Studies on South Indian radioactive minerals. Part I. Samarskite from Nellore

Samarskite, a radioactive niobotantalate occurring in the Nellore pegmatites, has been studied in detail. The investigations comprise the determination of physical and optical characters, chemical composition, autoradiographic studies, distribution pattern, calculation and interpretation of age. The available data on Nellore Samarskite has been critically examined and it has been shown that the controversy raised by Holmes concerning the age of the Eastern Ghats can be solved, if the samarskite specimen analysed by Sarkar and Sen Sarma is understood to belong to the Gaya group of minerals, as has been later suggested. A tentative Archaean succession table has also been suggested

Studies on diffusion. Part I. Diffusion of radioactive matter through plates

As a part of an attempt to develop new methods of measurement of diffusion constant of metals and non-metals into minerals using radioactivity techniques, expressions are derived to relate the processes of diffusion and the emission of alpha-particles under three sets of possible experimental conditions. The first case pertaisn to a plate whose thickness is equal to the characteristic range of the alpha-rays of the radio-nuclide used. Under the second case is considered a plate thicker than the characteristic range fo the alpha-rays in the plate. The third deals with cases wherein the radioactive matter used emits alpha-rays with different ranges less than the thickness of the plate

Sea breeze Initiated Rainfall over the east Coast of India during the Indian Southwest Monsoon

Sea breeze initiated convection and precipitation is investigated along the east coast of India during the Indian southwest monsoon season. The sea breeze circulations are observed approximately 70 to 80% of the days during the summer months (June to August) along the Chennai coast. Observations of average sea breeze wind speeds are stronger at a rural location as compared to the wind speeds observed inside the urban region of Chennai. The sea breeze circulation is shown to be the dominant mechanism for initiating rainfall during the Indian southwest monsoon season. Roughly 80% of the total rainfall observed during the southwest monsoon over Chennai is directly related to the convection initiated by sea breeze circulation

Technologies for utilizing natural resources create new job opportunities in the geosciences in the developing countries

Water, soils, minerals, and biota constitute a community's most significant natural resources. Innovations in technology are generating new jobs in converting into a resource what was yesterday a non-resource; in developing process and control technologies to minimize wastes; and in waste recycling. " Resources are not, they become," in the words of Zimmerman. In the case of the developing countries, the technologies of choice have not only to be ecologically sustainable and economically viable, but more importantly, employment generating. The new kinds of jobs-for example, in poverty alleviation projects via micro-enterprises based on value-added processing of natural resources - have a strong environmental relevance and tend to lie at the interface of several traditional scientific disciplines. Geoscience graduates in the developing countries are best placed to take advantage of these new job opportunities involving Earth materials, but only if they are exposed to broad-based geoscience instruction. For example, the phosphorite of Minjungu, Tanzania, is radioactive; its uranium content is "200 ppm. Farmers want to use the phosphorite to fertilize soil, but the government is concerned that the uranium content of the phosphorite will leach into stream water, which is used for drinking. The problem was solved by applying the crushed phosphorite blended with bentonite, which impounded both uranium and phosphorus in the soil. Geoscience graduates with knowledge of soil mineralogy and of chemistry and radiation environment were found to be the best suited to advise farmers in this regard, rather than the soil scientists, chemists, and radiation physicists

Studies on South Indian radioactive minerals II. Allanite from Madura

Allanite, a cerium-bearing epidote occurring in the pegmatites of Kavarkattumalai, Madura District, has been studied in detail. The investigations comprise the determination of physical and optical characters, chemical composition, mineral formula, and autoradiographic studies. Attempts have been made from a study of the data on metamict and non-metamict allanites to formulate the changes that allanite undergoes when it becomes metamict. Evidence has been collected to show that the allanite from Madura had become metamict and is hence of dubious value as an age index

Functions and organizational structure of the proposed natural resources management facility in Mozambique

The proposed Natural Resources Management Facility (NRMF) seeks to achieve poverty reduction and employment generation through ecologically sustainable, economically viable and people-participatory management of natural resources (resources of waters and soils, coastal and marine resources, ecotourism, energy resources, mineral and other resources). The NRMF will have five functional divisions for technology policy, environmental education, extramural cooperation, technical facility and information network, and international cooperation. At the heart of the NRMF is a state-of-the-art analytical laboratory (with ICP-AES, GC-ECD, GC-MS, etc.) in Maputo. This will be networked with five field stations which will have portable instruments for water, soil, food, etc. analysis. The NRMF will custom-design integrated natural resource management models for different areas of the country, in the context of their particular biophysical and socio-economic environments. Innovative management techniques have been developed to make the NRMF sustainable and largely self-financing. The NRMF will cooperate with, and assist the member countries of SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) in environmental management for mutual benefit, and could, hopefully, serve as a pilot model for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa

Center in India offers training in water management

The Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management in Hyderabad, India, conducted an interactive training course 7-17 December 2002 on the relationship of land surface hydrological processes to water resources management and extreme weather events. The course was designed to address the training needs of government personnel in Andhra Pradesh State working in the area of water resources management, particularly in the context of severe drought and over-exploitation of groundwater in the State. The Mahadevan Centre, modeled after the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, serves as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to water sciences and technologies for the developing countries

Th/U and U/K ratios as possible aids in prospecting for uranium deposits in peninsular India

This article does not have an abstract

Absolute ages of the Archaean orogenic cycles of India

Presents a tentative chronology of the four major Archean orogenies in peninsular India, based mainly on radioactive age measurements of minerals from pegmatites of the Dharwar (and Aravalli), Eastern Ghats, Satpura, and Delhi structural provinces

Age of the samarskite of Kishengarh, Rajasthan India

This article does not have an abstract