Platinum metal can glitter Jharkhand State of India.

Presence of platinum cannot be ruled out in Jharkhand State of India.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Platinum may be considered one of the precious metals since it is more costly than gold. About 60 percent of that consumed in the United States is for jewelry purposes. It was once used for coinage in Russia until its value exceeded that of the coins. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River. The metal has an excellent resistance to corrosion and high temperatures and has stable electrical properties.

Platinum is only one of a group of related metals consisting of osmium, iridium, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium. They are not only associated together but also are generally alloyed, and are called, therefore the “platinum metals.” They are very heavy, insoluble in most acids, melt at temperatures of 1,549 degree to 2,700 degree C, and range in hardness from 4.8 to over 7. Iridium is the heaviest metal and osmium the hardest.

Platinum is invariably associated with basic igneous rocks and with the ore minerals characteristic of these rocks. Most of the platinum of the world is intimately associated either with chromite or nickel. Even platinum placers are derived from basic rocks rich in chromite. The platiniferous nickel ores also contain copper and appreciable quantities of gold and silver.

In India, reported values of platinum group of metals worthy of attention are from the pre-cambrian mafic/ultramafic complexes in Sukinda and Nausahi sectors of Orissa and Sitampudi in Tamil Nadu. Geological Survey of India carried out sampling of the chromite ore bodies and their associated rocks. It was observed that the incidence of Platinum group of metals is much less in chromite bodies but it is somewhat more, of 20 to 100 ppb (parts per billion) in the chromite horizons.

Seeing the association of platinum with chromite and its deposits in ultramafic rocks in Jharkhand state of India, presence of platinum cannot be ruled out. Till today no detail research work has been done on the possibilities of platinum in the chromite deposit areas in Jharkhand State. Jojohatu, Hatgamariya, Keshargariya, Roroburu, Chitungburu, Kimsiburu, Kittaburu, Kusmita, Gurgaon, Tonto and Janoa-Ranjrakocha areas must be targeted for platinum deposits.

Chromite deposits of Jharkhand had a pioneering role in the early history of chromite exploitation in India. Small deposits of chromite ore are confined to the southern part of Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. Such deposits are exposed around Jojohatu, Hatgamariya, Keshargariya, Roroburu, Chitungburu, Kimsiburu, Kittaburu. Small occurrences of chromite are also found at Kusmita, Gurgaon, Tonto and Janoa-Ranjrakocha areas. Many of the deposits have been prospected by private parties but abandoned afterwards. The deposits are rather scattered and small and the grade is generally inferior (30-40% Cr2O3).

Jojohatu lies about 25 km to the west of Chaibasa, the district headquarters of Singhbhum. The Jojohatu ultramafic body is spread in three blocks with a cumulative length of 8 km in N-S direction and over a width of 3 km. These blocks are named successively from North to South as Kimsiburu, Kittaburu and Roroburu-Chitungburu. The ultrabasic rocks with which chromite is associated is intrusive into the rocks of Iron Ore Super Group represented in the area.


In one report of B.D. Sharma and others, Chalcopyrite concentrates from the Singhbhum district, India, contained 25-70 ppb Pt, which is greater than amounts found in rocks and chromite. Platinum group of metal are also reported in Kinkel and Kurdeg area of Simdega District.

Reference:
Sharma, B.D. Economic Geology; May 1966; v. 61; no. 3; p. 592-597; DOI: 10.2113/gsecongeo.61.3.592

Love your environment and nature.

These are some of the beautiful places in North East India.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Meteorological phenomena influences groundwater levels.

Rainfall is not an accurate indicator of groundwater recharge.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Water is essential to people and the largest available source of fresh water lies underground. Ground water is the part of precipitation that seeps down through the soil until it reaches rock material that is saturated with water. Water in the ground is stored in the spaces between rock particles. Increased demands for water have affected the level of under groundwater. The demand for water has increased over the years and this has led to water scarcity in many parts of the world. The situation is aggravated by the problem of water pollution or contamination. World is heading towards a freshwater crisis mainly due to improper management of water resources and environmental degradation, which has lead to a lack of access to safe water supply to millions of people. This freshwater crisis is already evident in many parts of world, varying in scale and intensity depending mainly on the time of the year.


Water-level changes can be divided into several categories. There are short-term changes that can only be seen when water-level measurements are made many times a day. There are long term changes that can only be seen after data are collected for many years. There are minor changes of only a few hundredths of a foot, and changes that are hundreds of feet.

Any phenomenon that produces a change in pressure on groundwater will cause the groundwater level to vary. Differences between supply and withdrawal of groundwater cause levels to fluctuate. Other diverse influences on groundwater levels include meteorological and tidal phenomena, urbanization, earthquakes, and external loads. And, finally, subsidence of the land surface can occur due to changes in underlying groundwater conditions.

Fluctuations due to meteorological phenomena:

Atmospheric Pressure:

Changes in atmospheric pressure can also cause groundwater levels to fluctuate. Atmospheric pressure is caused by the Earth’s gravitational attraction of air in the atmosphere. At sea level, the weight of the atmosphere exerts a pressure of about 14.7 pounds per square inch on the Earth’s surface.


Changes in atmospheric pressure produce sizable fluctuations in wells penetrating confined aquifers. The relationship is inverse; that is, increases in atmospheric produce decreases in water levels, and conversely.

For an unconfined aquifer, atmospheric pressure changes are transmitted directly to the water table, both in the aquifer and in a well; hence, no pressure difference occurs. Air entrapped in pores below the water table is affected by pressure changes, however, causing fluctuations similar to but smaller than that observed in confined aquifers. Temperature fluctuations in the capillary zone will also induce water table fluctuations where entrapped air is present.

Rainfall:

Rainfall is not an accurate indicator of groundwater recharge because of surface and subsurface losses as well as travel time for vertical percolation. The travel time may vary from a few minutes for shallow water tables in permeable formations to several months or years for deep water tables underlying sediments with low vertical permeabilities.

Precipitated water that reaches at the surface ground maybe partially discharge into streams as surface runoff or partially infiltrate into the ground. The latter further percolates into groundwater aquifers, eventually emerging in springs, seeping into streams to form surface runoff, or storing in subsurface. The soil stores infiltrated water to become soil moisture, and then it recharges to groundwater level if the soil is saturated. Nevertheless, it releases slowly as subsurface flow to enter the stream as baseflow during rainless period. This may also result from deeper percolation, evapotranspiration, or artificial discharge.

If no water supplies are continually provided from either rainfall or other sources of recharge, groundwater level would gradually decrease due to deeper percolation or evapotranspiration.

Furthermore, in arid and semiarid regions, recharge from rainfall may be essentially zero. Shallow water tables show definite response to rainfall where the unsaturated zone above a water table has a moisture content less than that of specific retention, the water table will not respond to recharge from rainfall until this deficiency has been satisfied.

Wind:
Minor fluctuations of water levels are caused by wind blowing over the tops of wells. The effect is identical to the action of a vacuum pump. As a gust of wind blows across the top of a casing, the air pressure within the well is suddenly lowered and, as a consequence, the water level quickly rises. After the gust passes the air pressure in the well rises and the water level falls.

Frost:

In the regions of heavy frost it has been observed that shallow water tables decline gradually during the winter and rise sharply in early spring before recharge from ground surface could occur. This fluctuation can be attributed to the presence of a frost layer above the water table. During winter water moves upward from the water table by capillary movement.

Mineral reserves of the world may not last long.

Known reserves of minerals may not last long.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

The use of minerals has been instrumental in raising the standard of living of mankind. The names of the minerals and their products have been used to christen various eras of civilization, such as the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Nuclear Age. The sophisticated world of today is largely the result of the enlarged use of minerals, whether it be as fertilizer for food, coal, petroleum, natural gas and atomic energy as sources of power, or countless other necessities of life, like automobiles, aero planes, ships, modern communications and a host of chemicals which are derived from the use of minerals.

Minerals thus form a part and parcel of our daily life. Since the beginning of this century the use of minerals has been greatly diversified and expanded. Their consumption has shown an unprecedented increase, year after year. It has been estimated that the quantity of mineral consumed in the last 70 years even exceeds the aggregate quantity consumed in previous human history. The sharp rise in consumption has accelerated attempts in continuous search for locating new deposits and even deeper probe into the womb of the earth and the ocean beds.

Minerals do not occur where we want them to be nor deposits become assets unless explored and developed. Experience shows that no country possesses adequate resources of all minerals. Several countries are practically devoid of mineral wealth and many have inadequate resources.
Since the future of humanity depends on mineral resources, we must understand that these resources have limits; our known supply of minerals will be used up early in the third millennium of our calendar. Furthermore, modern agriculture and the ability to feed an overpopulated world is dependent on mineral resources to construct the machines that till the soil, enrich it with mineral fertilizers, and to transport the products. As geologists, we cannot tell you that mineral resources are finite. The presently available resources were created by earth processes and after we exhaust them, more will develop in a few tens of million years, which is not in human lifespans.
Though minerals are essential for the continued industrial development, as well as for industries, the minerals often does not last long. A mineral property is a wasting asset. The reserves in a mine are continuously decreasing. It is not like agriculture where crops can be raised again and again on the same land. Some authorities apprehend that the known reserves of minerals may not last long and most of them will exhaust well within 100 to 200 years. Even the minerals which are relatively plentiful will become extremely expensive because of the depletion of large, rich and easily accessible deposits of these metals.

This prediction has got some validity in respect of expendable minerals like petroleum, and non-expendable metals like tungsten, tin, lead, zinc and mercury. In the book “Limits to Growth” by the club of Rome a great apprehension has been shown about the life of many minerals. They have calculated the life of various minerals deposits by dividing the known reserves by the total consumption at a static rate and came to the following conclusions:

Aluminium: 100 years
Chromium : 420 years
Coal : 2300 years
Cobalt: 110 years
Copper: 36 years
Gold : 11 years
Iron : 240 years
Lead: 26 years
Natural Gas: 38 years
Petroleum: 31 years
Zinc: 23 years

Though these predictions are old but it looks true to some extent with the existing knowledge of the reserves. A reserve of many minerals has improved due to establishment of new reserves. But the danger still exists due to the reckless mining of certain minerals like Iron, Coal etc. in many parts of the world especially in Jharkhand state of India, where Iron ore mining is done illegally and in an unscientific way.

We are now reaching limits of reserves for many minerals . Human population growth and increased modern industry are depleting our available resources at increasing rates. Although objections have been made to the Rome Report of 1972, the press of human growth upon the planet's resources is a very real problem. The consumption of mineral resources proceeded at a phenomenal rate during the past hundred years and population and production increases cannot continue without increasing pollution and depletion of mineral resources. The geometric rise of population has been joined by a period of rapid industrialization, which has placed incredible pressure on the mineral resources. Limits of growth in the world are imposed not as much by pollution as by the depletion of natural resources. As the industrialized nations of the world continue the rapid depletion of energy and mineral resources, and resource-rich less-developed nations become increasingly aware of the value of their raw materials, resource driven conflicts will increase.

Problems of Urban growth.

Ranchi the capital city of Jharkhand State in India is expanding both vertical and horizontal resulting in lots of problem.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

As more and more people leave villages and farms to live in cities, urban growth results. Urbanization occurs naturally from individual and corporate efforts to reduce time and expense in commuting and transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits individuals and families to take advantage of the opportunities of proximity, diversity, and marketplace competition.
People move into cities to seek economic opportunities. In rural areas, often on small family farms, it is difficult to improve one's standard of living beyond basic sustenance. Farm living is dependent on unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence, survival becomes extremely problematic.
Cities, in contrast, are known to be places where money, services and wealth are centralized. Cities are where fortunes are made and where social mobility is possible. Businesses, which generate jobs and capital, are usually located in urban areas. Whether the source is trade or tourism, it is also through the cities that foreign money flows into a country. It is easy to see why someone living on a farm might wish to take their chance moving to the city and trying to make enough money to send back home to their struggling family.
There are better basic services as well as other specialist services that aren't found in rural areas. There are more job opportunities and a greater variety of jobs. Health is another major factor. People, especially the elderly are often forced to move to cities where there are doctors and hospitals that can cater for their health needs. Other factors include a greater variety of entertainment (restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks, etc) and a better quality of education, namely universities. Due to their high populations, urban areas can also have much more diverse social communities allowing others to find people like them when they might not be able to in rural areas.

Clearly, urban settlements differ greatly in size, as mentioned by their populations. Is there a Theoretical maximum and an optimum size? Criffith Taylor and others believe that the ultimate size may be fixed by the increasing difficulty of obtaining enough water to supply unduly large numbers concentrated in a small area, while Lewis Mumford and similar authors think that the continued growth of very large cities not only produces more administrative problems than benefits. This also paralyses rather than furthers social relationships and phenomenally raises central land values, so much that land ceases to be adaptable to new needs.

Views on the optimum size of a city have altered with the march of history. Plato believed that most desirable size was 5,000, a figure which would allow everybody to hear the voice of an orator and so participate in active political life and develop varied social relations. Late nineteenth – century garden city enthusiasts in Britain thought that towns of 30,000 to 50,000 would be large enough supply all necessary human needs, whether medical, educational, social, economic or cultural.

Towns could not come into being until the surrounding countryside was capable of providing a food surplus in the past. Due to modern transport and large surpluses in many parts of the world, towns generally have little difficulty in obtaining food, even from far distant lands. Developing countries may lack the capital to give all their town folk an adequate diet, and even in developed countries there are sporadic temporary shortages, owing to failures in economic planning, poor harvests, dock strikes and traffic hold-ups occasioned by excessive rain, snow, floods, droughts etc.

The problem of water supply is more permanent and applies specifically to cities. It is becoming increasingly serious even in advanced countries which certainly have no problem in paying for the water they consume. The root of the problem lies in the fact that 98% of the earth’s surface water is contained in the salt oceans and in ice-caps. The remainder is unevenly distributed and often polluted. Over half is needed for agriculture, about a third for industry, 10 percent for domestic use.

Many cities, especially in developing countries, lack a clean supply of fresh water. In India, e.g., less than a third of the urban population has access to pure water, and the main reason why water borne diseases are rampant. Even when people are provided with purified water for drinking, they usually wash themselves and their clothing in contaminated supplies.

The demands made on water by urban industries, power stations and homes are growing at a more rapid rate than the growth of population. Many wells do not yield enough water, river pollution, like Ganga, Damodar etc. in India, is a continuing evil, and the remaining water resources- mostly in thinly populated highland areas of abundant rain- are far from many consuming centres.

After being separated from Bihar, Jharkhand state of India is now fast growing in terms of business. Ranchi the capital city is expanding both vertical and horizontal resulting in lots of problem like irregular electric supply, water supply, ground water depletion, air pollution, noise pollution, municipal waste disposal, failure of drainage systems, traffic jams etc. Surface waters are being contaminated. Seasonal diseases have also multiplied. More and more people are concentrating in the city flats which has raised the land values many fold. Ranchi earlier known as the summer capital has now become the heat furnace during summer. It is all due to the unplanned expansion of the city.

The urban heat island has become a growing concern and is increasing over the years. The urban heat island is formed when industrial and urban areas are developed and heat becomes more abundant. In rural areas, a large part of the incoming solar energy is used to evaporate water from vegetation and soil. In cities, where less vegetation and exposed soil exists, the majority of the sun’s energy is absorbed by urban structures and asphalt. Hence, during warm daylight hours, less evaporative cooling in cities allows surface temperatures to rise higher than in rural areas. Additional city heat is given off by vehicles and factories, as well as by industrial and domestic heating and cooling units. This effect causes the city to become 2 to 10 degree F (1 to 6 degree C) warmer than surrounding landscapes. Impacts also include reducing soil moisture and intensification of carbon dioxide emissions.
Owing to population growth, poor levels of hygiene, and increasing urban poverty, the urban environment in many developing countries is rapidly deteriorating. Densely packed housing in shanty towns or slums and inadequate drinking-water supplies, garbage collection services, and surface-water drainage systems combine to create favourable habitats for the proliferation of vectors and reservoirs of communicable diseases. As a consequence, vector-borne diseases such as malaria, lymphatic filariasis and dengue are becoming major public health problems associated with rapid urbanization in many tropical countries

Another change that has occurred after the oil crisis of 1973 is the vertical growth of large cities. People who were living in suburbs found it costly to travel to the city. The open spaces within the city got filled up by the construction of high rise buildings. Large bungalows and old residences were demolished and high rise buildings have come up both as commercial complexes and as residential flats. Many rich families are migrating from the suburbs to flats or apartments near the city centre. The vertical expansion of cities poses further problems in water supply, sewage disposal and traffic congestion on the roads. Traffic causes urban noise, air pollution, stress and strain in an individual.

One solution for both lateral expansion and vertical growth of a city is to develop satellite towns at a distance of 40 to 50 km from the city. The satellite town will not be a mere residential town to accommodate commuters. Such a satellite town will be both a place of work and a place of living.