A rheological model of the Indian shield has been constructed using the thermal structure derived from available surface heat flow and heat generation data and the flow properties of characteristic minerals and rocks like quartz, diabase and olivine which respectively represent the upper crust, lower crust and upper mantle. Lateral variations in the thicknesses of the brittle and ductile crust and of the brittle upper mantle have thus been obtained for different tectonic environments. Implications of these results to interpretation of the seismic structure of the Indian shield have been pointed out.

An algorithm for the solution of a nonlinear problem of phase boundary movement and evolution of temperature distribution due to the perturbation in the basal heat flux has been discussed. The reduction of the problem to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations with the help of a Fourier series method leads to a stiff system. This stiffness is taken care of by the use of a modified Euler’s method. Various cases of basal heat flow variation have been considered to show the performance and stability of the technique for such a nonlinear system. The first case of step-wise function is taken to analyse the performance of the technique, and the study has been extended to other general cases of linear increase, periodic variation, and box and triangular function type variations in the heat flux. In the step-wise case the phase boundary attains a constant position rapidly if the supplied heat flux is sufficiently large. The effect of periodicity in the heat flow is clearly depicted in the phase boundary movement, where the phase boundary oscillates about the mean position at large times. The absence of any constant level in the case of linear increase in heat flux is due to a very large value of heat flux. In the cases of box car and triangular heat flux the boundary starts moving downward after the cessation of excess heat flux but does not immediately return to its original preperturbation state, instead approaches it at large times. This technique may be applied to more general cases of heat flow variation.

Dynamic recrystallization and reduction in grain-size at large strains, e.g. in shear zones, leads to rheological weakening of the lithosphere and facilitates intense ductile deformation. In the present work, we include this effect into the rheological models of the Indian continental lithosphere to analyse its role in modifying the rheological structure and strength of the Indian lithosphere. The results computed by using quartz and felspar rheologies for the upper and lower crust, respectively, and grain-size dependent olivine rheology for the upper mantle, indicate an increase in the ductility of the mantle lithosphere.

Deep lower crustal intraplate earthquakes are infrequent and the mechanism of their occurrence is not well understood. The Narmada–Son-lineament region in central India has experienced two such events, the 1938 Satpura earthquake and the 1997 Jabalpur earthquake, having a focal depth of more than 35 km. We have estimated elastic stresses due to the crustal density and mechanical properties heterogeneities along the Hirapur–Mandla profile passing through the Jabalpur earthquake region to analyse conditions suitable for the concentration of shear stresses in the hypocentral region of this earthquake. Elastic stresses have been computed by a finite element method for a range of material parameters. The results indicate that the shear stresses generated by the density heterogeneities alone are not able to locally enhance the stress concentration in the hypocentral region. The role of mechanical properties of various crustal layers is important in achieving this localization of stresses. Among a range of material parameters analysed, the model with a mechanically strong lower crust overlying a relatively weak sub-Moho layer is able to enhance the stress concentration in the hypocentral region, implying a weaker mantle in comparison to the lower crust for this region of central India.

The region under investigation for groundwater exploration is a part of the eastern fringe of Deccan traps in Kalmeshwar Taluk of Nagpur district. In this region, groundwater is the main source of water supply for drinking and irrigation purposes. Presently, the known source of groundwater is the upper weathered mantle in the depth range of 8–15 m. This source of groundwater has been overexploited because of increasing demand of water supply and is unable to meet the present requirement. The present work deals with the delineation of new sources of groundwater at deeper levels concealed within and below the traps by using vertical electrical sounding surveys in order to meet the increasing demand of water supply.