Eastern Peninsular India Research Articles

Crotolaria nicobarica (Fabaceae): a new species from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Crotalaria nicobarica, a new species from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India is described and illustrated along with conservation status. This new species closely resembles C. lunulata Heyne ex Wight and Arn., C. paniculata Willd. and C. ramosissima Roxb. which occurs in western and eastern peninsular India and occupies forest edges and cut‐slopes of hillocks, but the new species is distinct in morphology of vegetative and reproductive characters from all previously known species. Based on its hairyness, persistent bracts and bracteoles, silky pubescence of vexillum and style, and oblong stalked pods, the species is referred to C. sect. Crotalaria.

Space-based observation of early summer wildfire event and its environmental proxies during 2021 in Eastern Peninsular India

Space-based observation of early summer wildfire event and its environmental proxies during 2021 in Eastern Peninsular India

Markovian and rescaled range analysis-based probe into the pattern of rainfall over Eastern Peninsular India

Markovian and rescaled range analysis-based probe into the pattern of rainfall over Eastern Peninsular India

Assessment of Fine Particulate Matter for Port City of Eastern Peninsular India Using Gradient Boosting Machine Learning Model

An assessment and prediction of PM2.5 for a port city of eastern peninsular India is presented. Fifteen machine learning (ML) regression models were trained, tested and implemented to predict the PM2.5 concentration. The predicting ability of regression models was validated using air pollutants and meteorological parameters as input variables collected from sites located at Visakhapatnam, a port city on the eastern side of peninsular India, for the assessment period 2018–2019. Highly correlated air pollutants and meteorological parameters with PM2.5 concentration were evaluated and presented during the period under study. It was found that the CatBoost regression model outperformed all other employed regression models in predicting PM2.5 concentration with an R2 score (coefficient of determination) of 0.81, median absolute error (MedAE) of 6.95 µg/m3, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.29, root mean square error (RMSE) of 11.42 µg/m3 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 9.07 µg/m3. High PM2.5 concentration prediction results in contrast to Indian standards were also presented. In depth seasonal assessments of PM2.5 concentration were presented, to show variance in PM2.5 concentration during dominant seasons.

Regional modulating behavior of Indian summer monsoon rainfall in context of spatio-temporal variation of drought and flood events

In this paper, daily modulating behaviors of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) has been evaluated over eight important sub-zones of India viz Northwest India (NWI); Northcentral India (NCI); West Peninsular India (WPI); Eastern Peninsular India (EPI); Southern Peninsular India (SoPI); Central India (CI), Northeast India (NEI) and Western Ghat (WG) using latest SA-CORDEX simulated climate data during 1981–2015. The climate extreme indices, standardized precipitation index (SPI) and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) have been utilized to uncover substantial regional spatial patterns and temporal variability of monsoon precipitation over India and its sub regions to understand the regional modulation of these events based on duration, frequency and severity. The comprehensive assessment of ISMR modulated characteristics (intensity, spell, and frequency) were showing significant decreasing trend over NEI and NCI which can be leading factors for demarcating major hotspots for land degradation, effective management and adaptation towards water resources and hazards related to the flood/drought events. India has received flood events (1983, 1988, 1994, 2005, 2011, 2013) and drought event (1982, 1987, 2002, 2004 and 2009) during 1981–2015, which have been verified with SA-CORDEX RCMs (RegCM4.7, COSMO & REMO2015) using SPI. The first mode of EOF(IMD), explained 17% of the total SPI variability on the interannual scale, shows anomalous large positive values concentrated over the western peninsular region and extending towards central India as well as the NWI region of India. On the other hand, high anomalous negative values dominated over the NEI and eastern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Therefore, this study underscores the importance to uncover the prevalent dynamics and climate change variability on changing trend variability of the precipitation indices, drought and flood characteristics. As moderate to severe drought variability portrays a diversity over regional scale viz northwest India, north central India, eastern ghat of the southern peninsular region and northeast India while the occurrence of moderate to severe flood are dominated towards Himalaya region (26°N-35°N; 70°E-80°E), western peninsular region and western ghat.

Taxonomic Composition of the Oligodon arnensis (Shaw 1802) Species Complex (Squamata: Colubridae) with the Description of a New Species from India

We review the taxonomic status of Oligodon arnensis (Shaw 1802) after examining all the name-bearing types of its synonyms, and evaluating morphological and biogeographic evidence. Oligodon arnensis sensu lato is widely distributed throughout Peninsular India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. We demonstrate that southern, eastern, and western populations in India represent three distinct species. Oligodon arnensis sensu stricto described from Arnee (now Arani), Tamil Nadu, southern India, is distributed in southern India up to 1500 m above sea level. Oligodon albiventer Günther 1864 and Simotes russellii var. ceylonensis Müller 1887 described from Sri Lanka closely match O. arnensis sensu stricto, and hence we treat them as junior synonyms. We resurrect Coluber russelius Daudin 1803 from the synonymy of O. arnensis, designate a lectotype, and restrict its type locality to Vizagapatam (now Visakhapatnam), Andhra Pradesh, eastern Peninsular India. Based on morphological differences we describe a new species from Kurduvadi, in the Deccan plateau of western India representing the western Indian population of O. arnensis sensu lato. We provide redescriptions for O. arnensis sensu stricto and O. russelius comb. nov. based on museum specimens, as both were named based on illustrations (iconotypes). Based on our update of the currently confirmed localities for O. arnensis, O. russelius comb. nov. and the new species, we discuss their biogeography and conservation status.

Spatio‐temporal variability of summer monsoon surface air temperature over India and its regions using Regional Climate Model

AbstractIn this study, a dynamically downscaled regional climate model (RegCM4.3) is used to study the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) surface air temperature over the South‐Asia CORDEX domain using six convection schemes during 1986–2010. The spatial and temporal variability of mean surface air temperature has been analysed with reference to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) analysis data using various statistical scores. The sensitivity experiments in selecting the best convective parameterized schemes have been performed in simulating the surface air temperature during the summer monsoon season (June–September) over India and its five sub‐regions such as Northwest India, Northcentral India, West Peninsular India, Eastern Peninsular India, and Southern Peninsular India. The model results show the tendency of overestimation of surface air temperature mainly in four cumulus parameterization schemes (CPSs) that is, Tiedtke, Emanuel, Mix98, and Mix99 of RegCM4.3 during the JJAS, where Grell and Kuo CPSs show better agreement with the IMD data. Overall, Grell CPS has a close resemblance to the observation data with a minimum root mean square error, mean absolute error, lowest mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and higher correlation coefficient. The model simulated results have also been investigated further using modified Nash Sutcliffe efficiency and modified Willmott's degree of index. These analyses confirm the potentiality of the Grell CPS followed by the Kuo CPS in simulating interannual variability of the surface air temperature over Indian and its five sub‐regions. The MAPE in Grell and Kuo CPSs are 0.004 and 0.013°C during monsoon season over India, respectively. The inter‐scheme difference in simulating surface air temperature is linked with the generation of low cloud convection and warming‐induced atmospheric moisture advection in the schemes. Therefore, Emanuel, Tiedtke, and Mix98 CPSs have shown a persistent nature of overestimation in surface air temperature variability during JJAS. It is also inferred that after removing the systematic mean bias from the RegCM4.3 model simulated outputs; the skill of Emanuel, Mix98, and Mix99 could be useful over the Indian subcontinent except for the southern peninsular region.

Large soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in the Permian Barren Measures Formation, Pranhita-Godavari Valley, India: potential link to syn-rift palaeoearthquake events

Records of palaeoearthquakes in sedimentary rocks are often debated due to the potential confusion in distinguishing seismic versus aseismic trigger mechanisms causing liquefaction. The present paper documents some unique soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS), characterized by their extremely large size, complex morphology and preservation in coarse-grained pebbly sandstone. The SSDS are present in the Permian Barren Measures Formation, a syn-rift depositional unit within the Lower Gondwana succession in the Pranhita-Godavari Valley, eastern Peninsular India. The ~ 210 m thick succession is represented by stacked fining-up retrogradational cycles, characterized by coarse-grained trough cross-stratified pebbly sandstones near the base and fine-grained heterolithic sandstones–mudstones at the top. Each cycle signifies a change from fluvial- to tidal-influenced depositional systems. Coarse-grained pebbly sandstone beds near the base of each cycle record most SSDS, including complexly deformed layers, pseudonodules, load and flame structures, various water-escape structures like vertical/inclined sediment columns (sedimentary dykes) and contorted beds, and syn-sedimentary faults. The deformed beds are underlain and overlain by the undeformed beds. Complexly deformed SSDS are often sharply truncated at the top by undeformed beds manifesting syn-sedimentary character, which signifies that deformation took place just after deposition of the affected beds, but before deposition of the overlying beds while sedimentation was continuous. Facies analysis reveals the absence of processes like storms/pounding waves, slumps, rapid dumping (massive beds), impact shaking, volcanisms, tsunami waves or sediment gravity flows in the study area, thus negating their possibility as triggering agents for the liquefaction. The complex nature and large size of the deformation structures imply extensive liquefaction near the sediment–water interface. In addition, the deformed beds comply with most of the criteria of typical seismites. In half-graben type Gondwana basins, such seismites can be linked to palaeoearthquakes, which signify the phases of syn-rift fault reactivation, basinal sagging and associated accommodation changes.

Diversity in the peninsular Indian lithosphere revealed from ambient noise and earthquake tomography

Significant diversity in the Indian lithosphere is seen in 3-D shear wave velocity images inverted from the dispersion of group velocities measured from ambient noise and earthquake waveforms along 21,600 paths. Velocity models constructed at 1° intervals to a depth of 200 km suggest a bipolar nature of the Indian lithosphere. We observe a two layer lithospheric mantle beneath the eastern Peninsular India, comprising the Archean cratons of eastern Dharwar, Bastar, Singhbhum, Chotanagpur, Bundelkhand and the Proterozoic Vindyhan basin. The intra-lithospheric mantle boundary is at a depth of ~90 km where Vs increases from 4.5 km/s to >4.7 km/s. The velocity increase continues to a depth of 140 to 180 km followed by its reversal with a minimum Vs of 4.3–4.4 km/s, possibly representing the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Geologically, these regions correlate with the diamond bearing kimberlite fields. In contrast, the Precambrian terrains of western Dharwar, eastern Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP), southern Granulite terrane and the Marwar block in western India are characterized by an almost uniform lithosphere mantle with Vs of 4.4–4.55 km/s. Presence of lower than expected velocity in the lithosphere could be due to its fertile composition, such as clinopyroxene-rich cumulate or metasomatised peridotite. The imprint of Deccan volcanism is observed as the thinned lithosphere (100–120 km) restricted primarily to the westernmost part of DVP, defining the regional extent of Reunion plume-Indian lithosphere interaction. The seismic velocity image suggests evidence for segmentation of Indian lithosphere beneath the Ganga basin at 75° E and 84° E coinciding the Delhi-Haridwar and the Monghyr-Saharsa ridges. Subduction of such a heterogeneous lithosphere could have contributed to the varying style of deformation and subduction pattern in the Himalayan-Tibet region.

A Significant Shift in Particulate Organic Matter Characteristics during Flooding of River Krishna, Eastern Peninsular India

A Significant Shift in Particulate Organic Matter Characteristics during Flooding of River Krishna, Eastern Peninsular India

Tracing the evolution of thermal springs in the Hazaribagh area of Eastern Peninsular India through hydrogeochemical and isotopic analyses

Thermal springs issuing through Chhotanagpur Granitic Gneissic Complex (CGGC) in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand is moderately alkaline (pH = 8.75–9.13) with the surface temperature ranging from 40 to 89 °C. Geochemical data of the six studied thermal springs (five at Suraj-Kund and one at Katkamsandi) show that the geothermal waters have relatively higher concentration of Na+, and K+ compared to those of Ca++ and Mg++; Cl− and SO4- - are in reasonably high concentration compared to the concentration of HCO3− and CO3- -. Fluoride concentration in the geothermal waters is significantly high (18.8–24.9 mg/L). High concentration of Cl− and F− in the thermal springs is postulated to be due to deep circulation of waters within the granitic formation causing these springs to be Na-Cl rich. The geochemical analysis is supported by the principal component analysis and canonical correlation analysis. Estimated reservoir temperatures from Quartz and Cation geothermometry are in the range of 116–188 °C. Thus, the geothermal system in the area is categorised as moderate enthalpy geothermal system. Relatively lower temperature estimates of Katkamsandi thermal spring is likely to be caused by mixing of ascending thermal waters with groundwater and equilibrating at a shallower depth as evidenced in the chloride-enthalpy mixing model. Thermal springs emanating at the surface in Suraj-Kund area have more than one reservoir in the subsurface at different depths. Furthermore, δ18O vs δD plot show meteoric origin of the thermal fluids and oxygen shift from the meteoric water line suggests isotopic fractionation due to some water-rock interaction and steam separation process for the thermal fluids while ascending to the surface. Radioactive heat production estimates of CGGC range from 71.3 to 142.8 mW/m2. These high heat producing granites are the probable heat sources for these thermal springs. Thus, it may be concluded that CGGC in the area is potential source rocks for the development of wet as well as dry geothermal system for green power development and other direct uses.

Performance of regional climate model in simulating Indian summer monsoon over Indian homogeneous region

The performance and validation of regional climate model (RegCM-4.3) simulation of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) have been conducted with a futuristic view of climate change study with the convective parameterization schemes (CPSs) over the different homogeneous regions of India. The dynamical downscaling of RegCM-4.3 has been done over South Asian Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) domain with the lateral boundary forcing provided by ERA-Interim at 50-km horizontal resolution. The interannual and seasonal variability of ISMR over India and its different homogeneous region has been done by comparing model-simulated rainfall with observed rainfall dataset of India Meteorological Department (IMD) during 1986–2010. The analysis includes the performance and validation of RegCM-4.3 in capturing regionalized rainfall of Indian subcontinent. The analysis is done over five homogeneous regions of India, i.e., northwest India (NWI), R1; northcentral India (NCI), R2; west peninsular India (WPI), R3; eastern peninsular India (EPI), R4; and southern peninsular India (SPI), R5 during 1986–2010. The Grell CPSs simulate monsoon rainfall reasonably good over northwest India. Over northcentral India, predictability/simulation of Kuo and Grell are best performing parameterize scheme of RegCM-4.3. The western and eastern peninsular parts of India, i.e., R3 and R4 simulation of Emanuel and Mix99 schemes, are better respectively. The region consisting southern peninsular along with Western Ghats shows Tiedtke scheme, as the best simulated scheme of RegCM-4.3. The overall diversification of simulation depending upon the topographical difference of Indian subcontinent causes the regionalize difference in simulating monsoon rainfall over the Indian subcontinent.

A preliminary investigation for the assessment of geothermal potential at Eastern Peninsular India

Eastern part of peninsular India has exposed Precambrian metasediments, granitic gneissic rocks, basic and ultrabasic intrusives. More than 30 thermal springs issuing through these rocks have been located in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Based on chemical geothermometry of these thermal waters, the reservoir temperatures are estimated to be in the range of 100–195 °C. The area has high heat producing granites with the heat flow values ranging from 59.8 to 119.5 mW/m2. The area is suitable for hosting wet as well as a dry geothermal system. Using Organic Rankin Cycle, a minimum potential of Eastern Peninsular India is estimated to be of 2566 MWe capacity. The exploitation of these geothermal systems in the area can help reduce greenhouse gases. Approximately 6 × 105 tons of CO2 emissions per year can be reduced as well as carbon equivalent revenue of 106 million USD per year can be generated with the installation of geothermal power plants. Furthermore, geothermal fields in the region can also be utilized for fish farming, cold storage, greenhouses, etc.

Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.\xa0origins and domestication: the South and Southeast Asian archaeobotanical evidence

Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. commonly known as pigeonpea, red gram or gungo pea is an important grain legume crop, particularly in rain-fed agricultural regions in the semi-arid tropics, including Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This paper provides a baseline for the study of the domestication and early history of C. cajan, through reviewing its modern wild distribution, seed morphometrics of wild and domesticated populations, historical linguistics and the archaeological record. The distribution of wild populations, including published records and additional herbarium collections, suggest that the wild habitats of pigeonpea were at the interface of the forest-edge areas and more open savanna plains in eastern Peninsular India (e.g. Telangana, Chattisgarh, Odisha). Early archaeological finds presented here have been recovered from both the Southern peninsula and Odisha. Historical linguistic data suggests early differentiation into longer and shorter growing season varieties, namely arhar and tuar types, in prehistory. Pigeonpea had spread to Thailand more than 2000 years ago. Measurements of seeds from modern populations provide a baseline for studying domestication from archaeological seeds. Available measurements taken on archaeological Cajanus spp. suggest that all archaeological collections thus far fall into a domesticated Length:Width ratio, while they may also pick up the very end of the trend towards evolution of larger size (the end of the domestication episode) between 3700 and 3200 years BP. This suggests a trend over time indicating selection under domestication had begun before 3700 years ago and can be inferred to have started 5000–4500 years ago.

Influence of regional emissions on SO2 concentrations over Bhubaneswar, a capital city in eastern India downwind of the Indian SO2 hotspots

In a scenario when haze and smog events are wreaking havoc in many parts of the world, accurate information on ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) sources is a required input to models for prediction and mitigation of air pollution. Globally, India is one of the highest emitters of anthropogenic SO2. However, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) data reveal that unlike many other anthropogenic air pollutants, the strongest anthropogenic SO2 sources are not located in the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) but over the coal belts of North Eastern peninsular India. In this study, we report SO2 measurements conducted at Bhubaneswar, a rapidly developing smart city in the Eastern Coast of India. The city is ideally located just downwind of the Indian SO2 hotspots during winter, when SO2 concentrations are the highest, reaching 14.3 ppbv for hourly averaged data. The measurements, reported here from the summer of 2010 to the summer of 2012, show that despite being a rapidly developing location, SO2 over Bhubaneswar is dominated by regional emissions rather than local sources like vehicular exhausts. The influence of regional emissions is strongest in winter as the city is directly downwind of 6 of the 10 largest thermal power plants and 7 out of the 13 largest integrated steel plants in India with a mean SO2 concentration of 3.2 ppbv. This is evinced by multiple pointers viz. Concentration-Weighted Trajectory (CWT) analysis for surface SO2 data, correlation analysis for OMI SO2 data, analysis of surface concentrations of SO2, organic carbon, black carbon and carbon monoxide; which reveal SO2 emissions from the industrial and mining regions of Chhattisgarh and north-west Odisha. This is the same region that shows up as hotspots of SO2 in OMI retrievals over India. However, despite being downwind of major SO2 sources during winter, SO2 concentrations in Bhubaneswar are lower than over some other cities (Kolkata, Kanpur) in the IGP, due to influence of strong local sources in the later cases. Unlike most other urban regions in India, the diurnal variation of SO2 over Bhubaneswar shows elevated daytime values due to predominant influence of regional emissions.

Crustal architecture and Moho topography beneath the eastern Indian and Bangladesh margins – new insights on rift evolution and the continent–ocean boundary

The thick sedimentary cover (≤18 km) along the Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI) and over the Bay of Bengal has hindered understanding of the mechanisms of rifting that operated on the eastern Indian and Bangladesh margins. Analysis of multichannel seismic reflection data, together with 3D gravity inversion and 2D gravity forward modelling, illuminates basement configuration, crustal thickness and Moho topography, thereby revealing the modes of rift evolution and the location of the continent–ocean boundary (COB) along these margins. The basement, particularly in the shelf and slope regions of eastern peninsular India, is traversed by nearly coast-perpendicular graben, and their seaward continuity is delineated up to 125 km from the coastline. Three different types of continental margin are present along the ECMI: (1) sheared rift on the southern segment of the ECMI, up to 14° N latitude (offshore the Southern Granulite Terrain); (2) hyper-extended rift in the central segment between 14° N and 17° N (offshore the Dharwar Craton); and (3) hypo-extended rift on the northern segment between 17° N and 20° N (offshore the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt). The graben terminations, crustal thickness and Moho topography of both the ECMI and offshore Bengal Basin clearly suggest that the COB runs nearly parallel to the coastline of peninsular India, but takes an orthogonal turn offshore in the Bengal Basin and connects the palaeo-continental shelf and the Rajmahal–Sylhet Line onshore in the Bengal Basin. Crustal thickness (8–10 km) and depth to the Moho discontinuity (≤28 km) beneath the Bangladesh margin are unusual because the crustal thickness increased through interaction of the Kerguelen plume with the existing oceanic lithosphere. The Moho deepened largely due to the load of the Bengal Fan sediments. The absence of rifted crustal blocks on the Bangladesh margin and the continuity of the COB into the onshore Bengal Basin together imply that the present Bangladesh region was under marine conditions at least until the beginning of Bengal Fan sedimentation (i.e. no less than 23 Ma).

Petrography and geochemistry of sandstone–mudstone from Barakar Formation (early Permian), Raniganj Basin, India: Implications for provenance, weathering and marine depositional conditions during Lower Gondwana sedimentation

Post‐glacial Permian coal‐bearing sedimentary successions are traditionally interpreted as fluvially deposited within the Gondwanaland continental set‐up throughout the globe. Recent attempts to reinterpret such successions in terms of marine flooding events, mainly based on sedimentological and ichnological attributes, raised doubt on the existing palaeogeographic model of the Late Palaeozoic Gondwanaland. Reassessing these sedimentary successions using other proxies, like petrographic and geochemical properties, may provide more reliable clues to improve the present understanding.In this paper, petrographic and geochemical analysis of sandstones, sandstone–mudstone heteroliths, and mudstones of the early Permian Barakar Formation of Lower Gondwana Supergroup, Raniganj coal Basin, India, is presented to understand the provenance, palaeoweathering pattern and palaeodepositional conditions. Petrographically, the sandstones are arkosic to sub‐arkosic in nature, with abundant unstable components and heavy minerals. Clay minerals in the matrix and the mudstones are dominated by kaolinite, illite‐smectite with authigenic glauconite, indicating a marine diagenetic realm. Mineralogical assemblage attests to sedimentation in craton interior passive margin conditions. Geochemically, the lithounits show large variations in major element and trace element (including rare earth element) concentrations. Chemical index of alteration and A–CN–K ternary plot indicate moderate to strong chemical weathering, leading to deposition of compositionally immature sediments close to their source without much recycling. Ratios of major elements (e.g., MgO, K2O, Fe2O3, Al2O3, and SiO2) signify a continental–marine transitional depositional environment developed in a stable passive margin setting under gradually warming up climatic conditions. Trace element ratios manifest an estuarine depositional setting during Barakar sedimentation, comparable with modern major river mouth estuaries.Thus, this paper provides unequivocal evidence of significant marine influence during sedimentation in the Lower Gondwana basins in India, particularly during the Permian time, and signifies the importance of re‐examining the so called “continental fluvial” coal‐bearing deposits as considerably marine‐influenced. The interpretations provide important clues in understanding and reconstructing the Permian Lower Gondwana palaeogeography in eastern peninsular India.

Phytochemical screening and anti-emetic activity of Leonotis nepetifolia leaves extract

Objectives: Leonotis Nepetifolia (Family: Lamiaceae) is a herb distributed in central and eastern peninsular India which is used as bitter tonic in fevers and also used in pneumonia, flu, mouth and lip infections. The present study focuses on the investigation of antiemetic activity of Leonotis Nepetifolia leaf extract. Method: The study includes preliminary investigation of phytochemical constituents followed by the antiemetic activity of Leonotis Nepetifolia leaf extract on 2-4 days male chicks (32-52gms). Results: The results reveal the presence of bioactive constituents comprising alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, glycosides, steroids and saponins in different solvents and also have antiemetic potential comparable with that of the reference drug Metoclopramide. Ethanol extract of 200 mg/kg inhibited the retches up to 73.761%, which inhibited emesis to an extent equal to Metoclopramide at 50mg/kg. Conclusion: The antiemetic potential of Leonotis Nepetifolia leaf extract may be due to the presence of phytoconstituents like alkaloids and terpenoids.

Seismites in Permian Barakar Formation, Raniganj Basin, India: implications on Lower Gondwana basin evolution

Fault-bound half-graben-type Raniganj Basin in eastern peninsular India hosts thick sedimentary succession of the coal-bearing Barakar Formation (Early Permian), which constitutes a part of the Lower Gondwana Supergroup. Sedimentological attributes of the upper Barakar succession are portrayed in two predominant facies associations, viz., (i) the lower part characterized by meandering fluvial facies association with distributary channel systems and (ii) the upper part represented by a transgressive, tide-wave-influenced, fluvio-estuarine facies association. Distinct beds with various soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDSs) manifesting paleoseismic events are reported as seismites from the upper Barakar succession. The SSDSs include convolute laminae, complex deformations with folded strata, syn-sedimentary growth faults, pseudonodules, loop bedding, and various water-escape structures including sand–silt flows/dikes. The seismites are restricted at two distinct stratigraphic horizons (S1 and S2) within the upper Barakar succession, separated by undeformed beds in between. The seismites record episodes of paleoearthquake events triggered by syn-sedimentary reactivation of basin marginal faults in the half-graben-type Raniganj Gondwana Basin. These demarcate phases of significant shift in the depositional conditions from fluvial-dominated to a transgressive tide-wave-influenced estuarine system, caused by post-glacial basinal adjustments in the peninsular Indian Gondwanaland.

Karyotype of the Indian Giant Squirrel ( Ratufa indica )

The Indian Giant squirrel syn. Malabar giant squirrel ( Ratufa indica ) is an uppercanopy dwelling mammal, endemic to southwestern, central and eastern peninsular India, found specifically in the Western Ghats, Satpuras and Eastern Ghats. It is seen at elevations of 180- 2300 m and is widely distributed. The species has been classified under the Class, Mammalia; Order, Rodentia; Suborder, Sciuromorpha; family, Sciuridae; subfamily, Ratufinae; Genus, Ratufa and species Ratufa indica .