Monsoon-induced sea surface temperature changes recorded in Indian corals

The South Asian Summer Monsoon induces vertical mixing in the surface Arabian Sea, leading to a reduction in the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) of the order of 3–4°C. This reduction in temperature is recorded by modern corals (Porites) that grow in the Lakshadweep Islands (coralline islands located at about 350 km off the south-west coast of India) in their stable oxygen isotope ratios (denoted by δ¹⁸O). As large coral colonies of this genus are available, our results show that palaeomonsoon records for a few centuries back in time, a crucial input for climatic models aimed at predicting the Asian Monsoon, can be obtained from these corals. We also show that two corals separated by ? 60 km show similar (518O variations as does a giant clam (Tridacna maximus) that grew near one end of the coral colonies. As this clam is known to precipitate CaCO3 in isotopic equilibrium with the ambient sea-water, it is possible to estimate the isotopic offset of coralline δ¹⁸O from that of the CaCO3 precipitated in isotopic equilibrium. This ‘disequilibrium effect’ appears to be constant around 4.5±0.2%0. Our calculations show that SST (t, °C) is related to the coral δ¹⁸O (δ_c) and the sea-water δ¹⁸O (δ_w) by the equation t = 3.0–4.68 (δ_c - δ_w), which is in good agreement with such relationships for corals from the Pacific and Atlantic.     

A new approach to verify the model core with idealized experiments

Summary ?A newly developed ocean general circulation model has been tested and verified with some idealized experiments. Generally two types of idealized experiments have been done here. First types are called as “symmetric experiments” and second types are called as “transport experiments”. The first types of experiment help to correct the model core and any deficiency from boundary conditions. The second types of experiment are the type of validation experiment. In both the experiments there are no continents, so in the first type of experiments where symmetric forcings are provided one can expect that model should maintain the symmetric nature. In the second type of experiments one can expect that model should respond correctly to the wind forcings, if no wind curl is present in the wind forcing there will be no circulation in the extratropics and if there is no wind the equator there will be no circulation. The model reproduces the possible envisaged results of these experiments and gives the confidence for performing the realistic integration. Received February 20, 2002; accepted July 7, 2002 Published online: February 20, 2003     

Sodium Arsenite Induced Alteration of Hemocyte Density of Lamellidens marginalis – An Edible Mollusk from India

Lamellidens marginalis (Molluska Bivalvia Eulamellibranchiata) is an important member of the freshwater ecosystem of India, which is sustained by filtering phytoplankton, bacteria and other particulate organic matter from the available water. Hemocytes, the circulating blood cells of bivalves, function as immunological effector cells under exposure to toxins and/or parasites. The hemocytes of Lamellidens marginalis have been identified morphologically and enumerated as being qualified for use as a biomarker to analyze the threat of freshwater contamination by sublethal concentrations of sodium arsenite, a natural pollutant of freshwater ecosystems. Diverse subpopulations of hemocytes were identified as blast‐like cells, granulocytes, agranulocytes, hyalinocytes and asterocytes. Supression in the total count of hemocytes and blast‐like cells was recorded under the exposure of all the concentrations of sodium arsenite tested. Sodium arsenite elevated the relative density of granulocytes, hyalinocytes, and asterocytes. Partial restoration of the total count of the hemocytes was recorded after the post‐treated animals were maintained in arsenic‐free water for periods of 15 and 30 days. The data predict a shift in the immunological parameters of this bivalve in arsenic contaminated environments. The present study is aimed at quantifying the arsenic induced stress in Lamellidens marginalis and establishing the hemocyte density as a biomarker of aquatic pollution in selected geographical regions of India.     

Cancer risks from exposure to vehicular air pollution: a household level analysis of intra-ethnic heterogeneity in Miami,Florida

Quantitative environmental justice (EJ) research has relied on aggregated data from census units to determine disproportionate hazard exposure. Additionally, variables typically used to analyze ethnic inequities in exposure (e.g., percent Hispanic) are too broad and assume a degree of homogeneity that may not exist, given the diversity of ethnic minority populations. We address these limitations through a study that utilizes primary household level survey data and cancer risk estimates from the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) to analyze intra-ethnic inequities in exposure to vehicular air pollutants in the Miami metropolitan area, Florida. Our analysis disaggregates the Hispanic category based on five characteristics (language proficiency, U.S. citizenship, nativity, unemployment status, and national origin) and finds that risk burdens are significantly higher for Hispanic respondents who are foreign-born, unemployed, and of Cuban origin. Findings highlight the advantages of downscaling EJ analyses to the household level and considering intra-ethnic heterogeneity in EJ research and policy.     

A Study of an Inhomogeneous Bianchi-I Model in Lyra Geometry

The inhomogeneous Bianchi-I model based on Lyra's geometry has been studied in the cosmological theory in presence of a massless inhomogeneous scalar field whose potential has a flat part. The field equations are solved using separation of variables and it is shown that one of the time part of the field equations are solvable for any arbitrary other cosmic scale function. Solutions for a particular form of cosmic scale (time part) is presented. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bianchi II,VIII, and IX viscous fluid cosmology

In this paper we study the exact solutions for a viscous fluid distribution in Bianchi II, VIII, and IX models. The metric is simplified by assuming a relationship between the coefficients of the metric tensor. Solutions are obtained in two special cases: in one an additional assumption is made where the matter density and the expansion scalar have a definite relation and in the other a barotropic equation of state of the formp= is assumed. While the Bianchi II solutions are already found in the literature the other two classes of solutions are apparently new.     

Dynamical behavior of size-graded dust grains levitated in rotating magnetized astroplasmas

Our purpose is to examine the formation of different sheaths in rotating astroplasmas embedded in an ambient magnetic field. Sequel to our recent work (Das and Chakraborty in Astrophys. Space Sci., 2011) we remodeled our present study with the view to finding of robust sheath over the Earth’s Moon along with the formation of dust clouds therein. Based on using the pseudopotential analysis, a modified Sagdeev potential equation has been derived, which, in turns, quantifies the interaction of Coriolis force and magnetic field and to derive the different natures of sheath and dust atmosphere. The application of this result to the input numeric data of the lunar environment and dynamical behaviors of dust levitation has been studied. Our study finds that the dust particles having a spatial segregation within the sheath region form dust clouds in spaces.     

Effect of temperature gradient on the wave propagation in a self-gravitating medium and its role in the central region of our Galaxy

The wave propagation in a finitely conducting, self-gravitating, non-relativistic hydromagnetic medium with temperature gradient and a heat-energy transport into it has been considered. Firstly, a General Dispersion Relation (G.D.R.) has been derived. The interest has been kept limited for the study of one dimensional wave propagation in a typical medium where magnetic field and it's gradient, density gradient, temperature gradient are all along the direction of wave propagation. The D.R. of such a medium follows from G.D.R. In particular, the effect of temperature gradient on the wave propagation has been studied. Analytical expressions for the wave parameters have been derived under different conditions. It has been found that the longitudinal waves could be sufficiently energetic for being unstable by the temperature gradient. Further, the modified Jeans' criterion (depending on temperature gradient), a criterion important for stability, has also been obtained.On assuming the gas medium in the central region ( 10 pc) of our Galaxy to behave like hydromagnetic fluid, and the direction of wave propagation (z-direction) as the direction perpendicular to the Galactic plane, few numerical estimations for the wave parameters (like wave lengths, phase velocity, etc.) have been made (as application of the above theoretical discussions). It has been found that the phase velocity of longitudinal waves at 1 pc level is at least 170 kms^–1 while at the 10 pc level the longitudinal waves of length less than a parsec may propagate smoothly through the medium. It has been suggested that (i) in the central region ( 10 pc) of our Galaxy the temperature gradient could be one of the major causes of the mass-outflow along the direction perpendicular to the Galactic plane (ii) outside the central region ( 10 pc) of our Galaxy, there may be long term consequences of such mass-outflow like Halo formation.     

A multi-method approach for the study of lanthanum speciation in coastal and estuarine sediments

Two independent analytical methods (sequential extraction and kinetic extraction methods) were applied in order to understand the distribution and speciation of La in the coastal and estuarine sediments from the central east coast of India. Sequential extraction study revealed that La was primarily present as inert complexes (~ 50–60% of the total La) in all the sediments. Amounts of ~ 20–30% of the total La in all the sediments were found to associate with the total organic carbon (TOC) in the sediments. The dissociation rate constants of La–sediment complexes obtained from kinetic extraction studies revealed that the concentration of thermodynamically weak complexes of La gradually increased with the increasing La/TOC ratio in the sediments.