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

Climate change do affect our mind and body.

Are the people of Ranchi suffering from SAD Syndrome?
By.
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Recent increase in suicidal incident in Ranchi city reminds me of an old research which says that it is not only the social issue which instigates people to commit suicide but also the climate change affects our mind and body. According to the research the changes in weather sharply affects our mind it may be peak winter season, summer season or rainy season. This theory is commonly known as SAD. SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. Ranchi city is famous for its sudden change in weather.

SAD is a syndrome characterized by depression during winter months when there is less daylight. Seasonal Affective Disorder is directly related or even caused by too little sunlight, which causes the body's time clock to go out of sync, thus upsetting the body's routine, and may even affect certain hormonal levels in the body. The symptoms of SAD are depression, sadness, lethargy, fatigue, excessive sleeping, difficulty getting up in the morning, loss of appetite or increased eating of carbohydrates, thus increase in weight, decreased activity and socialization, apathy, irritability. The disorder may begin during the teen years or in early adulthood. Like other forms of depression, it occurs more often in women than in men.

There are studies that link weather with long periods of high temperatures to increase in crime. It is believed that people get irritable and hostile when it is extremely hot. Several law enforcement agencies have statistics that shows the correlation of the two. Think about how you felt if ever you had experienced a heat wave: hot, irritable, frustrated, may be even angry.

The weather can affect your mood more than you realise. "The human body, its metabolism and hormones react to the changing season resulting in changes in mood and behaviour. Just as you find yourself getting irritable and aggressive during summer, you may find yourself feeling low and lethargic in monsoon and winter.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues, or seasonal depression, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn year after year.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine notes that "some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and may also feel depressed. People who experience spring and summer depression show symptoms of classic depression including insomnia, anxiety, irritability, decreased appetite, weight loss, social withdrawal, an increased sex drive, and suicide. Additionally, many patients are unable to cope with the increased temperatures during spring and summer.

SAD was first systematically reported and named in the early 1980s by Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., and his associates at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Rosenthal was initially motivated by his desire to discover the cause of his own experience of depression during the dark days of the northern US winter. He theorized that the lesser amount of light in winter was the cause.

Some natural disaster like earthquake, floods and drought also affects our mind. People become depressed for several months after the disaster forcing few of them to commit suicide like farmers of India who were forced to commit suicide due to continued drought in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh states etc.

Not only weather change but also the pollution in atmosphere especially heavy metal pollution like Lead etc. affects our body and mind. Lead increases blood pressure which gradually affects our mind and increase irritation.

After becoming the capital Ranchi city is facing acute changes in atmosphere. Earlier it was the summer capital of united Bihar Jharkhand State famous for its pleasant climate but now the atmosphere is gradually becoming worse day by day. People of Ranchi are definitely going to be affected with such syndrome.

Effects on national highway in Jharkhand State of India due to 19th September Earthquake.

The tremor left a 200-foot long/10-foot deep crater on the road.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

It is for the first time in earthquake history of Jharkhand that the earthquake, which jolted North and Eastern India on 19th September, left a 200-foot long crack on the NH-75 in Latehar district, disrupting traffic. The tremor left a 200-foot long/10-foot deep crater on the road disrupting traffic near Sikni Colliery. It came as surprise as the area is treated geologically as the most stable cratonic block related to tremors.

According to the local administration it was due to Sikni coal mines near that highway. They said that the mining has created instability of the upper surface of the earth of near by areas and the cracks were the multiple effects of both mining and tremors. If it is true then most of the areas of the Jharkhand State where the coal mining are rampant are under tremendous threat in future.

Geologically Jharkhand state represents a part of the Indian Peninsular shield, which is a stable cratonic block of the earth’s crust. Though it is a part of the stable block it is being rocked by mild to medium tremors. Jharkhand plateau has faced lots of tremors and geological movements in the geological past and now it is assumed that the plateau is free from any type of tremors or cratonic movement. Evidences of the regional tectonic movement in the plateau area are preserved in the form of faulting, folding, joints etc in the rocks.

Earthquakes of Jharkhand may be placed in one broad categories. Earthquakes originate from stress fields built up in the Precambrian shield, supporting the Vindhyan, Gondwana and younger basins.

Several events such as the 1868 Hazaribagh, 1963 Ranchi and 1969 Bankura were generated by release of stress built up in the relatively more stable Jharkhand Plateau region underlain by Precambrian formations. These, by analogy with other Peninsular Shield events such as Latur and Jabalpur earthquakes,may possible belong to the class of Stable Continental Earthquakes.

Possibilities of major earthquake in this stable region cannot be ruled out. Different researches has shown that ancient fault line can be re-activated. Old continental crust contains a billion-year record of past tectonic activity. This area was once a seismically active. "We don't yet understand how faults are reactivated, but it appears that some pre-existing faults are more likely to break than others. Regarding Jharkhand the possibility of reactivation of a pre-existing fault can happen under the influence of the ambient stress field due to the India–Eurasia plate collision forces.

There are some methods for medium and short range earthquake forecasting.

These methods are concerned with forecasting earthquake of a particular intensity over a specified locality within a specified time limit.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Tectonic earthquakes are attributed to rupture in the rock masses which occur following accumulation of strain. Earthquakes present a frightening experience in the lives of men. The disaster strikes suddenly, similar to that of lightning, tornadoes or nuclear explosions. It is estimated that an average, about 15,000 human lives are lost every year, while in a singe year of 1976 about 200, 000 were killed by earthquakes in china, Guatemala, Philippines and in other parts of the world. The damage to property runs into billions of dollars.

Earthquakes generate a variety of effects. Some are temporary, such as the shaking ground, swinging objects, rattling windows and oscillating trees. Permanent effects include damage to buildings, transportation, water supply systems and the landslides.

Till today there is no perfect method to forecast earthquakes. There are some methods for long, medium and short range earthquake forecasting. My article is more concentrated on medium and short range earthquake forecasting.

Medium term prediction means forecast of an earthquake a few months to a year or more ahead, while short term prediction implies forecast ranging from a few hours to some day in advance. The medium and short range stages in earthquake prediction are concerned with forecasting the occurrence of an earthquake of a particular intensity over a specified locality within a specified time limit. Satisfying this criterion, a few earthquakes have been successfully predicted in Japan, USA former USSR, India and China. It is actually these two stages of earthquake prediction which save the largest population from disaster in terms of life or property, and is more often demanded by public as well as Government. Even though the medium and short range prediction techniques are broadly similar using several disciplines of geophysics, some simple observations like earthquakes lights or sounds, unusual behaviour of animals, changes in the level and colours of well water, hydrochemical changes and foreshocks can be of great assistance from the point of view of short range prediction of large earthquakes.

Unusual animal behaviour: Unusual behaviour of animals prior to earthquakes received wide publicity after the Haichang earthquake of February 4, 1975 was successfully predicted in China. The official report was presented by the Chinese delegation at the Inter-governmental meeting convened at UNESCO, Paris in February 1976 which stimulated considerable scientific interest. Prior to this, however, several instances of abnormal animal behaviour were noticed before occurrence of some of the damaging earthquakes in different parts of the world, but they were considered more as historical legend. In Japan, innumerable rats were seen every day in a restaurant in Nagoya city, which suddenly disappeared on the evening prior to the Nobi earthquake of 1891.
Hyodrochemical precursors: Regular observations of the chemical composition of underground water were taken during 1997 in seismically active regions of Tadzhik, and Uzbekistan. The water samples were analyzed in the following two ways:
· The concentration levels of dissolved mineral components like sodium and calcium ions, bicarbonate and chloride ions were measured before, during and after the earthquakes.
· The gaseous components of water like helium and hydrogen sulfide were analyzed at various intervals of time.
The following results were obtained:
· During seismically inactive period, the concentration levels of dissolved minerals and gaseous components remained almost constant.
· About 2 to 8 days before an earthquake, appreciable increase in the concentration for dissolved minerals was noticed. Also, the maximum volume of helium gas in thermal water occurred 3 to 5 days before the increase in seismic activity.

Significant pre-disaster and post disaster hydro geo-logical changes rendering the groundwater turbid were observed during Jabalpur earthquake, 1997 (I.M.D. Report 1998).

The mechanism of the behaviour of these hydro geochemical precursors is attributed to the upsetting of balance in the rock/interstatial solution/ underground water system prior to earthquake. This is due to increase of stress and the consequent appearance of permeable fissures through which an increased inflow underground fluid from the subsurface zones of the earth’s crust takes place.
Temperature changes: A rise of temperature by 10 degree c. and 15 degree c. was reported before earthquakes in Lunglin, China (1976) and Przhevalsk, Russia (1970). Same relationship between magnitude and geothermal anomaly has been found for earthquakes in China.
Water level: Unusually muddy and fall in the level of water was reported in several wells a few days before the great Nankai earthquake (1946) in Japan. However, rise of water level by 3 and 15 cm was also reported before the Lunglin (China) and Przhevalsk (Russia) earthquakes. Similarly, water level rose by 3 cm a few hours before the earthquakes in Meckering, Australia (1968). In general a pre-seismic variations at observation wells follows this sequence:1) A gradual lowering of water levels of a period of months or years2) An accelerated lowering of water levels (rate often exponential) in the final few months or weeks preceding the earthquake. 3) A “rebound” where water levels begin to increase rapidly in the last few days or hours before the main shock.In the monitoring of water levels in deep wells, care must be taken to correct the data for “earth tides”. This is due either to volume changes caused in fractured aquifers by tidal strain, or perhaps by changes in gravitational acceleration alone. In either case, it is important that data is corrected for this phenomenon. In addition water extraction from the aquifer must also be considered. In many part’s of the planet the water table is falling due to water abstraction for drinking and irrigation. It is quite possible that such drops could be mistaken for a long-term seismic precursor.


Radon gas: The first evidence of a correlation between radon and earthquake came from Tashkent Basin prior to destructive earthquake in 1966. Radon observations revealed many precursory changes in its concentration as far as 1800 km from their respective epicenters. The measured radon in soils could be strongly disturbed by meteorological parameters, seasonal factors as well as a deeper phenomenon of seismic activity. Variety of studies which use complex mathematical methods have been done in order to distinguish between the variations of radon caused by environmental factors.

Work carried out in this direction was based upon the assumption that significant changes take place in the emission of gases such as radon and trapped in the earth crust before the arrival of a 'physical jolt' of an earthquake. This change takes place because of the physical stresses which are built up within the earth crust to trigger an earthquake. Work so far done has indicated the existence of a relationship between earthquake producing processes and radon movement. It has been noted that variation in radon levels is related to the intensity of an approaching earthquake.

Radon is a radioactive gas with a half-life of about 2.5 days. It is discharged from rock masses prior to an earthquake and dissolves in the well water which shows increase in its concentration.
Oil wells: some cases of sharp fluctuations in the oil flow prior to earthquakes were reported for wells in Israel, northern Caucasus and China. It is argued that when the tectonic stress accumulates to certain level, the pore pressure within a deep oil bearing strata may reach its breaking strength causing oil to spout along the oil wells.
Changes in the Electrical Resistivity of Rocks - Electrical resistivity is the resistance to the flow of electric current . In general rocks are poor conductors of electricity, but water is more efficient a conducting electricity. If microcracks develop and groundwater is forced into the cracks, this may cause the electrical resistivity to decrease (causing the electrical conductivity to increase). In some cases a 5-10% drop in electrical resistivity has been observed prior to an earthquake.
Ground Uplift and Tilting of the ground - Measurements taken in the vicinity of active faults sometimes show that prior to an earthquake the ground is uplifted or tilts due to the swelling of rocks caused by strain building on the fault. This may lead to the formation of numerous small cracks (called microcracks). This cracking in the rocks may lead to small earthquakes called foreshocks.


Reference:

Srivastava, H.N. 1983. Earthquakes, Forecasting and Mitigation. National Book Trust, India, New Delhi.

Gupta, D. and Shahani, D.T. 2011. Estimation of Radon as an Earthquake Precursor: A neural network approach. Jr. of Geol. Soc. Of India, Vol.78, pp. 243-248.

http://www.fujitaresearch.com/reports/earthquakes.html
http://earthsci.org/processes/struct/equake3/EQPredictionControl.html http://www.medicaljournal-ias.org/Belgelerim/Belge/KhanFXTDIRNGCH45570.pdf

Why New Delhi Groundwater is highly saline?

Most of the areas of New Delhi and its adjoining places are affected by salinity hazards.
By
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Inland salinity in ground water is prevalent mainly in the arid and semi arid regions of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In some areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, ground water salinity is so high that the well water is directly used for salt manufacturing by solar evaporation.

Salts in groundwater originate either from minute quantities dissolved in rain water, from the chemical breakdown of rocks or from direct connection to sea water.

Inland salinity is also caused due to practice of surface water irrigation without consideration of ground water status. The gradual rise of ground water levels with time has resulted in water logging and heavy evaporation in semi arid regions lead to salinity problem in command areas.

Most of the areas of New Delhi and its adjoining places are affected by salinity hazards due to excessive presence of sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine etc. ions. Interpretation of surface and subsurface geological and hydrological data indicate that integration of lithological, geomorphic and tectonic factors have led to restricting the circulation of surface and sub-surface water in a graben like structure causing rise of water level. During summer, high evaporation causes capillary rise of shallow groundwater and subsequent precipitation of salts in soil.

The ground water availability in Delhi is controlled by the hydrogeological formations characterized by the presence of alluvial formation and quartzitic hard rocks.
The rock formation is widely varied with variation in land formation like ridge areas. It is traversing across the city and is quite significant to control the occurrence and movement of groundwater. In shallow aquifers, the groundwater occurs under phreatic confined condition. Contrarily, it is in semiconfined to confined conditions in deep aquifers. The shallow aquifers contain saline water and the depth varies from 5 to 10 m.

The affected areas are South Delhi, East Delhi, Gurgaon, Mayur Vihar, Munirka, sector 16,37,50 of Noida and many more areas.

Depth to water table in the area of salinity is mainly between 3 and 5 meter and many places is above 5 meter to 10 meter. In post-monsoon period, the water level however, rises marginally in most of the areas. Long term fluctuation studies shows that in many parts of the Delhi the water level has remained more or less static between 1982 and 1992 period.

The groundwater in about 70% of the area is unfit for drinking and agriculture on account of high TDS (total dissolved solid) of 9000 to 12000 ppm (parts per million). Analytical data show the enrichment of sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, and sulfate ions in such water.

Study area is highly affected with inland salinity which is geogenic in origin. The seasonal water level fluctuation and rising water level increases nutrients concentration in groundwater. Mixing with old saline sub-surface groundwater and dissolution of surface salts in the salt affected soil areas were identified as the principle processes controlling groundwater salinity.

Origin of salinity in Delhi groundwater:


At the onset, contribution of salts from the local rocks is ruled out as the quartzite-phyllite association hardly has any mineral which can give rise to such extensive salinity. Moreover, limestone of buried basement could supply a few ions but its limited occurrence could not cause such extensive and intensive salinity. The problem therefore appears to be secondary in nature.

Evaluation of multiple surface and subsurface data shows that an interesting association of geomorphic, lithologic, and climatic factors has developed a typical set-up receptive to salinity hazard. The set-up comprises, a subsurface graben like basin, surface depression, predominance of silt-clayey lithology and semi arid condition. Of these, the subsurface graben is most important feature. It results in ponding of groundwater by restricting its circulation. In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults.

Next comes the role of climate which actually causes salinity. The area witnesses a semi-arid climate characterizing a high temperature. Variation from 4 degree to 44 degree and low and erratic rainfall of 233 to 985 mm per year.

During summer, arid conditions cause capillary rise of water from the shallow water table through fine pores of silt clay. Evaporation of water then leads to the precipitation of salts in the near surface soil and groundwater. Continuation of this process make the soil, hard impervious by depositing salts in the sediment pores.

How we can manage salinity?

1. The water table in the depression should be lowered. This could be done by installing a number of shallow bore wells and arranging the withdrawal of groundwater at least equal to the annual recharge. This will control the rise of water table and reduce the scope of evaporation.
2. Excessive surface runoff should be passed out of the area through lined drains. The drain should also be used for transportation of saline groundwater out of the area.