The fine silt deposits of Jammu (J & K State, India) stretch all along the Siwalik foothills from Jammu to the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan. The post-Siwalik deposits, first discussed by de Terra and Paterson (1939), are attributed to wind action. The deposits termed as ‘Potwar loessic silt’ comprising sandy silt are essentially of late Quaternary age (75–18 ka) and are re-looked herein from the point of view of genesis and climatic significance. The sorting, skewness and kurtosis parameters of fine silts of Jammu suggest fluvial environment of the deposits wherein the water budget fluctuated. The weak pedogenesis of fine silts at certain intervals corroborate to periods of less or no sedimentation. The bivariant plot studies further suggest fluvial environment of deposition for the fine silt at Jammu, with regular fluctuations in the budget of river water that was perhaps in consonance with oscillations in the climate of the region.

Indoor radon is considered as one of the potential dangerous radioactive elements. Common building materials and soil are the major source of this radon gas in the indoor environment. In the present study, the measurement of radon exhalation rate in the soil and building material samples of Una and Hamirpurdistricts of Himachal Pradesh has been done with solid state alpha track detectors, LR-115 type-II plastic track detectors. The radon exhalation rate for the soil samples varies from 39.1 to 91.2 mBq kg⁻¹ h⁻¹with a mean value 59.7 mBq kg⁻¹ h⁻¹. Also the radium concentration of the studied area is found and it varies from 30.6 to 51.9 Bq kg⁻¹ with a mean value 41.6 Bq kg⁻¹ . The exhalation rate for the building material samples varies from 40.72 (sandstone) to 81.40 mBq kg⁻¹ h⁻¹ (granite) with a mean value of59.94 mBq kg⁻¹ h⁻¹.

A review has been made to understand the hydrogeochemical behaviour of groundwater through statistical analysis of long term water quality data (year 2005–2013). Water Quality Index (WQI), descriptive statistics, Hurst exponent, fractal dimension and predictability index were estimated for each water parameter. WQI results showed that majority of samples fall in moderate category during 2005–2013, but monitoring site four falls under severe category (water unfit for domestic use). Brownian time series behaviour (a true random walk nature) exists between calcium (Ca²⁺) and electric conductivity (EC); magnesium (Mg²⁺) with EC; sodium (Na⁺) with EC; sulphate (SO²⁻₄) with EC; total dissolved solids (TDS) with chloride (Cl⁻) during pre- (2005–2013) and post- (2006–2013) monsoon season. These parameters have a closer value of Hurst exponent (H) with Brownian time series behaviour condition (H=0.5). The result of times series analysis of water quality data shows a persistent behaviour (a positive autocorrelation) that has played a role between Cl⁻ and Mg²⁺, Cl⁻ and Ca²⁺, TDS and Na⁺, TDS and SO²⁻₄, TDS and Ca²⁺ in pre- and post-monsoon time series because of the higher value of H (>1). Whereas an anti-persistent behaviour (or negative autocorrelation) was found between Cl⁻ and EC, TDS and EC during pre- and post-monsoon due to low value of H. The work outline shows that the groundwater of few areas needs treatment before direct consumption, and it also needs to be protected from contamination.