Possibilities of helium deposit in Jharkhand State of India.

Assessment of helium reservoir may be under

taken in the Jharkhand state.
By
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi.

Fig: The above pictures are of Surajkund area in Hazaribag district in Jharkhand.

Rocks of Jharkhand State in India which are mineral rich can also be used for trapping Helium deposit. In Jharkhand helium has been reported in the gases of different thermal springs of Hazaribag district.

In Jharkhand, concentration of helium is highest in thermal gases of Surajkund (3.63 mole %) followed by Charhi (3.38 mole %), Duari (2.95 mole%), Barkagaon (0.29 mole %)and Badam (0.09 mole %). Surajkund hot spring (also called Surya Kund) is a natural hot spring in Belkapi gram panchayat of Barkatha community development block in Barhi subdivision of Hazaribag district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.

Mineral radioactivity plays an important role in the natural occurrence of helium. Helium is an end product of radioactive decay. Helium is also known from the damp of many coal mines. The release of helium from rocks/minerals is greatly promoted by leaching with H2 , CH4 and its homologues. In this area high helium seems to have originated from the combination of the above processes.

According to other report, two well-known groups of thermal springs at Bakreswar (West Bengal) and Tantloi (Jharkhand) give-off substantial quantities of helium-bearing natural gases as bubbling emanations. These two thermal spring sites are located 25 km from
each other and about 250 km from Kolkata. In Tantloi the presence of helium in gases of thermal spring is 1.26 vol. %.

Helium is used for many purposes that require some of its unique properties, such as its low boiling point, low density, low solubility, high thermal conductivity, or inertness. Of the 2008 world helium total production of about 32 million kg (193 million standard cubic meters) helium per year, the largest use (about 22% of the total in 2008) is in cryogenic applications, most of which involves cooling the superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners.

Helium is extracted in Poland, Russia, China, Algeria, Canada and the Netherlands. The average concentration of helium in fields of these countries ranges between 0.18 and 0.9 vol%. Since such favourable natural gas deposits are not found in India, it seems logical to look for them in unconventional terrestrial sources such as thermal spring emanations and monazite sands.

A thermal spring is the manifestation of extremity of an ascending hot fluid column, which pierces successive layers of the lithosphere and comes forth through the vents. It issues along fractures and fissures, which are invariably linked with deep-seated faults in well-defined zones of mechanical weakness. There are nearly three hundred thermal springs scattered all over India. Preliminary estimation performed by Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) at Bakreswar, District Birbhum, West Bengal reveals that quite a number of thermal springs emit natural gases containing helium in significant measure.

Three distinct belts of thermal springs so far identified in India by the Geological Survey of India are: (1) Eastern India – Jharkhand, Assam and Orissa; (2) West coast of India – Ratnagiri, Thane, Colaba and Surat, and (3) Himalayan Belt – Jamunotri (Uttaranchal), Gangotri and Monikaran (Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh).

Earlier, radon, helium and uranium measurements have been carried out in hot water springs in the Parbati and Beas valleys of Himachal Pradesh in India. Most of these hot springs are known as famous pilgrimage centers. The activity of dissolved radon in the liquid phase is found to vary widely, by an order of magnitude, between 10 and 750 Bq L−1, whereas, the dissolved helium content in these thermal springs varies between 10 and 100 ppm. The uranium contents are low and vary from <0.01 to 5 μg L−1. The measured values of radon, helium and uranium are possibly controlled by structural geology, namely the presence of pervious fault systems, and by the lithology of the leached host rocks.


Helium is found in large amounts in minerals of uranium and thorium, including cleveite, pitchblende, carnotite and monazite, because they emit alpha particles (helium nuclei, He2+) to which electrons immediately combine as soon as the particle is stopped by the rock. In this way an estimated 3000 metric tons of helium are generated per year throughout the lithosphere. In the Earth's crust, the concentration of helium is 8 parts per billion. In seawater, the concentration is only 4 parts per trillion. There are also small amounts in mineral springs, volcanic gas, and meteoric iron. Because helium is trapped in the subsurface under conditions that also trap natural gas, the greatest natural concentrations of helium on the planet are found in natural gas, from which most commercial helium is extracted.


We believe that exploitation of the existing natural gas reserves in India could meet the requirement for domestic consumption of Grade-A helium. This, in turn, would ensure a reliable supply of helium for sustainable development and application of cryogenic technology. Taking into account the growing demand of cryogenic technology in our country, helium concentration assessment of helium reservoir may be undertaken in the Jharkhand state to see if helium can be mined. A detail exploration is needed to improve the database for assessing and evaluating the helium potential in Jharkhand State. Geological Survey of India along with state government and other national agencies will have to play a key role.

Reference:

Priyadarshi N. 2002. Potential of geothermal energy in Jharkhand State, India: Proceedings of the 1st conference and exhibition on strategic challenges and paradigm shift in hydrocarbon exploration with special reference to Frontier Basins. Mussoorie, India, v2, p. 261-265.

Singh, R., and Bandyopadhyaya, A.K., 1995. Geochemical studies of some thermal springs in Hazaribag district, Bihar, India: Indian Minerals, v49, no.1 & 2, p. 55-60.

http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jun252005/1883.pdf

The evolution of the earth’s early atmosphere.

How did Earth's early atmosphere evolved.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

The Earth's atmosphere (or air) is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. It has a mass of about five quadrillion metric tons. Dry air contains roughly (by volume) 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1%. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.

The solid earth accumulated about 4700 m.y. ago from a cloud of cosmic particles and gaseous materials and as they collected gravitationally a hot planetary nucleus formed. This nucleus eventually became the present core as the mantle and crust consolidated. An atmosphere probably existed even in these early stages of the first billion years of earth’s history, though it was apparently transitory. Judging from the atmospheres of the major planets, Jupiter and Saturn, which retain light elements by virtue of their large gravitational attraction, hydrogen and helium would have been abundant in earth’s primordial atmosphere. These elements were derived in part from the original gaseous material of the cosmic cloud, but volcanic outgassing during lithification of the crust probably continued as well. Neon and argon and some of the lighter gases such as xenon probably also existed in the early atmosphere.

The first atmosphere of the earth, then, contained hydrogen, helium, neon, argon and various other lighter and inert gases, none of which is abundant in the present atmosphere. Most of these on liberation to the air now either escape earth’s gravitational pull because of their low densities or are bound up in minerals by chemically reacting with them. It is likely that the primitive atmosphere did not linger long but was dissipated through these processes.

A little reflection tells us that earth’s present atmosphere necessarily evolved from one that was different. We know no primary source for the free molecular oxygen that comprises one –fifth of our present atmosphere. Compared with solar abundances, our atmosphere has only traces of hydrogen and helium but a disproportionate amount of nitrogen.

An important clue to the origin of our ancestral atmosphere is found in the abundances of so-called noble gases – elements that, unlike oxygen, do not (or rarely) combine with others because they have the stable configuration of 8 (or 2 in the case of helium) in their outermost shell of electrons. As they do not ordinarily lose, gain, or share electrons with other elements, variations in their abundance imply different sources. Had earth inherited its atmosphere directly from the solar nebula, the gaseous elements neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon should be present in approximately solar abundances, allowing for the addition of radiogenic isotopes. That is not the case. It has been repeatedly noted over the past half-century that all the noble gases are grossly depleted in the earth’s atmosphere compared with solar and cosmic abundances. They are depleted, in fact, by several to many orders of magnitude. This means either that earth accumulated without an atmosphere of nebular proportions or that any initial atmosphere escaped its gravity field in some subsequent episode of heating that accelerated even the heavy noble gases to escape velocities.

The most significant development following sufficient cooling and consolidation of the surface rocks was liberation of abundant water along with CO2 , N2, and H2 S by volcanic outgassing. Water vapor is dissociated in the upper atmosphere by ultraviolet light to yield oxygen and hydrogen. This process constituted the sole source of free oxygen of the early atmosphere, and the build up to significant oxygen concentrations occupied the long interval between at least 3400 and about 2000 m.y. ago. Further, oxygen of the early high atmosphere was photochemically converted to ozone as at present, and with time, ozone concentration led to the development of a screen to ultraviolet light. Lastly, accumulation of water molecules in the atmosphere caused extensive precipitation and hence the initiation of the oceans at some time prior to 3760 m.y. ago, when the oldest known sedimentary rocks were deposited.

Other concept regarding evolution of early oxygen in atmosphere:
If earth’s primitive atmosphere resulted from volcanic outgassing, we have a problem, because volcanoes do not emit free oxygen. Where did the very significant percentage of oxygen in our present atmosphere (20 percent) come from?

The major source of oxygen is green plants. Plants did not just adapt to their environment, they actually influenced it, dramatically altering the composition of the entire planet’s atmosphere by using carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. This is a good example of how earth operates as a giant system in which living things interact with their environment.

How did plants come to alter the atmosphere? The key is the way in which plants create their own food. They employ photosynthesis, in which they use light energy to synthesize food sugars from carbon dioxide and water. The process releases a waste gas, oxygen. Those of us in the animal kingdom rely on oxygen to metabolize our food, and we in turn exhale carbon dioxide as a waste gas. The plant use this carbon dioxide for more photosynthesis, and so on, in a continuing system.

The first life-forms on earth, probably bacteria, did not need oxygen. Their life processes were geared to the earlier, oxygen less atmosphere. Even today, many anaerobic thrive in environments that lack free oxygen. Later, primitive plants evolved that used photosynthesis and released oxygen. Slowly, the oxygen content of earth’s atmosphere increased. The Precambrian rock record suggests that much of the first free oxygen did not remain free because it combined with (oxidized) other substances dissolved in water, especially iron. Iron has tremendous affinity for oxygen, and the two elements combine to form iron oxides (rust) at any opportunity. To this day, the majority of oxygen produced over time is locked up in the ancient "banded rock" and "red bed" formations.

Then, once the available iron satisfied its need for oxygen, substantial quantities of oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere. By the beginning of the Paleozoic era, about 4 billion years into earth’s existence, the fossil record reveals abundant ocean- dwelling organisms that require oxygen to live.
Once oxygen had been produced, ultraviolet light split the molecules, producing the ozone UV shield as a by-product. Only at this point did life move out of the oceans and respiration evolved.
Hence, the composition of earth’s atmosphere has evolved together with its life-forms, from an oxygen less envelop to today’s oxygen-rich environment.

Sources:
Cloud,P. 1988. Oasis in space, earth history from the beginning. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
Frakes, L. A. 1979. Climates throughout geologic times. Elsevier, New York.
Tarbuck, E.J. and Lutgens, F.K. 1994. Earth Science. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Earth's_atmosphere/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_atmosphere

POTENTIAL OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

POTENTIAL OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Till a couple of decades back geothermal energy was not playing any significant role in the scenario of world energy production. Even now, it hardly constitutes 1% of the total electricity output. Lately, however, geothermal energy scene is changing very fast with a rapid spurt in its direct and indirect use, primarily due to Eco-friendly, renewable and pollution free character. Also, geothermal resources are abundantly available throughout the globe.

Geothermal water has a temperature appreciably higher than that of the local average annual air temperature. However, in general, a spring is considered hot when its temperature is about 12.2 0c higher than mean annual ambient temperature . The relative terms geothermal water, warm springs and hot springs are common.

Geothermal water discharges from numerous springs located mostly in mountanious or plateau areas. The springs are connected by faults to deeply buried reservoirs that contain geothermal water, which moves upward along the fault zones to discharge at the land surface. Much geothermal water discharges as hot springs that flow steadily instead of erupting at intervals.
One theory use to explain how geothermal water becomes heated in areas that are underlain by complex geologic structures is that when precipitation falls in highland areas recharges the aquifer system. Some of the water moves downward along faults and fracture zones to great depths. As the water descends, it becomes heated because of the geothermal gradient. At some depth, the heated water becomes lighter than the overlying water and then moves upward along faults to discharge as spring flow.

Jharkhand has the good reservoir of geothermal energy in its earth’s interior, whose surface manifestations are the steaming grounds and hot springs. The hot springs in Peninsular Shield of Jharkhand are located along a zone running more or less parallel to Damodar Valley Coalfield, i.e. along faulted boundaries.

In Jharkhand the thermal springs are found in Tatta- Jarom of Palamau district and Surajkund, Duari, Bagodar of Hazaribag district. The Tatta spring occurs within the Gondwana rocks and Jarom occurs within Proterozoic rocks. The temperature of the thermal discharge at Jarom is 50 degree c. (centigrade) to 57 degree c. while at Tatta it varies from 61 degree c. to65 degree c. in different spouts. All the thermal springs in Hazaribag district are grouped in Damodar valley graben geothermal province.

Needless to emphasis that geothermal energy is presently recognized as the only one of the so-called alternative renewable energy resources which is technically, commercially and economically viable for generation of electricity. There is another important aspect. Unlike, other power projects-a ‘geothermal plant’ has a minimum negative impact on the environment. It is thus necessary to promote such alternative sources in Jharkhand to combat with power crisis.
Surajkund main spring in Hazaribag district records the second highest temperature 88 degree c. after Tattapani hot spring of Madhya Pradesh. The other hot springs are Lakshmikund (53 degree c.), Brahmakund (45 degree c.), Ramkund (62 degree c.), Satrughnakund (68 degree c.) and Sitakund (53 degree c.) and they discharge thermal fluids up to 4 liter per second. Tatta discharge 2.1 liter per second and Jarom discharge 1.8 liter per second.
Most of the hot springs of Jharkhand are not potable due to high concentration of floride. Concentration of Helium is highest in the thermal gases of Surajkund. Where as Methane is highest in Barkagaon. In Jarom Mercury concentration in soil around the hot springs varies from 20 ppb (parts per billion) to 125 ppb. Cawa Gandhwani and Duari hot springs are more radioactive.
Excessive concentration of certain dissolved minerals in geothermal water pose water-quality problems. The most common of these minerals are dissolved fluoride, arsenic, and iron. Concentration of dissolved fluoride in excess of 4 milligrams per liter can cause mottling of teeth, especially children’s and can cause bones to become brittle.
The geothermal energy can be used for space heating, development of cold storage for preservation of bio and agro products, setting up of plants for drying, processing, preserving and canning of fruits and fruit products.

The hot springs in Jharkhand are situated mainly in hilly tribal belt or in isolated and remote region of the state. Obviously these rural areas are backward and poor. The energy needs of the people of rural and backward area are primarily for irrigation, farm inputs, processing and preservation of agro products, cooking, lighting and space heating. Hot spring water of low temperature has been directly used for irrigation of field/farm and to increase the soil temperature for obtaining early maturity and bumper crops as done in China and Russia. Waters of low temperatures of hot springs can be directly used for irrigation of field/ farm to increase the soil temperature for obtaining early maturity and to increase production of vegetables and mushroom growth under controlled conditions. The hot springs area can also be used for development of tourism and health resorts.

Regarding Helium concentration assessment of Helium reservoir may be undertaken in the area studied to see if Helium can be mined and Methane content may be evaluated to determine whether it is a usable resource in the region.

As a matter of fact, our resources are quite similar to that of China, who are exploiting them on large scale. They rank number one in installed thermal power capacity. It is, therefore necessary to give serious thought to exploit our resources too, at least those situated in power starved hilly areas, where due to lack of infrastructure and adequate demand, conventional power plants would not be economically viable.

Reference:
Dunn, J.A., 1942, The economic geology and mineral resources of Bihar Province: Mem. Geol. Surv. India, v. LXXVIII, p. 197-204.

Ghosh, P.K., 1954, Mineral springs of India: Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., v. 80, p. 545-558.

Prasad, J.M., 1996, Geothermal energy resources of Bihar, in U.L. Pitale, and R.N. Padhi, eds., Geothermal energy in India: GSI special publication 45, p. 99-117.

Priyadarshi, N., 2002, Potential of geothermal energy in Jharkhand State, India, in Proceedings of the 1st conference and exhibition on strategic challenges and paradigm shift in hydrocarbon exploration with special reference to Frontier Basins, held in Mussoorie, India. Published by Association of Petroleum Geologists, v. 2 p. 261-265.

Is Earth part of our solar system ?

Is Earth part of our solar system ?

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

From early age my mind always boggled at the mysteries of our solar system and the Sun. How they originated, how they are formed and how do they look . All these questions always puzzled me. Ideas about the formation of the Earth and our place in the universe often begin with star gazing. We ask more, and we learn more.
When I started studying geology I came to know that our mother earth is member of the solar system. All the principal theories which have been advanced to explain the origin of the earth, have in common the idea that the planets evolved from the sun. Regarding the origin of earth a number of theories have been put forward but none of them can be said to be perfectly correct.

The planets in our solar system comprises two sets. The inner terrestrial or rocky planets include, from sun out, moonlike Mercury, torrid Venus with its carbon dioxide green house and sulphuric acid clouds, Earth with cool blue seas and multicolored lands, ice capped Mars with long dry rivers and giant extinct volcanoes, and the frigid and commonly carbonaceous asteroids. The outer Jovian or ice-gassy planets are hydrogen-rich Jupiter with sulfurous plus a dozen icy satellites, gassy Saturn with its equally icy satellites and prominent rings, and the three less well known outermost planets.
How then, and when, did so diverse a collection of planets come to be as they are? Over the centuries that humankind has pondered such questions, different hypotheses have been advanced or modified.
It is commonly believed that the earth evolved with other members of the solar system . It means that earth and the other planets revolving round the Sun should have similarities in physical and chemical properties.
But to my great surprise the fact is opposite. When I went through the information about the other planets, I found out that there is a great difference between the earth and the other planets and Sun. There are some similarities between the other planets e.g. Saturn and Jupiter but our earth is totally different either in geology and geochemistry or in composition of gases from other planets.
Recently Pluto has been voted off the island. The distant, ice-covered world is no longer a true planet. According to the new definition, a full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.
Pluto has been demoted because it does not dominate its neighborhood. Charon, its large "moon," is only about half the size of Pluto, while all the true planets are far larger than their moons.

If you closely view our solar system you will find that our earth looks totally different from other planets. As if it is a foreign member intruded in solar system or been trapped in between the solar system. Our Earth is full of life and water. Prominent gases are Nitrogen and oxygen. It is active planet. If you put these definitions on other planets the answer is totally opposite. If we consider about the new definition of the planet, other than it orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due the force of its own gravity and dominate its neighborhood, earth has no other similarity with other planets.

Earth’s ocean and atmosphere have evolved throughout the history of the planet, and continue to change today. Their original source and composition are not yet clearly identified. Compositional characteristics, such as less than solar proportions of the inert gases neon, krypton, and xenon, indicate that our atmosphere did not develop directly from nebular gas.

• Major gases on the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are hydrogen and helium, Mercury has helium and carbon dioxide, Mars atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide. Whereas Earth has 77% nitrogen and 21% oxygen with traces of carbon dioxide. If earth has been borne from the same source and at same time there must be similarities in composition of the gases, which is not here.
  


• Early speculation proposed that the Moon broke off from the Earth's crust because of centrifugal forces, leaving a basin – presumed to be the Pacific Ocean – behind as a scar. The prevailing hypothesis today is that the Earth–Moon system formed as a result of a giant impact. A Mars-sized body (labelled "Theia") is believed to have hit the proto-Earth, blasting sufficient material into orbit around the proto-Earth to form the Moon through accretion. But Moon is very much different as it has no atmosphere and no magnetic field as compared to earth. Also the density of the Moon is much less than that of the Earth indicating that the Moon has comparatively less Iron and Nickel than the Earth. Although the lunar rocks bear many similarities to rocks common on Earth, they differ on one basic point – they contain no water, no hydrated minerals, and no minerals with the OH group in their crystal structure . In contrast, minerals that are hydrated or contain the OH group are plentiful on Earth. So where did the Moon come from? There is no clear answer to this question, in spite of all explorations and analyses.
  


• There is no geological movements on the other planets as compared to earth were geological movements in the form of plate tectonics is prominent.
  


• Heavy noble gases (xenon, neon, Krypton) are rare on earth as compared to space and the sun.
  


• Even the intensity of the magnetic field from planet to planet varies dramatically. Again I will say if the all the planets have the same origin there must have some similarities in the strength of the magnetic field which is not here.
  


• It is commonly said that Venus is very similar to earth. But it is composed mostly of carbon dioxide compared to Earth which is mostly composed of nitrogen and oxygen with trace of carbon dioxide. Scientists say that there was probably a very much larger amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere when the earth was first formed, but it has since been almost all incorporated into carbonate rocks. Why this phenomenon happened only on Earth and not on Venus. Also Venus has no magnetic field. Venus’ sky is red because carbon dioxide scatters red light. The sun appears bluish because of loss of the red component. There is no liquid water on Venus and therefore no life. The rotation of Venus is slower than its revolution making the rotation of Venus retrograde. As a result, the atmospheric circulation is totally different from that on Earth.
  


• Earth is the only planet which has developed complicated life structure. If Earth is part of the same source from which other planets have originated there should have been life on other planets too which unfortunately is not there. Why is it so? Why only earth was selected for the complicated evolution of life?
  Some of my friends suggested me that Earth's uniqueness and especially its complex life and atmosphere comes from its location in the solar system which is neither too hot (as in Venus) or too cold (as in Mars and beyond). Again I will say if life would have been there on Mars or Venus they would have adapted accordingly to the earlier atmosphere on these planets as it adapted earlier on the Earth. In our Earth too there are extremes of climates from too hot to cold and the life is surviving here.
  


• The earth and other planets and sun each have a somewhat different density suggesting different time and/or temperatures of origin.
  


• Research comparing silicon samples from Earth, meteorites and planetary materials, published in Nature (28th June 2007), provides new evidence that the Earth`s core formed under very different conditions from those that existed on Mars.
• The giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, essentially of solar composition, are the gasiest. Their satellites and the comets are the iciest.
• How it happens that some planets and satellites have retrograde rotations ( rotate clockwise instead of counterclockwise like the others).
  
  It seems that either Earth originated elsewhere and later became the part of the Solar System. If it has been originated from the same source it must be either younger or older to the other planets. If it is younger then we will have to believe the mythical or religious concept on the origin of the earth. The first recorded biblically estimate of the age of the earth (and universe) was made by Saint Augustine in the fourth century A.D. He counted about 6,000 years from biblical genealogies. Johannes Kepler, then professor of mathematics at Graz, calculated the date of creation to have been 3877 B.C., Sunday, 27 April, at 11 A.M. local time.
  
  All the other planets are devoid of any types of life. Can it be possible that earlier life was there in some of these planets like Mars or Venus and due to effect of climate changes or some other factors life ended on these planets and our planet which I assume is younger to them may face the same fate in coming future. If we assume that Earth is older to the other planets then these planets may in future become like earth.
  
  All ideas concerning the origin of the Earth and the solar system have their problems, and new discoveries often add to the demerits to the theories. All the theories regarding origin of Earth and Solar System are belief systems. Neither one can be proven because no one was there to witness the event, and it can not be repeated. Thus, the origin of the solar system continues to be a problem and even the most modern theories contain many points that need verification.