Foraminifera from jurassic sediments of Keera Dome, Kutch

A foraminiferal assemblage comprising 30 species dominated by the family Vaginulinidae is recovered from the Chari Formation exposed at Keera Dome, Kutch. The paper presents a systematic account of eight species, reported for the first time form the Indian region. Preliminary interpretations regarding age and palaeoenvironment are drawn on the basis of the recovered foraminiferal assemblage. The assemblage supports a Callovian to Oxfordian age for the studied sequence. A near shore, open marine environment ranging from mid to outer shelf is interpreted on the basis of the foraminiferal assemblage.     

Estimation of element‐by‐element demand‐to‐capacity ratios in instrumented SMRF buildings using measured seismic response

This paper presents a methodology to estimate element‐by‐element demand‐to‐capacity ratios in instrumented steel moment‐resisting frames subject to earthquakes. The methodology combines a finite element model and acceleration measurements at various points throughout the building to estimate time history of displacements and internal force demands in all members. The estimated demands and their uncertainty are compared with code‐based capacity from which probabilistic bounds of demand‐to‐capacity ratios are obtained. The proposed methodology is verified using a simulated six‐story building and validated using acceleration data from California Strong Motion Instrumentation Programstation 24370 during the Northridge and Sierra Madre earthquakes.     

Monitoring cryosphere and associated flood hazards in high mountain ranges of Pakistan using remote sensing technique

Knowledge of Himalayan cryosphere seems to be an outstanding requirement for assessment of glacier storage, water balance analysis, planning of water resources and flood hazard monitoring. A stepwise approach through mapping glaciers and glacial lakes using satellite remote sensing data and investigating potential glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazards was adopted for the three Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalayan (HKH) ranges of Pakistan. The findings of the study revealed 5,218 glaciers in the cryosphere of HKH ranges. The cumulative glacial cover of over 15,000 km² contains ice reserves of about 2,738 km³. About 46 % of the Karakoram glaciers are contributing 77 % to the total glacial cover and 87 % to the cumulative ice reserves of the country. The 33 % Himalayan glaciers and 21 % Hindukush glaciers contribute only 3 and 10 % ice reserves, respectively. Among 2,420 glacial lakes identified in the three HKH ranges, 52 were classified as critical lakes that can pose GLOF hazard for the downstream communities. Most of the potential hazardous lakes lie in the Karakoram and Himalayan ranges, the monitoring of which is crucial to reduce high risk of future floods hazard in this fragile mountain ecosystem of the Himalayan region.     

Sedimentological and petrochemical studies of Jurassic clastic rocks,Habo Dome Basin,Kachchh Mainland,Northwest India: Implications for depositional environment,provenance, and tectonic setting

Mesozoic rocks are extensively and excellently preserved in the western Indian shield in several basins. The Kachchh Mainland Basin (KMB), comprising six small sub‐basins, is the main repository of these sediments. Habo Dome Basin, situated in the easternmost part of KMB and largest among the six basins, hosts clastics of the Chari Formation of Jurassic age. The fluctuating transgressive–regressive facies cycle, developed during the Callovian and Late Early Oxfordian in the Habo Dome Basin, was mainly controlled by local tectonics and not by global eustatic fluctuations. Near magmatic relationships are displayed by various elements of the clastic rocks of Habo Dome Basin. Two litho‐chemical groups have been identified in Habo Dome Basin, which are cyclically repeated over entire lithostratigraphic sequence, indicating alternate pulses of sediment inputs from two different sources under palpitating tectonic conditions. Provenance indicator elements and their ratios coupled with source modeling indicate predominantly felsic source with basic and alkalic components. Integrated analysis of petrograhic and geochemical characteristics suggests two source terranes for these rocks: a granitoid source with significant basic volcanics (Banded Gneissic Complex) and a granite–gneissic source with minor alkaline volcanics (Nagarparkar Massif) lying to northeast and NNW respectively. The petrochemistry of Habo Dome clastics suggests their deposition in a fault controlled sink which was influenced by sea level changes. Drifting of the Indian plate resulted in the opening of series of rifted basins in the Kachchh Mainland during Late Triassic/Early Jurassic, which were closed later during collision of Indian plate with Eurasia at early Eocene. The Habo Dome Basin which opened up as a half graben in response to the initial stress regime, remained tectonically unstable until the cessation of pre and post collisional stress regimes.     

Impact of a new invasive ctenophore (Mnemiopsis leidyi) on the zooplankton community of the Southern Caspian sea

The invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (Agassiz), which was transported from the Black Sea into the Caspian Sea at the end of the 1990s, has negatively affected the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. Zooplankton abundance, biomass and species composition were evaluated on the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea during 2001–2006. A total of 18 merozooplankton (13 species composed of larvae of benthic animals) and holozooplankton (four Copepoda and one Cladocera) species were identified. The total number of zooplankton species found here was 50% less than in a previous investigation performed in the same region in 1996 before the introduction of Mnemiopsis leidyi into the Caspian Sea. Cladocera species seemed to be highly affected by the invasion of Mnemiopsis leidyi; only one species, Podon polyphemoides, remained in the study area, whereas 24 Cladocera species were found in the study carried out in 1996. Whereas among the Copepoda Eurytemora minor, Eurytemora grimmi, Calanipeda aquae dulcis and Acartia tonsa that were abundant before the Mnemiopsis leidyi invasion, only A. tonsa (copepodites and adults) dominated the inshore and offshore waters after the invasion. The maximum in zooplankton abundance (22,088 ± 24,840 ind·m^?3) and biomass (64.1 ± 56.8 mg·m^?3) were recorded in December 2001 and August 2004, respectively. The annual mean zooplankton abundance during 2001–2006 was in the range of 3361–8940 ind·m^?3; this was two‐ to five‐fold less than the zooplankton abundance in 1996. During 2001–2006, the highest abundance and biomass of Mnemiopsis leidyi were observed during summer‐autumn months coincident with warm temperatures and generally when the abundance of other zooplankton organisms was low.