Abstract Volume of EARTH SCIENCES IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND EMERGING TRENDS

EARTH SCIENCES IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND EMERGING TRENDS (ESICET-2013)

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCESIndian Institute of Technology Roorkee

ROORKEE - 247667

Abstract Volume

7 - 9 November, 2013

ABSTRACTSof

National Conference

ORGANIZING COMMITTEEA.K. Saraf, Convenor

Pitambar PatiLopamudra SahaSandeep Singh

Mohamad IsrailAnand Joshi

Pravin K. Gupta

Arun K. Saraf

Sandeep Singh, Organizing Secretary

GUEST EDITORS




ROORKEE - 247667

The Thomson Collage of Civil Engineering (1845-1948) transformed to University of Roorkee (1948-2001) and finally to Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (2001 – onward). The Thomson Collage of Civil Engineering was established to train the local youth in engineering to assist in the maintenance, improvement and extension of Ganga Canal which was designed to irrigate the Ganga-Jamuna Doab. The location for the Collage was decided to be at Roorkee, a village half-way between Saharanpur and Haridwar at a little south of the Shiwalik Range. The collage was designed to impart theoretical and practical instructions to the Engineers. After initial three years of the established it was felt that the course is not adequate and there is a need of the formation of Museum of Economic Geology, where the civil engineers will find the specimens of building materials from all parts of the country, and also students should learn in which position these materials maybe found. For this purpose the first professor of the Collage was appointed to be in Geology and Experimental Science, and Prof. Henry Bendict Medlicott was appointed in the year 1855. Later, after a few years the post of Professor was abolished.

This national seminar has been designed to bring together experts and researchers across different disciplines of Earth Sciences to deliberate on emerging research trends. Further, it is hoped that the proceedings will help in identifying major gaps and frontline areas of research in earth sciences in India. This Abstract Volume contains one hundred and fourteen (114) abstracts, which will subject of discussion during three-day presentation during the seminar. The Organizing Committee expresses its deep sense of gratitude to many organizations for overwhelming financial support to this workshop and also support for many participants. It is only through these generosities that we could extend support to many delegates. The seminar could not have been held without the unflinching support from all quarters of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee.

Sandeep Singh (Organizing Secretary), Arun K. Saraf (Convenor)

After a gap of almost 100 years Department of Geology and Geophysics was established in the year 1960 which at later date have changed to Department of Earth Sciences in the year 1983. The founder Head was Prof. R.S. Mithal who continued till the year 1978. Prof. Mithal was a great visionary and true educationist and played a very important role in bringing this department as the leading departments in the country in diversified fields of geology and geophysics. During a time span of more than five decades, the department has evolved to be one of the foremost centers of teaching, research and consultancy in earth sciences.

PREFACE



Hosted by The organinizing committee of ESICET - 2013

Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of IndiaReliance Industry Limited

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, IndiaPetrofac, India

Thermo Fisher Scientific IndiaCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi

Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi


ROORKEE - 247667

&

Sponsored by

Indian Institute of Technology RoorkeeROORKEE - 247667

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES

This is an abstract volume to be presented at the ESICTE-2013 to be held at Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee November 07-09, 2013. The issue was produced by guest editors and its contents have not been peer reviewed.

@ Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-2013All Right Reserved

Printed at:

Layout and Designed by

Sri Adinath Enterprises, Tel : 8979486901, 9927536168E-mail : [email protected]

Sandeep Singh, Department of Earth Sciences, IITRoorkee, Roorkee Tel: +91-1332285559

Department of earth ScienceS

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is the oldest technical institute in Asia, which has undergone transformation from Roorkee College through Thomason College of Civil Engineering to the first technical university of independent India - the University of Roorkee. Since its establishment in the year 1847, the Institute played a vital role in providing technical manpower and know-how to the country and in pursuit of research and development. The Government of India felt it necessary to convert the erstwhile University of Roorkee to Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee through an Act of Parliament on September 21, 2001.With the most modern infrastructure for academic and research training as well as cultural and creative diversities, the Institute is truly living up to its mission of creating an environment to foster the growth of intellectual capability, innovation and entrepreneurial skill in young graduates. These graduates later contribute immensely to the growth of science and technology in partnership with industry and harness it for the welfare of the nation and mankind development.

The Department of Earth Sciences (formerly known as Department of Geology and Geophysics) was established in the year 1960. It is one of the leading departments in the country in diversified fields of geology and geophysics. During a time span of five decades, the department has evolved to be one of the foremost centers of teaching, research and consultancy in earth sciences.

The main strength of the department is amalgamation of two major disciplines of Earth Sciences- Geology and Geophysics. Since its inception, the graduates of the department have become leading experts in exploration of minerals, oil & gas, groundwater resources etc. The pioneer research contributions in different disciplines of geology and geophysics have been recognized nationally and internationally, many of which have been recognized through academic awards and fellowships and funding from various agencies. The department has been a recipient of financial aid under Special Assistance and COSIST programmes of UGC (Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Govt. of India), Humboldt Foundation and other agencies.The Department of Earth Sciences, in its more than fifty years of existence, has created a niche as a pioneering centre of excellence in teaching and research in Earth Sciences in the country

and outside. It also provides consultancy services and expert advice to various government, public and private organizations in various areas of Geology and Geophysics. It is one of the few departments in the country where faculty from various pure and applied sub-disciplines of Geology and Geophysics amalgamate to create a unique environment for development of a holistic centre to cater to the need for development of human resources for exploration of Earth's natural resources & phenomena and laying the foundation for creation of basic infrastructure.

Today, the Department has state of the art advanced instruments and facilities like National Facility of Geochronology and Isotope Geology, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer with Laser Microprobe (ICPMA), Electron Probe Micro Analyser, Scanning Electron Miroscope, Satellite Earth Station, Magneto-telluric (MT), Exploration Seismograph, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) etc. for carrying out leading edge research in Earth Sciences.

Recently, a new trend-setting five year degree course structure has been introduced. The main aim of the new course structure is to make the students competent in state of the art technologies in geology and geophysics. Two five year Integrated M. Tech. programs in Geological Technology and Geophysical Technology have been started in 2007. The admission of students to these programmes is through the internationally acclaimed Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) held nationally every year. The new curricula offers the students a strong background of all core and applied subjects from various disciplines of geology and geophysics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biotechnology, economics, communication skills, management etc. The geology and geophysics subjects are strengthened with courses taught from engineering disciplines as Institute Electives.

At present, there is a provision for meritorious graduates from other institutions in appropriate disciplines of sciences for admission to 2 year M.Sc. (Applied Geology) course. The admission for M.Sc. is through Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) conducted jointly by all IITs. In addition to above programs, the department has a present strength of about 80 research scholars who are actively engaged in Ph.D. resulting in large number of research publications. The faculty members receive research grants from different funding agencies such as MES, MoEF, DST, CSIR, ISRO etc. Further, the faculty members offer consultancy services to various industries and different government agencies.

79. Spatial Delineation of Saltwater-Freshwater Interface through Time Domain 97Electro-magnetic (TDEM) Sounding at Shoal Bay, South Andaman Island, India

80. Impact on Geo-Environmental Parameters in Jharia Coalfield, Jharkhand, India 98

81. The critical earthquake concept-an observational test from Sistan suture zone, Eastern Iran 99

82. Rheology of the Archaean Crust: A structural-deformation based study from the 100Bundelkhand Craton, north-central India

83. Identification of Hydogeochemical processes of Groundwater aquifer of the Najafgarh 102drain basin area at Delhi India

85. Petrography of Khardeola (Formation) Sandstones Lower Vindhyan Basin, 106Chittaurgarh-Rajasthan: Implication for Diagenetic and Depositional History

86. Search for Seismo-eletromagnetic effect in association with Mw 4.9 Kharsali 107Earthquake on July 22, 2007 in NW Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

87. Porphyroblast-matrix relationships: An approach to understand deformation cum 108metamorphic history of Lohit Himalaya, NE India

88. Geotechnical evaluation of debris failure from Chamoli to Joshimath, Garhwal Himalaya, India 110

89. Structural evolution and shortening along Kangra Re-entrant 111

90. Study of geomorphic evaluation of Pindar River basin Uttarakhand Himalaya, India 112

91. Utility of remote sensing in lithological mapping of an inaccessible terrain -A case 113study from the Ladakh Himalaya

92. On seasonal variability of NDSI thresholds and derived snow-cover estimates 114using MODIS data

93. Application of plasma in control and effective libration of methane from gas hydrates 115

94. 2D Magnetotelluric Modelling using Finite Difference Scheme- Comparison of Various 116algorithms

95. Natural Hazards and Gaddi Tribes: A Case Study of Bharmour Tehsil, Chamba District 117of Himachal Pradesh, India

96. Seismic source characteristics in Kachchh and Saurashtra regions of western India: 118b- value and fractal dimension mapping of aftershock sequences

97. Role of biogeophysics in restoration of environment and development of 119green water technologies

98. Sr isotopic ratio of alluvial sediments of Gomati River in Ganga Alluvial Plain (GAP) 120

Sahoo, M. and Ramanujam, N.

Saini, V. and Gupta, R.P.

Sarkar, I.

Sarkar, S., Sahu, S., Saha, L., Pati, J.K. and Nasipuri, P.

Saxena, S., Shrivastava, J.P., Verma, S.K., Kumar, C.P. and Kumar, B.

Shahnawaz, K.

Sharma, B., Chingtham, P., Saikia, S., Chopra, S., Rawat, G. and KhandelwalD.D.

Sharma, R.,and Sharma, K.P.

Sharma, S.K.

Sharma, V.

Sharma, V. S. and Naithani, B. P.

Shukla, A. and Arifa, O.

Shukla, A. and Bashira, S.

Singh, A., Patel, T., Sevak, R. and Agarwal, M.

Singh, A., Gupta, P.K., Israil, M.

Singh, A., Arya, A. K. and Pati, P.

Singh, A. P., Roy, I.G., Kayal, J. R., and Rastogi, B. K.

Singh, K.P.

Singh, P., Singh, S., Singh, M. and Singh, I. B.

84. Evidence of high-pressure metamorphism and melting from the Archaean 104Witrivier greenstone belt in southeastern Kaapvaal Craton, South AfricaSayare, P., Saha, L., Stevens, G.

99. Relationship of Piezometry with Electrical Conductivity and Chloride Distributions, 121Dhund Basin, District Jaipur (Rajasthan)

100. Inferences about Structures and Seismotectonics of Kachchh basin, Gujarat, India from 122Gravity Survey

101. Planetology: Importance and Opportunities to Earth scientists 123

102. New occurrence of a rare Troctolite intrusion from Lailunga layered Mafic-Ultramafic 124complex, eastern part of Central Indian Tectonic Zone, Central India

103. Liquefaction Hazard Assessment over Alluvium in Earthquake Prone Region-A Case Study 126

104. Exploration and Exploitation of Coal Bed Methane 127

105. Urgent need for Sustainable management of Ground water in fractured Aquifers in hard 128rock terrains of Ranchi urban area, Jharkhand

106. Sustainable management of deeper Aquifers in hard rock areas of Ranchi urban area 129

107. Integrated use of remote sensing and field investigations to study changes in 130Chhota-Shigri glacier, Himalayas

108. Post-Kurnool deformations south of the Palnad Sub-basin and their possible Pan-African 132correlation

109. Application of MOHR circle for estmation of geoelectric strike from magnetotelluric 133data recorded from Garhwal Himalayan region

110. b-Current initiatives towards earthquake hazard assessment in Uttarakhand 134

111. Harnessing the natural resources for sustainable power generation in India 135

112. A probabilistic estimate of most perceptible earthquakes in NW Himalaya and its vicinity 136

113. Estimation of Uncertainty in Well Log Analysis by Monte Carlo Simulation 137

114. Role of soft computing in multi-dimensional geophysical data analysis and classification 138

Singh, R.P.

Singh,R.K.,Rastogi, B.K., Basantaray, A.K., Venkateswar Rao, S., and Singh, R. K.

Srivastava, N.

Subba Rao D.V., Banzare K., Ramesh, S. L. and Hanuma Prasad, M.

Sundararajan N. and Seshunarayana T.

Sunjay, Kumar, S. and Sahoo, S.

Thakur, B.S.

Thakur, B. S.

Tiwari, R.K., Gupta, R.P., Arora, M.K.

Tripathy, V., Satyapal, Mitra, S.K.

Tyagi, S., Pandit, S., Israil, M. and Gupta, P. K.

Verma, M. and Bansal, B. K.

Verma, S. K., Malhotra, N., Srivastava, S. and Shankar S.

Yadav, R.B.S., Koravos, G.S., Tsapanos, T.M.

Yashrakshita

Yegireddi, S.

National Conference on Earth Sciences in India: Challenges and Emerging Trends (ESICET-2013) 7-9 November 2013

1 | P a g e

Geomorphology, pedology and sedimentological studies (using GPR) of the Haryana plains, India: Implications for the ‘lost’ Sarasvati River and migration of the Aryans during the protohistory Acharya, V.1, Parkash, B.2, Pati, P.1*, Awasthi, A. K3. and Jakhmola, R. P. 4 1*Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee -247 667, India 2 41-Flowerdale Colony, Barewal Road, Ludhiana, Punjab 3 Graphic Era Universiry, Dehradun 4 ONGC Ahmedabad *Corresponding Author e-mail:[email protected]

Study of landforms, pedology,

sedimentology and neotectonism, using MSS images, digital terrain models (DTMs), Infra-red stimulated luminescence (IRSL) chronology and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in the Haryana plains and the adjoining regions (Indogangetic Plains, India) suggest the presence of a large river (Yamuna River) in the Haryana Plains since >3000 B.C. and it was a tributary of the Ghaggar (Sarasvati) River. During the period 3000 -2100 B.C., the Yamuna River was flowing along the Chautang River course, forming the Drishadvati River, which was shifted northwestward slowly and then moved back southeastward a small distance and avulsed to its present position at ~2100 B.C.. The Sutlej River in the region NW of the present area, which was also a tributary of the Ghaggar River (>1900 B.C. ), was s tar ted shif t ing northwestward by 1900 B.C. and soon became an independent entity. These changes were caused by t ilt ing and upliftment of the Haryana plains and

tilting of its northwestern regions. Extensive migration of population (the Aryans) living in the Sarasvati River floodplain coincides with the severe decrease in the river discharges at 3000 B.C. due to onset of drier palaeoclimate and drastic changes in river courses during 1900-2100 B.C. due to tectonic tilting. Later (<2100 B.C.), activities of inferred longitudinal faults laid to the deposition of eight terminal fans/inland fans in the Haryana plains. The Markanda Terminal Fan, the first of such features described, is indeed a splay terminal fan and was deposited by a splay distributary system of the Markanda River within a short period. Also, comparison with other such studies in the Gangetic plain further east suggests that the terminal fans/inland fans formed by streams with distributary drainage pattern occur only in semiarid regions as in the present area and thus are indicators of semiarid climate/paleo-climate.


2 | P a g e

Coal Bed Methane (CBM) - Challenges and Best Management Practices in India Agarwal, M.*, D’souza, C. and Dhar, S. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun – 248007 *Corresponding Author e-mail: [email protected]

Gas industry has become an

indispensable part, along with oil industry, in driving the Indian economy. Currently the natural gas production in India is 105 mmscmd and forms 9% of the total commercial energy mix. As per the R/P ratio, gas is projected to last for the next 31 years in the country. The exploration of gas through unconventional sources is growing progressively with paucity of economically viable sources of energy in the near future, ever widening gap between energy demand and supply from conventional sources, rising import bill. In this context, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) offers solution to many of India’s economic and environmental

challenges in a secure and sustainable way. This paper discusses techniques to address the challenge of produced water treatment. The best management practices include water treatment plants in modular, mobile packaged system using combination of technologies like microfiltration, ultrafilteration, membrane technology, reverse osmosis and ion exchange which will give it flexibility to treat variable water quality and quantity so that produced water can be used as a resource instead of waste. This paper also highlights the economic viability of the above technologies for CBM project through cost-benefit analysis.


3 | P a g e

Challenges and Best Management Practices in Shale Fracking Agarwal, M.* and Sharma, V. K. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun – 248007 *Corresponding Author e-mail: [email protected]

The increasing demand of natural

gas, projected to grow from 113768.37 BCF in 2011 to 167535 BCF in 2030 has driven the oil and gas industry to explore unconventional hydrocarbon resources like shale gas. Global recoverable shale gas reserves are 6,622 TCF with India having 63 TCF in 4 out of 26 sedimentary basins. With new exploration technologies, such as multistage “fracking” along with horizontal drilling, shale gas production has become the most significant energy innovation though the successful shale gas exploitation has a number of challenges, viz., need for large volumes of water, waste

water disposal, ground water contamination, methane emission etc. making the fracking process, a risky venture. For an efficient and cost effective shale fracking, some of the best management practices include baseline monitoring and assessment of ground water, optimum well design, and waste water management, especially, in the current economic scenario and environment conscious world. The present paper highlights the challenges in shale fracking and offers viable suggestions to overcome these challenges.


4 | P a g e

Plasma Pulse Technology for Additional Oil Recovery Agarwal, M.*, Malik, Y., Girrish Karthik, S. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun – 248007 *Corresponding Author e-mail: [email protected]

All known methods for oil recovery namely primary, secondary and tertiary usually allow recoverability of 25 to 50% of hydrocarbons. Thus usually, 50% of oil reserves are left behind in the subsurface. Until today the industry did not have any economical and eco-friendly method to increase recoverability. All explorers in this industry are finding it difficult to maintain their productivity. Novas Limited, a Russian company invented a technology around 7-10 years ago which helped to stimulate the well thus increasing the permeability and porosity of the strata. The principle is to induce a parametric resonance in the reservoir which in-turn generates a shock wave. A plasma impulse is generated in the well using a plasma pulse streamer to generate and propagate this shock wave controllably

through the perforations and along the channel profiles. The resonance vibrations created in the productive stratum makes it possible to clean existing filtration channels and create new ones in a radius of over 1500 meters (in carbonate reservoirs) and 250 meters (in terrigenous reservoirs) from the point of initiation of the plasma pulse action and causes water-cut drop in wells. Plasma Pulse Technology (PPT) is an economical and eco-friendly technology, taking around one or two days to treat one production or injection well. Novas limited has bagged seven patents in Russia and one in USA. The implementation of this new technology in India would make us less dependent on crude imports and help us save our country’s foreign exchange.


5 | P a g e

Clay mineralogical study of paleosol sediments of Karewa Basin: indicators of paleoclimatic record of the Kashmir Valley Ahmad, I. and Chandra, R.* Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, JandK, India *Corresponding Author e-mail: [email protected]

Clay mineral compositions of

Middle-Late Pleistocene paleosol sediments in Kashmir Valley, India are characterized by random X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technique. The quantitative estimation of different clay minerals is based upon relative peaks intensities and indicates that smectite is the dominant clay minerals followed by mixed-layer minerals chlorite+kaolinite (c+k), illite and chlorite. The contents of smectite generally show an increasing trend with depth in paleosol profiles. The relatively lower contents of smectite in the surface horizons of these paleosols may be ascribed to the alteration of mafic (igneous rocks) minerals in the coarse fraction with the subsequent movement of smectite in the lower horizon through percolating water. However, the surface horizon of few paleosol profiles show higher crystallinity of smectite whereas the lower part of these paleosol profiles which are considered as the weakly developed illuvial horizons (Bw-horizon), show the dominance of the illite. Weak crystallinity of smectite in the illuvial horizon of paleosol profile is considered due to weak pedogenesis. Illite generally shows weak crystallinity in all the studied paleosol samples and all the paleosols contain illite to small amount. Though, the illite degraded during pedogenesis as indicated by the poor crystallinity in the paleosols, it progressively improves in weakly developed paleosol horizons. The presence

of illite in the Kashmir Paleosol sediments suggests relatively less pedogenesis and thus appears to be directly related to the prevailing relatively cold and arid climatic conditions. The absence or traces of chlorite does not suggest intense weathering because of the prevailing climatic conditions and the recent origin of these soils. The chlorite, suggesting weak pedogenesis under cool arid climate, only characterizes the paleosol samples of Dilpur Village section suggesting experienced relatively less weathering than the Karapur and Burzhoma village sections. The concentration of clay mineral chlorite increases under cold and arid glacial climatic conditions. Chlorite is usually less resistant to hydrolysis than the illite. Therefore, chlorite is absent in most of the soils because of its relative fast rate of transformation into other clay minerals. Kaolinite is not observed in the studied samples. The minor peaks of mixed-layered chlorite+kaolinite (c+k) clay minerals also present in all the studied sample of paleosols, which testifies the moderate and incomplete hydrolysis. Therefore, incomplete breakdown of illite give rise to mixed layer of chlorite+kaolinite. The systematic study of clay minerals indicate that the Kashmir Paleosol sediments consists of similar mineralogical composition with smectite as dominant mineral followed by illite, chlorite+ kaolinite mixed-layers and traces of


6 | P a g e

chlorite. Smectite is most common in soils of the arid to semi-arid climate. Under extreme weathering conditions, it altered into halloysite and kaolinite. This represents poorly drained environments including monsoonal and xeric climate characterized by strongly seasonal precipitation. However, illite indicates cold and arid climate which is considered to be the precursor mineral for the formation of smectite under arid to semi-arid climatic conditions. The formation of illite requires high pH, more evaporation and poor leaching. Strongly altered illite and poorly defined vermiculite are commonly identified in cold-wet climate. Therefore, the presence of illite is directly related with the prevailing cold climatic conditions. The chlorite, illite and traces of mixed layered c+k in the Kashmir Paleosol sediments suggests overall less pedogenesis of

Kashmir Paleosol sediments under cold and arid climatic conditions. The XRD clay mineralogy of Dulpur village results agree with the results inferred from lithological and micromorphological observations and geochemical study. This is probably because Dilpur Village section is lower in altitude than Karapur and Burzahom Village sections and hence has high potential for evapo-transpiration. Hence, it experiences relatively dry climatic conditions than the Karapur and Burzahom Village sections. Therefore, the soil-water balance of these locations differs which affects the rate of pedogenesis. Therefore, clay mineralogical study of Kashmir Paleosol sediments indicates that the Kashmir Valley witnessed cold arid to semi-arid climate during the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene.


7 | P a g e

Deteriorating ground water quality and its mitigation measures; a case study from an industrial area in Kottayam district, Kerala State Amaldev, T.1*, Udayakrishnan, P. B 2 and Baiju, K. R.1 1. Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of

Science and Technology, Cochin- 682 016, Kerala 2. Department of Chemical Oceanography, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of

Science and Technology, Cochin- 682 016, Kerala *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Groundwater is affected by many

factors such as physico- chemical characteristics of soil, rainfall, soil erosion, weathering of rocks, sub-surface chemical reactions, micro-organisms, human and agricultural wastes and industrial effluents. The present study area is one of quickly developing region in Kottayam district, because of the presence of various industries such as Poovanthuruth industrial area, Travancore Cements Ltd.(TCL) and Travancore Electro-chemicals Industries Ltd. (TECIL) and 671 various small scale industries etc, and various educational institutions including Govt. College, Govt. Polytechnic etc and the newly proposed inland Kottayam Port and Container Terminal (KPCT) is the India’s first port and Inland Container Depot (ICD) to

utilize inland waterway on the banks of Kodoor river. In the present study chemical analysis of groundwater samples have been collected in pre and post-monsoon season. The concentrations of physical and chemical constituents in the water samples were compared with the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) standard to know the suitability of water for drinking. The outcome of present study indicates that the water quality parameters exceed the permissible limit for drinking at many locations especially in Poovanthuruth Industrial area leading the water unsuitable for drinking and hence recommended for mitigation measures are needed to be adopted to ensure quality of drinking water.


8 | P a g e

River dynamics and crustal deformations of Andaman Islands Balaji, S. Department of Disaster Management, Pondicherry University, Port Blair 744103, Andaman Islands Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Andaman and Nicobar islands

is in the limelight since 2004 in sequel to Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami. The Indian plate motion and its subduction beneath the South-Asian plate cause frequent earth tremors, crustal deformation in the form of fracturing, faulting and movements such as block upliftment, subduction and tilting. The emergence, submergence and tilting of land has repercussions on the river and/or stream dynamics.

There are not many rivers which exist in Andaman islands. The rivers/streams are mostly structurally controlled and the NE-SW, NW-SE, N-S and E-W faults control the rivers/streams. In North Andaman, the only major river (Kalpong river) flows mostly in NW-SE direction and another river Terapa flows mostly in E-W direction. Gudi nala near Kishore nagar flows in N-S direction. The rivers/streams flowing in different directions show at many places drainage deflection, meandering and compressed meandering. The tectonic emergence of

land and fault reactivation has rejuvenated the rivers/streams at many places causing the incising of the stream valleys. The meandering can also be seen in Middle Andaman in Pichar nala which joins with Bedapur nala. The Bedapur nala is fault-controlled along N-S direction. The Kormatang River is also showing meandering. The rivers/streams flowing in N-S and E-W directions changes its flow path abruptly along fault planes. The N-S major fault also offset the lithology and the stream pattern also changes drastically. In South Andaman, rivers are not common and the streams are mostly flowing along NW-SE, E-W, and WNW-ESE directions. The stream near Mount Harriot gushes into sea along NW-SE fractures. The meandering is also seen in Bara nala and Pema nala. The incised meanders can also be seen near Burma nala and Beidnabad.

The emergence and submergence, Crustal deformation in the form of faulting and folding has also played a significant role in the landscape evolution of Andaman islands.


9 | P a g e

Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) Study of Sikkim Himalaya Banerjee, B.P. , Goswami, A.*, Champati Ray, P.K. and Jha, V. Geosciences and Geohazards Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun 248-001, India *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Most of the Himalayan glacier systems have shown considerable retreat in last century and have often resulted in the formation of many glacial lakes. Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) are therefore becoming more common and caus ing mass ive destruction to infrastructure, natural resources and human lives. Continual monitoring of glacial lakes have therefore become more important in terms of their formation, expansion and vulnerability. With the advent of space borne technologies like- Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) it is now possible to monitor such inaccess ib le p laces throughout the year. Increased number of remote sensing platforms with improved spatial and temporal resolutions aid regular observation and supervision of various

properties of alpine glaciers lakes. The present work is focused on the prepation of a time series glacial lake database of Sikkim Himalaya, and studying the growth behaviour of the lakes over the years. Remotely sensed datasets from the Landsat Mission have been utilized to map all the glacial lake of the region. A secondary objective of the study also focused on creation of a glacial lake rover to record the bathymetry and hence compute volume of glacial lakes. Interesting findings are reported, in terms of, assessing the GLOF threat vulnerability of individual glacial lakes of the region. The glacial lake rover is tested on two glacial lakes to compute volume of the lakes. The developed robotic unit has shown immense potential in accurately mapping the glacial lake depth and volume.


10 | P a g e

Comparison of Cartosat and ASTER DEM in different terrain of India Baral, S.S.1*, Saraf, A.K.1 and Das, J.D.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

In the last few years Digital

Elevation Model is found to be of much more importance due to its various application and utility in the field of Engineering and infrastructure design, terrain and surface analyses in geomorphology, Global positioning system and Global Information system. Because of its importance DEMs with reasonable accuracy and at higher spatial resolutions are been generated by different organisations worldwide, e.g. Cartosat DEM of Indian Space Research Organisation (at 30m) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM at 30m) covering almost entire globe. In the present

study, a statistical comparison has been made between Cartosat DEM (30m) and ASTER-GDEM (30m) of the Himalayan Kanchenjunga area, Lalitpur area of Uttar Pradesh district, and Roorkee area of Uttarakhand which corresponds to highly rugged terrain, less rugged terrain and Indogangatic planar (partly undulating) region of India. Topographic maps of these three study areas were also used to compare spots height with corresponding values in both Cartosat-DEM and ASTER-GDEM. The study inferred that though the two DEMs are generated in same technique, Cartosat DEM is less accurate for almost flat and less rugged terrain in comparison to ASTER GDEM but holds good for highly rugged terrain.


11 | P a g e

Tidal rhythmites within early Permian Barakar Formation, Khudia Nala, Raniganj Basin, India Bhattacharya, B.1*, Burman, L.1, Banerjee, S.2, Bandyopadhyay, S.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Geology, Hooghly Mohsin College, Chinsurah, Hooghly-712101 * Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The Barakar Formation (early

Permian) in Raniganj Basin, eastern India, is represented by lower coal-bearing, braided-fluvial succession, and upper meandering channel deposits. The sediments bear frequent signatures of marginal marine tide- and wave-reworkings. This work documents the tide-generated sedimentary features from the Barakar sedimentary rocks exposed along the Khudia Nala section, Raniganj Basin. The features include – (i) mud-draped sandstone foresets with variable foreset thickness, (ii) laterally- and vertically-accreted cross strata set, (iii) sigmoidal cross-strata set, (iv) mutually opposite cross-strata set, separated by sub-horizontal, planar-laminated sandstone–claystone heteroliths, and (v) alternate sequence of sand-dominated and mud-dominated rhythmites, including flaser and lenticular beddings. Tidal stratifications are draped by wavy-laminated clayey-siltstone that helps in preserving the tidal features from subsequent reworking by storm waves.

Wave features are less abundant and include accretionary hummocks and

wave ripples within medium- to fine-grained sandstone/ siltstone in the middle–upper part of the succession, possibly produced by open marine storm waves. Presence of such bed forms within finer clastics and complete absence of large hummocks/ swales suggest reworking by low energy waves during waning phases of storm surges. Intercalation of tide-storm influenced marine sedimentation signifies a progressive paleogeographic change from continental-fluvial to an estuarine depositional setting. Within the tide-led sediment packages, periodic fluctuation in the flow is recognized and the cyclicity is measured. The measured value matches with the tidal cyclities of modern and ancient times. Signatures of spring–neap–spring tidal cyclicity encrypted in thick-thin pairs of rhythmic foreset bundles point to a truncated semidiurnal tidal system having synodic and sidereal months of 27.8 lunar days and 25.98 solar days, respectively, and provides clue to understand the moon-earth orbital forcings during the early Permian time.


12 | P a g e

Hydrogeographic regions and origin of hot-water-springs of Odisha Bisht, S.S.1*, Das, N.N1. and Tripathy, N.K.2 1Department of Biotechnology, Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Berhampur, Odisha, India-760010. 2Department of Zoology, Berhampur University, Odisha, India. *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Ecologically relevant hydrogeological characteristics render comprehensive catalogue of knowledge on diversities of groundwater systems. Though most of Odisha's forest cowl has been denuded recently, greatest attractions square measure its large expanses of unspoiled natural landscapes. Most of Healing waters zones (i.e., Hot-water springs) commonly located underneath thick cowl of forests and infrequently the necessary spots of religious follow-up. Riverine systems present in Odisha are drained by twelve major rivers along with their tributaries and distributaries. The present work was meted out to trace the origin of

hydrogeography regions in conjunction with hot-water spring sources in Odisha. Map of hydrogeography regions of Odisha and map of earthquake zones of India and map of geothermal heat-flow regions of India were merged using appropriate software tool. Riverine flow–system lies as regards to Pleistocene-older alluvium, Gondwana rocks and lower Precambrian rocks. Healing waters zones originated in proximity to sub-surface, Neotectonic fault and shear zones. The hydrogeography diversities of Odisha reveal that water resources originated in proximity to tectonic faults.


13 | P a g e

Adsorption of As(OH)3 and different oxidation galena (100) surfaces: Proximity effect approach of Arsenic removal from ground water Biswas, S.1* and Becker, U.2 1Department of Chemistry,Narula Institute of Technology, Westbengal University of Technology, 81 Nilgunj Road, Agarpara, Kolkata -700109, India 2Department of Geosciences and Geochemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

In natural environments, water, especially groundwater carries various amounts of dissolved and suspended species. When the groundwater comes in contact with the minerals, these species can interact with the mineral. Arsenic is one example of such an element that is carried by groundwater. Arsenic can be useful and important, but also poisonous. A major part of gangetic WestBengal is severely affected by Arsenic pollution. More than 40 million people in the affected areas are drinking water with > .05 mg/L Arsenic concentration. As(III) is more soluble and mobile in solution than As(V) . As(III) is also more toxic than its oxidized counterpart. The most common natural As(III) species in groundwater is As(OH)3. To minimize the concentration of As in groundwater, it is necessary that As(OH)3 gets adsorbed to mineral surfaces and subsequently oxidized while oxidation in solution is often kinetically hindered. Thus, one needs to understand the redox chemistry of different As species in the solution and in their adsorbate state. As(V) gets more strongly adsorbed to iron and aluminum hydroxides than As(III), which is weakly adsorbed to these minerals in an oxidizing environment. Research on As-sulfide/oxide interaction on galena and sphalerite at different pH values

has shown that As(III) species adsorb to galena surfaces, though the exact mechanism is unknown. Study of promotion of galena oxidation due to the co-adsorption of Fe3+ and dissociated water which is an example of the proximity effect. This reaction mechanism of the proximity effect can be used to explain the adsorption of As(III) species on galena surfaces. In this study, we have used molecular modeling techniques to study the adsorption and potential oxidation of As (III) species on galena surfaces using proximity effect theory. This theory describes how the chemical reaction of one surface site influences the electronic structure and reactivity of neighboring or nearby sites by spin polarization and electron /charge exchange. This perturbation of the electronic structure can mobilize another species on the surface in another surface site and promote its adsorption. Thus, This study addresses the question: • Does the presence of an oxidizing species, such as ferric iron or oxygen, influence the adsorption of As(III) species on the galena surface?

The information gained from this study will help us understand the redox chemistry and mobility As (III) species in ground water.


14 | P a g e

Influences of changes in Land use/Land cover and Precipitation Variability on Hydrology and Morphology of Middle Course of Damodar River in East India Biswas, S. S. Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067 *Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected]

In a river basin, the two most

prominent factors rainfall variability and changes in land use and land cover in the upstream basin drives the long-term discharge modifications in the river hydrology and morphology. The Damodar River (known as Deonad Nadi in its upstream) is a sub-system of Ganga River System.The study area falls under the area in between Panchet and Maithan dam and Durgapur Barrage in Durgapur. It is extended up to 23º28’ N to 23º41’N latitude and 86 º 44 ’E to 87 º 18’ E longitudes. The data used in the study are taken from Indian Meteorological Department (Rainfall), Maithon and Panchet hydrologic station, River Discharge Database, Centre for Sustainability and the Global Environment, SAGE (Discharge), Landsat 5 –TM (Satellite Images- 1990 and 2010). Whole time period are divided in two phase: 1958-1980 (period-1) and after 1980 (period-2). Relationship between rainfall (Asansol and Dhanbad) and discharge has been found. The statistical tool such as t-test is used to use the difference in mean of rainfall and discharge. The effects on morphology of the river are shown with the help of Landsat TM image of 1990 and 2010 of the study area. Trend of discharge and rainfall

is high in post 1980s. This may be for the change of land use and urbanisation is high in the later time period. From the values of t-test, it is claimed that annual rainfalls and discharge is greater in period 2 than period 1 in the Damodar River Basin. From 1990 to 2010, vegetation have been reduced and build up areas have been increased which increased the discharge of the river flow and further changed the morphology of the river. Agricultural lands occupy the vegetation areas in the basin areas. Agricultural lands occupy the river bed also that has increased the no of bars in the basin area. Several new bars have also been formed due to the on-going construction work in the river and the bank areas. Reduction in the Riparian vegetation leads to erosional activity in the bank side areas. Dam construction in the river and its tributaries leads to the development of several bars in the river basin. Reduction in infiltration after the removal of vegetation cover and changes in land cover causes an increase in surface flow during the rainy season that increase the speed of river discharge. If the current pace of changes and industrialisation and urbanisation is there, it can be expected to further changes in the hydrological and morphological regime of Damodar River System.


15 | P a g e

An inversion method for better estimation of source parameters from S-wave spectra of small-to-moderate size local earthquakes Biswas, K.*, Kumar, M. and Mandal, P. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad-500007, A.P., India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

We estimate corner frequencies (fc)

and long period spectral levels (o) for small to moderate size aftershocks (Mw 2.4-4.8) of the Mw7.7 2001 Bhuj earthquake by inverting S-wave displacement spectra using the Tichonov regularization (TR) and Lavenberg-Marquardt (LM) inversion techniques, wherein the inversion scheme is formulated based on ω-square spectral model. Other source parameters like source radii, seismic moment and stress drops are then calculated from fc and o estimates through some well established empirical relations. Finally, we compare the source parameter estimates obtained using above two methods. We notice that for LM method fc is overestimated for small magnitude earthquakes while it is underestimated for moderate magnitude earthquakes. For both methods, corner frequencies are varying from 1.9 to 8.7 Hz and 2.8 to 8.6 Hz, respectively. For LM method, estimates for seismic moment (Mo) and source radius (r) range from 6.06E+12 to 5.06E+16 N-m and 148.9 to 679.5 m, respectively, while stress drops () range from 0.168 to

7.105 MPa. But, for TR method we observe that Mo and r vary from 8.46e+12 to 1.65E+16 N-m and 150.6 to 476 m, respectively, while estimates range from 0.06 to 7.6 MPa, respectively. From comparison studies of different source parameters, we found that estimates from TR method show more systematic behavior in comparison to those from LM method. Thus, we infer based on our results that TR method provides relatively better and stable estimates of earthquake source parameters than LM method. From the available stress drops of Indian intraplate earthquakes, we also observe that high stress drops commonly associated with the events from Kachchh and adjacent Narmada-Son lineament rift zones, which could be attributed to the large crustal stresses induced by rift pillows or mafic intrusive bodies underlying these rift zones. Further, we infer that these rift zone associated earthquakes are having strong potential for generating high peak ground accelerations and hence high seismic hazard.


16 | P a g e

Published and Unpublished Map Products of GSI – Advancement through annals of Time Chandrasekaran, V. Superintending Geologist, Map and Cartography Division GSI, CR, Nagpur. Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Geological Survey of India is the

pioneer and the oldest earth science origanisation of India that is engaged in geological mapping, mineral, energy resource and offshore exploration, engineering geology, geotechnical, geoenvormental and geological hazard studies besides carrying out many sponsored geoscientific programme.

GSI owes the responsibility of dissemination of geological information through publication of reports, memoirs, journals, maps and of late through electronic media viz. Portal. The organization has always been achieving one of its prime objectives of publishing geological maps giving all earth science related information. The history of publication of map by GSI started in 1820 with “Geological Map of Hyderabad Region”. In 1877, the first official “Geological map of India and Adjacent Countries” was published on 1”= 64 mile scale. Since then, GSI has been publishing a large number of geological and thematic maps on various scales including four international maps.

The organization having covered almost all the accessible part of India by systematic geological mapping and through other specialised geoscientific activities has generated voluminous data and been rendering data dissemination through different publications, reports, maps and Atlases. The most widely referred and sought after published map products of GSI

are Geological Quadrangle Maps, District Resource Maps, Mineral Belt Maps, Geology of India- 1:2m map, Marine Maps, Coalfield Maps, etc that can be mentioned. Besides, GSI has also been publishing Geological and Mineral Maps of States and Region through Misc Pub No.30 covering entire India. The information that can be obtained from these published maps is geology, geomorphology, tectonics, metallogeny, mineral resource information, stratigraphy and potential natural hazard zones. The theme specific maps throw information that are specific to the ‘map theme’ viz. sedimentological domain information of coal basins, surficial sediment distribution, bathymetry, offshore mineral potential, etc.

With the onset of electronic media taking over the print media, GSI has taken a novel step of organizing the geospatial data and making them available through the electronic media to the geoscientific community. At this point of time, precisely in November 2007, GSI PORTAL took birth and instantly became popular among all geoscientists. GSI enterprise portal (www.portal.gsi.gov.in) is built and developed as an organization Network (WAN) as well into worldwide web simultaneously.

GSI PORTAL was implemented to disseminate GSI published information in its entirety to the internet users. The huge data gathered through systematic geological mapping on 1:50,000 scale is


17 | P a g e

stored in the form of RDBMS applications, which is utilized to store geoscientific attribute information in many domains. The data can be retrieved as a query, search and locate for display of information in tabular as well graphical formats. As of now, this facility (50K GMS) is available to Intranet (organization) use only. Other agencies can have the access through buying. With the relaxation of dissemination policy from time to time, the access of such information may become easy in future in the ‘Internet Map service’ of GSI. There is ample scope to add data from recent work of GSI spanning through domains viz. geochemical, geophysical and other storehouse.

As the demand for geoinformation is steadily increasing, GSI is on the path to acquire requisite strategy viz. developing a

‘Data Warehouse’ concept with all participating organizations that can cover every aspect of spatial data integration. In phases, GSI will start to disseminate digital data on geological, geochemical, and geophysical domains of the whole country that can be made available to Internet users. The ‘Data Warehouse’ concept that can cover and store spatial data generated by various organizations which, at any later time can be disseminated through a common secured interface network to all stake holding geoscientific organizations/ agencies. GSI has aimed to lead the path for development by which, geospatial data from various organizations shall be made available on a digital platform that can be made retrievable from a single source by all the end users.


18 | P a g e

Emerging Trends in Sustainable Water Resources Development: Remote Sensing and GIS Studies from Southern Haryana, India Chaudhary, B. S. Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

There is continuously increasing pressure on water resources due to population explosion, industrialization, urbanization and climatic vagaries. The Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques can be effectively and efficiently used for the generation of baseline information for the effective and optimal utilization of water resources in a sustainable manner. These techniques have an edge over the conventional methods due to the advantages of synoptic view, repetitive coverage, and multi resolution satellite data. This helps us in generation water resources information on various scales. The effective planning for water resources conservation and management at district level can be made if the data is generated on 1:50,000 scale by using medium resolution satellite images. Haryana state is covered by three basins, namely the Yamuna basin, the Ghaggar basin and internal basin which are parts of Ganges and Indus system. In northern Haryana, the land area slopes from northeast to southwest, whereas in south, it slopes from southwest to northeast. This makes almost a latitudinal depression along Sirsa-Fatehabad-Hisar-Jind-Rohtak-Delhi axis. This saucer shaped physiography of the state is responsible for many problems related to water resources along this central axis. Haryana is facing two diverse problems that of groundwater table declining in the northern and southern parts where groundwater quality is fresh, whereas, the water logging and salinization in the

central portion, which is coinciding with the poor groundwater quality areas. This calls for integrated study of water resources in the state for its sustained use. The present work discusses the preparation of water resources action plan maps in southern parts of Haryana state, India. First, Hydrogeomorphological maps on 1:50,000 scale showing different groundwater prospect zones are prepared for the study area with the help of satellite data and limited field checks. These depict groundwater worthy features. This information has been supplemented with the available inputs from existing sources about the depth to water level and groundwater quality etc. The other maps such as land use/ land cover, geomorphology, drainage/ canal network and soils etc have also been consulted for preparing water resources action plan. The maps thus prepared depict different units for further groundwater prospecting. The surface water resources action plan maps have been prepared by integrating geomorphology, slope, drainage, soils maps and various sites have been suggested for site specific water resources conservation measures such check dams/ gully plugging, earthen dams etc. The information thus developed has been submitted to various departments involved in the planning and management of natural resources in the state for further implementation of the activities suggested in different areas.


19 | P a g e

Nature of denudation in the Garhwal Lesser Himalaya: A case study from Tons River basin Chauhan, P.1* and Chauniyal, D.D.2 1Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 2Department of Geography, School of Earth Science HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Weathering and erosion of high

relief regions and their subsequent deposition in major reservoirs are the basic processes which regulates the evolution of landforms in the fluvial systems. Ganga river system acts as a major pathway which transfers the products of denudation from the Himalayan region to the oceans. Nature of the transfer of material in the Ganga system remains highly variable in space and time. Therefore, it is important to understand such variability on sub basin level to evaluate an integrated response of erosion in the basin. The present study intends to estimate erosion, sediment flux and denudation rates in the headwaters of the Ganga system. The Tons, a tributary of Asan River emerging from the Lesser Himalaya, was selected for this study. It involves three years (2008-2011) average data of runoff and sediments discharge to yield denudation rates of the Tons micro watershed. Annual Sediment flux and water discharge (by float method) has as uncertainty of ±10%. The area receives an average annual rainfall of 1945 mm with major precipitation of 1596 mm in the rainy season (June to September) contributes more than 80% of the annual

average. It yielded an associated run off of ~2588 l/s/km2 during rainy season. However the winter rainfall of 76 mm contributes a relatively lower run off ~480 l/s/km2 than annual average. This demonstrates that rainy season is controlling the material flux from this watershed. However, the summer season witnesses a relatively lower rainfall (272mm) and generates runoff ~776 l/s/km2. The erosion rates using total suspended sediments (TSS) was calculated to be 1670 t/km2/y for the year 2010-2011 with a minimum of 710 t/km2/y in the year 2009-2010. This shows that erosion rate is closely linked with rainfall and runoff. Similarly, the concentrations of the total dissolved solids (TDS) were found to be maximum of 1183 t/km2/y during the year 2010-2011, and minimum 533 t/km2/y in the year 2009-2010. Based on the data of three years, the average, mechanical erosion rates was calculated at 0.73mm/y whereas chemical erosion rate was estimated to be 0.29mm/y in the watershed. Combining both the erosion rates the average denudation rate of Tons watershed was estimated to be 1.02mm/y which is similar to the earlier studies in the region.


20 | P a g e

Drainage system analysis of Kameng River basin and tectonic significance based on spatial techniques Das, M.K.1*, Saraf, A.K.1, Das, J.D.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Earthquake Engineering, Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Kameng River basin of West

Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh revea ls inter est ing morphotectonic features and has been selected for analysis of the characteristics features. Satellite data, topographic maps, Digital Elevation Models (DEM), lithological data, tectonic features etc. were used as inputs for the purpose. Thematic layers of the above mentioned datasets were generated along with hydrological and morphological parameters of the study area. Initially, the Kameng River flows easterly and then

suddenly takes southerly turn and dissects transversely the hill ridges of Lesser Himalayas and flows southwesterly. This river again crosses ridges of Siwalik ranges and then flows southeastward with convex course before entering onto the Assam basin and finally meets the Brahmaputra River at Tezpur. The results of the study indicate that a tectonic feature controls southward river course at Yashing and has shown a major shift in Bhalukpong-Potasali region due to tectonic activity.


21 | P a g e

Pressure-Temperature Estimates from the Rocks of Vinjamuru Group and Udaigiri Group of Nellore Schist Belt (NSB), Pamuru Area, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh Das, S.1*, Shukla, D.1, Mitra, S.K.1 1Geological Survey of India, Bandalaguda, Hyderabad- 500068 * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Nellore Schist Belt (NSB) is a

curvilinear Archaean schist belt, approximately 600 km long and 8-50 km wide. The Nellore Schist Belt is considered to be equivalent of the Sargur Group with a protolith age of 3.3-2.5Ga. The NSB in its western boundary is thrusted over Nallamalai Fold Belt (NFB) and Eastern Ghat Mobile Belt (EGMB) is thrusted over NSB in its eastern boundary.

Stratigraphically NSB is classified as the (upper?) western Udaygiri Group and (lower?) eastern Vinjamuru Group. The Udaygiri Group consists of volcano-sedimentary sequence of psammite with minor conglomerate and pelite locally intercalated with felsic volcanic rocks and relatively rare basalts and limestones which has undergone greenschist facies of metamorphism. The Vinjamuru Group is dominated by metabasalt intercalated with psammo-pelitic schist, quartzites, gneisses and migmatites and locally abundant felsic metavolcanics, marbles, calcsilicate gneisses and kyanite schist of amphibolite facies. However, the exact stratigraphic disposition and nature of contact between the two groups is controversial. On the basis of metamorphism, the contact between the Vinjamuru domain and the Udaigiri domain has been described as tectonic. In the Udaigiri sector of NSB, an easterly dipping thrust at the contact between Vinjamuru domain and Udaigiri domain has been ruled out as the foliation

shows a steep westerly dip in both the units at the contact.

Two episodes of metamorphism namely M1 and M2 have been reported in the metapellitic and metadacitic rocks of Vinjamuru Group. The M1 phase of metamorphism is of higher grade with assemblage Quartz+staurolite+muscovite+ plagioclase+biotite+garnet and the M2 phase is of lower grade with staurolite+quartz mineral assemblage. M2 is the later phase of metamorphism which is overprinted on earlier higher grade M1 phase of metamorphism. Pressure temperature estimates have shown a temperature range of 715-765°c and pressure range of 8.6-9.2 kb for M1 phase of metamorphism and a temperature range of 520-570°c and pressure range from 6.1-6.8 kb for M2 phase of metamorphism. Present study in the area around Pamuru shows that in the eastern part it consists mainly of amphibolites/metabasalt with occasional N-S trending linear quartzite ridges of the Vinjamuru Group and in the western part it is dominated by metapellite, quartzite and phyllite of the Udaigiri Group. The grade of metamorphism of the metabasalt of Vinjamuru Group is up to amphibolite facies, consisting of hornblende and plagioclase. A small patch of garnet (with 53% almandine component and 24% grossular component) bearing metabasalt is found to occur within lit-par-lit injection migmatite of Vinjamuru


22 | P a g e

Group. But in metapelite of the Udaigiri Group the highest grade of metamorphism is mid greenschist facies with presence of almandine garnet (with 74% almandine component) and biotite. The garnet shows snowball structure and syntectonic with respect to D1 phase of deformation. Chloritoid and Spessartine garnet bearing assemblages are also found to occur within metapellites of Udaigiri Group.

Temperature estimate from the metapellites of Udaigiri Group using garnet biotite geothermometer gives temperature estimate within a range of 398°C to 440°C and 405°C to 460°C. Whereas temperature estimates by different workers from Vinjamuru Group using garnet-hornblende geothermometer gives an temperature range of 530°C to 570°C and 540°C to

600°C and pressure estimate of 5.9 to 6.3 kb using the before mentioned temperature. Estimates of temperature from the same rock using Hornblende-Plagioclase thermometer of Blundyand Holland 1990, gives a temperature estimate of 638°C to 713°C.

Hence the present estimation of pressure and temperature, from the rock (garnet bearing hornblende) of Vinjamuru Group, which calculates to 638-713°C and 530°C to 570°C / 540°C to 600°C with a pressure of 5.9 kb to 6.3 kb matches with the M1 and M2 phases of metamorphism respectively. Recent study also shows that there is a sudden change in metamorphic grade from middle greenschist to amphibolites facies across the contact of Udayagiri Group and Vinjamuru Group.


23 | P a g e

Gelled Polymers- State of Art Technology for Water Control Deepika A.1*, Mattey, P.2 and Agarwal, M.1 1University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. 2 Chief Manager, Reservoir, IRS, ONGC, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Ph.: 09426614692 * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Producing oil and gas is a costly

affair therefore unwanted water production is just not acceptable. Since water is now scarce in the world owing to the growing population, we simply cannot afford to empty our water resources. Water produced from oil wells contains minerals and gases which are not suitable for drinking or utilizing purpose for human beings. The treated produced water may be used in irrigation, reinjection or it may be disposed off. Producing water reduces the natural water drive in the reservoir because of which additional energy is supplied to the reservoir to maintain the pressure in the form of water, gas or steam injection. Thus the cost per barrel to lift the oil also increases subsequently.

Our aim is to produce maximum oil with natural drive mechanisms supporting the reservoir. The paper explains some of the reasons for water production along with the oil. Once the problem is noticed, reservoir engineers look for methods for curing the well. If the problem is in the producer well, then it is identified with the help of Chan plots (plot between cumulative WOR and time). The

derivative of the slope of the curve indicates if the water problem is due to coning, channeling, fingering etc. Subsequently if the injector well is creating a problem by producing excess water in nearby offset producer wells, due to fractures or connecting high permeability streaks in the reservoir, then with the help of Hall plots, the problem is identified. With the help of production logging tool the location of the water entering the well can be traced out.

Since technology has advanced so much in the last decade that there are plenty of techniques available for water shut off and profile modification. The techniques available for controlling water during production are using foam gels, polymer gel method, mechanical shut off methods like bridge plug, clay gel etc. The latest and most effective technology used in the oil industry these days is using partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymers along with organic cross-linkers like hexamine and hydroquinone. This technique has proved to be more successful than any other technique used in the industry.


24 | P a g e

On the estimation of model Parameters in 1D CSEM inverse problem Dehiya, R.1*and Gupta, P.K.1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667 *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The inverse problem for Controlled Source Electromagnetic (CSEM) data has been studied using over-parameterized model. Synthetic inverse problem has been solved in two modes: (i) using a given number of layers in the true model and (ii) using an over-parameterized model. The two versions of inversion algorithm have been written: in first case we invert only for conductivity while in the second case we invert for both conductivity and thicknesses. Both these versions of inversion scheme have been implemented in both frequency and time domains. In the case (i) of given number of layers in the true model, the first inversion scheme follows systematic trial and error approach

to guess the thickness and depth of resistive layers. When number of layers is unknown, the problem is posed as over-parameterized inverse problem and is solved for the smooth inversion (minimum norm solution) solution. In case of over-parameterized inverse problem mild oscillation develops around sharp conductivity contrast and in deeper parts of inverted model. These observations are valid for both the schemes of inversion. It has also been noted that more educated guess is needed in the inversion scheme which inverts for both conductivity and thickness. The results for synthetic data for several models are presented.


25 | P a g e

Style of crustal growth in the eastern Dharwar craton: evidences from granitoids associated with the Kadiri greenstone belt Dey, S.1*, Nandy, J.1 and Choudhary, A.K.2 1Department of Applied Geology, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004 2Institute Instrumentation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The actual mechanism of formation of the Archaean crust remains a topic of major research interest globally. Different tectonic models have been proposed to explain the Neoarchaean evolution of the eastern Dharwar craton (EDC). Here we present whole-rock elemental and Nd isotopic compositions coupled with zircon U-Pb age and trace elemental data on granitoids associated with the Neoarchaean Kadiri greenstone belt, EDC to track the tectonic evolutionary history of the terrain. Earlier works on volcanic rocks of the Kadiri belt (tholeiitic oceanic plateau basalt, high Mg andesite and potassic adakite) envisaged continental margin arc oceanic plateau collision. The oldest recognised granitoid is a 2.56 Ga syntectonic, sanukitoid-like hornblende granodiorite enriched in large-ion lithophile as well as ferromagnesian elements. It was probably derived from a metasomatized mantle wedge above a subduction zone. This is followed by syntectonic emplacement of 2.54 Garansitional TTGs and potassic adakitic

volcanic rocks. Intrusion of 2.51–2.52 Ga crustally-derived granites (mostly K-rich; εNd = +0.9 to –3.7) marks the end of orogenesis in the area. A convergent orogenic setting characterised by assembly of diverse terranes, repeated slab-break-off and crustal reworking is proposed to interpret the association of various granitoids and volcanic rocks. Finally, intrusion of crustally-derived, highly silicic, K-rich A-type granite (εNd = –0.6 to –4.8) and mantle-derived syenite occurred in a post-subduction, non-compressive environment during Palaeoproterozoic. Lithospheric delamination and attendant mantle melting and crustal reworking are suggested as possible mechanism for generation of these rocks. The negative εNd values and Mesoarchaean Nd depleted mantle model ages of some Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic Kadiri granitoids attest to the presence of older crust in the eastern part of the EDC. The final cratonization of the EDC (2.52–2.50 Ga) occurred later than in most of the other cratons.


26 | P a g e

Exhumation processes in Himalaya – A Review Dhiman, R.* and Singh, Sandeep Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The dynamic nature of the Earth is

continually reminded us by the earthquake and volcanic activity. Many geological events and processes are responsible for the present form of the earth. Himalayas: a result of continent-continent collision is the youngest orogenic belt of the world. The collision of Indian Plate with Asian Plate took place no later than 57 Ma. The progressive evolution of the orogenic belt resulted in first-order tectonic boundaries (viz. South Tibetan Detachment System – STDS; Main Central Thrust – MCT; Main Boundary Thrust – MBT; and Himalayan Frontal Thrust – HFT) bounding the orogenic parallel tectono-stratigraphic domains. Among the geoscientist the Himalayas have been considered as the living laboratory and give the great opportunity to study the various aspects of collision tectonics.

Exhumation of Himalayas has always been a fascinating topic which is also known as the key factor to understand the dynamic nature of the orogenic belt. The estimation of exhumation has been made using various thermo-chronological tools (viz. Fission Track Dating – FTD; Rb-Sr mineral ages; and Ar-Ar mineral

ages etc.) along with the geothermal gradient approach. Exhumation simply means upliftment or it can be described as the return of once the deep seated rocks to the surface. These exhumation processes have been explained either by post-collisional tectonic activities or enhanced erosion related to global climatic changes. It has been observed that Since the India –Asia collision the Himalayan orogeny has witness episodic exhumation at least since 40Ma. Various thermo chronological studies in this area show that the principal factor responsible for the distinct exhumation episodes have been documented in the Himalayas is erosion and this act of erosion is controlled by tectonic activity. The Exhumation cannot be accomplished only by tectonic or climatic erosion, there is possibility that these two mechanisms work in tandem with each other and produce the desired result. There are still many unsolved challenging problems with exhumation of the crustal rocks related to their thickness, preservation and metamorphism, which needs a consorted approach to solve the problem.


27 | P a g e

Comparison of Various Models and Optimum Range of its Parameters used in SVM Classification of Digital Satellite Image Dixit, A.* and Agarwal, S. Indian Institure of Remote Sensing, Dehradun Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

SVM is a one among the most popular and efficient supervised-classification technique. As it is supervised so learning of the model directly affects the result. Learning of SVM is done with the help of sample data points and model, it can be either linear or non-linear. Number of models has been used so far for multiclass classification but which one is better with optimal value of parameters? If we have several models for SVM and each model has some parameters, so one could confuse about to select the model and optimal values of its parameters. SVM is broadly used for binary classification or multiclass classification with linear model. In this article we will describe linear as well as non-linear models and their

accuracy with focus on the optimal value of parameters used in each model and tolerating cost of SVM. In this paper class agreement between model and particular class is explained so that one can understand better that which model is responding well for which particular class. So this paper will provide comparative study between various models, for hyper-plane, used with SVM for LULC classification of digital satellite image. The kappa coefficient is calculated to compare the classified result and standard error is evaluated under the 95% confidence interval to estimate the error in result.


28 | P a g e

Pressure, Temperature and Fluid Regime Constrain for the Craton-Mobile Belt Amalgamation – Evidences from Granulites and Metabasic of Bastar Craton, Sambalpur, Western Odisha Dutta, A.1*, Gupta, S.2, Panigrahi, M.K.1, Mukherjee, R.3 1Geological Survey of India, State Unit Gujarat, Gandhinagar-382010 2Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721302 3Geological Survey of India, State Unit Karnataka and Goa, Bangalore-560078 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Indian Precambrian shield comprises several ‘terranes’ that have been amalgamated along specific boundaries (Fig.1a). The boundary between the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) and the Archaean Bastar and Dharwar cratons is one such sharp geological contact that is believed by some to be a collision zone from the Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian time. The triangular wedge of the Bastar craton is bounded by the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) in the south and the Rengali Province and Singhbhum craton in the north. The geological evolution of this domain is expected to preserve the imprints of amalgamation of all three Precambrian terrains. The domain comprises a variety of quartzofeldspathic gneisses (QFG) such as augen gneiss, granitic/granodioritic gneiss along with some enderbite/charnockite, amphibolite dyke and meta-gabbro. The entire ensemble of granite gneiss and granulites preserve a record of early granulite facies of metamorphism which was subsequently intruded by mafic dykes, possibly during a phase of extensional deformation. This cratonic block has polyphase deformational events. The D1 and D2 deformational phases are associated with granulite facies of metamorphism. The D3 deformational event is extensional

one and goes up to amphibolite grade. This triangular wedge of Bastar cratonic block is subsequently juxtaposed with Rengali Province in the northeast and Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) to the southeast along the terrain boundary shear zones.

The data obtained from conventional Thermobarometry and THERMOCALC Software - version 3.2.6 yield broadly concordant results, but they also emphasize a difference in the equilibration condition. Pressure-Temperature (P-T) data indicates that minerals which have formed during early stage of granulite facies metamorphism, apparently re-equilibrated during the later phase of amphibolite facies assemblages. However, the condition of stabilization of these later amphibolite facies assemblages is also relatively high (T~730º-750°C, P~7.6-8 Kbar.), being close to the amphibolite-granulite facies transition or little above of it. The amphibolite and meta-gabbro yield substantially higher pressure and temperature, close to the amphibolite-granulite transition grade. Interestingly, by correlating the P-T window of anhydrous and hydrous assemblages, constraint on the water activity (aH2O) is observed which appears to be very low. This suggests that much of


29 | P a g e

the terrane was infact water deficient during metamorphism, and that the influx of metamorphic fluids during amphibolite-granulite facies transition (retrograde event) did not lead to complete overprinting of earlier assemblages, as the amount of water that infiltrated into the system was not sufficient to hydrate all the early formed mineral phases. This advent of metamorphic fluids is broadly synchronous with the E-W to NE-ENE trending sinistral shearing of boundary shear zone.

However, the P-T conditions retrieved from sheared charnockite sample of Bastar Cratonic Unit (BCU) is much lower, characteristic of middle amphibolite facies conditions (6.3 kbar, 660°C), although the mineral assemblages analyzed are typical of granulite facies. This indicates that the minerals in this part of the area have been reset to lower P-T condition during subsequent shearing event, referred as Eastern Ghats Boundary Fault. It is interesting to speculate on the reason why for the southern extremity of the Bastar Cratonic Unit (BCU) having experienced much lower P-T conditions? It is important to note that the sheared charnockite sample is just north of the

Eastern Ghats Boundary Fault that separates the EGMB from the BCU. The EGMB is known to have experienced a lower temperature amphibolite facies event late in its tectonic history. However, the P-T estimated for this event (5.5 kbar, 630°C) are modest compared to the values estimated from the BCU. Thus, these two events cannot be considered synchronous, as the P-T conditions differ so drastically. Importantly, only the boundary zone of the BCU in the proximity of the EGMB is affected and influenced by the late thermal imprint that also affected the EGMB. This explains the relatively lower temperature of equilibration of sheared charnockite from the BCU just north of the bounding shear zone with EGMB.

In conclusion, it is suggested that prior to juxtaposition with the EGMB, the BCU had undergone a polymetamorphic history, with early granulite facies of metamorphism followed by an amphibolite facies of metamorphism which outlast D3 deformational phase. The amalgamation of BCU with EGMB occurred at a later time, under P-T conditions characteristic of amphibolite facies, but lower than that of previously already experienced by the BCU during D3.


30 | P a g e

Remote Sensing studies of some wetlands of Solapur city, Maharashtra, providing geospatial solutions for sustainable development Gavande, S., Salunke, S.* and Moholkar, R. 1Centre for Environment, 29-A, Narsinha Nagar, Behind ‘D’ Mart, Dist; Solapur; 413004 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

There is an inherent linkage between development and management of ground water resources. For an effective supply side management, it is essential to have full knowledge of hydro-geological controls which govern the yields and behavior of ground water levels under abstraction stress. Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, a repository of various species of flora and fauna available in the area. RS and GIS offers a cost effective means of identifying and monitoring wetlands over large areas on a temporal scale. A study was taken up with an intention that the dataset be used to provide geospatial solutions towards framing immediate priorities of conservation and sustainable activities in the region. Both Survey of India toposheets of on 1:50,000 scale as well as LISS- III (24m) (IRS1C/1D/P6) Imagery;- Standard Full Scene ;(141km X 141 km), scale 250,000 (500 m), Satellite data IRS-P6, path/row- 97/60, with shift 20%, provided by NRSC, Hyderabad was used. Solapur district is geographically located - 17.10 to 18.32 degrees North Latitude and 74.42 to 76.15 degrees East Longitude. The total geographical area is 14844.6 Sq.Kms. Four lakes falling within the city limits were mapped.

The lake Ekrukh is a semi-natural lake 8.11 km2 water spread area, lies between Latitude:N 17° 44' 38.51 and Longitude:E 75° 55' 0.79, an altitude of 506.15 m msl. Lake Siddheshwar is a semi-natural lake 138500

m2 water spread area, lies between Latitude: N 17° 40' 30 and Longitude: E 75° 54' 28.05, an altitude of 514.50 m msl. Lake Sambhaji is a natural lake with 0.2177 km2. {217700 m2} water spread area, lies between Latitude: N 17° 38' 55.61 and Longitude: E 75° 54' 13.9, an altitude of 491.94 m msl. The Lake Hotgi is located approx. 4.367 83 km = 4367.83 m near the city Solapur of Maharashtra state. It is a natural lake 1.3049 km2 {1304900 km2} water spread area, lies between Latitude: 17° 36' 37.54 and Longitude: E 75° 58' 0.29, an altitude of 499.08 m msl. The water from is being supplied to the suburbs of the lake in addition to irrigation and fisheries use. Major Problems faced by the lake is reduction in area shrinkage, algal blooms, organic pollution, and reduction in depth due to siltation, aquatic weeds, organic pollution, encroachments and illegal water uplift for irrigation. Decline or loss of fisheries is also on records. The lake hasn’t been monitored for several years.

The Lake studies show that the lake Ekrukh occupies the highest and extensive area of 8118700 sq. mtrs. Followed by the lake Hotgi occupying an area of 1304900 sq. mtrs. as compared to the other lakes. There is a greater scope for the monitoring of these lakes in terms of hydrology and hydrobiology. These two lakes since they have a greater water spread area are taken up on top priority for monitoring and maintaining ecological health for sustainable development for detailed inventories in the proposed next phase.


31 | P a g e

Geospatial Technology Education with special reference to Earth Sciences Gupta, R.P. Deptment of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee-247667 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The article provides an overview

of geospatial technology with special reference to the field of earth sciences. In brief, scope, role and applications of geospatial technology are presented. The importance of geospatial technologies for

handling issues in the larger framework of all natural resources and environmental aspects is discussed. Further, the need of widening base of geospatial technology education for the society at large is highlighted.


32 | P a g e

Earthquake recurrence modeling in the NCR-Delhi, India Gupta, S.*1 and Yadav, R.B.S.2 1 Institute of Environmental Studies, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra -136119, India 2 Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 136119, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

NCR-Delhi of India is one of the

most earthquakes vulnerable area in India which has experienced moderate to large earthquakes in past history. It lies in seismic zone-IV (high damage risk) on the seismic zoning map of India (BIS, 2002) with magnitudes M exceeding 7.0. The region has experienced severally damaging historical earthquakes with intensity ≤ IX in 1742, 1803, and 1842, with the most closely spaced recent event of magnitude M 6.0 on 27 August, 1960 taking place in the south of the Faridabad, NCR-Delhi. In the present study, the probability of occurrence of earthquakes of M ≥ 5.0 has been estimated during a specified time interval for different elapsed times on the basis of observed time intervals between earthquakes using three stochastic models namely, Weibull, Gamma and Lognormal.

For this purpose, we prepared a homogeneous and complete earthquake catalogue from earliest time to present. The earthquake hazard parameters have been estimated using the method of maximum likelihood. The logarithmic of likelihood function (ln L) is estimated and used to test the suitability of models in NCR-Delhi. The mean sample interval of earthquake occurrences is also calculated for actual data and each statistical model. The estimated model parameters will be used to calculate cumulative and conditional probabilities for the occurrences of future earthquakes (M≥5.0) in the study region. The cumulative and conditional probabilities for occurrence of future moderate earthquakes in NCR-Delhi region can be used for probabilistic seismic hazard and risk assessment.


33 | P a g e

Shear Wave Velocities by MASW in Earthquake Hazard Assessemnt Studies in and Around Muscat, Oman Hussain, I. E.1, Deif, A.1, Al-Jabri, K.2, Al-Rawas, G.2, El zain, Y.2, Kwarteng, A.3, Al-Wardi, M.4, and Sundararajan, N.4* 1 Earthquake Monitoring Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, 2 Dept. of Civil Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, 3 Remote Sensing Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, 4 Department of Earth Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman] *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Shear wave velocity-depth information is of paramount importance in evaluating the possible earth quake hazard/liquefaction of an area. The shear wave velocity can best be determined by multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) - relatively a recent technique which is gaining greater importance in geotechnical/civl engineering besides earth quake hazard assessemnt studies. In addition, the thickness and velocity of the geologic formations are the significant parameters above the bedrock that affect the frequency band of the ground motion which may be strongly amplified by the local conditions. Although there are many methods by which shear wave velocity may be estimated, the velocity estimated here is based on the dispersive characteristics of

fundamental mode of Rayleigh type surface waves that indicate underground stiffness change with depth as well as near surface stiffness. The shear wave velocity acquired in as many as 99 sites over different geological units in parts of Muscat city are presented here in this study. The average shear wave velocities estimated upto various depth levels of 5m, 10m, 15m and 30m are analysed. It is observed that the velocity calculated up to a depth 30 m (VS30m) for the Muscat region varies between 345 m/s and 1197 m/s. suggesting that the susurface is strong enough to withstand moderate to high magnitude earth quakes. The P-wave velocity acquired in those sites by conventional refraction seismic method substantiates the study.


34 | P a g e

On the tensor decomposition and geoelectric structure estimated from Magnetotelluric data recorded from Garhwal Himalayan Region, India Israil, M.1*, Gupta, P. K.1, Varsheney, S. K.2 and Elena, S.3 1Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, India 2Department of Science and Technology, International Division, B-5 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Impedance tensor decomposition and 2D inversion of Magnetotelluric (MT) data have been done to determine geoelectric strike direction and resistivity structure of the crust along Roorkee-Gangotri profile. It has been observed that geoelectric strike direction varies between N760W and N660 W. The variation in geoelectric strike is observed with period as well as in different litho-tectonic units along the profile. Geoelectric strike is unstable in Higher Himalayan region due

to strong 3D affects and also unstable in short period band in Indo-Gangetic plane due to 1D structure at shallow depth. Geoelectrical structure of the crust has been obtained by 2D inversion of MT data. The electrical resistivity variation of subsurface is related with major Himalayan thrust zones. Electrical image shows a low resistivity (< 5 Ωm) in the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone and it appears to be related with the intense micro-seismic activity in the region.


35 | P a g e

Morphometric determinants of drainage cycles of lesser Himalaya (Pauri Garhwal): Case study of Thalisain area (Special emphasis on Sub-Watersheds and Remote Sensing and GIS techniques)

Jayal, T.* and Chuniyal, D.D. Department of Geography, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Characterization of watershed is an

important aspect for the quantitative analysis of drainage system. When all the hydrological and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed, then the most logical choice is use watershed as a basic unit in morphometric analysis. Morphometry is the measurement and mathematical Analysis of configuration of earth Surface, its shape and dimensions of its Landforms. The Impact of the Morphological characters on the terrain is reflected by the drainage of the area. The main aim of this paper is to analysis morphometric parameters of Fourth Order Sub-Watersheds in this region. Watershed management is required to manage and sustain existing recourses with their rational uses.

Topographical Sheet of 1:50,000 scale, the geometric properties of drainage were estimated. The study gives a wide description of drainage network analysis, like streams order, drainage density, drainage frequency, length ratio, relief ratio etc. and these are clear evidences for the structural control. Pairwise relationship between various parameters suggests the development of the drainage. The drainage analysis involves the study of drainage pattern and drainage textures. The drainage features of the Thalisain area are dependent on the geology, geomorphology, topography and climate. Therefore in the study a systematic analysis of the pattern in the drainage network as well as the morphometry of the Sub-watersheds has been undertaken.


36 | P a g e

Mobility of trace elements in the Gomati River basin of the Ganga alluvial Plain, Northern India Jigyasu, D. K.1*, Kuvar, R.1, Singh, Sandeep2, Singh, M.1and Singh, I. B.1 1 Department of Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow–226 007, India 2Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee–247 667, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Ganga Alluvial Plain is

subjected to prominent seasonal change of temperature and rainfall, inducing prominent chemical weathering, resulting in strong geochemical fractionation of trace elements. The trace elements in the Ganga Alluvial Plain show more distinct fractionation by weathering and transportation processes than the major elements. The ratio of sodium normalized dissolved trace elements concentration to those of upper continental crust is used as a trace elements mobility index. The classification scheme of elements mobility namely highly mobile, moderately mobile, nonmobile and immobile elements has been used in the present study. The Gomati River Basin (~ 30,000 km2 area) of the Ganga Alluvial Plain and has been selected for the present study of trace elements mobility. It does not receive any water or sediment from the Himalaya. The weathering processes in this basin are entirely controlled by the processes of the Alluvial Plain. Hence, it provides information on the chemical weathering within the Alluvial Plain, without any control of the Himalaya. Thirty-six water samples from the Gomati River at Chandwak, located at the downstream end

of the Gomati River Basin were collected from June, 2009 to May, 2010 at interval of 2-3 weeks, and analyzed for their trace element concentration by Induced Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrophotometer ELAN DRC II Perkin Elmer SCIEX Instrument. The average dissolved concentration (in ppb) of trace elements in the Gomati River water is Al (5,289), V (8.21) Cr (4.76) Mn (115), Fe (2,080), Ni (7), Co (2), Cu (7.34), Zn (16.9), As (2.25), Se (100), Rb (11.6), Sr (230), Zr (0.03), Mo (1.7), Cd (0.96), Ba (93.4) and Pb (4.3). The As, Mo, Sr, Cd and Se comprise the highly mobile elements, having mobility close to or greater than that of Na. The moderately mobile elements are Ni, Zn, Cr, Cu, Rb, Ba, V, Co, Fe, Pb, Al and Mn. Their mobility is ~ 10 times less than that of Na. The most immobile trace element is Zr. This study shows that most of the trace elements in the water samples of Gomati River belong to highly to moderately mobile category. The high mobile behavior of the trace elements in the Gomati River water is due to weathering of biotite which is present in abundance in the sediments. Biotite readily releases these trace elements during chemical weathering under humid subtropical climate.


37 | P a g e

Static Deformation of Two Half Spaces in Smooth contact due to a vertical Tensile Fault of Finite Width Kadyan, M. Research Scholar, DCRUST, Murthal, Sonepat (Haryana) Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The Airy stress function due to a

vertical tensile fault of finite width for two homogeneous, isotropic, perfectly elastic half-spaces in smooth contact is obtained. This Airy stress function is used to derive closed form analytical expressions for the

stresses and displacements at an arbitrary point in one of the two half-spaces. The variation of the stress and displacement fields with distance from the fault and depth is studied numerically.


38 | P a g e

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) study of deformed rocks Kaur, H.1*, Pancholi, V.2 and Mukhopadhyay, D.K.1 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Shear zone rocks are usually

characterized by strong crystal preferred orientations (CPO). Hence, the study of CPO development has become significant in understanding deformation processes. CPO of deformed minerals is a manifestation of lattice preferred orientations (LPO). So, accurate determination of lattice preferred orientations of constituent mineral phases in deformed rocks is very important. Traditionally, optical microscopy and subsequently Xray texture goniometry have been widely used to determine CPO. Although these techniques remain useful, they have their own limitations. These instruments fail to provide all crystallographic orientations in polymineralic aggregates and data collection and analysis are very slow process. The development of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in scanning electron microscope (SEM) has provided an overall solution to these problems. EBSD is a detector which is fitted to an SEM and provides a type of images, which is a manifestation of lattice orientations of mineral phases. Accelerated electron beam strikes highly polished thin sections tilted at about 70° from horizontal. A variety of interactions occur between an incident electron beam and atoms of the sample. In case of elastic scattering there is no change or little change in energy of the primary

electrons. But in case of inelastic scattering primary electrons lose detectable amount of energy. The incident electrons deviate from their original trajectory due to these types of interactions. Diffracted electrons are impinged on a phosphor screen and generate visible lines, called ikuchi bands or electron backscatter diffraction patterns (EBSP). A CCD camera behind the phosphor screen captures the image, which is stored in a computer. The diffraction patterns are effectively projections of the geometry of the lattice planes in the sample, and they provide exact information regarding the crystalline structure and crystallographic orientation of the grain from which they originate. At a specific wavelength of electron beam and lattice plane spacing the diffracted electrons satisfy Bragg’s equation and describe conical trajectories of the diffracted electrons. The opening angles of the diffracted cones are close to 180°. Thus, the diffracted cones appear like planes and the bands imaged as straight sided. Intersecting bands result in a bright spot on an EBSP, which corresponds to a crystallographic zone axis. The band directions are a function of crystal orientation and band widths are function of interplanar spacing. Rapid and automated acquisition and analysis of diffraction patterns at tens of thousands points in a sample within a few hours’ operation are


39 | P a g e

routinely carried out due to easy availability of high speed computers. Spatial resolution of EBSD is less than 0.5μm, which is highly improved as compared to other techniques. EBSD is a

powerful technique used to determine locally and rapidly the texture of a mineral over 100x100μm² area and provides the easiest way to measure the full crystallographic orientation of individual

rock forming minerals. It is a surface technique and diffraction pattern signals are generated from the top few nm. Therefore, sample preparation is very significant for EBSP analysis. Any damage to the crystal lattice near the surface layer will worsen the EBSP. Many conventional thin section preparation techniques deform the crystal lattice and this will also result in poorer EBSP. The surface of the sample must be free from relief and must be super clean. The samples should be chemically mechanically ground initially using diamond paste (smallest grain size 0.25μm) and enclosed in an epoxy mount. The surface damage induced by grinding was removed by polishing the sample with colloidal silica (0.05μm). Significant applications of EBSD are phase identification, microtexture analysis of rock forming minerals (CPO), study of the deformation mechanism, grain size analysis, nature of grain boundaries, determine the proportion of the microstructure which has been recrystallized, dislocation slip, quantification of microstructure, study of the metamorphic processes, used to determine the local relationships between

microstructure and crystallography of the deformed rock sample, and quantitative analysis of grain and subgrain size, shape and misorientation. In this work, samples of mylonitic rock from shear zones in Himalayas are studied in order to understand the relation between deformation mechanism and rock fabric using SEM EBSD technique. Samples are collected from Luhri area (Himachal Pradesh) near the Sutlej valley. The results are very encouraging and show variable lattice scale deformation of Quartz and KFeldspar. With the help of EBSD analysis, the phase map of the selected area is obtained that shows different mineral phases. The misorientation profiles of different mineral phases are analyzed from which It is observed that, Quartz has undergone extensive dynamic recrystallization by subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration, so it has accommodated large amount of ductile deformation. Whereas misorientation in K-Feldspar grain is negligible, acknowledging only limited ductile deformation. So, it is concluded that quartz is more sensitive to deformation as compared to K-Feldspar.


40 | P a g e

An integrated study for geological appraisal of parts of Singhbhum-Orissa craton, India, using Remote Sensing techniques Khan, M.Y.A.* and Panwar, S Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 * Corresponding author: [email protected]

The prime objective of this work is to determine the effectiveness of multispectral remote sensing data in the identification of iron oxide and mineral occurrence mapping in the parts of Singhbhum-Orissa Craton. The study used six bands of Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) images of the year 2010, for discrimination of different spectra of minerals using ERDAS IMAGINE and ENVI software. Spectral properties are used to separate units in image data based on spectral reflectance. The iron oxide

detection image is processed by band-rationing VNIR B3/BI and SWIR B5/B4. Principal component analysis (PCA): an image processing technique has been commonly applied to VNIR and SWIR sub-region of Landsat images to locate iron oxide minerals in the region. This technique indicates whether the materials are represented bright or dark pixels in the principal components according with the magnitude and sign of the different eigenvectors loadings.


41 | P a g e

Performance comparison of outage probability with different reuse distances in Rayleigh and Rician fading environment Khare, S.*, Singh, V.P., Soni, S.K.

Department of Electronics and Communication, B.E.R.I. Bhopal, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

This paper shows the mathematical

model and graphical presentation for outage probability with various reuse distances at Rician and Rayleigh fading. The minimum duration outage concept allows an improved analysis of the outage probability and it has been reported, up to now, only for Log-normal shadowing and Rayleigh fading using asymptotic results of the level crossing theory. We derive an analytical expression for the outage probability of the highest achievable

information rate of the system, which can be evaluated by employing numerical techniques. The minimum duration outage concept allows an improved analysis of the outage probability and it has been reported, up to now, only for Log-normal shadowing and Rayleigh fading using asymptotic results of the level crossing theory. Furthermore, we study the impact of transmit signaling on the outage performance.


42 | P a g e

Azimuthal Variation of Surface Wave Group Velocity in NW Himalayas Kumar, A. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

In this work an attempt has been made to observe the dispersion curves for Rayleigh wave and Love wave for the NW Himalayas and find whether they show any a z i mu t h a l v a r i a t i o n o r n o t . O u r Investigation is based on recordings at two stations i.e. Shimla and Dharamshala. Data of 35 and 21 events respectively recorded at these two stations has been used for this purpose. Our first approach is to obtain the dispersion curves for Rayleigh wave and Love Wave and second is to estimate variation of group velocity of Love and Rayleigh waves with azimuth. In order to investigate the result of active tectonics on surface wave group velocity, we employ FTAN (frequency time analysis) method to obta in the dispers ion curve, wher e frequency range from 1 to .01 Hz and associated group velocity from 2.0 to 5.0

km/s for fundamental mode of surface waves. Variation in dispersion curve at different periods with azimuth is caused due to anisotropic effect. Group velocity is further computed using the weighted average and higher order polynomial. Events within regional distance with maximum focal depth of 50 km and magnitude of earthquakes greater than 5.0 mb have been selected for this work. The relative difference between Love and Rayleigh waves gives its anisotropic coefficients value which varies in between 0% to 20%. Observed differences between Love and Rayleigh wave along fast direction is more with respect to other directions which shows anisotropic behavior is more prominent in NW–SE direction compared to other directions in NW Himalayan region.


43 | P a g e

Scaling Relations for Earthquakes in Himalaya and Kachchh Regions: A Comparison Kumar, D.1*, Teotia, S. S.1, Sivaram, K.2 and Kumar, S.3 1Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra- 136119, India 2National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India 3Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The earthquake scaling relations are defined by interdependence of various parameters like magnitude, moment, fault dimension, stress drop, corner frequency, seismic energy etc. The use of global scaling relations may not be appropriate as the ambient stress conditions and ranges of stress drop may differ from region to region. The regional scaling laws are more useful to estimate the values of stress drop and fault dimension. Thus these relations provide a sound basis for estimating the seismic hazard potential in the region.

The purpose of this study is to compare the scaling relations obtained for the Himalaya and Kachchh regions of India. The scaling relations for NW Himalaya and Garhwal Himalaya are based on 80 accelerograms of earthquake sources with seismic moment in the range 1.4 ×

1016 – 1.7 × 1019 N-m. The relations for Kumaon Himalaya are based on the analysis of broad band seismograms of earthquakes in the range of 1.6 × 1013 – 5.8 × 1015 N-m and for Kachchh region these are based on 110 accelerograms of earthquakes with seismic moment in the range of 1.5 1014 - 5.9 1015 N-m. The -2 scaling model has been used in the analysis. The analysis shows a self similar scaling for earthquake sources for NW and Garhwal Himalaya and Kachchh region while breakdown of similarity of earthquakes is observed for the earthquakes in Kumaon Himalaya. The present investigation should prove useful in seismic hazard and risk related studies of the region. The developed scaling relations have also been compared with those of developed for other regions of the world.


44 | P a g e

Earthquake source scaling relationships of the Mw 7.7 2001 Bhuj earthquake sequence Kumar, M., Biswas, K.*, Yallanki, V.S. and Mandal, P. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad-500007, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Scaled energy, apparent stress, seismic moments, stress drops and corner frequencies are measured through the Levenberg-Marquardt non-linear inversion modeling of S-wave displacement spectra for 489 selected aftershocks (Mw 2.05-5 .52) from the Mw7.7 2001 Bhuj ear thquake sequence. The it erative inversion scheme is formulated based on the -square source spectral model, which enabled us to estimate stable source parameters. The est imated seismic moment (M0) and source radius (r) vary from 1.45 x 1012 to 2.37 x 1017 to N-m and 139.11 to 933.89 m, respectively, while es t i ma t ed s t r es s dr op s (Δ σ ) a n d multiplicative factor (Emo) values range from 0.09 to 14.35 MPa and 1.0 to 4.12, respectively. The corner frequencies are found to be ranging from 1.42 to 9.31 Hz. The radiated seismic energy and apparent stresses range from 2.11 x 105 to 4.1 x 1013 Joule and 0.005 to 8.01 MPa, respectively. Our estimated corner frequency and seismic moment satisfies the relation Mo ∞ fc

-(3+), where (measure for deviation from self similarity) is found to be 1.33 for the larger aftershocks (Mo2x1015 N-m)

while the parameter is estimated to be 6.74 for smaller aftershocks (Mo<2x1015 N-m). We feel that the larger value of may require to satisfy the increasing trend of scaled energy with moment for smaller aftershocks. We also notice that stress drop increases with seismic moment, approximately as Mo3 (Mo3) for smaller events (Mo<1015.3 N-m) while for larger earthquakes (Mo2x1015 N-m) stress drop increases approximately with Mo

1 (Mo1). Our estimated seismic moments and source radii (r) also reveal a break in linear self-similar source scaling at Mo=2x1015 N-m and r=300 m, which is attributed to constant source radius for smaller aftershocks. A comparative study between apparent stresses and static stress drops suggests a frictional overshoot mechanism for larger aftershocks while smaller shocks are showing both partial stress drop and frictional overshoot mechanisms. We propose that larger events are subject to the regional state-of-stress, whereas smaller aftershocks are sensitive to the local state-of-stress associated with material heterogeneities and fluid flows within the fault zone.


45 | P a g e

Emerging trends in Information Extraction from Satellite Imagery Kumar, M.1*and Singh, R.K.2 1Indian Institute of Remote Sensing , Indian Space Research Organisation , Dehradun 2 Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Satellite remote sensing has proved

its potential to provide accurate and timely geospatial information. After the launch of a number of satellites, now there is no scarcity of data from remotely sensed sources. A large variety of remote sensing imagery from a wide range of sensors provides a multitude of information about the earth surface, which caters for both global and localised analysis of both natural and man-made objects as well as events. Information extraction from satellite imagery is an active field, which has yielded numerous techniques for earth science research. The techniques range from visual interpretation and manual digitizing of high resolution Remote Sensing (RS) imagery by a human analyst to complex automatic pattern recognition techniques and automatic extraction of real world objects aided by computers. While image interpretation techniques based on human brains have been well developed image interpretation by computers in an

automated or semi-automated manner is still under intensive investigation. In this study, an attempt has been made to review the techniques for extracting information from high resolution satellite imagery. High spatial (0.5m) and high spectral resolution (8 bands) satellite imagery from World View- 2 satellite was classified by various conventional multispectral classification algorithms like Maximum Likelihood Classifier, Minimum Distance to Mean Classifier, Parallelepiped Classifier and advanced classifiers like decision tree classifier, Support vector Machines and object oriented classifier. The accuracy achieved over the study area in all the classifications has been reported here. It was observed that the overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient improved from 68.57 %, 0.6333 in Minimum distance to mean classifier to 94.33 %, 0.92 in Object based image classification.


46 | P a g e

Regional velocity model in Kumaon Himalaya from localization of strong motion events Kumar, P.* and Joshi, A. Parveen Kumar SRF, Earth Sciences Department, IIT Roorkee Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

The Kumaon Himalaya in India is characterized by high seismic activity due to collision of northward-moving Indian plate with Eurasian plate. Despite of high seismic activity in this region very few studies related to refine velocity model have been carried out in the Kumaon Himalaya. This paper presents the regional velocity model from localization of strong motion events based on the HYPO71 software originally developed by Lee and Lahr (1972). A network of fourteen strong motion accelerographs has been installed in this region since 2006. A total of forty local events recorded on this strong motion network have been used for the present work. Four different sets have been made

consisting ten events each. Each set is selected on the basis of the localization of the event. Regional P-wave velocity model is obtained by HYPO71 by minimization of error. The velocity model given by Yu et al. (1995) is considered as the initial guess of velocity model. Several velocity models have been selected iteratively and are used as inputs to the HYPO71 software along with P-wave and S-wave arrival time. Final velocity model has been obtained corresponding to minimum root mean square error. It is observed that earthquakes originating from different regions satisfy different velocity model corresponding to minimum root mean square error.


47 | P a g e

Terrain Analysis and Landslide Susceptibility Modelling of Tehri Reservoir Region (India) Using Frequency Ratio, Fuzzy Logic and GIS Kumar, R.*, Anbalagan, R. and Neethu, S. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India * Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

A methodology for delineation of landslide vulnerable zones using topographic indices (Terrain parameters), frequency ratio and fuzzy logic in GIS environment, and its comparison with arithmetic overlay model has been used for Tehri reservoir region (Uttarakhand, India). Pre and post monsoon remote sensing data including Digital Elevation Model (DEM) had been used to prepare primary and secondary topographic indices, landslide causative factors and landslide inventory maps. Topographic indices such as: slope, aspect, relative relief, profile curvature, topographic wetness index, and stream power index, were derived from DEM (Cartosat-1). Detailed terrain analysis and its influence on landslide had been performed on the basis of topographic indices. Other geo-environmental factors: Land use/Land cover, drainage, lithology, major discontinuities and photo-lineaments were prepared from remote sensing multispectral data (ASTER and IRS LISS-III). Ancillary data such as local geology, soil, past landslide incidents were acquired in different scales. All the thematic data were brought in GIS platform and co-registered. Landside frequency ratio for each factor’s attribute was calculated by ratio between the occurrence and absence of landslide in each factor’s attributes. Further fuzzy logic method was applied for the integration of all the factors. Fuzzy logic techniques includes determination of fuzzy membership values,

which was done by normalizing frequency ratio value in a range (0, 1) and fuzzy operation, which was performed using fuzzy gamma operator. Fuzzy gamma operation resulted landslide susceptibility index value (LSI) for each pixels in a range: (0, 1), in which 0 stands for no susceptibility and 1 for very high susceptibility. Susceptibility increases as value increases from 0 to 1. LSI map was divided into five susceptible classes: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high on the basis of standard deviation. Validation of the model was performed on the basis of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. Model was further compared with arithmetic overlay model. Present methodology has suggested that topographic indices play important role in landslide trigger. High landslide frequency values were found in the case of relative relive, slope, and drainage buffer. Fuzzy gamma operation was performed for 10 different gamma (range: 0 – 1) values. Gamma value of 0.92 was selected for the preparation of final susceptibility map. Incorporation of frequency ratio as fuzzy membership function had reduced subjectivity in the model. Area under curve (AUC) value of ROC curve of final susceptibility map (gamma = 0.92) was found to be 0.86. From AUC value, it can be said that 86% accuracy was achieved in the model.


48 | P a g e

P- wave tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath the Dharwar Craton Kumar, S.*, Gupta, S. and Rai, S.S. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad- 500 007 *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Dharwar craton spans the ~3.4 Ga

of geological history and has the distinct geological segments varying from mid-Archean to late Proterozoic terrains. The important segment are western Dharwar with age from 3.4-2.7 Ga, eastern Dharwar with primarily age of 2.5 Ga, Cuddapah basin (0.8- 1.2 Ga) and eastern ghat granulite terrain (0.7-1.6 Ga). Post cratonization, two important events influenced the Dharwar craton. These include the kimberlite explosion and Indo-Antarctica separation at ~100 Ma. This geological setup provides a good opportunity to model the evolutionary pattern of Dharwar craton and subsequent event effects on physical properties of mantle rocks. We investigate upper mantle velocity structure of the terrain through inverting 8435 traveltimes of teleseismic P-

wave recorded at 63 broadband seismic stations operated from 1998 to 2002 and 2009 to 2012. We create 3D seismic image of the terrain down to the depth of 400 km. Our result reveals the large scale variation in P-wave velocity within the different geological segment of the craton. High P-wave velocity anomaly extending upto ~ 300 km depth beneath the southern Achaean part of western Dharwar craton and 200 km in the eastern Dharwar craton. We interpret these high velocity anomalies as oceanic high density material sink down and stacked to form the root. The existence of thick root (~300 km) is confine beneath the Archean Western Dharwar craton. In eastern Dharwar craton, this root may be modified due to thermal event at ~1.0-1.2 Ga as evidenced by presence of dykes, kimberlite pipes.


49 | P a g e

Seismicity trends with dense network in the Koyna-Warna region Maharashtra, India Kumar, S.1*, Dixit, M. M.1, Sen, M. K.1, Ellsworth, W. L.2 and Peeran, M. M.1 1National Geophysical Research Institute (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) Uppal Road, Hyderabad-500007(India) 2Earthquake Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA USA *Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

It has long been understood that the seismicity in the Koyna-Warna region Maharashtra, India is associated with lake level changes in the two reservoirs: Koyna and Warna reservoir, which is situated about 25 km apart. The study area has been active since 1967 after the impoundment of Shivajisagar Lake in 1962. More recently the earthquakes are localized to the Warna reservoir. For the first time in India we have used 97 mobile seismographs (Taurus) coupled with three components 4.5 Hz geophones for local earthquakes recoding. In this paper 10062 P and 9049 S wave catalog differential times of 350 events (0.5 ≤M≤ 4.5) combined with double-difference locations approaches

(Waldhauser and Ellsworth, 2000) to achieve relatively accurate hypocenters. We obtained one order of magnitude higher precision of locations which is not possible with conventional method. The epicenters distributions that are resulted from relocated earthquakes shows three distinct seismicity trends extending along the pre-existing faults/lineaments in the NNW-SSE direction to the South of the Warna reservoir. Earthquakes of magnitude ≤ 3 are repeating more than once at the same depth between 3 and 7 km are interpreted as a repeated failure or slip within a relatively small volume. This shows high stresses are dominated in the area due to the load of water in the reservoir.


50 | P a g e

Estimation of Spectral Decay Parameter Kappa (κ) from the Accelerograms of Small Earthquakes in Kachchh Region Kumar, S.1*, Kumar, D.2 and Rastogi, B.K.1 1Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 2Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra *Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

The spectrum of high frequency strong ground motion from earthquakes is flat above the corner frequency to the maximum frequency (fmax) after which the spectrum decays fast as per Brune’s earthquake source model. This decay is modeled by the high cut filter or spectral decay parameter Kappa (). This parameter has been used extensively to simulate the earthquake strong ground motions. The decay parameter may be attributed to Site effects, Source processes or combination of both. The parameter ‘κ’ may be distance dependent as well as magnitude dependent.

In this study, a systematic study of ‘κ’ for the Kachchh region of Gujarat has been taken. The 108 accelerograms of 25

earthquakes recorded at 15 seismic stations of GSNet of ISR has been used for this purpose. The value of kappa is found to vary from 0.029 to 0.055 with an average of 0.044. The possible dependence of on distance, site and earthquake size has also been investigated here. It has been observed that the value of kappa is both source and site dependent in the Kachchh region and to some extent dependent on hypocentral distance. The outcome of the present study is useful for generating reliable ground motion models for predicting strong ground motion parameters in SCRs having important bearing on the evaluation of seismic hazard of the region.


51 | P a g e

Numerical Study of Effect of Ridge-weathering thickness effect on the Ground Motion Amplification Kumar, V.* and Narayan, J.P. Department of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee- 247 667, *Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

This paper presents the effects of ridge-weathering thickness on the ground motion amplification. Seismic responses of various ridge models have been computed using a 2D fourth-order-accurate staggered-grid finite-difference algorithm for SH-wave and P-SV wave simulation in viscoelastic medium. The incorporation of realistic damping in the time-domain FD simulation is based on the GMB-EK rheological model. The effects of the weathering thickness on the ground motion characteristics, Seismic responses of the various ridge models were simulated.

The average spectral amplification (ASA) of the SH-wave and SV-wave in the high and low frequency ranges were also simulated. Analysis of these results depicts that in the high frequency range, the ASA is decreasing with an increase of weathering thickness. On the other hand in the low frequency range, the ASA is increasing with an increase of weathering thickness. Further, it is highly affected by the spectral peaks associated with the resonances in the weathered layer. Analysis of these results illustrate that consideration of ride-weathering thickness effect is much important during seismic hazard assessment.


52 | P a g e

Chemical Weathering Processes in the Ganga Alluvial Plain: a case study of Gomati River Basin Kuvar, R.1*, Jigyasu, D. K.1, Singh, Sandeep2, Shukla, U. K.3, Singh, M.1, Singh, I. B.1 1 Centre of Advance Study in Geology, University of Lucknow - 226007, India, 2Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee - 247667 India, 3Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221005, India *Correspondig author e-mail: [email protected]

An attempt has been made to

quantify the present chemical weathering process of the Ganga Alluvial Plain by using different chemical weathering indices, namely, Weathering Index of Parker (WIP), Base Alumina Ratio (BAR), Alkali Ratio (ALR), Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), Modified Potential Weathering Index (MWI) and Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW). The major element geochemistry of fifty sediment samples collected from the Gomati River Basin [Alluvial Sediments (AS; n=16), the Gomati River bedload sediments (BS; n=22) and the Gomati River suspended load sediments (SS, n=12)] has been determined to estimate the difference between parent material (Alluvial Sediments) and weathering products (Gomati bedload sediments and Gomati suspended load sediments). The values of various weathering indices for the parent material and weathering products of the Alluvial Plain show much variation; but weathered products show prominent depletion of different elements as compared to the parent sediment. The ranges and average values of WIP are for AS (31.4–79.6; 47.7), for BS (13.9–23.9;

17.3) and for SS (19.3–32.6; 23.4). The ranges and average values of BAR are for AS (0.90 – 4.82; 1.78), for BS (0.58–0.95; 0.73) and for SS (0.38–0.67; 0.51). The ranges and average values of ALR are for AS (50.0–77.6; 68.1), for BS (49.4–66.1; 56.9) and for SS (61.8–79.9; 72.6). The ranges and average values of CIA were for AS (57.3–68.9; 62.9), for BS (54.8–65.3; 58.6) and for SS (64.2–72.9; 69.3). The ranges and average values of MWI are for AS (15.3–40.6; 22.7), for BS (6.0–10.4; 7.5) and for SS (8.4–14.9; 10.4). The ranges and average values of CIW are for AS (18.3–61.9; 45.9), for BS (61.5–76.5; 70.1) and for SS (71.3–86.9; 79.9). The present study shows that the WIP and MWI indices are the most suitable indices for quantification of the chemical weathering intensity of the Ganga Alluvial Plain under humid sub-tropical climatic conditions. The study demonstrates that the chemical weathering is very conspicuous in the Ganga Alluvial Plain. It is argued that chemical weathering in the Ganga Alluvial Plain are more prominent than in the Himalaya and must be considered while assessing chemical weathering processes of the Ganga River Basin.


53 | P a g e

Industrial application of Rare Earth Elements (REE) –A perspective Manickavasagam, R. M. Trichy, Tamil Nadu Correspondig author e-mail: [email protected]

Rare Earth Elements (REE) Sc

(21), Y (39), La to Lu (57-71) are found in a few minerals such as gadolinite, xenotime, samarskite, zircon, eeudialyte, bastnäsite, monazite, allanite, lanthanite, cerite. Industrial use of REE include metallurgical and alloys ( 29%), electronics (18%), chemical catalysts (14%), phospors for monitors and television lighting (12%), catalytic converters (9%), glass polishing (6%), permanent magnets (5%), petroleum refining (4%) and other applications(3%). China has nearly 2/3rd of REE reserve in the world.

Individual use of RE elements is: Sc as an alloy in aerospace and in halide lamps; Y compounds in laser, microwave, superconductors, lights and steel. La in high RI glass, hydrogen storage, battery-electrodes, camera lenses, fluid catalytic cracking and catalyst for oil refineries; Ce as oxidizing agent, polishing powder, glass and ceramics colors, catalyst for self-cleaning ovens, fluid catalytic cracking and catalyst for oil refineries; Pr in Rare-earth magnets, lasers, core material for carbon

arc lighting, glass and enamel colors, additive in didymium glass used in welding goggles; Nd is used as Rare-earth magnets, lasers, violet colors in glass and ceramics, didymium glass, ceramic capacitors; Pm in nuclear batteries; Sm in Rare-earth magnets, lasers, neutron capture, masers. Eu in red and blue phosphors, lasers, mercury-vapor lamps, fluorescent lamps, NMR relaxation agent; Gd in rare-earth magnets, high refractive index glass, lasers, X-ray tubes, computer memories, neutron capture, MRI, NMR, magnetostrictive alloys; Tb in green phosphors, lasers, fluorescent lamps, magnetostrictive alloys, Dy in rare-earth magnets, lasers, magnetostrictive alloys; Ho in Lasers, optical spectrophotometers, magnets; Er in Infrared lasers, vanadium steel, fiber-optic technology; Tm in portable X-ray machines, metal-halide lamps, lasers; Yb in Infrared lasers, chemical reducing agent, decoy flares, stainless steel, stress gauges, nuclear medicine; Lu in positron emission tomography - PET scan detectors, high RI glass, phosphors.


54 | P a g e

Petrography, origin and geochemical characters of granitoids around Rarpur, southern part of the Nellore Schist Belt, Andhra Pradesh, India Meshram, T, Mitra, S.K.*, Dharme, R. Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad-50 * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The late Archean granite green stone terrain of Andhra Pradesh is made up of vast stretches of granitoids and their high strain equivalent gneisses that enclose linear green stone belts. Granitoids are divided into four types according to their mineral assemblages, their field and petrographical features, and their chemical characteristics. This typology complements most of the recent IUGS classifications. Archaen to Paleoproterozoic migmatitic gneisses and Granitoids of Rapur include low K-tonalite-trondhjemite-Granodiorite (TTG) and high K-granodiorite Granite rocks. Both types of granitoids were intruded contemporaneously, although TGM are more abundant older gneisses in the area. The TTG suite consist of calcic to calc-alkaline rocks that straddle the boundaries between metaluminous and peraluminous and between ferroan and magnesian compositions. The REE patterns of these rocks are highly fractionated with low HREE content with moderate to small positive Eu anomalies that are strongly depleted in HREE, while enriched in LREE. The TGM suite has composition transition between TTG and MS suite, continental margin calc-alkaline rocks. The TGM suite is characterized by high alkali content of CaO than TTG suite with more fractionated REE pattern. The REE pattern shows typical increased LREE with negative and positive Eu anomaly and flat to depleting HREE. MS

suite of rock shows increased LREE with negative Eu anomaly and flat HREE, with the dominating LREE over HREE. Overall chemical compositions suggest that the TGM suites of rocks have been recycled through crustal re-melting process to give rise to these granites of MS suite. A remarkable feature about these granites is their chemical homogeneity (especially in major elements), their K-rich nature with pink and grey feldspar and trace element percentage. The mineralogical and geochemical shift in the granitoids composition that is related to a change in magma source, the transition from TTG to more potassic granitoids of TGM and MS suite are not at times a sharp one, but rather these three rocks suites occur together for a substantial period of time from Archean to late Archean age. The high K-calc-alkaline Granitoids (TGM and MS suites) that have lower Na2O contents than TTG suites but equally variable REE patterns, ranging from LREE enriched pattern with negative Eu anomalies (MS) to pattern with extreme HREE depletion and absent to positive Eu anomalies (TGM). The MME are mostly ellipsoidal and cuspate shape having lobate margin and diffuse contact with the host granitoids. Sharp and gradational contacts between isolated MME and host granitoids are present with TGM suite. The MME are fine grained, slightly dark and enriched in mafic minerals compare to the host granitoids. These show wide


55 | P a g e

variation in their REE contents accordingly to their compositional i.e., dioritic, but in general have high LREE (ΣLREE = 315.27) and low HREE (ΣHREE=29.77) content. MME are showing low degree of negative

(Eu/Eu*=0.83), or no Eu-anomalies, and inclined LREE and flat HREE patterns. Most MME shows enrichment of Sr, Th, Zr, Hf, and REE relative to mantle values.


56 | P a g e

Iron-ore resource base of the country-a critical review Mishra, A.K. Mecon Limited Corresponding email: [email protected]

Iron and steel constitute one of the

foundations of the modern industrial civilization. So to measure a country’s industrial status, production of iron and steel in that country becomes the yard stick. Production of every tonne of steel in an integrated steel plant involves consumption of about 4 tonnes of various raw materials out of which iron ore alone constitutes about 1.6 to 2.0 tonnes.

The Indian steel industry has entered into a new development stage from 2007-08, riding high on the resurgent economy and rising demand for steel. Rapid rise in production has resulted in India becoming the 4th largest producer of crude steel and the largest producer of sponge iron or DRI in the world. National Steel Policy had envisaged steel production to reach 110 million tonnes by 2019-20. However, based on the assessment of the current ongoing projects, both in greenfield and brownfield, the Working Group on Steel for the 12th Plan has projected that the crude steel capacity in the county is likely to be 140 Mt. by 2016-17. Further, based on the status of MOU’s signed by the private producers with the various State Governments, it is expected that India’s steel capacity would exceed 200 Mt by 2020.

As per the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) of mineral resources the total resources of iron ore in the country is around 28.52 billion tones (As per National mineral

inventory, 01.04.2010). Out of total estimated 17.88 billion tones of hematite 8.09 billion tonnes comes under reserve category and 9.79 billion tonnes under remaining resource category. Whereas total 10.64 billion tones of magnetite, 0.02 billion tones is under reserve category and 10.62 billion tones is under remaining resource category.

Almost the entire present iron ore production in India comes from hematite reserves only as the magnetite reserves are not being exploited since these are mostly in eco-fragile areas of Western Ghats.

Iron ore is a non renewable natural resource. The demand of steel in last few years is increasing exponentially. With a similar future projection trend the requirement of iron ore will also go exponentially along with the steel demand. To keep pace with iron ore requirements there is an urgent need to broaden the reserve base. Besides, it is imperative to utilize the low grade minerals, rejects and wastes effectively by using modern beneficiation technologies. Simultaneously the large resources under low grade and sub grade ores have to be conserved for their future use instead of throwing them in refuse dumps. The present day lateritic ore, laterite and BHQ which contains around 30-45 % Fe may serve as a potential reserve for the future. So it is also essential to evaluate such type of ores along with the present day commercial ores for future utilization.


57 | P a g e

Seasonal and temporal variations of total organic matter in the bed sediments of Tawa River Mishra, B.P.*, Pradhan, R.M., Behera, A.K. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Tawa River is the longest

tributary of the Narmada River of central India. It originates from the Satpura range and joins Narmada River at Hoshangabad district. In order to quantify the seasonal and spatial variations in total organic matter in the bed sediments of Tawa River, a total of 22 samples were collected in three different periods, post-monsoon (October, 2010), monsoon (August, 2011) and pre-monsoon (January, 2012) . It is observed that there are wide temporal and spatial variations in organic matter. The variations range from 1.63% in monsoon to 0.32% in post monsoon period where as in pre-monsoon period it is 0.608%. The

annual water flow data are used for inferring the variations of organic matter. The reasons for the variations in organic matter in sediments may be related to water flow, sediment concentrations and bed sediment deposition, transport of organic matter and soil formation. The dense forest catchment provides a significant leaf litter to the bed sediments of the river. Basin geology, land use pattern and soil characteristics also influencing the organic matter content in the bed sediments. Due to presence of the Tawa Dam and reservoir in the upstream of the river, it has been observed significant variations of organic matter before and after the reservoir.


58 | P a g e

Uraninite associated with Thorite and REE minerals in the younger granites of Rapur area, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh Mitra, S. K.*, Meshram, T. and Rajani, G. State Unit: Andhra Pradesh, Southern Region, Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad. *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected].

Uranium deposits types have evolved considerably from the Archaean to the present. However, the major global drivers were (1) change of geotectonic conditions during the late Archean, (2) Strong increase of atmospheric oxygen from 2.4 to 2.2 Ga, and (3) development of land plants during the Siluriam. Earth’s uranium fractionation mechanism evolved through four major periods. The first, for 4.55 and 3.24a, corresponding to formation of a thin essentially mafic crust in which the most fractionated tonalite-granodiorite (TTG) rocks attained uranium concentration of at most a four parts per million. Moreover, the uranium being essentially hosted in refractory accessory minerals and free oxygen being absent, no uranium deposits could have been expected to have formed during this period. The second period, for about 3.1 to 2.2 Ga, is characterized by severe widespread pulses of highly fractionated potassium granite strongly enriched in U, Th and K. Late in this period peraluminous granite was selectively enriched in U and to a lesser extent K. These were the first granites and pegmatitic magma able to crystallize high temperature uraninite. The erosion of these granitic suites liberate Th-rich uraninite which would their be concentrated in placer deposits along with pyrite and other heavy minerals (eg. Zircon, monazite, Fe-Ti oxides) within huge continental basin (eg. Witwaterstrand, South Africa, Bind

River-Canada). The lack of free oxygen at this time prevented oxidation of the uraninite which formed the oldest economic uranium deposit types in Earth, but only during this period. The 3rd period, for 2.2 to 0.45 Ga, records increased oxygen to nearly the present atmospheric level. Tetravalent uranium from uraninite was oxidized to hexavalent uranium, forming highly soluble uranyl ions in water. Uranium was extensively trapped in reduced epicontinental sedimentary succession, especially during the late paleoproterozoic. All known economically significant uranium deposits related to Na-metasomatism are about 1.8 Ga in age. Studies of geochemistry of U and Th during magmatic differentiate shows that the U and Th contents of granitic rocks generally increase during differenciation although in some cases they decrease. The Th/U ratio can either increase or decrease depending on redox condition, the volatile content, or alterations by endogene or supergene solution. Uranium in U-rich granite occurs mainly in accessory minerals, the commonest of which (excludes the peralkaline granite) are uraninite, thorite, monazite, xenotime, allanite, zircon, apatite, sphene and Fe-Ti oxides. Recent studies of U-Th bearing minerals in Hercynian granite suggest that accessory mineral association could differ significantly depending on the primary petrography and geochemistry of the


59 | P a g e

granites and subsequent deuteric processes. Studies of accessory minerals such as U, Th and REE minerals, are useful in interpreting the REE pattern of granitic rocks and the relationship between granitic suites. In India, granitoids hosts two types of U-mineralisation, syn-genetic (magmatic) and epigenetic (hydrothermal), which are important constituents as source of different types of Ur-mineralisation in diverse lithologies like essentially paleo placer types in quartz pebble conglomerate and mica quartz section, hydrothermal type in schists, amphibolite and limestone. The synmagmatic Ur-mineralisation occurs at Binda-Nagnaha (Bihar), Kullampatti (TN), Kanigiri (AP) and Dhurakantagiri. Syn-magmatic (genetic) U-mineralisation-manifested in the form Th-bearing Uraninite (ThO2 upto 5%), uranothorite and thorite, and is associated mostly either with sulphides of pyrite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite, as in the areas of Bunda-Nagnaha or with refractory RMPE minerals like allanite, fergasonite, samarskite, betafide, columbite and xenotime as recorded in the areas of Kullampatti and Kanigiri with minor components of Fe-Ti oxides of magnetite, ilmenite martite and hematite being common. Texturally, synmagmatic type U-Th mineralization occurs in form of euhedral dissemination and inclusions in major gangue minerals and occasionally even in more accessory minerals like biotite, martite and zircon of granitoids (eg. Kulkamputti) with sulphides as garland indicating the formation of U-Th, REE, Fe-Ti minerals prior to sulphides. Furthermore, the high content of Th in Uraninite (upto 5%, ThO2) and its intimate association with REE Fe-Ti minerals indicate relatively higher temperature

(>400°C) for synmagmatic type U-mineralisation, hosted by granitoids. Chronological data of these granitoids indicate their Meso-/Neo-Proterozoic-early Proterozoic age, and derivation for crustal source. The Paleo - Mesoproterozoic Nellore Schist Belt (NSB), one of the major Schist Belt in Andhra Pradesh is distinct from other such Schist Belt in terms of lithological, structural and tectonic setting. The lithotectonic segment around Rapur, Nellore Dist., Andhra Pradesh, comprises of metavolcanics along with metasediments which are migmatised and/ or intruded by younger Granites. Sandwiched between the Archean-Proterozoic Eastern Ghat Mobile/ Granulite Belt and the Mesoproterozoic Cuddapah basin. NSB witnessed a number of tectonothermal activities as expressed in terms of various mafic and felsic, volcanic/plutonic event and metamorphic imprints ranging from Archean to Proterozoic. The SW boundary of the NSB with the Granite Gneiss and Migmatite Gneiss has a thrusted contact with the NFB of Cuddapah Basin in the Western part. The granitoids around Rapur, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh (Archean to Paleoproterozoic age) with its variants in order of emplacement, comprises of migmatitic gneisses (TTG-suite, the oldest), biotite-hornblende-granite gneiss with its variants like the orbicular granite gneisses, porphyry granite of TGM suite forming the major part of the area ; hornblende-biotite granite of MS-suite and alkali-feldspar granite. These have been intruded by mafic intrusives (gabbro/dolerite dykes) and younger granites of Mesoproterozoic age. These younger granites host U- occurerences of


60 | P a g e

syn-magmatic (genetic) type, hitherto, not described. EPMA studies revealed, that these younger granites contains disseminated grains of Uraninite associated with sulphides (chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena), thorite, REE minerals (rich in La, Ce, Nd) along with monazite, zircons, alanite, Fe-Ti oxides (with specularite). Chondrite normalized REE plot reveal a general LREE enrichment, negative Eu anomaly and flat HREE pattern indicating an enriched lower crustal source. These younger granites were emplaced along the axial zone of the F2 fold, north of Rapur, with the axial trace NE-SW. U-bearing solution in the form of

Uranyl ions, in the water, must have been trapped in the reducing condition when sulphides like chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena was deposited. Though, to the west of the younger granites, a shear zone running NW-SE have affected the host hornblende-biotite granite gneiss, evidences of such brittle-ductile deformations are rare in these rocks. Thus, the present study may not lead to any U-mineralisation in the area but can be the source rock for the basal part of the Cuddapahs. Moreover, the association of the U, Th and REE minerals will be useful in interpreting the REE pattern of granitic rocks and its relationship between granitic suites.


61 | P a g e

Hydrogeological Significance of lineaments Naik, P.K. Rajiv Gandhi National Groundwater Training and Research Institute, CGWB, Raipur-492001 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Lineaments are defined as linear features of geological significance extending in length over a kilometer or more. Hydrogeologically lineaments are very significant because they form saturated fracture zones and very good aquifers. The occurrence and movement of ground water in any hard rock terrain is controlled by the major lineaments which acts as the conduits for ground water flow. These linear features usually represent faults, fractures or shear zones and are identified in aerial photographs and satellite images on the basis of tonal contrast, stream/river alignment, differences in vegetation and knick points in topography. In any hard rock terrain lineaments have a predominant control over the occurrence and movement of ground water. Ground water occurs in pore spaces of rocks and in fractures, joints and faults. The lineaments are planes of weakness where earthquakes also occur. Along these major lineaments/faults there is intrusion of pegmatites, alkaline rocks, dolerite dykes and mineralization which ultimately controls the quality of ground water adjacent to the area. Nawapada district is situated at the contact zone between the high grade Precambrian Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) and the adjoining low grade Archean Central Indian Craton (CIC). The contact zone represents a first order lineament. The contact can be considered as a thrust- stacked belt with many major

and minor shear zones aligned subparallel with the general trend. Alkaline rocks like nepheline syenite were intruded at this junction. Khariar to its east, known for nepheline syenite complex (~ 1450Ma), is located at the contact of the EGMB and Bastar cratonic block. In this area saturated fractures are present which is manifested by the high yielding borewells (13 lps) in Boden. Patalganga is the major fault generated spring and also other small springs are located along the major lineaments which forms a spring line. The fluoride content of syenite, granite gneiss, amphibolite, khondalite varies from 816 to 7480 ppm and in ground water it occurs above the permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l. This has caused acute fluorosis problem in Nawapada district of Orissa. The fluorosis problem is encountered along this lineament.

In the N-S trending Kotri – Dongargarh rift zone occurrence of high As reported above the permissible limit of 50 micrograms/l (IS: 10500,1991) reported which is the only occurrence of high As in any hard rock terrain of India. The high arsenic ground water occurrence in eastern part of Chowki block, Rajnandgaon district, Chhatisgarh is confined to the early Proterozoic metavolcanic-granitic rocks. The geographical extent of this arsenic ground water occurrence is found in isolated clusters distributed over an area of 330 sq. km., a zone of nearly 10 km radius. The most severely affected villages


62 | P a g e

are preferably located on rhyolites and granites close to shear zone. The relatively younger metabasic, basic and pyroclastic aquifers are less contaminated.The intrusion of rhyolitic-granitic magma is followed by the hydrothermal phase which is responsible for arsenic enriched sulfide mineralization and arsenic enrichment in bedrock.

High fluoride is also reported from Rajnandgaon district. Fluorite mining was being carried out in Chandidongri village and high fluoride is also reported from the mine pit samples. Major sources of fluoride are minerals like fluorite, apatite and hornblende, mica also contain some fluoride. These minerals are found in traces in the granitic suite of rocks and as such high F in ground water is much more frequent in the units representing basement crystallines, plutonic and volcanic rocks.

In the hard rock terrain of Singhbhum craton Gudguda major spring flows along a fault plane where fault breccias, shear zones etc are marked. Also in Nilgiri area of Balasore district Orissa, the granitic rocks are intruded by dolerite dyke along major lineaments which extends for hundreds of kilometers. High yielding exploratory (> 7 lps) wells are

very common in the area with maximum yield upto 19 lps.

Gad- Huma of Ganjam district Orissa is located adjacent coast where drinking water is supplied from a spring which is formed by NE-SW trending east coast boundary fault. In this area due to the presence of salt pan both shallow and deeper aquifers are saline in nature. At Belpahar, Jharsuguda district in Ib valley coalfields borewells at depth of 330m yields hot water. The temperature of water is around 350C and has a typical sulphurus smell. Margins of Gondwana basins/ grabens are characterized by deep seated faults/lineaments zones which have given rise to hot water autoflow wells. Some of the borewells drilled along the fault zones at Gopalpur has given rise to autoflow wells. Where there is intersection of 2/3 sets of deep seated lineaments a hot spring is formed.

Detailed study of lineaments in India and its hydrogeological control is necessary which will help in ground water management. The lithological boundaries and lineaments control the occurrence and movement of ground water in a hard rock terrain. Along these lineaments also ground water recharge takes place.


63 | P a g e

Impact of fluoride-rich water on human health-A case study of Palamau district, Jharkhand, India Pandey, V. Ganesh Lal Agarwal College, Nilamber Pitamber University, Medininagar - 822102 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Fluoride in drinking water is

known for both beneficial and detrimental effects on health. The presence of fluoride (F-) concentration over and above the permissible limits (1.5mg/L) in drinking water leads to human health hazards such as dental, skeletal fluorosis and fluorosis in lactating women, affecting millions of people in many parts of India. Fluoride in drinking water is also beneficial at concentration less that 1.2 mg/ L for dental protection. The litho logical units of the study areas mainly consist of granite and gneissic complex rocks of the Chhotanagpur plateau. 24 ground water samples mostly from granite and gneissic complex rocks region were collected for fluoride estimation during May 2011. The concentration of fluoride in the ground water of the study area varies from 1.20mg/L to 12.90mg/L. Among the 24

samples analyzed 23 exceeded the maximum permissible limit of fluoride. The source of fluoride in the ground water is mainly from geological occurrence (i.e. fluoride - bearing rocks minerals, viz apatite, biotitite, pyroxenes, amphiboles). The case study indicates the sources from which the fluoride is leaching out to the ground water and causing high concentrations of fluoride in ground water. The worst fluoride - affected villages are Chukru, Chianki, Hanumannagar, Sua, Kauriya.Bakhari, Bhusaria, Pokhraha and Polpol. Most People in these villages suffer from dental and skeletal fluorosis such as mottling of teeth, deformation of ligaments, bending of spinal column and ageing problem. An urgent need is to educate the villagers on the causes of fluorosis and providing fluoride free drinking water in the study areas.


64 | P a g e

Benthic foraminiferal diversity pattern during late Oligocene to early Pliocene at ODP site 754A (Broken Ridge) in the southeastern Indian Ocean Pandey, P.1*, Maurya, A.S.1 and Rai, A.K.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nehru Science Centre, University of Allahabad,

Allahabad- 211002 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Benthic foraminiferal diversity patterns of late Oligocene to early Pliocenewas studied at ODP site 754A in the south-eastern Indian Ocean. In this study an attempt has been made to infer the paleoceanographic response of benthic foraminifera during late Oligocene to early Pliocene interval. A total 98 samples was taken from 96 m thick section at ODP site 754A. The samples are processed following the standard micropaleontlogical procedures and all the encountered benthic foraminifera are picked from splitted samples and mounted on faunal assemblage slides. The species diversity patterns are measured in terms of Hurlbert’s diversity Index (S100), Shanon-Weaver Index [(H(S)], Alpha Index (α) and Equitibility (E´). The time series of all diversity measurments show almost similar trend during the studied interval. The diversity measurements are also compared with the δ18O and δ13C of epifaunal benthic foraminiferal test. The results suggest that the diversity patterns in the south-eastern Indian Ocean are possibly controlled by the available food resource rather than other parameters.

Study indicates that benthic fauna were more diverse during late Oligocene- early middle Miocene and corresponds to relatively low δ18O and high δ13C, suggests relatively warm bottom water with reduced food supply and this interval was well correlated with Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). A severe decline in benthic foraminiferal diversity, stepwise increase in δ18O and gradual decline in δ13C was observed during middle Miocene (~14 Ma) possibly indicative of cold, less oxygenated, enhanced food supply and unstable bottom water conditions in the southeastern Indian Ocean. Possibly this effect was observed due to increased glaciation in the east Antarctica during ~15-12 Ma and enhanced thermal gradient between high and low latitudes and was resposible for upwelling and increased surface water productivity of organic matter. Further, gradual decline in diversity parameters and δ13C and continuous higher δ18O was observed at ~6 Ma onwards possibly due to expansion of west Antarctic ice sheet and increased monsoonal circulation in major parts of the IndianOcean.


65 | P a g e

A GIS Based Plate Tectonic Reconstruction of Western India during Neo-Proterozoic-Cambrian and its implication in hydrocarbon exploration in Ganga Basin Pangtey, K.K.S.*, Mazumder, S., Tep, B. and Mitra, D.S. Remote Sensing and Geomatics, KDMIPE, ONGC, Dehradun *[email protected]

A remote sensing and GIS based reconstruction of the western part of the Indian plate during Proterozoic-Cambrian shows that the presently NE-SW trending faults appear to be correlated and continuous from the eastern part of Arabian Plate through Indus Basin, Bikaner-Nagaur and Jaisalmer basin. Subcrops and outcrops of different Neo Proterozoic Cambrian lihofacies in these basins suggest that the basins were probably undifferentiated in Cambrian. Considering the entire region to be a single basin, the probable changes in sedimentary environment corresponding to the different lithofacies shows two different phases of shallowing and deepening that might correspond to two separate phases of transgression and regression cycles. The uplift and subsidence that might cause this transgression and regression cycles might be related to the movements of the

presently NE-SW trending faults. One of these NE-SW correlative faults also probably played a major role to stop further marine incursion into present southern India and Madagascar acting as a barrier. The Cambrian-Proterozoic lithofacies are found to be hydrocarbon producing in Oman, Indus Basin and Bikaner-Nagaur where they are also geochemically and lithologically correlated. Equivalent stratigraphic units are found to occur in Ganga Basin has yeilded hydrocarbon indications. Most of the wells bearing hydrocarbon and showing hydrocarbon indications occur along these correlative and continuous NE-SW trending faults. As such these faults might act as conduit for long distance migration and hence structures along these fault trends in Neo-Proterozoic- Cambrian sediments might appear prospective especially in the Ganga Basin.


66 | P a g e

Extraction of gravity signatures related to submarine earthquakes from GRACE satellite gravity data Pant, A.* and Sastry, R. G. S. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee – 247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Prediction of earthquakes is an

important study in seismology and it has a great societal value besides serving academic interest. Outside seismology, recently Remote sensing tools were tried in this regard.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Change (GRACE) gravity mission has played an important role in tracking temporal variations of Earth’s gravity field primarily due to fluid movements at Earth’s surface. Small, yet significant gravity signals arising out of great earthquakes in the oceanic regions are masked by large temporal gravity signals arising from fluid movements close to Earth’s surface.

Here, an effort is made to isolate the gravity signals of seismic origin through filtering of Spherical Harmonic Coefficients. By considering the present satellite gravity resolution, our method could isolate the gravity signatures for three major earthquakes, viz., Sumatra Earthquake of 2004, Chile Earthquake of 2010 and Japan Earthquake of 2011. These signature correlate well with seismological signatures at initial stage like rupture length and extent of source region. However, prediction of earthquake occurrence still remains an unachieved dream by this approach.


67 | P a g e

Groundwater quality assessment of Dehradun city using Geographic Information System Panwar, S *, Gupta, M., Khan, M.Y.A.

Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Good water quality is the prerequisite for healthy living. Groundwater quality depends on both the natural and anthropogenic activities. For analyzing the groundwater quality of Dehradun city for the drinking and agriculture purpose, more than 45 samples were collected from different parts of the city. Drinking water quality is assessed based on seven parameters such as pH, TDS, Ca, Mg, F, NO3 and SO4 following the specification assigned by WHO and BIS. GIS technique of inverse distance weighting is used to interpolate the results of each parameter. The results show that not all the parameters are well within the desirable limits. A comparatively high pH,

TDS, Ca and Mg values have been noticed in northern part of the city. The average pH value shows that water is mainly alkaline in the city whereas high NO3 concentration is noticed in places marked with anthropogenic activities. The irrigation water quality is assessed by calculating sodium adsorption ratio, sodium percentage, salinity, permeability index and magnesium ratio. The low values for SAR and Na% and low to medium salinity clearly shows that the Dehradun city has a minimum risk for sodium and salinity hazard. However, few samples belong to class 3 of permeability index and are prone to high magnesium hazard.


68 | P a g e

Modeling earthquake hazards with Pareto Distribution: a case study from northeast India Pasari, S.* and Dikshit, O. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The seismicity of northeast India

(NE) is critically high as evident from a number of large and great earthquakes in recent past. The non-occurrence of any large earthquake during last 18 years (since July 11, 1995) raises questions to the earthquake scientists as the sample mean interval is calculated as 7.82 years. It has now been realized that more effort should be put in understanding the ‘tail’ behavior of the probability distribution of recurrence intervals. In view of this, we consider Pareto distribution from heavy-tailed group

to develop recurrence interval and conditional probability curves (hazard curves) for NE India and its adjoining regions. The genesis, model properties, parameter estimation, and model validation are discussed in detail. A complete and homogeneous earthquake catalog of large (M ≥ 7.0) earthquake events is used for the study. The conditional probability curves for an elapsed time of 5,10,..., 60t years reveal that the probability of occurrence of an earthquake is very high in the study area.


69 | P a g e

Control of Crustal shortening along the Main Central Thrust (MCT) on variation in Exhumation rates in the Kumaon-Garhwal region, NW-Himalaya: Insights from Low-temperature thermochronology Patel, R.C.* and Singh, P. Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra-136119 *Corresponding author e- mail: [email protected]

Exactly how collisional tectonics in the Himalaya is responsible for exhumation of the different tectonic zones, is not well understood in spite of several divergence thermo-kinematic models that have been proposed over the last many years. One reason for the divergence or lack of conclusions from several thermo-kinematic models is that they are mainly constrained by data from the HHC, and the history of the LHS remains essentially unconstrained. Most models highlight rapid exhumation of the HHC relative to the surrounding tectonic zones and emphasize the role of ductile flow/extrusion. Recent channel flow-focused denudation model of the HHC is at its most intense. This model requires the faults and shear zones that define the top and bottom of the HHC i.e. the STDS and the MCT, to be active during emplacement of crystalline klippe over the LHMS in the south and flow/extrusion of the HHC in the north, but it is not clear how these faults have facilated exhumation of the crystalline klippen in the south and the HHC in the north. Two competing models (1) Out-of-sequence and (2) underplating, have been proposed recently to describe the post flow/extrusion kinematics and their possible influence on exhumation history of the Himalaya. There is a fair similarity in the exhumation path and velocity of

rocks in both models but the predicated thermochronological age transect’s shapes through the LHS and the topographic transition are more discriminative. In particular, the out-of-sequence model predicts a break and jump in age trend in the topographic transition zone whereas the underplating model predicts a gradual decrease age trend across the LHS from the MBT to the MCT. Thus to constrain the kinematics of the Kumaon-Garhwal region, new and published AFT data from the LHS and published AFT data from the HHC have been combinly analysed in the light of these kinematic models.

The exhumation history of the two well-known klippen namely Almora and Baijnath, in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions has been investigated using AFT ages. Along a ~50 km long orogen perpendicular transect across the Almora klippe, 15 apatite fission track (AFT) cooling ages from the Almora klippe and one from the LHMS have been obtained. The AFT ages have been found to range between 3.7±0.8 to 13.2±2.7 Ma. One set of ages ranging between 3.7±0.8 to 7.8±0.9 Ma is confined within the synformally folded Sitlakhet-Kasun Thrust (S-KT) sheet at the core of Almora klippe and other two sets range between 7.0±0.9 and 13.2±2.7 Ma, and 9.7±1.6 and 13.1 ± 0.6 Ma are outside this thrust sheet between North Almora Thrust (NAT) and


70 | P a g e

Kasun Thrust (KT), and South Almora Thrust (SAT) and Sitlakhet Thrust (ST) respectively. A single AFT age within the LHMS is quite young (3.6±0.8 Ma). Three AFT ages ranging between 4.7±0.5 and 6.6±0.8 Ma already reported in the Baijnath klippe have also been considered for discussion. AFT ages and exhumation rates of different klippen show a dynamic coupling between tectonic and erosion processes in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions, NW-India and suggest that tectonic process exerted a main control on exhumation pattern.

Thermochronological studies using AFT have been carried out between the MCT and the STDS along different traverses in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. AFT ages range between 0.3±0.2 and 2.9±0.6 Ma in the Kumaon region and between 0.9±0.3– 4.2±0.8 Ma in the Garhwal region. These data throw light on knowledge of spatiotemporal variations in exhumation along the strike of the Himalayan orogen in the Kumaon–Garhwal region of NW-Himalaya. Two different exhumation and age patterns are observed in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions which are adjacent to each other and located in similar precipitation zone.

Maximum exhumation in the Garhwal region occurs at the southern edge of the faults with decreasing exhumation towards the interior of the respective hanging wall blocks. The transect in the Garhwal region is characterized by a distinct break in exhumation pattern. Contrary to what is observed in the Garhwal region, exhumation in the Kumaon region is uniform in the HHC but there is a break in exhumation pattern across the fault.

Generally young AFT ages (<5 Ma) in the HHC and older AFT ages (>5 Ma) in the LHS have been observed. Young AFT ages in the HHC are achieved due to rapid topographic uplift of the HHC due to out-of-sequence thrusting along the MCT during Plio-Quaternary time. In the other hand, older AFT ages reflect no major uplift of the LHS after emplacement of the crystalline klippen over the Lesser Himalayan meta-sedimentary zone. The age transect’s shape across the LHS and the HHC and distinct jump in age trend in the Kumaon-Garhwal region indicate exhumation history controlled by combination of development of Lesser Himalayan duplex and out-of-sequence thrusting along the MCT.


71 | P a g e

Early Cretaceous Ammonoid stratigraphy in the Indian Geological record: present status and future prospects Pathak, D.B.* and Pandey, B. Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005 *Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected], [email protected]

The Early Cretaceous Period (145 Ma to 100.5 Ma) is one of the most eventful time interval of the earth history not only for holding about 60% of global hydrocarbon reserves but also responsible for several plate tectonic events, like, separation of Indian plate from Australo-Antarctica, origin of Indian ocean, closing of Tethys sea, evolution of the Indian subcontinent including the Himalaya and opening of new basins/grabens etc.

High resolution chronological control is fundamental to meaningful comprehension of multidimensional geological investigations in any basin and in any geological interval. In the last two decades, such chronological control has registered quantum progress through integrated bio-radio-magneto-sequence stratigraphic studies. Nevertheless, high resolution biostratigraphy with 1 to 1.5 My and finer duration units holds the key to such integration in the Cretaceous. The high resolution stratigraphy in the Mesozoic including Cretaceous is principally achieved through evolutionary studies of ammonoids because these are considered the best biomarker/index fossil group during Mesozoic period all over the world.

Internationally, significant progress has been made in the subject area both in the Tethyan and Pacific realms having crucial relevance in context of the Indian Cretaceous basins. According to a

Report on the 4th International Meeting of the IUGS Lower Cretaceous Ammonite Working Group, the “Kilian Group” held at Dijon, France on 30th August 2010, the Early Cretaceous period has been organized into 6 stages, 43 zones and 46 subzones with a resolution of the order of ca 1.2 My per ammonoid zone. In comparison, till date, the information available in context of the Early Cretaceous ammonoid biostratigraphy/ chronostratigraphy from any of the Indian basins is extremely poor.

In India, the marine Early Cretaceous sediments are mostly known in northern (Tethys Himalaya: Spiti, Malla-Johar and Ladakh-Zanskar basins), western (Kachchh and Jaisalmer), central (Bagh and nearby areas), and eastern (Krishna – Godavari and Cauveri basins along the east coast) sectors. There has been a general opinion among Indian geologists that there is no scope for recognition and differentiation of standard Early Cretaceous stages in any of the exposed Cretaceous sections in India. In contrast, our preliminary studies on the Cretaceous succession near the village Chichim of the Spiti valley reveal that there is a tremendous potential for such studies. In fact, no serious effort has been made towards this direction probably due to near absence of ammonoids in the early part of the Cretaceous succession of the Indian peninsular basins (except for 2 to 3 levels


72 | P a g e

in late Early Cretaceous part in Kachchh, Jaisalmer and Cauveri basins) and ignorance of relatively better developed Early Cretaceous successions of Tethyan Himalayan belt in view of its being hazardous terrain (normally exposed at high altitude of 4500 to 5500 m). It has also been observed that the ammonoid data so far available from different Cretaceous basins in India inclusive of Tethyan Himalayan regions are hardly of any bio-chronostratigraphic significance even for stage level differentiation.

Recently during a pilot sampling, we collected about 30 ammonoid specimens from 7 levels of ~290 m thick sedimentary succession of Giumal and Chikkim Formations exposed near the village Chichim of the Spiti valley. The preliminary studies of these ammonoid specimens have been resulted into the identification of the genera Odontodiscoceras, Berriasella, Olcostephanus, Colombiceras, Deshayesites and a few others ranging in age from Berriasian to Early Aptian. The genera Colombiceras and Deshayesites are here reported for the first time from Indian subcontinent. The beginning of Cretaceous (base of Berriasian) in Spiti Valley is marked with the first appearance of Odontodiscoceras which coincides with the base of the Giumal Formation. The beginning of the overlying Valanginian Stage has been safely placed with first appearance of Olcostephanus while the

first appearance of Deshayesites and Colombiceras, the well known Early Aptian index genera of the Tethyan realm, definitely marks the beginning of Early Aptian . The work is still in progress in context of differentiation of Hauterivian and Berremian stages of Early Cretaceous.

In view of the above record, the Giumal Formation is here assigned Berriasian – early Early Aptian age contrary to Late Valanginian to Albian in earlier works. Further, the presence of Deshayesites upto the youngest part of the Chikkim Limestone Member of Chikkim Formation suggests the Early Aptian age to this unit. Based on our personal observation the Chikkim Shale Member, the youngest unit of the Chikkim Formation (youngest exposed Tethyan sediments in the Spiti Valley) should not be assigned younger than Late Aptian Age. Therefore, the age of Chikkim Formation is here also suggested as Aptian instead of Cenomanian to Maastritchian (Late Cretaceous) in the earlier works.

The relatively less disturbed Early Cretaceous sedimentary successions with frequent occurrence of index ammonoids at regular interval are exposed in the Spiti Valley. The detailed ammonoid biostratigraphic studies of the successions will help not only to differentiate all the 6 stages of the Early Cretaceous but also their further subdivisions into zones and their correlation with the standard Tethyan bio-chronostratigraphic scale.

.


73 | P a g e

Measurement and monitoring of fractional changes in temperature of underground water Pathan, A.J.1* and Kanhe, R.2 1Dept. of Physics and Electronics, Maulana Azad College, Aurangabad 2Dept. of Instrumentation, MIT, Aurangabad *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Due to various reasons and sub

crustal activities and movement, huge amount of stresses builds up in earth’s crust. The stress is generally reflected in the form of production of heat energy. First medium to receive and absorb heat energy is the underground water coming in contact with these systems. The heated water then comes to the surface of the water body. Thus accurate measurement of temperature at the surface of underground water plays very important role in understanding the crustal stress build up due to tectonic movements or crustal deformations due to any reason. Similarly change in the temperature of the underground water can tell us about the magnitude of the stress present and its temporal behavior

In the present work the temperature of underground water of a

domestic bore well is measured using a precision integrated circuit temperature transducer LM35. A fixed temperature signal is subtracted from the received signal and the difference is amplified to a suitable level using low noise circuit. The difference signal is recorded with time. A small change in temperature that is not measurable in direct reading of temperature is available for the analysis. This difference signal is converted to digital using a dual 12 bit ADC MCP3202.The interface circuit is designed for automatic recording it digitally using ATMEL 802051 microcontroller via a standard USB connectivity for a computer. Recorded signal and the change are saved in a file for further analysis. The software is developed in Visual Basic for attractive and user friendly GUI.


74 | P a g e

First report of feather features from impact melt breccia, Dhala impact structure, India-a diagnostic evidence of impact cratering at low shock pressures Pati, J.K. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211003 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Feather features (FF) are a newly

discovered impact diagnostic microstructure developed at low shock pressures (~7 and 10 GPa). FF are so far reported from about 32 different impact structures all over the world and are also observed in hypervelocity impact experiments. The formation of FF is linked to their development due to shearing associated with planar fractures (PF). This is the first report of FF from Dhala impact structure (N25°17'52.9", E78°08'28.91").

Dhala impact structure of Paleoproterozoic age with a minimum estimated diameter of about 11 km is one of the 184 confirmed impact structures known worldwide and the largest complex structure from the SE Asia. Dhala is the second confirmed impact structure in India, after the 1.88 km diameter Lonar crater (Buldhana district, Maharastra state) of 570 ± 47 ka age. Dhala is a deeply eroded remnant of a large impact structure occurring on an Archean crystalline basement (Bundelkhand granitoid; 2563 ± 6 Ma). The Dhala structure is partially covered, in its central portions, by post-impact sediments presumed to belong to the Vindhyan Supergroup (1729±110 Ma). The target rocks are predominantly composed of different textural variants of granitoids with enclaves of older metasupracrustals (calc-silicate rocks, quartzite, amphibolite). Impact melt

breccia occurs above fractured ranitoid basement with a sharp but undulatory contact. Mineral and lithic clasts in the impact melt breccia contain abundant unequivocal evidences of shock metamorphism. The surrounding target rocks are variably fractured. Suevite breccia occurs between impact melt breccia and overlying post-impact sediments with a diffused to undulatory contact. The confirmation of Dhala impact structure was based on the presence of one to five sets of PDF (planar deformation features) in quartz and feldspar, besides ballen quartz, checkerboard feldspar, and granular zircon. The shock pressure estimate based on PDF orientation, EBSD (electron back-scattered diffraction) studies, presence of high pressure mineral polymorphs and complete rock melting indicate a pressure range between 20 and 60 GPa.

A dark greenish grey coloured clast-bearing melt breccia (melt: clast=70:30) unit of about 50 cm length was intersected at a depth of 497.23 m (MCB-10 borehole). Petrographic study showed the presence of mineral, lithic and melt clasts in a pale to dark brown coloured variably recrystallized fine grained melt matrix. The diagnostic evidence of impact is observed in quartz (± toasted type) clasts with single to multiple sets of decorated PDF in an impact melt breccia. In a toasted quartz grain (1500 × 950 μm2) having


75 | P a g e

multiple sets of PDF, two converging planar fractures (PF) at ~40° are observed. One of them is associated with FF occurring as 10 to 20μm long lamellae and lie at an angle of 60 to 70° to the PF. The FF lamellae are observed to emanate from one side of the PF and the angle (PFΛFF)

formed close in the direction of shear. The F indexing is in progress and shall be published elsewhere.The present finding is extremely significant in configuring shock pressure variation with depth and demonstrating grain-scale shock pressure heterogeneity as well.


76 | P a g e

Ground penetrating radar study of fluvial facies assemblage in parts of the Middle Gangetic plains: An implication to foreland basin tectonics Pati, P.1*, Parkash, B.2, Awasthi, A. K.3 and Jakhmola, R.P.4 1 *Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, 2 Flowerdale Colony, Ludhiana, Punjab, 3Graphic Era University, Dehradun, 4 ONGC Ahmedabad *Corresponding authos e-mail: [email protected]

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) study was carried out on the gandak megafan and the Gandak-Kosi interfan area in the Middle Gangetic plain of the Indo-Gangetic foreland basin. The study recorded the facies changes in the tectonically active fluvial depositional environment. Frequent change of channel courses were also well reflected in the radar facies. GPR studies I the paleochannels indicate the upper part is mud dominated and the basal part of the channels are sand dominated which points out the abandonment stage due to tectonic readjustment. Gradual shifting of channels is represented by lateral channel accretions with distinct change in channel course well recorded in the GPR profiles. The flood plains show both alternate sequences of

sand and mud facies. This fluvial environment is affected by few surface faults which too influence the sedimentation pattern of the area. Upstream accretion and down stream accretion of channels sediments are well distinguished in the profile before and after the faults, respectively. The older Gandak River underlying the terminal fan sediments, consists of braid bar deposits formed due to stoppage of migration of dunes or deposition in upper plain bed phase and sigmoidal to trough cross-bedded sand in deeper anabranches in the lower art. In the upper part lateral accretion, upstream/ downstream accretions are very commonly seen.


77 | P a g e

Structural Modelling based on Seismic Reflection Profiles and hydrocarbon potential, Tripura-Cachar fold-thrust belt Pattanayak, S.1*, Agarwal, P.1, Mishra, P.2 and Mukhopadhyay, D.K.1 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Jubilant Energy Limited, Noida, Noida-201301 * Corresponding author e- mail: [email protected]

Tripura-Cachar Fold-Thrust-Belt is the frontal part of the Assam-Arakan-Yoma belt. It is a N-S trending prominent tectonic feature in NE-India, originated as a result of collision between Indian plate and Burman plate. It has a complex tectonic history and thus it is very critical to understand the geometry and evolution of structures in various scales. As other fold-belts, it is characterized by numerous thrusts and thrust-related folds. Due to difficult logistics and political instabilities, the details of the structures in this region are yet to be fully understood.

This fold-thrust belt is known to be rich in hydrocarbon. So, any quantitative or qualitative study of the regional structures should be carried out with kinematically valid structural modeling using limited available data. This requirement can be fulfilled by constructing balanced cross-sections in the tectonic transport direction (here, E to W), as the structures are better quantifiable when viewed in this direction. Cross-sections can be prepared from surface map, stratigraphic data along with seismic data, if available. When seismic images are not definitive and detailed surface mapping is difficult in an area then, the only way solution can be found through modelling and balancing sections using kinematics of fault-related folds. This needs constructing cross-sections from incomplete data by interpolation and

extrapolation and several iterations. The testing of any of the interpretations is done by validating the sections. This whole set of works being tedious and time consuming, needs to be performed in softwares like 2D Move. Both forward and reverse modelling can be adopted for constructing balanced cross-sections. Modelling and restoration of sections reveals many interesting facts about the structures like evolution, fracture formation and fluid migration paths, possible traps and shortening which are crucial for hydrocarbon exploration.

In this work surface geological maps and a set of seismic reflection profiles have been used for structural modeling and section construction work using 2DMove software. The first and necessary step was to prepare the raw data for further interpretation. The geological map was imported and subsequently digitized in Move. The seismic data were imported in SEGY format and in time domain. The SEGY data were depth converted using average velocities of rock formations, and horizontal and vertical scales were rendered equal so as to avoid any vertical exaggeration. Aster-DEM were downloaded from NASA site and analyzed in ArcGIS in order to check if there is any relation between topography and large-scale structure and to draw topographic profiles along the seismic


78 | P a g e

lines. Any structural model developed, needed to conform to the available data, e.g., surface contacts, seismic data and topographic profiles.

Structures in Tripura-Cachar region are mostly found to be Detachment folds having straight limbs and broad hinges which follow parallel fold geometry. But, the difference lies in the amount of slip along detachments. In Tripura region, the anticlinal folds are separated from each other by wide synclines such that the anticlines are independent of each other. This suggests small amount of slip at each each stage of movement on the detachment. The Cachar region is characterized by a system of anticlines interfering with each other, i.e., the intervening synclines are narrow suggesting higher amount of slip on the detachment. In Tripura region the fold geometry can be explained by asymmetrical, low amplitude (1.5-2 km) to wavelengths (10-11 km) ratio, gentle limb dips varying between10-250. In Cachar

region folds are characterized by steeper limbs (200-600), higher amplitude to wavelengths ratio. A total shortening of 2-4% in Tripura region and up to 14% in Cachar region is accommodated by folding within the sections. The detachment lies within or at the base of the Lower Bhuban formation in the Tripura area. The detachment in Cachar region lies at a deeper level at the top of Disang Group. The geometry of these folds indicates that they can offer much space for hydrocarbon storage and could be effective structural traps for most of the hydrocarbon reserves in this region. The source rock is expected to be Disang Shale and in part Barail which are found to be at depths of about 8-9 kms and 4-5kms respectively, below surface in the sections. So, they are expected to reach sufficient maturation to fall in gas (1000-2000C) and oil (600-1200C) windows respectively. The Bhuban Formation serves as reservoirs for hydrocarbon with Bokabil shale and clay/shale units within Bhuban acting as Seal.

.


79 | P a g e

Ecological significance of Ocypode Crab burrows: A case study from Chandipur, Eastern Coast of India Paul, J.1*, Mondal, S.2 1 Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India 2Department of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Three major morphological

features of the Ocypode crab burrows were studied in detail from the Chandipur beach, Orissa, and their possible ecological implications were described. Statistically significant difference in burrow diameters between the foreshore and the backshore can be explained by the distinct zonation of adult and young individuals across the beach. Almost all of the openings of inclined burrows were orientated towards the land, thus rejecting the null hypothesis

of random orientation, in order to stabilize their domicile from the tidal activities. A strong negative correlation between burrow inclinations and diameters is related to the crab energetics: a crab must expend minimum energy to create a dwelling burrow. In fossil record, these types of information can be useful in identifying a paleocommunity of Ocypode crabs in relation to the existing paleoecologic and paleogeographic setups (e.g., sea level, tidal activity, beach facies, etc.).


80 | P a g e

Implications of the Current seismicity pattern in the Central Seismic Gap of the Northwest Himalaya, India Paul, A., Prasath, A.R.*, Negi, S.S., Gosain, R.S., Dungriyal, R., Dungriyal, M. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun – 248001 *Correspondin author e-mail: [email protected]

A network of ten Broad Band

Seismograph (BBS) has been installed in the Garhwal Himalayan region of the Central Seismic Gap (CSG), Northern India during June/July, 2007. Each station equipped with trillium 240 Seismometer, and connected to the Central Recording Station (CRS), Dehradun through VSAT. The Central Seismic Gap of the Northwest Himalaya is located between the ruptured zones of the 1905 Kangra earthquake of 7.8 M and the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 8.1 M. The CSG is yet to release the accumulated strain energy and it has the potential to generate a great earthquake with 52 % probability. This network has been established to monitor and analyze the seismicity variations of the region and its implications. Here, we discuss about the present seismicity scenario of the region viz. b-value, Vp-Vs ratio, Spatio-temporal variations, Swarm activity and Migration of

the seismicity. The epicentral location map shows that the seismicity in the CSG is concentrated in a narrow seismicity zone south of the main Central Thrust zone (MCT zone) and follows the out of sequence model, but the hypocenters are highly concentrated to the Main Himalayan Thrust, rather than the MCT zone. The b value for the events of the study region has decreased in recent times. This decreasing nature indicating an increase in stress accumulation, but the Vp/Vs curve does not show any earthquake precursory signature for the period of six years between July, 2007 and June, 2013. One of the precursory signals i.e Swarm activities has been reported in the region earlier. Migration of seismicity towards northeast has also been observed. More data is still required to delineate probable zone for future big earthquake.


81 | P a g e

Structural control of Uranium mineralisation in Rajasthan Porwal, P.*, Basu, S. and Mukhopadhyay, D.K. 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

There is a widespread occurrence

of albitite and bilithic albitite breccia in the southern part of Khetri copper belt of Rajasthan along the ‘albitite line’. This is a 170 km long NE-SW trending zone. Deep fractures related to Proterozoic intracontinental rifting supposedly tapped deep-seated magma chambers and provided the channel ways for albitite emplacement and soda metasomatism. This line coincides with Kaliguman lineament in South Delhi fold belt and with Khetri lineament in North Delhi fold belt which demonstrates the dependence of albitization on tectonism. Shear fracture controlled Uranium mineralisation follow a NNE-SSW trend confined within the pink albitites at Rohil and Hurra-Ki-Dhani area known as uraniferous soda metasomatised rocks.

All coarse fault rocks (30% of clasts larger than 2 mm) should be termed breccia, irrespective of their primary or present state of cohesion. Fault breccia is a common product along upper crustal fault zones, particularly in the top few kilometres of crust, where the potential for dilational strain increases the range of breccia formation processes. Enhanced permeability created in breccia zones is important in channelling crustal fluids, sometimes metalliferous or hydrocarbon-rich. Three criteria for distinguishing breccias: the absence of primary cohesion, the amount of matrix or cement, and proportion of clasts. Fault breccia can be

cohesive or incohesive, foliated or non-foliated, and can contain small clasts, fine-grained matrix or a crystalline cement in any relative proportions. Fault breccia can be subdivided, according to how well the clasts fit together, into crackle, mosaic and chaotic breccia. Crackle breccia has >75% clasts, mosaic breccia 60–75% clasts, and chaotic breccia has <60% clasts.

The uranium mineralisation has taken place by hydrothermal process in bilithic albite- breccia zone whose depth extent is not very well constrained. Fault breccias are largely random fabric rock products of friction dominate faulting that occurs in the top 10-15 km. The fault breccias have always gained importance for widespread occurrences of such hydrothermal mineralisation, but there is no well established genetic classification of these fault breccias that can help us draw a relation between the type of breccias and the pattern of mineralization that occurs within them. Careful study of the breccia geometry, and fragment morphology helps us to distinguish the type of fault breccias which can allow us an insight to the mechanism of the faulting which further may help us to determine a relation that governs the pattern of mineralisation. The fault breccia in which the uranium mineralisation has taken place is dominantly composed of clast with very small amount of matrix. These fragment clasts are well rounded but generally don’t show any evidence of rounding due to


82 | P a g e

aberration. Generally the breccias that are associated with hydrothermal mineralisation are formed due to hydraulic fracturing but such mechanism results in formation of very angular jigsaw breccias. Moreover such mechanism occurs at comparatively greater depth than those found in Rajasthan. Thus the mechanism of the formation of the fault breccias in this region draws a lot of attention. It can be suggested that rounding of the clasts in this region is not of the physical nature but may be of the chemical nature following which, it can be stated that the rocks may have undergone volume expansion mechanism and the clast have become rounded due to some chemical reaction that has taken

place between the clast and the associated fluid. The fluid rock interaction can give an insight to the vein environment and the structural setting which may help during the early stage of exploration.

Structurally controlld Uranite –Molybdenite-Chalcopyrite mineralisation is hosted by these albitites and albite breccias in Hurra-Ki-Dhani and Maota-Jahaz area of north Delhi-fold belt of Rajasthan. Core samples from these areas are being studied using petrographic microscope and XRD techniques to understand the evolution of albitite breccia with well-rounded clasts and its relationship with Uranium mineralisation.


83 | P a g e

Geodetic and Geophysical constraint of the source of Mw 6.9 Sikkim Himalaya Earthquake and its aftershocks Prajapati, S.K.1*, Arora, B.R.1 and Reddy, C.D.2 1Center for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi 2Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Navi Mumbai *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The GPS data from the Sikkim and

Nepal Himalaya, recorded since 2011, are processed to estimate the coseismic deformation and nature of stress change in association with the recent earthquake of Mw 6.9 on September 18, 2011. We also investigate the effect of static stress changes produced by the Sikkim earthquake and its aftershocks, located mostly in the southeastern, of epicenter termination of the earthquake rupture.

Spatial distribution of Coulomb stress change and coseismic displacement

calculated using earthquake parameters and constrained by GPS measurements indicate stress change of 5 MPa near hypocenter. The Coulomb stress change pattern favors localization of aftershocks to increased static stress regime. Further available geophysical data (Gravity and MT) constrain the aftershocks activity and source fault of Sikkim earthquake and confirm that the focal depth of the mainshock was ~ 20 km where as deeper source of aftershocks falls over the MCTZ.


84 | P a g e

Geotechnical site investigations by geophysical survey Pratap, B., Varughese, A., and Haridev Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected])

Engineering geophysical methods

are widely accepted for deciphering subsurface stratigraphy including for inferring the quality of rock. This information is required for designing the foundations for the civil structures economically. The geophysical surveys comprising of seismic refraction and electrical resistivity were conducted for the construction of proposed new spillway for Kabrai Dam, Arjun Sahayak Project, District, Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh.

The aim of the survey was to provide and evaluate the thickness and quality of the overburden and characteristics of the bedrock profile, along the surveyed seismic lines. The survey results are presented in P-wave velocity profiles with reduced level. These profiles may assist to decipher the subsurface stratigraphy, bedrock quality and weak zone in bed rock with depth in the area of interest. The geoelectrical sounding delineate the subsurface geological formation and correlation of lithologs.

It was found that the P- wave velocity of the first layer was 700/1000- 1400 m/sec, which was the general P- wave velocity of overburden and highly weathered rock. The P- wave velocity of the second layer was 4900 -5300 m/sec. From geoseismic section interpretation it is confirmed that the first layer consists of overburden and highly weathered rock, second layer consists of bed rock of very good quality. The depth of the first layer varied from 5 m to 12 m. It was also observed that the P- wave velocity of the second layer was 2500-4100 m/sec, which was the P- wave velocity of weak zone in bed rock.

This paper describes the utility of seismic refraction and geoelectrical sounding techniques and presents the results with conclusions based on present investigations. The geophysical methods employed at the project site proved to be very useful, quick and economical for geotechnical site investigation for construction of new spill way.


85 | P a g e

Geology, geochemistry and genesis of Banded Iron Formation of Noamundi-Koira Basin, Singhbhum- Odisha Craton, Eastern India Priyadarshi, H.* and Alvi, S.H. Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P., India, 202002 * Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The Banded Iron-Formation (BIF)

in the Noamundi-Koira Basin (NKB) forms a horseshoe shaped synclinorium. The lithological succession consists of the lower volcanogenic facies (Lower Shale Formation) peripheral to the basin margin, the middle chemogenic facies represented by Banded Hematite Jasper (BHJ), Banded Hematite Quartzite (BHQ), and the upper clastic facies represented by Upper Shale Formation (USF) which occurs in the core of the basin. Divergent views exist on the age and stratigraphic correlation of the NKB perhaps due to lack of chronological data. Metavolcanic rocks of Bonai range occur as the lowermost formation of the NKB and at many places it conformably grades into Lower Shale Formation (LSF). The LSF devoid of Fe or Mn ore deposits is represented by tuff and tuffaceous shale (phyllite). Higher concentration of K2O, TiO2, MgO and Al2O3 and small scale primary structures attest their volcano-sedimentary affinity. The middle unit is about 400 meter thick BIF that conformably overlies the LSF.

The USF occurring in the center of the NKB is comprised of mixed chemical- clastic sedimentary facies. It conformably overlies the BIF.The layered, lensoid, lateritoid and vein type Mn ore bodies are associated with USF.

More than 50% of Indian iron ore reserves occur in this craton.These deposits could have formed as a result of the supergene enrichment through gradual but

extensive removal of silica, alumina and phosphorous from banded iron formations and ferruginous shale. The geological complexities of banded iron formation (BIF) and associated iron deposits of (NKB) Singhbhum- Odisha Craton eastern India have been studied in detail. The geological and mineralogical characterization suggests that the Cherty Banded Iron- Formation (CBIF) and Shaley Banded Iron-Formation (SBIF) had a genetic lineage from BIFs aided with certain input from hydrothermal activity. Mineralogical studies reveal magnetite as the principal iron oxide mineral, whose depositional history is preserved in BHJ, where it remains in the form of pyrite, and the hematite is mainly the product of martite. The CBIF has been formed in the second phase of supergene processes, where the deep burial upgrades the hydrous iron oxides to hematite. The SBIF is syngenetic origin with BHJ. SBIF was formed where further precipitation of iron was partial or absent. Microscopic studies of CBIF indicate the presence of hematite and goethite, while SBIF show a concentration of goethite, kaolinite, gibbsite and Hematite. The Post Australian Archean Shale (PAAS) normalized REE patterns of NKB BIF sticking positive Eu anomaly, resembling those of modern hydrothermal solutions from Mid- Oceanic Ridge (MOR). Major part of the iron could have been added to the bottom sea water by


86 | P a g e

hydrothermal solutions derived from hydrothermally active anoxic marine environments. The ubiquitous presence of intercalated tuffaceous shales indicates the volcanic signature in BIF. The geochemistry indicates that the CBIF have high iron, low alumina and phosphorous

contents. However, SBIF are low in iron high in Alumina and phosphorous contents. The Ni-Zn-Co triangular plot is used to distinguish that these elements were derived either from volcanic exhalative and submarine hydrothermal sources or from hydrogenous sources.


87 | P a g e

Metamorphic evolution of Bhilwara supracrustal rocks, Rajasthan Rakshit, N.* and Saha, L. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Aravalli Delhi Belt of Rajasthan is a NNW-SSE trending tectonic lineament in the western part of the Indian subcontinent. The oldest rock unit in the terrain is the Banded Gneissic Complex (BGC) is classified into BGC-I and BGC-II. BGC-I mostly consists of the Archaean (~3.0-2.5 Ga) tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite gneisses and occur along the south-eastern part of the belt. BGC-II also comprises of Archaean crustal components, but they have been subsequently reworked during the Mesoproterozoic and Grenvillian orogenesis as recorded from the high-grade Sandmata Complex. BGC-I is considered to be the basement for depositions of the sedimentary rock units of the Aravalli Supergroup (~1.8 Ga) and the Delhi Supergroup (~1.6 Ga). Bhilwara Supracrustal units occur as inliers within the Aravalli Supergroup, along the eastern fringe of the Sandmata Complex. These supracrustal rocks, mostly comprise of garnet-sillimanite-biotite gneisses, calc-silicate gneisses, amphibolites, garnet-staurolite schists and host a NE-SW trending Pb-Zn-Cu mineralized belt, latter extending from Khetri in north to Zawar in south. Two schools of thought exist with regards to the status of the Bhilwara supracrustal units with respect to the stratigraphy of the Aravalli-Delhi belt: (i) Bhilwara supracrustal units are part of the Aravalli Supergroup, as both the units have similar structural history, (ii) the Bhilwara supracrustals are the components of BGC-

I. On the basis of U-Pb monazite ages, two metamorphic events (at ~1.6 and 1.0 Ga) have been constrained from the pelitic gneisses of the Bhilwara Group in the Rampura-Agucha mine and correlated them with the two granulite facies events, (M1 at 8 kbar and M2 at 14 kbar), from the Sandmata Complex. Limited thermo-barometric (plagioclase-hornblende thermometry and sphalerite barometry) data available from the Bhilwara supracrustal rocks in the Rampura-Agucha and Rajpura-Dariba mine areas on the other hand indicate a single metamorphic event with peak P-T conditions of ~6.2 kbar, 780ºC along a clockwise P-T path. So the existing metamorphic studies from the area do not explain: (i) multistage metamorphic evolution of the Bhilwara supracrustals in terms of their detailed P-T history, (ii) correlation of these metamorphic events with that recorded from the two stage granulite facies metamorphic events reported from the Sandmata Complex.

In order to address these points, in this study we have conducted detailed petrological studies from the pelitic schists and gneisses of the Bhilwara Supracrustal units from the Rampura-Agucha and Rajpura-Dariba mines in Rajasthan. The metapelites from the Rampura-Agucha mine consists of garnet-sillimanite-biotite-potash feldspar-quartz. Garnet occurs as porphyroblasts containing inclusion trails of sillimanitebiotite-quartz. The garnet inclusion trails are parallel to the matrix


88 | P a g e

foliation (consisting of biotitesillimanite), indicating synkinematic growth of garnet. Potash feldspar occurs as coarse grains in the matrix, which are often elongated and contain inclusion trails of biotite-sillimanite-quartz. Synkinematic growth of garnet and potash feldspar in the rock indicates occurrence of following reaction during peak metamorphism: Biotite + Sillimanite + Quartz → Garnet + Potash feldspar + vapor/melt------(1)

The reaction proceeds with increase in temperature up to 750-800ºC at ~7-8 kbar, thus indicating peak metamorphic conditions. Along the grain margins and fractures, garnet is replaced by biotite-sillimanite, indicating post-peak cooling and retrogression.

The metapelites from the Rajpura-Dariba mine area consists of (i) garnet-staurolitekyanite-biotite-muscovite-quartz, (ii) garnet-staurolite-cordierite-muscovite-biotite±potash feldspar+quartz. Cordierite occurs as coarse porphyroclasts and mostly breakdown to garnetstaurolite. Matrix foliations are formed by biotite-quartz. Growth of garnet-straurolite porphyroclats are synkinematic with matrix foliations. Kyanite porphyroclasts often overgrow matrix foliations. Mineral assemblages indicate formation of cordierite by

following reaction: Biotite + Muscovite + Quartz → Cordierite + Potash feldspar + Vapor ------- (2)

The reaction proceeds with increase in temperature (up to ~600ºC) at ~4 kbar. Formation of garnet-staurolite±kyanite bearing assemblage by breakdown of cordierite indicates an increase in pressure from 4-8 kbar at ~600-650ºC during peak metamorphism.

Hence in contrary our study suggests single stage metamorphism from both Rajpura-Dariba and Rampura-Agucha areas. The grade of metamorphism increases from amphibolites facies in the Rajpura-Dariba to upper amphibolite-granulite facies in the Rampura-Agucha area. Such observation possibly indicates effect of Grenvillian orogeny in the Sandmata Complex. However such conclusions need to be established further from determinations of detailed P-T paths from the high-grade rocks of Bhilwara units. So we propose more detailed metamorphic studies from the samples (described here), on the basis of mineral chemistry, thermo-barometry and computational phase equilibria supported further by geochronological studies, in order to decipher tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Bhilwara units.


89 | P a g e

Innovative use of Engineering Geophysical for Site Investigations Rana, S. Director, PARSAN Overseas Private Limited, New Delhi, INDIA Corresponding author- email: [email protected]

Any major construction work like

power plants, high rise buildings, bridges etc., calls for a well-considered approach in view of the restricted timeframe and finance. In planning and development of project adequate knowledge of the geotechnical conditions at site is important besides the other factors that are involved. Application of tools and techniques that are helpful in enhancing efficiency of the geotechnical evaluation study is therefore preferable.

Engineering geophysics is an efficient means of subsurface investigation. The merit of application of this low cost aid lies in its ease of deployment and rapidity in providing a reliable knowledge of the underground over a large area, substantiating the requisite geotechnical evaluation studies thereby. Technological advancements and development of portable digital data acquisition instrument systems have increased the versatility in evaluating underground conditions and site characterization.

The state-of-the-art subsurface geophysical investigations are helpful towards minimizing involvement of the conventional direct exploration methods, aiding in accelerated and economical development of the construction projects. It is an established fact that a single geophysical method cannot resolve all the problems associated with subsurface investigations. As an example, seismic refraction cannot ‘see’ low velocity zones

under rock interface, which might be present under certain geological conditions. There is therefore need for integrated application of various geophysical techniques like seismic refraction, resistivity imaging, ReMi, Crosshole/ downhole/ uphole seismic and seismic reflection, to determine various properties of subsurface like bedrock quality and depth, low velocity zones (even under rock interface), fault/ fracture/ shear zones, water lenses, tunnel route geology etc. Present paper discusses certain unique applications of these geophysical methods in conditions generally considered to be adverse to such applications. The discussed cases include: 1. Integrated Geophysical approach for

investigation and monitoring of dams 2. Electrical Resistivity Tomography to

detect cavity in sandstone, conducted on exposed sandstone, which is considered difficult due to absence of top soil to put electrodes.

3. Streaming Potential Survey (in combination with electrical tomography, GPR, ReMi and Seismic Refraction) on dam top having 1m thick concrete slab, posing problems for contact of porous pots.

4. Geophysical investigations across flowing river, having floating electrodes.

5. Geophysical surveys to detect leakages from water pipelines.


90 | P a g e

The objective of paper is to demonstrate efficacy of various techniques with little innovation in field procedures. The paper

also briefly touched on present use of engineering geophysics in India and way forward.


91 | P a g e

Mine fire and land use/land cover change assessment of Jharia coalfield area using Geoinformatics Rani, N.* and Akhouri, P.K. Department of Remote Sensing, Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi – 835215, Jharkhand *Corresponding author- email: [email protected]

Jharia is one of the major coal

producing areas of India having severe problem of underground mine fires. Mine fires can burn for very long periods of time until the seam in which they smoulder is exhausted. Mine fire also affects the quality of land and its fertility. The fertility of land is mostly affected by extensive and rapid underground and opencast mining. This study discusses the remote sensing techniques used for estimating the temperature of the ground surface directly above subsurface coal fires with the help of TM6 and TM7 data of Landsat TM and study of degradation in Jharia coalfield using land-use mapping and identification of time-sequential changes in land-use patterns.

Landsat TM of 1992 and 2011 of November month was used for the study. In the Jharia coalfield, it is noted that subsurface fires in various coal mines were associated with surface thermal anomalies. TM6 and TM7 data was used for estimating Land surface Temperature. TM7 data helped to map the highest anomalous

value and with the help of that, TM6 highest pixel data was obtained. It was observed that from the Landsat TM scene (Nov 1992), the kinetic temperature ranged from 25.89˚C to 34.80˚C and for the Landsat TM scene (Nov 2011), the kinetic temperature ranged from 32.31˚C to 38.44˚C in the Jharia coalfield. Topography of the study area was generated by DEM, which also helped in the estimation of surface temperatures. Surface fire also creates degradation in the environment. The land use and land cover classification of two different years indicated the degradation and change percentage between the data of two periods of reference i.e. 1992 and 2011. Supervised classification was used for classification of land use and land cover, change detection was the next step for obtaining the final result. NDVI was also one of the important steps of classification. Increase and decrease percentage of any feature for the periods of reference was calculated by percentage change method.


92 | P a g e

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment of NW Himalaya and its adjoining region Rout, M. M.1, Das, J.1 and Kamal2 1Department of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India 2Department of Earth sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Northwest Himalaya falls within

seismic zone IV and V of the seismic hazard zonation map of India. It is due to continent-continent collision between the Indian and the Eurasian plate. For seismic hazard assessment, it is important to assess the quality, consistency and homogeneity of the seismicity data. In this study we collected the earthquake data from different sources and General orthogonal regression relation is used to convert different magnitude scales into a single moment magnitude scale. The NW Himalaya and its adjoining region are divided into twenty two seismic source zones based upon the seismicity, tectonics of the region and focal mechanism. The seismicity parameters for each zone have been calculated.

The maximum magnitude for each source zone also estimated. Different region specific attenuation equations have been used for seismic hazard assessment. Standard procedure for PSHA has been adopted for this study and peak ground motion are estimated for 10% and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years at the bed rock level. For 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years, the PGA values vary from 0.09g to 0.39g considering varying ܾ-value.In case of 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years, the PGA varies between 0.10g to 0.69g considering varying ܾ-values.Higher PGA values are observed in the southeast part region situated around Kaurik Fault System (KFS) and parts of Nepal and some part of Jammu and Kashmir.


93 | P a g e

Origin of Corundum in the high magnesium-aluminium phlogopite-chlorite schist from the Bundelkhand Craton, India

Saha, L.1, Pati, J. K.2 and Nasipuri, P.3* 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Allahabad, Allahabad-211003 3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal-462030 *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The natural processes accountable

for the formation of corundum (Crn) megacrysts have received attentions principally due to the economic importance of corundum in the gem industry. Corundum megacrysts are found in a wide range of metamorphic rocks. Depending on the effective bulk chemistry, Crn is also stable under a wide range of P and T conditions. Al2O3 is considered as an immobile element under the subsolidus conditions and only small grains of Crn are formed during metamorphism. Although, the occurrence of Crn megacrysts has been reported from several high-grade metamorphic terrains, the genesis of Crn crystals (> 1 cm) is still an enigma for the metamorphic petrologists. In this article, we suggest a possible mechanism for the formation of Crn megacrysts from the recently discovered Neoarchaean rocks of the Buldelkhand craton, north central India.

The Bundelkhand Craton (BC) is exposed over an area of 30,000 km2 in the north-central India. The dominant lithologies in the BC are variably deformed granitoids with supracrustal slivers comprising Banded Iron Formations with inter-bedded quartzites, calc-silicate gneisses, ultramafic rocks of komatiitic affinity, amphibolites, pillow lavas, and volcaniclastic meta - sediments. Hitherto

available radiometric dates indicate that the oldest rock in the BC is the Baghora trondhjemitic gneiss occurring south of Babina (Rb–Sr whole rock isochron age of 3,503 ± 99 Ma). The granitiods intruding the older TTG gneisses and the supracrustal units yield U-Pb radiometric ages of 2.4-2.5 Ga, suggesting the stabilization age of the craton.

The Crn-bearing white coloured (quartz-free) schists, a part of the supracrustal sequence, occur in a 2.0 m2 outcrop in the Chaurara Reserve Forest, Babina. The contact relations between the schist and the surrounding rocks are obscured principally due to soil cover, dense vegetation and poor exposure conditions of the rocks. The Crn occurs as isolated porphyroblasts that are rimmed by fine grained intergrowth of outer layer of phengitic-muscovite and chlorite and an inner layer of margarite-muscovite. The matrix foliation is formed by interlayered phlogopite-chlorite. The P-T pseudosection analysis of effective bulk composition indicates the formation of outer phengitic muscovite-chlorite corona at 2.0 GPa at 6300C and the inner layer of margarite-muscovite at 1.1 to 1.4 GPa under nearly isothermal condition. The lack of inclusions in the Crn megacrysts severely constrains any unambiguous conclusion


94 | P a g e

pertaining to their formation based on microscopic study alone.

P-T pseudosection based on the high pressure melting of feldspar from the adjoining tonalitic gneiss indicates that under water saturated condition feldspar begins to melt at pressure > 1.3 GPa at about 7500C. With increasing pressure and temperature, feldspar melts completely to form Crn, Zo and silicate melt. The isopleths of Crn-forming reaction and the flat slope of the feldspar consuming reaction indicate that the formation of Crn with increase of pressure is consistent with the observations made from incongruent melting reaction of feldspar.

The overgrowth of mica over the Crn megacrysts again indicates the influx of K2O-rich fluid, probably due to emplacement of K-rich granites in the adjoining regions.

The influx of fluid will also increase the mobility of SiO2 and the relative concentration of Al2O3 compared to SiO2. The increase in the per-alumonisity in the melt also enhances the crystal growth of Crn. Thus, we suggest that the Crn megacrysts in the white schists provide the evidence of high pressure melting of feldspar at the Neoarchean time.


95 | P a g e

Origin and Evolution of Mineralizing Fluids Related to Auriferous Quartz Veins of Gopur Prospect, Keonjhar Region, Odisha: Inferences from Mineralogical and Fluid Inclusion Studies Sahoo, A.K.*, Behera, D.K. and Krishnamurthi, R. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, Uttarakand *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Geological Survey of India (GSI)

indicated five important domains in Odisha for gold prospecting after detailed geological exploration: I. Badampahar- Gorumahisani greenstone belt, II) Tomka-Daitari to Jamda- Koira- Noamundi belt, III) possible Archean greenstone in Bonai craton, IV) Bengpal Group granitoids and their contact with Eastern Ghat granulite, and V) Early Proterozoic successions of Gangpur/ Singhbhum Group and basal Dhanjori group. As a result, several gold prospects were encountered and Gopur prospect of Keonjhar region is one of the promising prospects within the Dhanjori Group of rocks.

Auriferous quartz veins in Gopur area are found to occur within metavolcanic rocks (Malangtoli lava, 2300 Ma) of Dhanjori group. Argilllitic and chloritic alteration adjacent to the veins were reported by earlier workers. Asenopyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrite are the dominant opaque minerals present in the vein system. During the present study visible gold grains have not been observed. But 1 to 10 g/t of gold value has been reported by DGM, Odisha. So, it is inferred that gold is present within crystal lattice of sulfide minerals (arsenopyrite and pyrite).

Fluid inclusion petrography of the quartz samples indicates four types primary fluid inclusions: I) aqueous, II) CO2- rich, III) CO2-H2O and IV) halite bearing H2O-salt inclusions. CO2-H2O inclusions are the dominant primary inclusions in all the

samples. The halite bearing H2O-salt inclusions are present within few samples and interpreted as the product of local phase separation of the ore forming fluid. The fluid is low to moderate saline (4-10 wt% NaCl equivalents). The primary inclusions (generally CO2-H2O ones) homogenized in liquid- and vapour- state within 240-3200 C and this can be regarded as the minimum temperature of formation of the mineralized quartz veins. Melting of CO2 occurred between -56 to -570C and this indicated presence of pure CO2. Homogenization of CO2 took place from 140-31.10C into liquid state exhibiting density of CO2 between 0.59 to 0.83 gm/cc.

The composition of fluid involved in mineralization at Gopur is similar to the fluids of other gold deposits worldwide. Based on the fluid inclusion assemblage and composition, it is inferred that fluids could have originated from metamorphic devolatilization of underlying litho-units. This hydrothermal fluid could have dissolved gold as sulphide/ bisulfide complexes form mafic rocks and later introduced into fractures of metvolcanic rock. The dissolved components of the ore fluid became unstable due to change in temperature, pressure, wall-rock alteration and phase separation. A probable model to explain the genesis of gold mineralization in Gopur area of Keonjhar region, Odisha is explained with more details in the paper.


96 | P a g e

Source of Ore Fluids Related to Gold-Quartz Veins of Wynad -Nilambur Region, Southern Granulite Terrain, Kerala: Evidence from Fluid Inclusion Studies Sahoo, A.K.*, Narayanan, M. and Krishnamurthi, R. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, Uttarakhand *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Wynad-Nilambur region, located

south of Moyar Shear Zone (MSZ) is one of the important areas in Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) of Peninsular India for gold exploration. The mineralization event has been correlated to the Neoproterozoic tectonothermal event of Cauvery Shear Zone (CSZ) and the geo-chronological dating of the mineralized quartz veins indicate an age of ~ 450 Ma. The current study is related to fluid inclusion studies of the auriferous quartz veins around Maruda, Devala and Pandalur areas of Wynad-Nilambur region. Amphibolites and hornblende-biotite (tonalitic) gneisses host the mineralized veins with chloritization, sericitization and carbonatization as the dominant wallrock alterations. An attempt has been made to understand the source of fluids based on the results of current investigation and available geological literature.

Fluid inclusion petrography of auriferous quartz samples indicate three types of primary/pseudo-secondary inclusions: i) H2O-CO2 inclusions ii) aqueous inclusions iii) CO2 rich inclusions. Micro-thermometric analysis of different types of inclusions show a range of homogenization temperature from 200 to 3000 C and this can be regarded as the minimum temperature of formation of the mineralized quartz veins. It has been

observed that many inclusions homogenize in both liquid- and as well as in vapour-state within the same temperature range due to boiling (effervescence). Data from freezing studies of carbonic and aqueous inclusions were used to calculate the salinity (2 to 11 wt % NaCl equivalents) of fluids based on final melting of ice and clathrate. The lowering of melting point of CO2 indicates presence of CH4/N2 as additional components in the fluid. The initial strontium isotopic ratio (Sr87/ Sr86) and REE pattern of the fluids extracted from pyrites that are intimately associated with gold strongly favour the concept that the carbonic fluids have upper mantle/lower crustal signatures. Based on the observation regarding volumetric proportion of water in fluid inclusions and the nature of possible gold complexes responsible for dissolution – transport in hydrothermal conditions, a probable genetic model has been proposed involving mixing of mantle derived CO2 rich fluid and fluid from subducted slab due to metamorphism. This type of fluid with mixed origin could have transported the available gold present in mafic rocks and deposited the dissolved components as gold-sulfides-calcite-quartz in factures as a result of phase separation and wall rock alteration in Wynad-Nilambur region of SGT.


97 | P a g e

Spatial Delineation of Saltwater-Freshwater Interface through Time Domain Electro-magnetic (TDEM) Sounding at Shoal Bay, South Andaman Island, India Sahoo, M.* and Ramanujam, N. Department of Disaster Management, Pondicherry University, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Effective management of ground

water resources is a well known problem in most of areas around the world. Its importance is designated to areas suffering from lack of fresh water. Detailed study of available aquifers has a great interest especially in islands. A high resolution Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) sounding has been carried out to delineate saltwater intrusion in Shoal Bay area of South Andaman Island, India. Among the different geophysical techniques, the transient electromagnetic or Time Domain Electromagnetic (TEM/TDEM) method has proved a valuable tool due to its high sensitivity to conductive targets, impressive vertical and lateral resolutions and bigger depth of penetration according to the loop configurations. The transient electromagnetic method has proven to be a powerful tool for delineation of water-bearing formations, especially saline water regions due to their high conductivity values. In the present study we used the co-axial loop configuration (central / in-loop) with Tx: 25m x 25m and Rx: 7m x 7m in high resolution time windows (which take 1.280 sec to 8,560 sec for acquisition) as the purpose was to reveal the characteristics of the shallow aquifer. The

study revealed there occurred a saline water intrusion in the study area from west to east i.e. from sea to land ward direction but to a maximum extent of around 50 meters laterally as being controlled by the subsurface parallel faulted zones. Vertically the intrusion extends from around 10meters to a depth of 25 meters approximately. The salinity concentration of the intruded sea water calculated using Schlumberger Resistivity-temperature-salinity chart in accordance with Archie’s law as well as from its apparent conductivity values, which explains it as brackish to saline in nature. Apparent resistivity values calculated from the obtained conductivity when plotted with depth signifies a freshwater formation in between the depth range of 4 to 8 meters near to the sea and gradually increases landward upto 12m which is the indication of fresh groundwater discharge from the elevated land to sea. The apparent conductivity depth slice contours were also plotted to asseverate the above findings and which also signified the same. The lithological formations of the area found to be alluvial soils followed by sandstone and shale which validates the local geology.


98 | P a g e

Impact on Geo-Environmental Parameters in Jharia Coalfield, Jharkhand, India Saini, V.* and Gupta, R.P. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Geo-environment is simply defined as the uppermost part of the lithosphere which is affected by human activities. Degradation of geo-environment in a coal mining area could be measured by studying the geo-environmental parameters which are - water quality (groundwater and surface water), air quality, soil quality and surface displacement: a. Air Quality: Blasting and drilling

operations, vehicular pollution, underground mine ventilation, burning of coal, fugitive sources from haul roads, overburden (OB) dumps and tailings ponds are some of the major causes of air pollution in JCF. The infamous coal fires of Jharia are also a major source of air pollutant.

b. Water quality: Drainage from mining sites including acid mine drainage and mine water lead to direct pollution of water bodies. Release of effluents from coal processing plants cause an increase in heavy metal content and TDS in local water bodies in JCF.

c. Soil quality: Strip mining or opencast mining causes complete loss of topsoil.

Wind erosion from overburden dumps, coal heaps; use of heavy machinery for extracting coal, burning of coal leading to release of a lot of fly ash which subsequent settles on nearby lands are the leading causes of soil pollution.

d. Vegetation: There is a severe negative impact on vegetation. When mining starts there is direct loss of vegetation due to clear cutting. Due to subsurface coal fires, the soil is deprived of moisture which is another reason for loss of vegetation in nearby areas.

e. Surface deformation: Beside these, other effects of coal mining include cracking and subsidence of land surface. Apart from changing the topography of the area, subsidence causes enormous damage to agriculture, buildings, transport network etc. Whole Jharia town is stated to be under the threat of subsidence.

Keeping all these points in mind, it becomes important to study the damage caused to these parameters in JCF so as to assess the damage to the geo-environment.


99 | P a g e

The critical earthquake concept-an observational test from Sistan suture zone, Eastern Iran Sarkar, I. Ex-Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Several recent seismicity investigations from varied seismotectonic regimes worldwide have reported strong earthquakes that were preceded by a distinct period of increased regional moderate earthquake activity. Various models for the possible physical mechanism underlying this precursory phenomenon viz. (i) the heterogeneous bond-breaking model, (ii) hierarchical fibre-bundle model and (iii) a model based on the principle of classical damage mechanics have been proposed in literature. This latter mechanism proposes that the cumulative seismic activity follows an inverse power-law relationship with time of failure (t) = A + B (tf t) m

where tf is the predicted time of occurrence of the final large earthquake, A, B, m are constants and (t) is some suitable parameter that quantitatively measures the regional increase of seismic activity at time t (e.g. number of events, seismic moment or seismic energy released). Generally cumulative Benioff strain release, estimated from the square root of energy released by each of the smaller intermediate events, is used for (t).

Increase in cumulative seismic strain release in a heterogeneous earth medium can be expected to follow such a power law only if the earthquake rupture process is considered analogous to a critical phase transition. This idea views the final large earthquake of the seismic cycle as similar to the critical point of a chemical or magnetic phase transition. Since a large earthquake

occurs when the causative fault system is in a critical state, the critical point hypothesis is analogous to the concept of self-organized criticality of the earth crust. However, since the critical rupture history associated with a large event is only a small fraction of the total time history described by self-organized criticality, these two concepts describe properties of the earth crust on different time scales.

We investigated whether accelerated seismic strain release precedes large earthquakes occurring in and around the Sistan Suture Zone, in the Eastern Iranian Plateau. Online catalogs of teleseismic events occurring between 1960-2010 within the region, report five Mw > 7.0 earthquakes, namely, 1968 Dasht-e-Bayaz, 1978 Tabas, 1979 Khuli-Buniabad, 1981 Sirch and 1997 Zirukh-e-Q’aenat events. Using the 1968 event as the starting point of our investigation, we searched for possible increased moderate earthquake activity patterns prior to the large events of 1978, 1981 and 1997 by examining if the cumulative Benioff strain, released from the preceding moderate events, followed a power law time-to-failure. Our investigation seems to suggest that (i) these large events possibly followed a period of accelerated moderate earthquake activity and (ii) the radius of their optimal critical region (R) possibly scaled with their magnitude (M) as log R 0.36 M, in conformity with the scaling law suggested by similar investigations in other seismotectonic regimes.


100 | P a g e

Rheology of the Archaean Crust: A structural-deformation based study from the Bundelkhand Craton, north-central India Sarkar, S.1, Sahu, S.1, Saha, L.1*, Pati, J.K.2 and Nasipuri, P.3 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nehru Science Centre, Allahabad University, Allahabad-211002 3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal-462030 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Archaean-Proterozoic cratonic

block of the Indian Peninsular Shield is constituted by the fusion of Bundelkhand, Dharwar, Singbhum, Aravalli and Bastar cratons. The Bundelkhand craton manifests a semicircular shape and exposed over an area of 26,000 sq. km in the north central Indian shield. It is bounded by the Son Narmada lineament in the south, the Great Boundary Fault in the west, and presumably the Lesser Himalaya in the north. The eastern, western, and southern margins of the craton are covered by the Vindhyan Supergroup and the northern part is overlain by the Indo-Gangetic alluvium. At the Southern and Northwestern edge of the Bundelkhand craton, occur three marginal rift basins: the Hirapur and Sonrai, Bijawar Group and Gwalior basin, Gwalior Group, respectively.

The Archaean lithological units of the Bundelkhand craton are: (a) Archaean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses (3.5-3.3 Ga). (b) metamorphosed supracrustal rocks comprising BIF, interbedded quartzite, calc silicates, ultramafic rocks (of komatiitic affinity similar to modern boninites), amphibolites and schist, (c) granites intruding the TTG gneisses and the supracrustals during the time-span of ~2.5-2.1 Ga.

In this study we report detailed structural studies conducted from the Paleo-Mesoarchaean TTG gneisses with interbedded garnetiferous amphibolite from the Babina area, Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh. The TTGs are characterized by the development of at least three stages of folding. The penetrative foliation in the TTG (S2) is characterized by parallel alignment of biotite and amphibole. Locally, the S2 is parallel with the leucocratic bands (S1). The S2 foliation is axial planer to the small scale root less hinges (F1) of mafic boudins and anatectic leucosomes within the TTG (S1).

Coaxial refolding of the F1 and F2 fold produces the hook shaped pattern the study area. In general, the F2 axial planes are oriented in NW-SE direction. The F2 fold axes are generally north trending with sub-vertical plunge (500 -> 0060N). The last phase of folding (F3) is characterized by development of open folds with E-W trending steeply dipping axial planes (500/3500) and sub -vertical fold axis (500->3500N to 420 -> 3100N).

In the study area, the developments of different generations of folds are coeval with the melting and deformation within the TTG. Development of tight to isoclinal folds in the leucosome indicates the F1


101 | P a g e

folding in the partially molten TTG occurred in the anatectic conditions. The presence of melt decreases the strength of the rock and promotes the development of tight to isoclinal folds in the F1 and F2 phases. It is also suggested that the segregation of the melt during the first and second phases of folding again increases

the strength of the restite and is manifested by development of upright open folds in the last phase of folding. The study demonstrated the change in the strength of a segment of Archaean crust due to the limited availability of melt during deformation.


102 | P a g e

Identification of Hydogeochemical processes of Groundwater aquifer of the Najafgarh drain basin area at Delhi India Saxena, S.1*, Shrivastava, J.P.1, Verma, S.K.2, Kumar, C.P.2 and Kumar, B.3 1Centre of Advanced studies, Department of Geology University of Delhi, Delhi, India National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India 2Isotope Hydrology Section, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna Austria *Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected]

In order to manage a groundwater

basin with respect to pollution, it is essential to know the spatial distribution of the contaminants over the time horizon. Isotopic techniques offer potential tools to have more detailed insight into many of these aspects and give an idea of long-term-process, in integration with chemical information. The stable isotopic 18O and 2H being a conservative tracer and the isotopic composition of water remains constant in the direction of ground water flow, unless affected by physical processes such as mixing with water of different isotopic composition. Chemical contamination of groundwater is typically associated with multicomponent solutions of reactive substances, the mobility of which is affected by their reactivity. Hence, the goal of groundwater protection efforts must necessarily be the control or management of these vital resources, to ensure that released of pollutants will be sufficiently attenuated within the subsurface to prevent significant impairment of groundwater quality at points of withdrawal or discharge. This goal can effectively achieve only if control and management options are based on definitive knowledge of the transport and fate of pollutants in the subsurface environment. The major objectives of this research are to find the existing quality of groundwater and the

source of pollutants by isotopic and hydro chemical characterization and the pollutant transport modeling of the groundwater aquifer of the Najafgarh drain basin area of Delhi region. In this paper we are presenting the results of the analytical part of the study and modeling part of the study is yet to be done. The Najafgarh drain is the largest among all the surface drains joining the river in National Capital Territory, the basin area in Delhi region is about 832 Sq. Kms. In order to investigate the effect of pollution load of the Najafgarh drain basin area on the quality of groundwater in lined and un-lined track of the drain; a systematic program has been taken up to map the chemical characteristics and isotope signatures of groundwater of the Najafgarh drain basin area from south western part to its discharge site location into river Yamuna at Nehru vihar. Since shallow aquifer is highest vulnerable to surface pollution, 51 groundwater samples were collected using hand-pumps at a depth in range of 10.66 to 36.57m and jet pump ranging from 60 to 80m in close proximity to the drain reach, during the year 2011-2012, from 17 different sampling stations during post-monsoon and pre-monsoon period and analyzed for different parameters covering major ions, heavy metals and stable isotopes by following the “Standard


103 | P a g e

Methods of Examination of Water and Wastewater” 21st edition, (APHA) Washington DC, 2005. The 18O/16O ratio was measured on DI-IRMS with Masslynx software Ver. 4.0 following a modified technique by equilibrating a tank CO2 gas at 25oC. Measurement of Deuterium (D/H) ratio in sample were done on CF-IRMS, similar to oxygen isotope analysis with a difference that the equilibration is carried out with hydrogen gas in the presence of platinum (Pt catalyst, marketed as Hokko Beads) in place of CO2 gas. The Isotopic signatures of water sample are reported in the conventional δ (%o) notation as a deviation with respect to the isotopic ratio of reference Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (V-SMOW) for water. The analytical reproducibility of the laboratory

standard is ±0.05%o for δ 18O and ±0.5%o for δ2H.

δ sample (%o)=1000 [Rsample-RVSMOW / Rvsmow]

Multi-chemical constituent mixing models of pollutants and isotopic signature of groundwater provided a unique understanding of pollution dynamics in groundwater. There are indications of pollutants transport from the western, north-western and western parts; there is evidence of increasing groundwater pollution and leachate transport to groundwater through surface drainage. The shallow groundwater of all along the Najafgarh drain basin area was found not suitable for drinking purpose and there is a need of effective management practices to protect this vital resource of water.


104 | P a g e

Evidence of high-pressure metamorphism and melting from the Archaean Witrivier greenstone belt in southeastern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa Sayare, P.1, Saha, L.1* and Stevens, G.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 2Department of Geology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch-7600, South Africa * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

In this study we present the phase

relationships of garnet-clinopyroxene-feldspar bearing mafic rocks from the Archaean Witrivier greenstone belt in SE Kaapvaal Craton. The rocks occur as boudins within an interlayered sequence of amphibolites, epidote-rich mafic rocks and quartz-feldspar rich rocks. Often the boudins are associated with interconnected networks of tonalitic leucosomes that are interpreted to represent melts generated by in situ anatexis of the mafic rocks. Among the metamorphic minerals of these rocks, garnet consists predominantly of grossular (40%) and almandine (50-54%), with minor pyrope contents (4- 5%). Clinopyroxenes are mostly solid solutions of diopside-hedenbergite (XDiopside ~45). Thermobarometric calculations from similar mafic rocks of the terrain have indicated peak pressure-temperature conditions of ~14 kbar, 800ºC for formations of the garnetclinopyroxene bearing assemblage. Age of metamorphism of the Witrivier greenstone belt and the associated greenstone belts at Assegaai have been constrained from the crystallisation ages of the (U-Pb zircon SHRIMP age) of the intrusive granitoids at ~3.2 Ga. Similar Mesoarchaean (~3.2 Ga) high pressure metamorphism has also been reported from the garnet-clinopyroxene bearing supracrustal rocks of the Barberton

Greenstone Belt occurring further north of Witrivier. Tonalite melt formation during the high pressure event recorded from Barberton has also been reported earlier. Geochemical modelings on origin of Archaean granitoids (mostly HREE depleted tonalite - trondhjemite-granodiorite) and gneisses predict their origin during high pressure partial melting of basalts and/or amphibolites with formation of garnet-clinopyroxene bearing restites. So the occurrence of such assemblages in the supracrustal units of the Witrivier greenstone belt, possibly provide rare petrological evidences of partial melting and granitoid formation in the Archaean.

In order to constrain the pressure-temperature-fluid conditions during such melting reactions, we have carried out phase equilibria modelling (pseudosection analyses) from the whole rock bulk compositions (determined by XRF) of the Witrivier supracrustals. Pseudosection analyses indicate that at the peak pressure-temperature conditions earlier reported from the terrain, the assemblage garnet-clinopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz is stable in presence of tonalitic melts. Water content was varied between 0-0.56wt%, consistent with fluid-absent conditions, and 0.58-9wt% which allowed fluid present melting. Melt producing reactions from


105 | P a g e

pseudosection modelling involve breakdown of hornblende/epidote and plagioclase. Melt volume proportions calculated at fluid-absent conditions vary between 10-20% and is significantly higher (~40%) in case of fluid-present melting. The modal proportions of garnet and clinopyroxene under both melting conditions respectively vary from 20-30% and 35-40%. In presence of melts, garnet and clinopyroxene compositions are Grossular 25-35 Almandine 45-55 Pyrope 10-12 and Diopside 45-55, respectively. The modelling thus suggests that garnet-clinopyroxene bearing assemblage was formed in the Witrivier supracrustal rocks during amphibole and/or epidote melting under high pressure.

In order to verify the outcome of the modelling and possibly further constrain the melting reactions during peak metamorphism, high-pressure experiments have been conducted at ~13 kbar and 800ºC. A bulk composition with water content calculated from the TX section described above has been used for preparing a gel starting material for the experimental runs. The gel was seeded with a small quantity of garnet to act as a nucleating agent in the experimental run products. Gold capsules were used and

these were mounted in a non-end loaded piston cylinder apparatus using a K-type thermocouple. Experiments were run at the required pressure and temperature for 21 days.

The experimental run products have been analysed by using Scanning Electron Microscope with attached EDS detector, at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The assemblages formed are garnet, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, amphibole, epidote and melt. Mineral chemical analyses revealed that the compositions of the phases in the experimental runs are similar to that recorded from the rock. The experimental results thus confirm the field evidences and pseudosection modelings.

The Mesoarchaean high-pressure melting event thus recorded from the Witrivier supracrustals provide field and petrological evidences for formation of Archaean granitoids by breakdown of amphibole and epidote, along with formation of garnet-clinopyroxene bearing restites. Similar high pressure event also reported from Barberton greenstone belt indicates that Mesoarchaean (~3.2 Ga) collisional tectonics possibly along subduction zones operated extensively in the southern part of SE Kaapvaal Craton.


106 | P a g e

Petrography of Khardeola (Formation) Sandstones Lower Vindhyan Basin, Chittaurgarh-Rajasthan: Implication for Diagenetic and Depositional History Shahnawaz, K. Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002 Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The Khardeola formation Sandstones were studied with a view to understand the nature of the Vindhyan basin and its provenance, tectonic setting, and diagenic history during a major event which took place on global level. Khardeola Formation (200 m thick), representing the lowermost clastic assemblage of Vindhyan Supergroup in the south-eastern Rajasthan. The succeeding Khardeola sandstone, forming the upper part of the assemblage, represents 40-150 m thick sequence of moderately well sorted quartzarenite, subarkose and sublitharenite. There are both monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz occurring in the Formation. The constituent mineral grains are subangular to sub rounded with a few grains being well rounded. Compaction and calcite cementation were the main causes of deterioration of porosity in the Khardeola sandstones. The Sandstone consisting of various types of Quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, micas and heavy minerals. In the order of abundance, chemically precipitated cements include regenerated matrix, silica, carbonate; iron oxide and chalcedony were present. Silica overgrowths are well developed on monocrystalline quartz than polycrystalline ones. The solutions at the grain contacts may have led to formation of silica that is the precursor mineral to the cementing material. The alterations are observed growing from the margins inward. Detrital quartz is partially clouded with alteration products. Iron oxide acts as coating

grains on quartz and etching of grains also occurs. The existing porosity developed due to dissolution of feldspar grains and iron and carbonate cement. Diagenetic fabrics of compaction, dissolution, alteration and corrosion were common features. Straition marks, fracture lines, some of which shows compaction fabrics in the Sandstone. The diagenetic effect is shown by the bending of the mica flakes and fracturing of the feldspar grains. In the order of abundance, chemically precipitated cements include regenerated matrix, silica, carbonate; iron oxide and chalcedony were present. Authigenic quartz formed from the dissolution and recrystallization of quartz grains as well as quartz overgrowth occur. The most common heavy mineral noticed is magnetite which occurs as small shapeless black grains. Haematite also appears as brownish grains. Zircon, garnet and tourmaline were also among the heavy mineral suite. The igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary and volcanic rock fragments vary in various fractions. Grain size measurements were carried out with the help of a micrometer eye piece. Chayes point counting technique was employed and 300 - 350 grains were measured in each thin section. The grain diameters in phi units represented by Ф5, Ф16, Ф25, Ф50, Ф75, Ф84, and Ф95 percentiles were read from the size frequency. Roundness of the sand grains of each sample was measured by counting an average of about 300 grains per thin section.


107 | P a g e

Search for Seismo-eletromagnetic effect in association with Mw 4.9 Kharsali Earthquake on July 22, 2007 in NW Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India Sharma, B.1*, Chingtham, P.1, Saikia, S.1, Chopra, S.1, Rawat, G.2 and Khandelwal D.D.2

1-Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi 2-Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

In this study an attempt has been

made to investigate variation in the magnetic field in association with earthquake occurrences. For this purpose, we have used total field intensity and variation in magnetic vector components recorded at Ghuttu MPGO (Multi Parametric Geophysical Observatory). These data were obtained from Digital Fluxgate (DFM) and Overhauser Magnetometers. Kharsali earthquake of Mw 4.9 with epicentre nearly 53 km away from Ghuttu MPGO in the Uttarakhand state occurred on 22nd July, 2007. To search seismomagnetic signals we have analysed data for the period of 1 June, 2007 to 31 August, 2007. Isolation of weak seismomagnetic effect arising from the stress induced modulation of magnetization becomes difficult due to natural variations of solar quiet-day or

magnetic disturbances. Recently an index of magnetic variation (Imv), which quantifies anomalous variations of the magnetic field from data of a single station, has been proposed. For this endeavour an assumption has been made considering the average of magnetic data for quiet days in the period of study, represents the diurnal variation of quiet days is based on the minimum Kp values obtained globally in the period of study. It is observed that the proposed index of magnetic variation is still sensitive to global magnetic disturbances as evidenced by Dst, Kp and 10.7 cm Solar Flux values. It is summarised that best way to isolate seismomagnetic effect is by comparing the data of pair of stations, one located close to area of stress built up and other immediately outside seismic zone.


108 | P a g e

Porphyroblast-matrix relationships: An approach to understand deformation cum metamorphic history of Lohit Himalaya, NE India Sharma, R.* and Sharma, K.P. Department of Geological Sciences, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The geological history of the

Mishmi Himalaya of Arunachal Pradesh is poorly understood as compared to rest parts of the Great Himalayan orogenic belt elsewhere in Indian context. Absence of Indo Tsangpo susture zone beyond Namche Barwa and further SE may be one of the reasons why Mishmi block of Arunachal Himalaya is relatively least studied. Mishmi block or Lohit Himalaya whether is a continuation of the Western Arunachal Himalaya (WAH) and merge into Indo Myanmar Mobile Belt (IMMB) is an open question although some workers claimed that Mishmi block is a tectonically thrusted block transported from Mogok belt of Burma and act as tectonic roof over two pillars like IMMB to the SE and WAH to the NW. Western Himalaya, Central Himalaya and western part of Arunachal Himalaya portray significant inverted metamorphism but there are some exceptions in the Dibang and Lohit sectors of Mishmi block. Inverted metamorphism from Lohit valleys has been observed earlier works but in Dibang valley it is insignificantly established although both Lohit and Dibang valleys are strike continuation of one another. The study area along Parasukund – Tidding - Hayuliang geotransect of Arunachal Himalaya geographically belongs to Lohit and Anjaw districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It is a polydeformed and polymetamorphic terrain consists of a

number of lithotectonic units bounded by Mishmi thrust at the lower structural level and Lohit thrust at higher structural level. Different thrust bound lithounits and a number of thrusts in the light of Himalyan orogenic belt have been established yet. Porphyroblast-matrix relationship is treated as an important tool yielding significant information about structural-metamorphic history and as such an attempt is made in this communication. The rocks of the Lohit valley have undergone three phases of ductile deformation indexed as (D1) to (D3) and one brittle phase (D4) and they are corelatable to Pre Himalayan (D1), Syn Himalayan (D2, D3) and Post Himalayan (D4) phases. Porphyroblasts in metapelites can provide crucial information of the gradual transformation that takes place with increasing grade and consequently it is on the basis of these rocks that Barrovian zones were recognized. Metapelites are fine to medium grained, strongly anisotropic, foliated and highly crenulated rocks showing biotite, muscovite, garnet, staurolite, kyanite and quartz as dominant stable mineral phases. The most dominant pervasive shear foliation (CS2) where imprints of later deformations are imprinted is related to synhimalayan phase (D2). Pretectonic to this dominant phase is considered as Pre Himalayan and is marked by F1 folding and associated garnet porphyroblast (Garnet1) contains straight


109 | P a g e

trails of inclusions, and intragranular fractures oblique to CS2 foliation. Garnet2 porphyroblast is syntectonic to D2 deformation showing Si fabric sigmoidally rotated, slightly elongated and highly stressed in the x - direction of strain ellipse. Staurolite and kyanite porphyroblasts (Staurolite1 and Kyanite 1) both are characteristically developed in the metapelites of the Lalpani area ad they are considered as syntectonic porphyroblasts to D2 synhimalayan phase. Some of the garnet porphyroblasts (Garnet2) are surrounded by inclusion free rim and CS2 is deflected / truncated and / or continuous within the porphyroblasts as Si fabric. They are referred to as post tectonic garnet (Garnet3) to D2 deformation or intertectonic between D2 and D3 phases. Garnet2 sometimes

found as skeletal form indicating transformation product from mica during syn D2 deformation. The size of the garnet porphyroblast increases with increasing grade. Development of staurolite1 and staurolite2 are considered as syn D2 and intertectonic between D2 and D3 deformations respectively. Growth of kyanite1 and kyanite2 porphyroblasts is identical to staurolite porphyroblasts. Presence of garnet, staurolite and kyanite as index mineral in metapelites and hornblende, actinolitic hornblende, clinopyroxene in metabasites indicate that the rocks have undergone metamorphism under garnet to staurolite – kyanite zones of Barrovian types belonging to greenschist to middle part of amphibolites facies.


110 | P a g e

Geotechnical evaluation of debris failure from Chamoli to Joshimath, Garhwal Himalaya, India Sharma, S.K. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Debris slides are the geological

phenomenon in which water saturated ground moves along the slope under the influence of gravity. It is very common phenomenon in Garhwal Himalayan Region. It causes the blockage of roads and water streams. It is the major cause for changing the geomorphology of the Himalaya.

If we move along the road in Garhwal Himalayan region then we can see that the some slopes are stable and adjacent slopes are unstable. There are several causes (like vegetation variation, climate change, etc) behind this stability variation. The characterisation of stable and unstable soil slopes on the basis of different soil properties has not been looked into. Hence, the characterisation of stable and unstable soil slopes in terms of the geotechnical properties of soil material is attempted in the present study.

Several tests have been carried out in the laboratory for soil samples collected

from different stable and unstable slopes in Garhwal Himalayan region. These tests include: (I) Specific gravity determination for grain size distribution of fraction finer than 0.075mm, (2) Sieve analysis for the grain size distribution of fraction coarser than 0.075mm, (3) Soil classification to decide, which kind of shear box will be required i.e., smaller or larger shear box and (4) compaction test (as it is required because the samples collected from the field are disturbed hence we do not know the field density) to determine maximum dry density.

The study implies that samples collected from the stable slope have higher value of cohesion and lower value of angle of internal friction. The samples collected from the unstable slopes have lower value of cohesion and higher value of angle of internal friction. So, on the basis of cohesion and angle of internal friction we can differentiate and evaluate the stable and unstable soil slopes.


111 | P a g e

Structural evolution and shortening along Kangra Re-entrant Sharma, V. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Indus-Tsangpo suture zone marks the collision of Indian plate with Eurasian plate in the Paleogene. Later, rise of Himalaya has taken place through several phases of deformation and intense folding and thrusting. The regional map pattern shows several south verging thrusts demarcating major lithotectonic units namely Himalayan frontal fold and thrust belt (Siwaliks) between Himalayan frontal fault (HFF) and Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), metasedimentary sequences of lesser Himalayas lying between MBT and MCT and Great Himalayan Crystalline Thrust sheet overlying Tethyan sediments in the hanging wall of MCT. It has been suggested that HFF, MBT and MCT sole into a major sub-crustal decollement called Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT).

Kangra re-entrant is the largest among all other re-entrants in the Himalayas described by sinuosity of MBT. It is a depression mainly filled by molasse sediments which are further deformed due to compressional tectonics. New thrusts are created during in-sequence thrusting and the older thrusts are continuously reactivated due to out-of-sequence

thrusting by subsequent deformation in this active tectonic setting affecting upper crustal levels. The structures in the Sub-Himalaya are consistent with the thin skinned fold and thrust deformation above a gently dipping detachment. In this work, it is intended to construct cross-sections in order to explore its precise structural styles and patterns along with hydrocarbon prospects of the area.

The geological map of the area is prepared from previously available toposheets of Kangra region with the help of ArcGIS and three lines are selected approximately parallel to the regional transport direction to conform to plain strain constraint, along which the sections are constructed. The map is brought on Move platform and the cross-sections are constructed from surface dip-strike data, surface contacts and regional stratigraphy of the area using kinematics of thrust related folds in 2D Move. The restoration of the cross sections is essential to ensure balancing, to identify structures and their evolution and also enables estimation of shortening in various scales.


112 | P a g e

Study of geomorphic evaluation of Pindar River basin Uttarakhand Himalaya, India Sharma, V. S.* and Naithani, B. P. Department of Geography, School of Earth Science, HNB Garhwal University Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand-246 174 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Pindar river basin 290 59’N to 300 21’N Latitude and 790 29’E to 800 5’E longitude is curvilinear basin situated in Central and Higher Himalaya of Garhwal and Kumaun region. The upper catchment of the Pindar River in Kumaon Himalaya embodies a host of geomorphic features of glacial and fluvial origin. The lower and middle catchment of Pindar basin exhibits ‘V’ shaped valley, river terraces, gorge, sand-bar and Talus cone. Distinct “U” shaped glacial troughs, hanging valleys, moraines; waterfall and other landforms indicate a major phase of glacial activity in the study area during the Pleistocene period.

The present study which deals with Geospatial Approach has been applied for geomorphic evaluation such as geological structure, lithology, Absolute relief, Relative relief, Dissection Index, Hypsometric curve, slope morphometry, climate condition, natural vegetation, drainage network and soil. The absolute relief of study area varies between 782 m to 6861m and relative relief 91m to 2523m

respectively. The value of dissection index lies between 0.03 and 0.58 which indicates the young stage of geomorphic development. The hypsometric integral value is 30% to 45% which means that in general the area is in earlier youth to youth stage. The general decrease of slope is towards north east to south west direction. General slope calculated by Facet method using topographic sheet and ASTER DEM using GIS technique which varies between 50 to 800. Similarly drainage density is varying from 0.7 km/sq km. to 6.92 km/sq km. and Drainage frequency from 3 to 17 streams per sq km. Based upon these morphometric elements the basin is divided in three morpho-units as upper, middle and lower Pindar drainage basin. Major parts of upper Pindar drainage basin are in very young stage, whereas parts of middle and lower drainage basin are relatively in mature stage. Only near its confluence with Alaknanda River this basin is approaching to mature stage of the landform development.


113 | P a g e

Utility of remote sensing in lithological mapping of an inaccessible terrain -A case study from the Ladakh Himalaya Shukla, A.* and Arifa, O. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Present study is aimed at exploring the potential of remote sensing in lithological mapping of parts of Ladakh Himalayas around Kargil-Mulbekh regions. Landsat ETM+ data has been used as the primary data while toposheets of the area and field data were the ancillary sources of information. An attempt to map six major rock-units exposed in the area, namely, Drass Volcanics, Lamayuru Flysch, Kioto Limestones, Shillakong Formation, Ladakh Intrusives and Kargil Formation, has been made. Various prevalent image processing and enhancement techniques were applied to the remote sensing data, results were compared and successfully employed to extract lithological information (both visually and digitally).

Color composites like ETM+ 5-4-1, ETM+ 6-5-3, and PC2-PC3-PC1 were found especially useful. Moreover, Decorrelation Stretch (DS 6-5-2, DS 7-5-3, and DS 4-3-2) was found to be exceptional in enhancing color differences between various rock-suites. Digital image classification was also applied to original as well as enhanced spectral bands for

lithological mapping. The resultant lithological maps from visual interpretation (VI) and digital image classification (DI) were assessed for accuracy against a reference map (prepared from a published field-based geological map of the area). The VI-based map revealed higher Overall (85.68 % compared to 73.21 % of the DI based map) and individual class-wise accuracies as compared to the DI-based lithological map. This may be attributed to the spectral similarities of various classes (rock units), limited spectral sensitivity of the ETM+ sensor, and topographic influences. Finally, an integrated lithological map of the area was prepared based on both visual interpretation and digital classification.

The greatest merits of the study are that it provides more detailed lithological contacts and also helps in filling of the “gap” areas of the existing geological map. The results from this study, therefore, amply prove the immense utility of remote sensing and image processing techniques in lithological mapping of rugged/ inaccessible and arid to semi-arid terrains.


114 | P a g e

On seasonal variability of NDSI thresholds and derived snow-cover estimates using MODIS data Shukla, A.* and Bashira, S. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Himalayan region comprises

extensive snow cover areas having various degrees of glaciations, which act as huge fresh water reservoirs. Mapping their extent and deriving precise estimates of snow cover at operational level comprise an important input in various climatological and hydrological studies. Remote sensing technology, due to its numerous advantages makes an obvious choice for detailed and repetitive studies of the inaccessible terrains such as Himalayas. Availability of improved operational scale remote sensing data such as Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), have greatly accelerated the research in this field. Normalised Difference Snow Index (NDSI) has been most widely used and robust technique for mapping of snow cover at small scale. However, the derivation of snow cover from NDSI has been observed vary from seasonally, and using the standard threshold of 0.4 may lead to erroneous estimates of snow cover. Therefore, in the present study NDSI based snow cover mapping has been carried out in parts of Upper Indus sub-basin using summer (June, July and

August) and winter (Dec, Jan and Feb) MODIS data for the years 2009- 10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. The main aim of the study has been to analyse the seasonal variations in threshold of NDSI and arrive at some suitable threshold values. For this three approaches of threshold determination had been used and inter-compared, these include- the standard threshold (0.4), the histogram derived threshold and the determined or the analytical threshold. Analysis of results from summer (June, July and August) and winter (Dec, Jan and Feb) images reveals that the values of the determined threshold deviates a lot from the standard threshold grossly over winter months and provide actual estimates of the snow cover. Analysis of the determined threshold values for the summer months shows the 0.45 to 0.56 to be appropriate for accurate snow cover time estimation. While the results from winter images reveal 0.62 to 0.76 to the suitable range of NDSI threshold for precise mapping. The results of the study are based on reasonably good amount of data and may be used for accurate estimation of snow cover elsewhere.


115 | P a g e

Application of plasma in control and effective libration of methane from gas hydrates Singh, A.* Patel, T., Sevak, R. and Agarwal, M. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies *Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected]

Huge demand of Oil and Gas

Energy resources and increase in the market price of these resources, A research needs to develop new technologies in the field of unconventional resources along with ecological development. In this research article, we would like to bring the applications of Plasma in the control liberation of Methane from Gas Hydrates.After reviewing recent research articles, scientific reports and web material, we have come to know that we have huge resources of methane in the form of gas hydrates in deep sea. Gas hydrates are highly pressurized form of ice trapped at and beneath the surface of sea (i.e. at depth of 300-500m). It is mainly formed by reaction of methane gas with water molecule at low temperature and high pressure. Six molecules of water are combined with one molecule of water and form a molecule of gas hydrate. Gas hydrates are the correct way to store the methane because at standard room temperature (20ºC) and pressure (1atm) conditions, 1m3 of solid methane hydrate is equivalent to 160m3 of free methane. The main concern of gas hydrates is how controlled extraction of methane can be

done from hydrates because of its specific temperature and pressure conditions. Several techniques have been used for the extraction of Methane but its uncontrolled liberation was the main problem. In this research article, it is suggested that thermal Plasma process can be used in the controlled liberation of methane from gas hydrates. Thermal plasma is produced when a common gas is injected into plasma torch i.e. producing electric arm between two metallic electrode inside an equipment, the molecule of common gas collides with the electrons present in the electric arc (in this process, electrons are produced at one electrode, accelerated and collected by another electrode). The result of this process is heating and ionization of gas which produce high temperature. The huge temperature is enough to extract the methane from gas hydrates. Recently plasma is economical and is widely using in the industries like recovery of aluminium from dross, ferroalloys production, treatment of hospital wastes and other many metallurgical applications. Hence the use of thermal plasma for the controlled liberation of methane from gas hydrates can be putative.


116 | P a g e

2D Magnetotelluric Modelling using Finite Difference Scheme- Comparison of Various algorithms Singh, A.*, Gupta, P.K. and Israil, M. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667 *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

This paper presents a comparative

study of three Finite Difference schemes: Classical Finite Difference Method (CFDM), Exponential Finite Difference Method (EFDM) and Exact Finite Difference Method (ExFDM) for 2D magnetotelluric modelling in terms of their stability, efficiency and accuracy. ExFDM uses all higher order derivative terms of Taylor’s series whereas in CFDM Tylor’s series is terminated after second term. The concept of exponential basis functions was introduced in EFDM. Since the electromagnetic response has oscillatory

behaviour, EFDM and ExFDM handle it better and give more accurate results in comparison to the CFDM for same grid. In case of EFDM and ExFDM we can choose coarser grids to obtain a given level of accuracy whereas a finer grid is needed in CFDM to achieve the same level of accuracy. As a result EFDM and ExFDM reduces the time and cost of computation in comparison to CFDM. However, EFDM has an exponent parameter μ must be chosen judiciously to obtain optimum results.


117 | P a g e

Natural Hazards and Gaddi Tribes: A Case Study of Bharmour Tehsil, Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, India Singh, A.1, Arya, A. K.2* and Pati, P.3 1Department of Anthropology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow (UP), India-226007 2CAS in Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow (UP), India-226007 3Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, Haradwar (UK), India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Himalayan region holds major beautiful landscapes of the country. Recent tectonic activities and climatic changes have lead to major topographic changes in the region. Bharmour town formerly known as Brahmpura of Himachal Pradesh experiences the effect of climate change and neo-tectonic activities that have lead to rapid change in landscape. The region is situated at an altitude of 7000 feet in the Budhil valley (32.26°N 76.32°E), forty miles to the south-east of Chamba.

The present study is aimed to provide the vital information for the deteriorating situation of land and climate in the region for possible risk analysis in the Bharmour valley. The study of the

Bharmour region with the aspect of natural hazard using remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) evaluates the deteriorating situation in the region. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and the slope analysis of the region indicate the area to be neo-tectonically active. The slope of the region demarcates that the region have high slope range from 5 to 38 degrees with unstable zones near vicinity of the river. The topography shows unconsolidated sediments on the higher slopes and regions of degrading landscapes in the valley. The study shows due to the rising Himalayas and the climate shift can lead to huge loss of land in the region in future.


118 | P a g e

Seismic source characteristics in Kachchh and Saurashtra regions of western India: b- value and fractal dimension mapping of aftershock sequences Singh, A. P.1*, Roy, I.G.2, Kayal, J. R.1 and Rastogi, B. K.1 1Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar 382 009, Gujarat, India 2Spaceage Geoconsulting, PO Box 6154, Conder, ACT 2906, Australia * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Seismic source characteristics in

the Kachchh rift and Saurashtra horst tectonic blocks in the Stable Continental Region (SCR) of western peninsular India are studied using the earthquake catalog data for the period 2006-2011 recorded by a 52-broadband seismic network, Gujarat State Network (GSNet), Institute of Seosmiological Research (ISR), Gujarat. These data are mainly the aftershock sequences of three main shocks, the 2001 Bhuj earthquake (Mw 7.7) in the Kachchh rift basin and the 2007 and 2011 Talala earthquakes (Mw > 5.0) in the Saurasthra horst. Two important seismological parameters, the frequency-magnitude relation (b-value) and the fractal dimension (D) of the hypocenters, are estimated. The b-value and the D maps indicate a

difference in seismic characteristics of these two tectonic regions. The average b-value in Kachchh region is 1.2 ± 0.05 and that in the Saurashtra region 0.9 ± 0.09. The average D in Kachchh is 2.64±0.01 and in Saurashtra 2.46 ± 0.01. The hypocenters in Kachchh rift cluster at a depth greater than 20 km, and that in Saurasthra at a depth less than 15 km. Around the hypocentral depth of 20-25 km for Bhuj earthquake and 5-8 km at Talala, Saurashtra b-and D-values are found to be high. At deeper depths these values are low indicating presences of the stressed zones at the fault end. Crustal heterogeneities are well reflected in the maps as well as in the cross sections. We also find a positive correlation between band D-values in both the tectonic regions.


119 | P a g e

Role of biogeophysics in restoration of environment and development of green water technologies Singh, K.P. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad-500007 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Over the last five years significant

advancements in bio-geophysical research have taken place, particularly with respect to self-potential, electrical resistivity and induced polarization phenomenon associated with subsurface microbial processes involving in bioremediation of contaminants and biodegradation of hydrocarbon spills at abandon sites of oil refineries. However, there are speculations that the bio-geophysics could be helpful in generation of bio-energy and in detection of extraterrestrial life at other planets. The capability of microorganisms to alter the physico-chemical properties of media and degrading hazardous materials into harmless or less harmful compounds has encouraged the application of geophysical techniques in monitoring microbial processes for restoring environment and designing remediation strategies. Conduction of accurate laboratory measurements and their interpretation suggest that the usage of waste materials in conjunction with environmental friendly microbes in bioreactors may be useful in

reducing waste from the environment, minimizing the production of greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4, and treatment of landfill leachate and waste water.

Both biogeochemical and bio-geophysical measurements monitored in laboratory experiments are well supported by geo-microbiological and geochemical solid and liquid phase analysis of samples.

Prerequisites for the advances in the mechanistic understanding of bio-geophysical signals are development of high resolution data acquisition systems, advance data processing techniques and quantitative interpretation of bio-geophysical data. Development of improved monitoring techniques and quantitative interpretation methods may help in successful implementation of bio-geophysics from laboratory to field scale. However, quantitative interpretation of bio-geophysical signals still remains a key issue as they originate from varioussubsurface biogeochemical processes.


120 | P a g e

Sr isotopic ratio of alluvial sediments of Gomati River in Ganga Alluvial Plain (GAP) Singh, P.1*, Singh, Sandeep1, Singh, M.2 and Singh, I. B.2 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee–247 667, India 2 Department of Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow–226 007, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Ganga Alluvial Plain (GAP) is a

part of the Indo- Gangetic Foreland Basin system that formed as a consequence of collision between Indian plate and Asian plate. The sediments eroded from Himalaya have been deposited in GAP which shows high degree of chemical weathering than Himalaya. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio is a very useful indicator of water- rock interaction.

T he Gomat i R iver , a ma jor tributary of Ganga River, is a groundwater river and its entire drainage lies within the Ganga Alluvial Plain. Gomati originates from Gomath Tal located about 50 km south of Himalayan foothills and covers a distance of 900 km before its confluence with the Ganga River. The river drains

about 30,000 km2 area located in an interfluve region of the Ganga and Ghaghara rivers and experiences a humid sub-tropical climate. The sediments from four localities – Namisharayan, Haidergarh, Sultanpur, Chandwak, within GAP along Gomati River have been collected to see the Sr isotopic ratio of alluvial sediments. 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios fall between 0.72392 (+1) – 0.75749 (+1). These Sr isotopic ratios have similar to the water or surface water of Gomati River (published earlier). These values are higher than modern sea water (0.7092) values which indicates that GAP is playing an important role towards the contribuition of Sr flux to the ocean leading to continuous rise in Sr isotopic ratio since 40 Ma.


121 | P a g e

Relationship of Piezometry with Electrical Conductivity and Chloride Distributions, Dhund Basin, District Jaipur (Rajasthan) Singh, R.P. Central Ground Water Board, Dehradun Corresponding author e mail: [email protected]

Dhund River, a tributary of Morel River, forms a north-south elongated basin in the semi-arid terrain of District Jaipur. The northern part of the area is hilly where topography is undulating. The altitude ranges between 270.0 and 653.0 m amsl which decreases towards south. The isohytes show that the rainfall increases from south to north. The average rainfall (1960 to 2010) is 627.0, 587.0, 565.0, 614.0, 594.0 and 642.0 mm for the rain gauge stations located at Amer, Jhotwara, Sanganer, Basssi, Chaksu and Jamua Ramgarh, respectively. Granite-gneiss, quartzites and alluvium form the aquifers. Quartzites and granite-gneisses form the basement roughly in the northern and southern halves of the basin. Alluvium is deposited on these basements of which the maximum thickness, as observed through groundwater exploration, is 99.6 m below ground surface. A thin veneer of aeolian sand is deposited on the alluvial formation. Depth to water ranges from 24.20 to 65.40 m bgl (Period: May, 2010). The well hydrographs, for the period from 2000-2010, show that there is a progressive decline of water levels ranging from 0.807 to 3.665 m/year. A flow net map for the

period May, 2010 is drawn, the flow lines show that the groundwater moves from NW to SE and NE to SW and they converge along Dhund River. The electrical conductivity (EC) and chloride range from 565 to 20070 micro mhos/cm and 7 to 6390 mg/l. The EC and chloride distribution maps were superimposed on the flow net map. The study of the superimposed maps reveals that, EC and chloride both increase in the direction of groundwater flow. This shows that the piezometry has direct relationship with the EC and chloride distributions. However, in the south-eastern part of the basin there is an abrupt change in the values of EC and chloride and the water is highly polluted. It has manifested as salt incrustations on the inner peripheries of the dug wells and saline taste of groundwater. The area is free from urbanization and any industrial activity and the possibility of anthropogenic pollution does not exist. The spurt of this magnitude in the EC and chloride values is irrefutably due to a subsurface geogenic source. It is inferred that the geogenic pollution is due to an evaporite body hidden below.


122 | P a g e

Inferences about Structures and Seismotectonics of Kachchh basin, Gujarat, India from Gravity Survey Singh, R.K.*, Rastogi, B.K., Basantaray, A.K., Venkateswar Rao, S., and Singh, R. K. Institute of Seismological Research, Department of Science and Technology, Raisan, Gandhinagar -382 009 * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The present paper deals with the

gravity surveying extensively carried out wi t h ab out 1 500 obs er va t ions for understanding the subsurface structures and geodynamic evolution of Kachchh rift basin. Regional Bouguer gravity anomaly of Kachchh and surrounding region with 1 mgal contour interval shows major E-W trends. The E-W trends are along major faults like Island Belt Fault, Kachchh mainland fault (KMF) and Katrol Hill fault which had earlier given rise to major / strong earthquakes of Kutch 1819, Lakhpat 1845, Anjar 1956 and Bhuj 2001. In addition some conjugate gravity trends / faults in NW-SE and NE-SW directions are located near Kharoi, Manfara, Chobari,

Kadol and Baniary in Banni plain which are playing significant role in seismicity of Kachchh basin as the earthquakes of 2.5 to 3.5 magnitude occur frequently and M 4 and above occasionally along these faults. The regional gravity map shows that the Kachchh basin and basement is deeper towards SE due to increasing sediment thickness in Kachchh Mainland (up to Anjar) and Wagad areas. Bhuj fault which is exposed on the surface is covered under the region of low gravity without any anomaly which indicates that it is of very shallow nature. Basement uplift has been inferred in the eastern Kachchh area around Fatehgadh due to gravity high along which there may be some blind faults.


123 | P a g e

Planetology: Importance and Opportunities to Earth scientists Srivastava, N. PLANEX, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad-380009 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Understanding the structure and

composition of the Earth, its Environment and Evolution in space and time has been the major focus of earth sciences studies. Due to high internal energy and therefore the dynamic nature of the Earth, many important evidences concerning its origin and evolution have been lost since its formation. In contrast, the various other solar system bodies such as the Moon, Mars

and other mall solar system bodies (viz the asteroids and the comets) have conserved these evidences due to their low energy. Planetology, aims to bridge this gap in the understanding of the Earth by carrying out scientific investigations on various extraterrestrial objects of our solar system. Remote sensing experiments particularly on the Moon and various other bodies have yielded a wealth of data.


124 | P a g e

New occurrence of a rare Troctolite intrusion from Lailunga layered Mafic-Ultramafic complex, eastern part of Central Indian Tectonic Zone, Central India Subba Rao D.V.1*, Banzare K.2, Ramesh, S. L.1 and Hanuma Prasad, M.3 1CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. 2 Directorate of Geology and Mining (D G M), Bilaspur, Chhattijgarh. 3Geomysore services (INDIA) Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Precambrian volcano-sedimentary supracrustal rocks of Lailunga area occurring in the eastern edge of the CITZ, central India, are intruded by multiple phases of different ultamafic-mafic and felsic rocks. The Lailunga layered complex is represented by ultramafic - mafic intrusions (Metapyroxenites/ hornblendites and leuco-mafic gabbros with sulphide rich zones). The synplutonic intrusions of granodiorite and granites emplaced into the gabbros has resulted extensive magma mixing and magma mingling zones along their contacts. In this Lailunga complex, a rare melanocratic - leucocratic troctolite intrusion is reported for the first time and is well exposed in the central part of the layered complex. The troctolite body show N700E trend and is surrounded by leuco gabbro and mafic gabbros on either sides of the intrusion.

The troctolite is a medium grained rock and consists of mainly 30-45 modal percent cumulus olivine and 40-50 modal percent cumulus plagioclase 5-10 mm in length. The plagioclase laths are randomly oriented and are often enclosed by olivine. Oikocryst augite is common. Magnetite occurs as intercumulus mineral associated with Ilmenite. Disseminations of sulphides are conspicuous throughout the rock.

Olivine crystals contain minor to significant amounts of sulphide and show no significant trends in the plot of Ni versus Fo content, (in olivines) with varying Ni and Fo Contents.

The major element compositions of intrusive rocks are controlled essentially by the proportion of cumulus plagioclase, olivine and trapped silicate liquid. Most of the troctolite samples fall within or close to the olivine-plagioclase composition array. MgO varies from 16.69 Wt% to 23.9 Wt% and have high Cr (592 ppm) and Ni (309 ppm) contents. They show tholeiitic/iron enrichment trends in the AFM plot. In the MgO vs. Al2O3 and CaO variation plots, these rocks show decreasing Al2O3 and CaO with increasing MgO indicting olivine and pyroxene fractionation within the suite. REE patterns of troctolites show highly fractionated patterns (La/YbN = 3.1-5.5) with strong LREE enrichment (La/SmN = 1.5 to 2.4), absence of Eu anomaly, and sloping HREE or depleted HREE patterns suggesting their derivation from deeper upper mantle with minor garnet involvement in residue. In the primitive mantle normalized spidergram plots the troctolite samples show strong enrichment in some of the LILE (Cs, Ba, Pb and K), slight Th and U enrichment, and a slightly negative Ta+Nb anomaly. The elevated Sr


125 | P a g e

and Eu concentrations reflect the modal plagioclase content likewise Ti present in oxide minerals (Il and TiMt) and P is present in apatite. The absolute abundances of trace elements are controlled by the amount of trapped liquid. PGE patterns of these troctolites are characterized by IPGE

depletion and PPGE enrichment with a positive Rh anomaly. The PGE concentrations are distinctly low in comparison with data from many other Ni-Cu magmatic sulphide deposits of the world.


126 | P a g e

Liquefaction Hazard Assessment over Alluvium in Earthquake Prone Region-A Case Study Sundararajan N.1*and Seshunarayana T.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, PB 36, PC 123, AlKhod, Muscat, Sultante of Oman 2 Engineering Geophysics Group, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad- 500 007, India *Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Determination of shear wave

velocity (VS) based on the dispersive characteristics of fundamental mode of Rayleigh type surface waves indicate underground stiffness change with depth as well as near surface stiffness. Among several applications, the most important utility of shear wave velocity (VS) is to estimate the liquefaction hazard potential of an area particularly in seismically active region. In this study, Rayleigh type surface waves were utilized to estimate the velocity (VS) of shallow subsurface covering a depth range of 30–50m by multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) relatively a recent technique. The liquefaction hazard map predicts an approximate percentage of an area that will

have surface manifestation of liquefaction during an earth quake. The surface wave data acquired in an earth quake prone region of Jabalpur (Seismic zone III), India, yields a velocity (VS) range of 200–750 m/s corresponding to the subsurface depth of 30–35 m. The results were analyzed for possible liquefaction hazard in the study area and presented here besides the N values. The P-wave velocity (VP) estimated by conventional refraction seismic studies in those sites substantiates the study. As the shear wave velocity is marginally higher than 200m/s, the area is less likely prone to or may not prone to liquefaction during a moderate magnitude earth quake.


127 | P a g e

Exploration and Exploitation of Coal Bed Methane Sunjay1*, Kumar, S.2 and Sahoo, S.2 1Geophysics, BHU,Varanasi-221005,India 2Geology,BHU,Varanasi-221005,India *Corresponding author e mail:[email protected]

CBM exploration employs high

resolution shallow reflection seismic. Very high frequency and high bandwidth data is desirable for precise imaging of thin coal seams. Faults are of great importance in mine design, and may also interfere with coal bed methane production if the throw is greater than the seam thickness. When interpreting high-resolution seismic data, it is essential to differentiate two important concepts: namely, delection and resolution. Detection deals with the recording of a composite reflection from a certain horizon with good signal -noise ratio, regardless of whether the composite reflection can be resolved into the separate wavelets that compose it. Thus, an event that is detectable may or may not be resolvable. Resolution deals with the ability to resolve the top and base of a thin bed which differs from the problem of detecting the presence of a bed. Resolution is primarily associated with frequency bandwidth of the recorded wavefield data, whereas detection is principally associated with acquisition technique. Tuning effect-a phenomenon of constructive or destructive interference of waves from closely spaced events or reflections. At a spacing of less than one-quarter of the wavelength, reflections undergo constructive interference and produce a single event of high amplitude. At spacing greater than that, the event begins to be resolvable as two separate events. The tuning thickness is the bed thickness at which

two events become indistinguishable in time, and knowing this thickness is important to seismic interpreters who wish to study thin reservoirs. The recording of amplitude and frequency tuning in the seismic wavelet is not only an indication of a thinning bed, but may also suggest the detection of a sequence of thin beds. Reflections from the thin beds can result in constructive or destructive interference depending on the traveltime delay of the wavelet. The thicknesses of thin beds, their acoustic properties, and their location relative to other thin beds in space can cause the seismic wavelet to tune to a specific frequency with a resultant increase in amplitude that can double in magnitude. Analysis of seismic reflections from thinly bedded coal seams typically involves a study of thin-bed interference and reflection Amplitude Variation with Offset (AVO). Side Lobe Effect one is from the side lobe from wavelet reflecting from the first interface and the other is from the main lobe of the reflection wavelet of the second interface. Infact the existence of cleat systems in coal beds is one of the key factors controlling gas production from coal bed gas systems, the AVO method is applied to include azimuthal AVO analysis. High resolution Shallow Reflection Seismic Surveys are carried out for CBM exploration seismology. Non conventional energy resources, Black Diamond bounty, CoalBed Methane (CBM) exploration and production is quite important with a view to energy security of the world.


128 | P a g e

Urgent need for Sustainable management of Ground water in fractured Aquifers in hard rock terrains of Ranchi urban area, Jharkhand Thakur, B.S. Senior Hydrogeologist, Scientist-C, Goutam Kr.Roy, Senior Hydrogeologist, Sc-D Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Groundwater is the backbone of India’s drinking water security. Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand state. Ranchi urban area is bounded by 23015’-23025’N latitude and 85015’-85025’E longitude of survey of India toposheet 73E/7(1:50,000 scale).Due to rapid urbanization, numbers of apartments are increasing tremendously. These apartments are withdrawing ground water in excess of recharge. Due to excess withdrawal of ground water, there is urgent need for recharging deeper aquifers in those areas where number of apartments are more. As per 2011 census, Ranchi urban area has population of about 12, 57,340 persons. Taking 135 litres daily consumption per person, the total water Requirement of the Ranchi urban area comes out to be 169.7 lakh litres/day (61.95mcm/annum). Ground water dependence is 30 percent (18.58mcm/ annum) while surface water caters 70 percent requirement. Two types of aquifers such as weathered zone aquifer and fractured zone

aquifers are found around Ranchi urban area. The Ranchi urban area is facing peculiar situation where shallow water level in some areas are rising while deeper water levels are showing declining trend. Water level of shallow aquifer during Post monsoon season varies between 2-6.37 mbgl while during Pre-monsoon season it varies between 4.35 mbgl-16.80 mbgl. Deeper aquifer piezometric head vary between 3.84mbgl-14.17 mbgl during post-monsoon season while it is between 5.12 mbgl to 28.97 mbgl. piezometric head of deeper aquifer in localities like Harmu,Doranda,Kanke are showing declining trend between 2010-2012. On perusal of the Piezometric heads of deeper aquifers, it is observed that natural process of recharge is very less so artificial recharge will be a good remedy. Drinking water dependence on surface water is to be increased and ground water to be decreased. Ground water of fractured zones is to be preserved for future emergency uses like drought.


129 | P a g e

Sustainable management of deeper Aquifers in hard rock areas of Ranchi urban area Thakur, B. S. Senior Hydrogeologist, Scientist-C, Central Ground Water Board, State unit Office, 30/C, Park Road-1B, Ashok Nagar, Ranchi-834002 Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Groundwater is the backbone of India’s drinking water security. Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand state. Ranchi urban area is bounded by 23015’-23025’N latitude and 85015’-85025’E longitude of survey of India toposheet no. 73E/7.Due to rapid urbanization, numbers of apartments are increasing tremendously. These apartments are withdrawing ground water in excess of recharge. Due to excess withdrawal of ground water, there is urgent need for recharging deeper aquifers in those areas where number of apartments are more. As per 2011 census, Ranchi urban area has population of about 12,57,340 persons. Taking 135 litres daily consumption per person, the total water Requirement of the Ranchi urban area comes out to be 169.7 lakh litres/day (61.95mcm/annum).Ground water dependence is 30 percent (18.58mcm/ annum) Two types of aquifers such as weathered zone aquifer and fractured zone

aquifers are found around Ranchi urban area. The Ranchi urban area is facing peculiar situation where shallow water level in some areas are rising while deeper water levels are showing declining trend. water level of shallow aquifer during Post monsoon season varies between 2-6.37 mbgl while during Pre-monsoon season it varies between 4.35 mbgl-16.80 mbgl. Deeper aquifer piezometric head vary between 3.84mbgl-14.17 mbgl during post-monsoon season while it is between 5.12 mbgl to 28.97 mbgl. piezometric head of deeper aquifer in localities like Harmu, Doranda, Kanke area showing declining trend between 2010-2012. On perusal of the Piezometric heads of deeper aquifers, it is observed that natural process of recharge is very less so artificial recharge will be a good remedy. Drinking water dependence on surface water is to be increased and ground water to be preserved for future uses.


130 | P a g e

Integrated use of remote sensing and field investigations to study changes in Chhota-Shigri glacier, Himalayas Tiwari, R.K.1*, Gupta, R.P.1 and Arora, M.K.2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, India * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Himalayas is one of the largest store house of snow and ice outside the poles and is the land of thousands of glaciers. These glacial snowfields store about 12,000 km3 of freshwater which is the supply source for perennial rivers such as the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra making them the source of freshwater for most part of the central Asia. Studies have shown that glaciers are shrinking due to the effect of climatic. The effects of changing climate are well seen as markers on the glacier surface as well as in the valley walls which embrace them. The changes in the glaciers may lead to catastrophic events, viz. GLOF. These changes need to be monitored periodically to assess the glacier health and prevent such events. Field based methods give insight to the change in the glacier surface but it is limited due to highly precarious terrain. The synoptic nature of remote sensing in conjunction with field data can help overcome such limitations. For this study we have considered Chhota-Shigri glacier which is located in the northern slopes of the Pir-Panjal range in the Lahaul and Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh, in the Western Himalayas. It is a small glacier with a length of around 9 km and an area of ~ 16 km2. This glacier is also selected as a benchmark glacier in

Himalayas by Department of Science and Technology, India. This study comprehensively studies the historical change, recession in snout position and change in glacier features of the Chhota-Shigri glacier. In historical change we have considered the past advancing and retreat of the glacier. The conclusions were drawn based on the study of landforms developed due to such glacial phenomena. ASTER time series images (2002-2009) and Worldview-2 image (2010) were used for the mapping of snout positions. In Himalayan glaciers often it is found that the snout is not clearly visible in the satellite images due to heavy debris cover. Therefore, in this study we have considered snout as the lowest point where-from the water channel appears to start in the image. The high resolution images are more useful for such studies like Worldview-2, which gives a clear view of small features and the 2010 position of snout can be well marked. Based on the orthorectified images, the shift in the position of snout from 2002-2010 is found to be around 110 m giving an average recession of approx. 13.75 m/yr. Small and large scale glacier feature/landform were also studied using satellite data and during two field investigations. During field investigations small scale features like striations, grooves


131 | P a g e

and polished surface were well visible in the valley wall of Chhota-Shigri glacier. Presence of these small scale features in the valley suggests thinning of glacier through time. Glacial till of various type were also mapped using satellite images. Near the terminus of the Chhota-Shigri

glacier ablation till were also found suggesting retreat (reduction in length) of glacier through time. Presence of other features such as lateral moraines, median moraines, and heavily debris covered terminus in Chhota-Shigri also suggest the retreating nature of this glacier.


132 | P a g e

Post-Kurnool deformations south of the Palnad Sub-basin and their possible Pan-African correlation Tripathy, V.*, Satyapal and Mitra, S.K. Geological Survey of India, Bandalaguda, Hyderabad-50068 * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

The Nallamalai Fold Belt (NFB) in

the eastern part of the intra-cratonic Cuddapah Basin categories itself from rest of the basin. At least two episodes of folding are reported from the NFB which differentiates it from undeformed sedimentary rocks west of the Rudravaram line. This western boundary of NFB has imprints of later deformations effecting the rocks of Nallamalai and Kurnool Groups. In the northern part, the NFB has thrusted contact with the Palnad sub-basin which is equivalent to the Kurnool Group. The thrusted contact is evident by the presence of window and klippe structures, overturned folds and juxtaposition of NE-SW trending simaltaneous antiformal hills. This thrusting is a major post - Kurnool compressional deformation which has affected the Kurnool Group in the southern part of the Palnad Sub-basin. This last of phase of thrusting in the Cumbum Formation is thus equivalent to the first phase of folding and cleavage development in the Kurnool Group. The area south of Durgi has exposures of the Narji Limestone, Owk Shale and Paniam Quartzite belonging to the Kurnool Group, which show deformations contemporaneous to the thrusting event. The folds within the Kurnool Group are open NE-SW trending associated with consistent SE dipping continuous to disjunctive cleavage. Fault-slip analysis of the faults from the Kurnool Group suggests a NW-SE trending maximum compression (σ1). Similar results are obtained from the fault-slip sets along the thrust zones present within the Cumbum Formation.

Late compressional structures are

also overprinted by extensional deformations which are recorded both from the Cumbum and Kurnool Groups. Such extensions are expressed by N-S trending faults which has exposed the deformed Kurnool Group along the thrust zones. The N-S fault SE of Gajapuram has upthrown western block which has brought the Kurnool Group in juxtaposition to the Cumbum Formation. Similar extensional deformation between the Owk Shale and Paniam Quartzite is established 2 km south of Kakirala, based on the presence of closely spaced joints, brecciation and sheared quartzite. The western block is the upthrown block over which the folded Cumbum Phyllite is present with a thrust contact. Records of late extensional events are also expressed by prominent steeply dipping NW-SE master joints both in Cumbum and Kurnool Groups. Conjugate set of tension gashes in the Cumbum Formation and Kurnool Group provide E-W and NE-SW extensions respectively. Based on diamond bearing Banganapalle Quartzite and similarilty between the values of δ13C, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr of the Palnad sub-basin to those in late Neoproterozoic carbonate succession world-wide, the possible age of Kurnool Group is considered as Neoproterozoic. It is thus plausible that the late compressional deformation imprinted on the Cumbum Formation and Kurnool Group are contemporaneous to the Pan-African event during Gondwana amalgamation. Late extensional activities in this part of the basin demonstrate possible post-Pan African events.


133 | P a g e

Application of MOHR circle for estmation of geoelectric strike from magnetotelluric data recorded from Garhwal Himalayan region Tyagi, S., Pandit, S., Israil, M.* and Gupta, P. K. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Corresponding author email: [email protected]

We have used Mohr’s circle approach for the estimation of geoelectrical strike direction for magnetotelluric data recorded along extended Roorkee-Gangotri profile. For this purpose, good quality 37 stations broad band MT responses have been used. Tensor decomposition theory based on Mohr circle is used to extract decomposition parameters: local and regional strike, twist, major and minor impedances for each site. It has been observed that the strike derived from imaginary component of impedance tensor is generally unstable, whereas the real component shows stable strike direction.

Frequency and spatial variations have been observed in the strikes estimated from real components. In Indo-Gangetic region, all local and regional strikes are unstable in high frequency band which stabilize to an average value of 100 NE in long period band. Complexity of geological structure increases toward the northern region and this is reflected in the higher value of twist 140. 900 ambiguity in the estimated strike direction can be used to derive geologically consistent strike from the estimated strike. In Sub-Himalayan and Lesser Himalayan region, the strike shows slight rotation towards east with higher value of twist.


134 | P a g e

b-Current initiatives towards earthquake hazard assessment in Uttarakhand Verma, M.* and Bansal, B. K. Ministry of Earth Sciences, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003 *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Uttarakhand lies in central segment

of the Himalayan arc which is popularly known as Garhwal-Kumaun Himalaya, where the Garhwal makes its western part and Kumaun region forms the eastern part. Located between the rupture zones of 1905 Kangra and the 1934 Bihar-Nepal border earthquakes, this segment is generally known as central seismic gap (an un-ruptured part of the Himalayan arc) and is considered to be a seat for impending large earthquake in future. Most of the areas in Uttarakhand lie in very high seismic hazard zones and possibility of large earthquakes in these regions cannot be ruled out; but when, and where are the big questions before the geoscientists. The region has been visited by several earthquakes of moderate to large magnitude events. For example, Uttrakhashi (1991) and Chamoli (1999) earthquakes of magnitudes M6.3 and M6.9 respectively are the recent ones, which have caused large scale damage and loss of human lives in Uttarakhand. Several efforts have been made towards earthquake hazard assessment and mitigation, which includes establishment of a network of seismogrphs, accelerographs and GPS systems, setting up of a multi-parametric geophysical laboratory to study the different geophysical phenomena vis-à-vis earthquake occurrence; Launch of a

School Earthquake Laboratory Programme for developing measurement skills amongst school children and disseminating the knowledge through them to the community at large. However, one of the grey areas, which remain to be taken up is the integration of detailed active faults mapping with earthquake hazard studies. Therefore, in order to provide the fundamental information on active faults; their distribution and characteristic activities, an initiative has been taken up by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India to undertake the Active fault mapping of the country. The program involves identification of active faults in different tectonic regimes using advance and paleoseismic techniques and to make the quantitative estimates of the seismic hazards. The studies will not only provide the information on the types of active faults and their regional distribution, activity (average slip rate) of the fault zones, strain rates under the present stress field, relation between active faults and land use, especially, the vital structures such as schools and hospitals etc; but will be useful in land use planning. This paper briefly summarizes the efforts made in Uttarakhand towards earthquake hazard, its mitigation and future perspective.


135 | P a g e

Harnessing the natural resources for sustainable power generation in India Verma, S. K.*, Malhotra, N., Srivastava, S. and Shankar S. Department of Civil Engineering, Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna, M.P *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Sustainable power generation is the

need of hour for Indian scenario as energy mix of the country majorly constitutes thermal power and hydropower. The impacts of thermal power on environment include release of pollutants during the combustion of fossil fuels which are one of the major contributors to the global warming. On the other hand the development of major hydro power projects has been affecting the natural atmospheric processes due to changes in land use pattern. So, utilization of natural

resources like solar, wind, waves, tides etc can be a suitable option for sustainable power generation. Harnessing these resources provides advantages like decreased dependence on conventional resources, reduced environmental concerns and enhanced energy security. The present study discusses the current scenario of power generation with associated negative impacts suggesting the potential of harnessing the natural resources for sustainable power generation.


136 | P a g e

A probabilistic estimate of most perceptible earthquakes in NW Himalaya and its vicinity Yadav, R.B.S.1*, Koravos, G.S.2 and Tsapanos, T.M.2 1. Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra-136119 2. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Geology, Geophysical department, Thessaloniki

54124, Greece. *Corresponding author email: [email protected]

The NW Himalaya and its

neighboring area (250 – 400 N and 650 – 850 E) is one of the most seismically hazardous regions in the Indian subcontinent. The most perceptible earthquake magnitudes are estimated for 28 seismotectonic zones in the study region which includes Hindukush, Pamir, Himalaya and its adjacent areas. For this purpose two methods a) Gumbel’s third asymptotic distribution of extremes (GIII) and b) the maximum magnitudes adopted from the Kijko and Sellovoll (1992) method, are applied which seek with the maximum magnitudes. The earthquake perceptibility is defined as the annual probability that a particular level of ground shaking will be generated by earthquake of particular magnitude, by weighting frequency-magnitude data with the predicted felt area for a given level of ground shaking at a particular magnitude. This is useful in preparing earthquake

selection criteria for the anti-seismic design of non-critical structures. The obtained results by GIII method show greater values than those assessed by Kijko and Sellovoll (1992) method. This is most probable due to the special characteristic of the two methods. We estimated most perceptible earthquake magnitudes for a particular value of isoseismal intensity, peak ground acceleration and velocity which varies according to the source magnitude and frequency using attenuation relations. The results are presented in the spatial maps for threshold acceleration 200 and 300 cm/s2, velocity 10 and 15 cm/s and intensity 7 and 8 for both GIII and Kijko and Sellovoll (1992) method. It is observed that most perceptible earthquake magnitude ranges from Mw 5 to 7 in the entire region of the study area. The spatial maps also show usefulness of the method for seismic zoning problem.


137 | P a g e

Estimation of Uncertainty in Well Log Analysis by Monte Carlo Simulation Yashrakshita Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247667 Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Quantitative interpretation of well logs is always associated with some amount of uncertainty. The source of this uncertainty lies in errors inherent in the values of input parameters, uncertainties in tools response and errors in laboratory measurements. The above sources of errors are needed to be properly assessed in order to understand the uncertainties in the estimation of reservoir parameters, e.g., porosity (ф), water resistivity (Rw), formation resistivity (Rt) and water saturation (Sw) obtained from well logs. A suitable and easily usable method is needed for quantifying the uncertainty in each of the measured and calculated parameters. Monte Carlo simulation is one such method. The method consists of mathematically simulating an experiment to determine the probability distribution of a variable obtained from a mathematical or empirical relation which involves one or more input parameters, each of which has its associated uncertainty.

A set of well logs was used to identify an interval of interest and determine the type of probability distribution that the well log derived parameters follow. A different set of 10000

random numbers within the interval of interest are generated that simulate the probability distribution of each parameter. Initial values of Ф, Rw and Rt are selected at random from their respective distributions and substituted into Archie’s relation to yield an initial value of Sw. Subsequent values of Sw are obtained by repeating the simulation process with additional sets of randomly sampled values of Ф, Rw and Rt. Probability distribution of Sw is determined from these computed values of Sw.

It has been concluded that Monte Carlo simulation not only shows what range of values each parameter encompasses but also show how likely each outcome is. It is interpreted that ф has normal distribution while Rw and Rt have log-normal distribution. Resulting probability distribution for Sw is a skewed distribution owing to the hyperbolic relation between ф and Sw. The nature of the output distribution is determined by the functional relationship between the input parameters and the type of probability distribution each of the input parameters follow. Sw is more sensitive to the values of Ф compared to variation in Rw and Rt.


138 | P a g e

Role of soft computing in multi-dimensional geophysical data analysis and classification Yegireddi, S. Naval Physical and Oceanography Laboratory, DRDO, Thrikkakara, Kochi-682021, Kerala Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Application of soft computing approaches like Artificial Neural Networks(ANN), Genetic algorithms(GA), Fuzzy logic in geophysical studies have been increasing in the recent past, due to their ability to address the issues associated with complex, non-linear and multi-dimensional parameter space. The potential of these techniques are found to be good in optimization, inverse and classification studies in various fields of applied sciences and industry. Apart from their application independently, they are also being used with combination of other techniques to exploit the advantages and overcome some of the limitations, in better adaptation and simulation.

The present paper, deals with two typical examples, viz., application of neuro-fuzzy in identification of thin coal seam strata from geophysical well log data, and classification of seafloor sediments from echo characteristics of single beam Echo sounder using LVQ neural networks. In the first example, in coal strata studies, generally, one looks for pre-conceived correlation among different parameter signatures (SP, electrical, and radioactive measurements) against various formations, like coal, sand stone, shale and coal. In the absence of the expected correlations, such data often is overlooked/ exempted in feasibility studies of any coal seams, despite their occurrence. The absence of expected signatures, at times due to contamination of the strata resulting degradation in their quality, and also similar possible nature of

adjoining formations, lead to moderate or weak signatures in the expected parameters space. In such scenario, the soft computing utilising, fuzzy logic combined with neural networks, proved to be an effective classifier, which is simulated for various data behaviour with respective to the ground truth available, i.e., lithological information from core samples. The classifier network model was tested with a number of geophysical data sets and the results corroborates with the thin layers of coal seam observed from ground truth. In the second example, the intensity and shape of the echo signal, which are characteristic of the different sediments, have been exploited for classification of the seabed. Two derived parameters, namely hardness index and roughness index from echo signal along with the ground truth ie., seabed sediment type are used in LVQ network model and validated with test data sets. The network model found be very useful in remote sediment classification of the seabed, which helps to demarcate the boundaries of seafloor sediment distribution and optimum number of sampling.

Therefore, any problem associated with inadequate physics to explain, the artificial neural networks and other soft computing techniques being the data based models are the only alternative. The studies, highlights the utility of the soft computing techniques in establishing the simulations of data behaviour for various environmental conditions.

World class portfolio of products and technology

www.thermoscientific.com www.thermoscientific.com/dionex

GasChromatography

LiquidChromatography

IonChromatography

Columns andConsumables

LIMS andLaboratory Software

ElementalAnalysis

Molecular Spectroscopyand Microanalysis

Life SciencesMass Spectrometry

Inorganic MassSpectrometry

Services andTraining

Contact for more information:102, 104, Delphi‚ ‘C‘ Wing, Hiranandani Business Park, Powai, Mumbai - 400 076. INDIA.

• Tel:+91-22-6742 9494 • Email ID: [email protected]

Petrofac's Integrated Energy Services division helps our customers – the world's oil & gas resource holders – to develop new fields or enhance production from mature reservoirs.

Our subsurface team is at the core of this service, providing the innovation, technical knowledge and deep thinking required to realise the full value of greenfield and brownfield developments, on and offshore.

Working across a diverse and interesting portfolio of international projects, you'll be given the opportunity to make a genuine difference, working with – and learning from – some of the brightest minds in the industry.

Take your career to a new level at

.

We know that sometimesthe greatest potential lies hidden from view.

www.petrofac.com/ subsurface

Integrated Energy Services 12th floor, Tower B, Building 14 DLF Cyber City, Sector 24 & 25A, Gurgaon, Haryana 122002, India Phone: +91 124 459 6600

Abstract Volume of EARTH SCIENCES IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND EMERGING TRENDS

Documents

Transcript of Abstract Volume of EARTH SCIENCES IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND EMERGING TRENDS