about the kinematics of the underlying master fault. It has already been established that these surface fractures dynamically evolve and link one another with progressive displacement on the master fault below. In the present study, two different series of riedel-type experiments were carried out with clay analogue models under different boundary conditions viz., (i) heterogeneous simple shear of the cover rocks above a buried strike slip fault (wrench system) and (ii) heterogeneous simple shear with a component of shear-normal compression of the overburden package above a basement fault (transpressional system), to observe the initiation and linkage of surface fractures with varying T (where T = thickness of the overburden normalized with respect to the width of the master fault). In the wrench system, Riedel (R) shears were linked by principal displacement (Y) shears at early stages (shear strain of 0.8 to 1) in thin (2 < T < 18) models and finally (at a minimum shear strain of 1.4) gave rise to a through-going fault parallel to the basement fault without development of any other fracture. Conjugate Riedel (R) shears develop only within the thicker (T > 18) clay models at a minimum shear strain of 0.7. With increasing deformation (at a minimum shear strain of 1.2) two R shears were joined by an R shear and finally opened up to make a sigmoidal vein with an asymmetry antithetic to the major faultmovement sense. Under transpression, the results were similar to that of heterogeneous simple shear for layers 2 < T < 15. In layers of intermediate thickness (15 < T < 25) early formed high angle R shears were cross cut by low angle R shears (at a minimum shear strain of 0.5 and shortening of 0.028) and “Riedel-within-Riedel” shears were formed within thick (T > 25) models (at minimum shear strain of 0.7 and shortening of 0.1), with marked angularity of secondary fault zone with the master fault at depth.