Decoding Subsurface Secondary Mineralisation and its Impact on Cohesive Strength:An Outcome of the Deep Scientific Drilling Program in the Koyna-Warna Seismogenic Region,Western India

The Koyna-Warna seismogenic region overlying the Deccan volcanic province of Western India has been experiencing the recurrence of earthquakes since 1967 soon after the impoundment of the Koyna Dam.A large number of small to medium-magnitude shallow focus earthquakes(>100,000)have been detected in this intraplate region during the last six decades.In the present study,the core samples recovered from the borehole‘KBH3’drilled upto 1134 m depth in the pre-Deccan granitoids basement rocks of this region have been subjected to mineralogical and geochemical studies.

Utility of fluid inclusion paleo-temperature in petroleum system modelling:A case study from western offshore,India

The paleo-temperature(Th)data from fluid inclusions are utilized for thermal history modelling using PetroMod software.Generally,bottom hole temperature(BHT)and vitrinite reflectance(Ro)measurements are widely used in petroleum system modelling(PSM)in the oil industry for calibration purposes.Th representing the minimum temperature of fluid entrapment estimated from fluid-inclusion study provides extra support to build the thermal models for PSM.Fluid inclusion parameters along with Rock-Eval pyrolysis analysis have been used to predict the maturity of oil in terms of API gravity as well as the maturity of source rocks respectively.Two exploratory wells RV-1(Mumbai Offshore Basin)and KK4C-A-1(Kerala-Konkan Offshore Basin),India were examined and the T_(h)from most of the fluid inclusions of wells RV-1 and KK4C-A-1 fell in the oil window range of 60-140℃suggesting thermal conditions favourable for oil generation in both of the wells.T_(h)of coeval aqueous inclusions along with the Hydrocarbon Fluid inclusions(HCFIs)was used to calibrate PSM.Vital parameters show that source rocks of well RV-1 are mature and that of well KK4C-A-1 are immature.Two sets of PSM are created in terms of generation and expulsion for the dry wells RV-1 and KK4C-A-1 and calibrated each well using fluid inclusion Th and BHT.From the fluid inclusion analysis method,it is evident that hydrocarbon generation happened in both wells and the paleo-temperature indicates that the formations of both wells were subjected to temperatures in the oil window range,even though it was designated as dry wells in the present scenario.The present study highlights the application of fluid inclusion paleo-temperature(Th)during calibration instead of commonly used methods.We could obtain desirable and accurate data output from PSM using T_(h) calibration.

Variability of Nonionellina labradorica Dawson in Surface Sediments from Kongsfjorden,West Spitsbergen

Kongsfjorden is a fjord in Spitsbergen（Svalbard archipelago）that lies adjacent to both Arctic and Atlantic water masses and is therefore a suitable site to understand the effects of climate change on ecosystems.To decipher the effect of the lateral advection of transformed Atlantic water （TAW）within the fjord,spatial variations of foraminiferal tests,their test size variations and stable isotopic composition（δ^（13）C andδ^（18）O）in the surface sediments were studied.Total organic carbon and textural analyses were also carried out.The dominant benthic foraminifera included Nonionellina labradorica,Elphidium excavatum,Cassidulina reniforme,Quinqueloculina stalkeri and Islandiella islandica.Nonionellina labradorica was the predominant species in the outer fjord,whereas Elphidium excavatum and Cassidulina reniforme were dominant in the inner fjord.Total organic carbon and the test size of Nonionellina labradorica within the fjord were highly correlated（r=0.97）and both showed a decreasing trend towards the inner fjord.Based on the distribution and abundance of Nonionellina labradorica as well as temperature profiles,we suggest that there was little or no major change in the lateral advection of TAW within the fjord in the immediate past.

A Review on Applications of Imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar with a Special Focus on Cryospheric Studies

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth’s system. Snow and ice are the main constituents of the cryosphere and may be found in different states, such as snow, freshwater ice, sea ice, perma-frost, and continental ice masses in the form of glaciers and ice sheets. The present review mainly deals with state-of-the-art applications of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with a special emphasize on cryospheric information extraction. SAR is the most important active microwave remote sensing (RS) instrument for ice monitoring, which provides high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface. SAR is an ideal sensor in RS technology, which works in all-weather and day and night conditions to provide useful unprecedented information, especially in the cryospheric regions which are almost inaccessible areas on Earth. This paper addresses the technological evolution of SAR and its applications in studying the various components of the cryosphere. The arrival of SAR radically changed the capabilities of information extraction related to ice type, new ice formation, and ice thickness. SAR applications can be divided into two broad classes-polarimetric applications and interferometric applications. Polarimetric SAR has been effectively used for mapping calving fronts, crevasses, surface structures, sea ice, detection of icebergs, etc. The paper also summarizes both the operational and climate change research by using SAR for sea ice parameter detection. Digital elevation model (DEM) generation and glacier velocity mapping are the two most important applications used in cryosphere using SAR interferometry or interferometric SAR (InSAR). Space-borne InSAR techniques for measuring ice flow velocity and topography have developed rapidly over the last decade. InSAR is capable of measuring ice motion that has radically changed the science of glaciers and ice sheets. Measurement of temperate glacier velocities and surface characteristics by using airborne and space-borne interferometric satellite images have been the significant application in glaciology and cryospheric studies. Space-borne InSAR has contributed to major evolution in many research areas of glaciological study by measuring ice-stream flow velocity, improving understanding of ice-shelf processes, yielding velocity for flux-gate based mass-balance assessment, and mapping flow of mountain glaciers. The present review summarizes the salient development of SAR applications in cryosphere and glaciology.

A Review on Extraction of Lakes from Remotely Sensed Optical Satellite Data with a Special Focus on Cryospheric Lakes

Water on the Earth’s surface is an essential part of the hydrological cycle. Water resources include surface waters, groundwater, lakes, inland waters, rivers, coastal waters, and aquifers. Monitoring lake dynamics is critical to favor sustainable management of water resources on Earth. In cryosphere, lake ice cover is a robust indicator of local climate variability and change. Therefore, it is necessary to review recent methods, technologies, and satellite sensors employed for the extraction of lakes from satellite imagery. The present review focuses on the comprehensive evaluation of existing methods for extraction of lake or water body features from remotely sensed optical data. We summarize pixel-based, object-based, hybrid, spectral index based, target and spectral matching methods employed in extracting lake features in urban and cryospheric environments. To our knowledge, almost all of the published research studies on the extraction of surface lakes in cryospheric environments have essentially used satellite remote sensing data and geospatial methods. Satellite sensors of varying spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions have been used to extract and analyze the information regarding surface water. Multispectral remote sensing has been widely utilized in cryospheric studies and has employed a variety of electro-optical satellite sensor systems for characterization and extraction of various cryospheric features, such as glaciers, sea ice, lakes and rivers, the extent of snow and ice, and icebergs. It is apparent that the most common methods for extracting water bodies use single band-based threshold methods, spectral index ratio (SIR)-based multiband methods, image segmentation methods, spectral-matching methods, and target detection methods (unsupervised, supervised and hybrid). A Synergetic fusion of various remote sensing methods is also proposed to improve water information extraction accuracies. The methods developed so far are not generic rather they are specific to either the location or satellite imagery or to the type of the feature to be extracted. Lots of factors are responsible for leading to inaccurate results of lake-feature extraction in cryospheric regions, e.g. the mountain shadow which also appears as a dark pixel is often misclassified as an open lake. The methods which are working well in the cryospheric environment for feature extraction or landcover classification does not really guarantee that they will be working in the same manner for the urban environment. Thus, in coming years, it is expected that much of the work will be done on object-based approach or hybrid approach involving both pixel as well as object-based technology. A more accurate, versatile and robust method is necessary to be developed that would work independent of geographical location (for both urban and cryosphere) and type of optical sensor.

A Comprehensive Evaluation of PAN-Sharpening Algorithms Coupled with Resampling Methods for Image Synthesis of Very High Resolution Remotely Sensed Satellite Data

The merging of a panchromatic (PAN) image with a multispectral satellite image (MSI) to increase the spatial resolution of the MSI, while simultaneously preserving its spectral information is classically referred as PAN-sharpening. We employed a recent dataset derived from very high resolution of WorldView-2 satellite (PAN and MSI) for two test sites (one over an urban area and the other over Antarctica), to comprehensively evaluate the performance of six existing PAN-sharpening algorithms. The algorithms under consideration were the Gram-Schmidt (GS), Ehlers fusion (EF), modified hue-intensity-saturation (Mod-HIS), high pass filtering (HPF), the Brovey transform (BT), and wavelet-based principal component analysis (W-PC). Quality assessment of the sharpened images was carried out by using 20 quality indices. We also analyzed the performance of nearest neighbour (NN), bilinear interpolation (BI), and cubic convolution (CC) resampling methods to test their practicability in the PAN-sharpening process. Our results indicate that the comprehensive performance of PAN-sharpening methods decreased in the following order: GS > W-PC > EF > HPF > Mod-HIS > BT, while resampling methods followed the order: NN > BI > CC.

Elemental variations in glacier cryoconites of Indian Himalaya and Spitsbergen,Arctic

Cryoconite samples were collected from two different climatic domains i.e.,the Sutri Dhaka glacier,western Himalaya India and Svalbard glaciers,the Spitsbergen,Arctic,to understand the elemental source and elemental deposition patterns.The data of geochemical analysis suggest that the Himalayan cryoconite samples accumulate higher concentrations as compared to the cryoconite samples of the Arctic glaciers.The concentration of lithophile elements(Cs,Li,Rb and U)was recorded higher in the cryoconite holes of the Himalayas,especially,in the lower to the higher parts of the glacier,whereas,lower concentrations were recorded in the Arctic samples.Chalcophile elements in the Himalayan cryoconites are enriched in As and Bi while the Arctic cryoconite samples show a higher concentration of Bi,Pb and As.The higher concentrations are responsible for influencing the ecosystem and in human health related issues.Siderophile elements(Co,Fe,Mn and Ni)show high concentrations in the Himalayan samples,whereas,the Arctic samples show minor variations and low elemental concentration in these elements,respectively.In addition,a few elements,such as Ag,Mg,and Ca show higher concentration in the Himalayan glacier samples.Ca also occurs in high concentrations in Arctic glacier samples.R-mode factor analysis of the Himalayas(Arctic)samples indicate that the elements are distributed in four(three)factors,explaining 89%(90%)of the variance in their elemental distribution.The Factor 1 suggests statistically significant positive loadings for most of the lithophile,chalcophile and siderophile elements of the "Himalayan" and the Arctic cryoconite samples.The sample-wise factor score distribution shows a considerable variation in the sampling locations along the glaciers of both the regions.Factors 2 and 3,demonstrate insignificant loading for most of the elements,except statistically significant positive loading in some of the elements of the both,Himalayan and Arctic "cryoconites".The higher elemental concentration in the cryoconites of the Himalayan region may be an indicator of the natural processes and/or attributed to the rapid industrialization in the Asian countries.

Evaluation of High-Resolution WRF Model Simulations of Surface Wind over the West Coast of India

This paper presents results from a statistical validation of the hindcasts of surface wind by a high-reso-ution-mesoscale atmospheric numerical model Advanced Research WRF （ARW3.3）, which is set up to force the operational coastal ocean forecast system at Indian Na- tional Centre for Ocean Information Services （INCOIS）. Evaluation is carried out based on comparisons of day-3 forecasts of surface wind with in situ and remote-sensing data. The results show that the model predicts the surface wind fields fairly accurately over the west coast of India, with high skill in predicting the surface wind during the pre-monsoon season. The model predicts the diurnal variability of the surface wind with reasonable accuracy. The model simulates the land-sea breeze cycle in the coastal region realistically, which is very clearly observed during the northeast monsoon and pre-monsoon season and is less prominent during the southwest monsoon season.

Role of lithology, weathering and precipitation on water chemistry of lakes from Larsemann Hills and Schirmacher Oasis of East Antarctica

Schirmacher Oasis and Larsemann Hills areas represent two different periglacial environments of East Antarctica. Schirmacher Oasis is characterized by a vast stretch of ice-shelf in the north and East Antarctic Ice Sheet(EAIS) to its south. Whereas, in Larsemann Hills area the northern and north-western boundary is coastal area and EAIS in the southern part,exhibiting polar lowland between the marine and continental glacial ecosystems. Physico-chemical parameters of water samples from different lakes of both of these two distinct locations are quite contrasting and have indicated influence of lithology, weathering, evaporation and precipitation. The lake water chemistry in Larsemann Hills area is mainly governed by the lithology of the area while Schirmacher lakes exhibit influence of precipitation and rock composition. All major ions of lake waters indicate balanced ionic concentrations. The atmospheric precipitation has significantly modified the ionic distributions in the lakes and channels. Carbonation is the main proton supplying geochemical reactions involved in the rock weathering and this is an important mechanism which controls the hydrochemistry. The lake water hydrochemistry differs widely not only between two distant periglacial zones but also within a short distance of a single periglacial entity, indicating influence of territorial climate over hydrochemistry.

Phylogenetic analysis and biological characteristic tests of marine bacteria isolated from Southern Ocean(Indian sector)water

Fifty-seven bacteria were isolated from Southern Ocean （Indian sector） water samples which were collected from different latitude and longitude of the ocean. All the isolates were able to grow at 4℃, 20℃, 37℃ and tolerable NaCI concentration up to 13.5% （w/v）. 29 out of 57 isolates were identified using 16S rDNA amplification and the sequences were submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information （NCBI）. All the isolates were classified by using Ribosomal Database Project （RDP） and found that isolates belongs to Proteobacteria and Bacteriodes. The average G＋C content was 56.4%. The isolates were screened for the presence of extracellular enzymes, viz. amylase, catalase, urease, esterase, lipase and protease. The disc diffusion method is used to screen antibiotic production by the isolates against four pathogenic bacteria, viz. Salmonella typhimurium （NCIM 2501）, Staphylococcus aureus （NCIM 2122）, Bacillus subtilis （NCIM 2193）, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa （NCIM 2036）. Nine out of 29 were found to be antibiotic producer.

Glacial-interglacial productivity contrasts along the eastern Arabian Sea:Dominance of convective mixing over upwelling

The western continental margin of India is one of the highly productive regions in the global ocean.Primary productivity is induced by upwelling and convective mixing during the southwest and northeast monsoons respectively.Realizing the importance of high primary productivity,a sediment core was collected below the current oxygen minimum zone（OMZ） from the southwestern continental margin of India.This was dated by AMS radiocarbon and as many as 60 paleoclimate/paceoceanographic proxies,such as particle size,biogenic components,major,trace and rare earth elements（REEs） which were measured for the first time to determine sources of sediment,biogeochemical processes operating in the water column and their variations since the last glacial cycle.R-mode factor analysis of comprehensive data indicates that the dominant regulator of paleoproductivity is the southwest monsoon wind induced upwelling.Other paleoproductivity related factors identified are the marine biogenic component and biogenic detritus（as an exported component from the water column added to the bottom sediment）.All paleoproductivity components increased significantly during the marine isotope stage-1（MIS-1）compared to those accumulated from MIS-4 to MIS-2.The second group of factors identified are the terrigenous sediments with heavy minerals like zircon and ilmenite.The terrigenous sediment,in particular,increased during MIS-2 when the sea-level was lower;however,the heavy mineral component fluctuated over time implying pulsed inputs of sediment.The diagenetic fraction and reducing component are the third group of factors identified which varied with time with increased accumulation during the MIS transitions.The primary productivity along the southwestern continental margin of India seems to have been controlled principally by the upwelling during the southwest monsoon season that was weaker from MIS-4 to MIS-2,as relative to that during the MIS-1.In contrast,increased glacial productivity noticed in sediments deposited below the current oxygen minimum zone（OMZ） along the north of the study area that can be linked to entrainment of nutrients through the intensified convective mixing of surface water during the northeast monsoon.The sequestration of greenhouse gases by the western continental margin of India was higher during glacial than interglacial cycles.

Past, Present and Future Climate of Antarctica

Anthropogenic warming of near-surface atmosphere in the last 50 years is dominant over the west Antarctic Peninsula. Ozone depletion has led to partly cooling of the stratosphere. The positive polarity of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) index and its enhancement over the past 50 years have intensified the westerlies over the Southern Ocean, and induced warming of Antarctic Peninsula. Dictated by local ocean-atmosphere processes and remote forcing, the Antarctic sea ice extent is increasing, contrary to climate model predictions for the 21st century, and this increase has strong regional and seasonal signatures. Models incorporating doubling of present day CO2 predict warming of the Antarctic sea ice zone, a reduction in sea ice cover, and warming of the Antarctic Plateau, accompanied by increased snowfall.

Sea Ice Observations in Polar Regions: Evolution of Technologies in Remote Sensing

Evolution of remote sensing sensors technologies is presented, with emphasis on its suitability in observing the polar regions. The extent of influence of polar regions on the global climate and vice versa is the spearhead of climate change research. The extensive cover of sea ice has major impacts on the atmosphere, oceans, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems of the polar regions in particular and teleconnection on other processes elsewhere. Sea ice covers vast areas of the polar oceans, ranging from ~18 × 106 km2 to ~23 × 106 km2, combined for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. However, both polar regions are witnessing contrasting rather contradicting effects of climate change. The Arctic sea ice extent is declining at a rate of 0.53 × 106 km2·decade–1, whereasAntarcticaexhibits a positive trend at the rate of 0.167 × 106 km2·decade–1. This work reviews literature published in the field of sea ice remote sensing, to evaluate and access success and failures of different sensors to observe physical features of sea ice. The chronological development series of different sensors on different satellite systems, sensor specifications and datasets are examined and how they have evolved to meet the growing needs of users is outlined. Different remote sensing technology and observational methods and their suitability to observe specific sea ice property are also discussed. A pattern has emerged, which shows that microwave sensors are inherently superior to visible and infrared in monitoring seasonal and annual changes in sea ice. Degree of successes achieved through remote sensing techniques by various investigators has been compared. Some technologies appear to work better under certain conditions than others, and it is now well accepted that there is no algorithm that is ideal globally. Contribution of Indian remote sensing satellites is also reviewed in the context of polar research. This review suggests different primary datasets for further research on sea ice features (sea ice extent, ice type, sea ice thickness, etc.). This work also examines past achievements and how far these capabilities have evolved and tap into current state of art/direction of sensor technologies. Effective monitoring and syntheses of past few decades of research pinpoint useful datasets for sea ice monitoring, thereby avoiding wastage of resources to find practical datasets to monitor these physically inaccessible regions.

Mechanism of crustal extension in the Laxmi Basin,Arabian Sea

Continental rifting and magmatism has been extensively studied worldwide as it is believed that continental rifting, break up of continents and associated magmatism lead to genesis of new oceanic crust. However, various regions of the world show that these processes may lead to genesis of other types of crust than the oceanic crust. Laxmi Basin in the western continental margin of the India is one such region with an enigmatic crust.Due to its extreme strategic significance for the palaeogeographic reconstruction of continents during Cretaceous continental breakup of India, this basin has attracted various workers for more than two decades. However, still the issue of nature of crust in the basin remains controversial. In this contribution, in order to identify nature of crust, mechanism of continental extension in the Laxmi Basin has been studied for the first time through newly acquired seismic data from the basin. Here, we propose a plausible mechanism of crustal extension in the Laxmi Basin which eventually constrains the nature of crust of the Laxmi Basin. We have demonstrated that the crust in the Laxmi Basin can be categorised in two zones of stretched and transitional crust. In the stretched zone several fault bounded horst and graben structures are identified which preserve syn- and post-rift sediments along with different periods of hiatus in sedimentations as unconformities. These faults are identified as listric faults in the upper crust which sole out in the detachment faults.Detachment faults decouples the upper brittle and lower ductile crust. The transitional crust is identified as heavily intruded by sills and basaltic volcanic which were emplaced due to melting of subcontinental mantle（SCM） after hyper-stretching of crust and serpentinisation of the SCM. Panikkar Ridge is proposed to be one such basaltic volcanic body derived from melting of lower part of the SCM.

Validation of High-Density Airborne LiDAR-Based Feature Extraction Using Very High Resolution Optical Remote Sensing Data

This work uses the canopy height model (CHM) based workflow for individual tree crown delineation from LiDAR point cloud data in an urban environment and evaluates its accuracy by using very high-resolution PAN (spatial) and 8-band WorldView-2 imagery. LiDAR point cloud data were used to detect tree features by classifying point elevation values. The workflow includes resampling of LiDAR point cloud to generate a raster surface or digital terrain model, generation of hill-shade image and intensity image, extraction of digital surface model, generation of bare earth digital elevation model and extraction of tree features. Scene dependent extraction criteria were employed to improve the tree feature extraction. LiDAR-based refining/filtering techniques used for bare earth layer extraction were crucial for improving the subsequent tree feature extraction. The PAN-sharpened WV-2 image (with 0.5 m spatial resolution) used to assess the accuracy of LiDAR-based tree features provided an accuracy of 98%. Based on these inferences, we conclude that the LiDAR-based tree feature extraction is a potential application which can be used for understanding vegetation characterization in urban setup.

Mineralogical and Geochemical Evidence of Fluid-rock Interaction at the Shallow Crustal Level in Koyna Seismogenic Region, Maharashtra, India: Impact and Implications

The Koyna region of Maharashtra located in the western part of the~65 Myr old Deccan traps province,overlying the Neoarchean cratonic granitoid basement of peninsular India,has been experiencing recurring seismicity since 1962 after the impoundment of the Shivajisagar Reservoir behind the Koyna Dam.

Seismic stratigraphy and the sedimentation history in the Laxmi Basin of the eastern Arabian Sea:Constraints from IODP Expedition 355

Detailed interpretation of seismic stratigraphic sequences in the Laxmi Basin of the eastern Arabian Sea are presented in this study using closely spaced high resolution multi-channel seismic(MCS)data.Our stratigraphic interpretation is further corroborated using recent drilling results in the Laxmi Basin,derived from the long sediment cores collected during International Ocean Discovery Program(IODP)Expedition 355.Integrated core-log interpretation discussed in the present study,offer important insights about the lithostratigraphic variations in this region.Analyses of multi-channel seismic reflection data reveal five depositional sequences(ranging from Paleocene to Recent)that led to the development of this marginal basin since the Cenozoic period.Regional igneous basement is successfully imaged,which was also validated by deep sea coring during the IODP Expedition 355.In the present study,we primarily focus on the post-rift sedimentation in the Laxmi Basin and its possible mechanisms.Our detailed interpretation in the prevailing tectonic framework of the basin suggests that near-shelf oldest volcaniclastic sedimentation immediately overlying the acoustic basement is linked to the onset of India-Madagascar and India-Seychelles rifting activities during the Late Cretaceous period.Eventually,during the Early-Mid to Late Miocene,the basin received maximum sedimentation dominantly through an extensive mass transport mechanism implying possible large-scale deformation on the Indian shelf.Subsequent sediment input to the basin appears to have been fed variably via the Indus Fan as well as coastal discharge from the Indian mainland.The total sediment thickness in the Laxmi Basin ranges from 1.1 to 3.5 km.New stratigraphic information and sediment isopach maps presented here provide vital information about syn-and post-rift sedimentation pattern in the region and their long term tectonic implications.

Geochemistry of core sediments from the southeastern Bay of Bengal:Inferences on weathering and early diagenetic changes

A sediment core(ABP24/05),collected at a water depth of 3520 m from the southeastern Bay of Bengal was studied to determine the change in chemical weathering during the last glacial to deglacial periods and the factors of sedimentary environment which controlled earliest diagenetic changes in the sediment after its deposition.High ratios of K/Rb,Ti/Al and Zr/Rb during~45 to~18 cal kyr B.P.in the core sediments may be attributed to the stronger physical erosion and turbidity currents activity during this period.This might have brought a higher quantity of unaltered minerals to the study area.Low ratios of K/Rb,Zr/Rb,and Ti/Al and increase of SiO_(2)/TiO_(2),Rb/Al and Cs/Al from~18 cal kyr B.P.to present may be indicating an increase in the rate of chemical weathering during this period.The time of increased chemical weathering in the study area is consistent with deglaciation warming in the tropical Indian Ocean and strengthening of river runoff into the Andaman Sea.Climate change during the interglacial period by increased solar insolation thereby strengthened the summer monsoon which might have led to intensified chemical weathering in the source region since~18 cal kyr B.P.The low organic carbon(OC),high Mn/Al,Fe/Al and the Mn-oxides minerals precipitation indicate prevailing of oxic conditions during~11 cal kyr B.P.in the core sediments,which is contradictory to suboxic conditions developed in the deep ocean sediments in the western Bay of Bengal and the equatorial Indian Ocean.The low terrigenous influx and export of less OC to the bottom sediments might have created a favorable condition for the formation of Mn-oxides in the study area during Holocene.

Mass balance and morphological evolution of the Dokriani Glacier,central Himalaya,India during 1999–2014

Glaciological mass balance(MB)is considered the most direct,undelayed and unfiltered response of the glaciers to climatic perturbations.However,it may inherit errors associated with stake underrepresentation,averaging over the entire glacier and human bias.Therefore,proper validation of glaciological MB with geodetic MB is highly recommended by the World Glacier Monitoring Service(WGMS).The present study focuses on the Dokriani Glacier,central Himalaya which is one of the bench-mark glaciers in the region and has glaciological MB records from 1993 to 2013 with intermittent gaps.In the present study,firstly the glaciological MB series is extended to 2014 i.e.,field-based MB for one more year is computed and,to compare with it,the geodetic MB is computed for the 1999–2014 period using high resolution Cartosat-1 digital elevation model(DEM)and SRTM DEM.Finally,the study assesses the regional representation of the Dokriani Glacier in terms of MB and evaluates the influence of the MB regime on its morphological evolution.Results show that the average glaciological MB(-0.34±0.2 m water equivalent(w.e.)y-1)is more negative than the geodetic MB(-0.23±0.1 m w.e.y-1)for the 1999–2014 period.This is likely because of the partial representation of glacier margins in the glaciological MB,where melting is strikingly low owing to thick debris cover(>30 cm).In contrast,geodetic MB considers all marginal pixels leading to a comparatively low MB.A comparative assessment shows that the MB of Dokriani Glacier is less negative(possibly due to its huge accumulation area)than most other glacier-specific and regional MBs,restricting it to be a representative glacier in the region.Moreover,continuous negative MB has brought a peculiar change in the epiglacial morphology in the lower tongue of the glacier as differential debris thickness-induced differential melting has turned the glacier surface into a concave one.This concavity has led to development of a large(10–20 m deep)supraglacial channel which is expanding incessantly.The supraglacial channel is also connected with the snout wall and accelerates terminus disintegration.Given the total thickness of about 30–50 m in the lower glacier tongue,downwasting at its current pace,deepening/widening of supraglacial channel coupled with rapid terminus retreat may lead to the complete vanishing of the lower one km glacier tongue.

Content analysis of documents using neural networks: A study of Antarctic science research articles published in international journals

Content analysis of scientific papers emanating from Antarctic science research during the 25 years period （1980-- 2004） has been carried out using neural network based algorithm-CATPAC. A total of 10 942 research articles published in Science Citation Indexed （SCI） journals were used for the study. Normalized co-word matrix from 35 most-used significant words was used to study the semantic association between the words. Structural Equivalence blocks were constructed from these 35 most-used words. Four-block model solution was found to be optimum. The density table was dichotomized using the mean density of the table to derive the binary matrix, which was used to construct the network map. Network maps represent the thematic character of the blocks. The blocks showed preferred connection in establishing semantic relationship with the blocks, characterizing thematic composition of Antarctic science research. The analysis has provided an analytical framework for carrying out studies on the con- tent of scientific articles. The paper has shown the utility of co-word analysis in highlighting the important areas of research in Antarctic science.