Northeast Pakistan Research Articles

Exploring trends and variability of climate change indices in the agro‐ecological zones of Pakistan and their driving mechanisms

AbstractAnthropogenic climate change induced weather and climate extremes have led to frequent heat waves, droughts and floods threatening water resources and food security for an agricultural country like Pakistan. Despite their significance, the trends and variability of extreme temperature and precipitation indices and associated large‐scale drivers in the agro‐ecological zones (AEZs) of Pakistan remain unknown and need urgent attention because of abrupt climate change. The present study documents the spatiotemporal variations of climate change indices together with the elevation‐dependent variability trends over various AEZs in Pakistan for the period of 42 years (1979–2020). Nonparametric Mann–Kendall (MK) and Sen's slope (SS) estimator tests have been employed for trend estimation. Results indicated linearly increasing (warming) and statistically significant trends in Tmean, TNx, WSDI and TR20 whereas significant decreasing (cooling) trends in cool nights (−1.73 days·decade−1) and cold spells (−1.28 days·decade−1). The spatial distribution of temperature indices trends depicts robust warming over southwestern and central zones while cooling trends over northern zones. Regarding precipitation extremes, all indices have shown increasing (wetter) trends with a significant increase in PRCPTOT and RX5day. The stations in northern and subhumid AEZs received more precipitation compared to other zones. Elevation‐dependent trends in temperature indices exhibited a statistically significant positive (negative) relationship with cold (warm) tails. Most of the extreme precipitation indices have a weak, but positive association with elevation except SDII. The weakening of South Asian subtropical upper‐level jet by a high‐pressure system over northeast Pakistan resulted in amplified land surface temperatures. However, the spatial patterns of zonal winds indicate a trough over Pakistan's southern and central parts, with warmer sea‐surface temperature, low sea‐level pressure and easterly anomalies, favour moisture transport and precipitation in Pakistan. The outcomes of present study will be useful in addressing various climate‐induced disasters occurring in various AEZs of Pakistan.

Population Exposure Changes to Mean and Extreme Climate Events Over Pakistan and Associated Mechanisms.

The increasing prevalence of warmer trends and climate extremes exacerbate the population's exposure to urban settlements. This work investigated population exposure changes to mean and extreme climate events in different Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) of Pakistan and associated mechanisms (1979-2020). Spatiotemporal trends in mean and extreme temperatures revealed significant warming mainly over northern, northeastern, and southern AEZs. In contrast, mean-to-extreme precipitation changes showed non-uniform patterns with a significant increase in the northeast AEZs. Population exposure to mean (extreme) temperature and precipitation events increased two-fold during 2000-2020. The AEZs in urban settlements (i.e., Indus Delta, Northern Irrigated Plain, and Barani/Rainfall) show a maximum exposure to extreme temperatures of about 70-100×106 (person-days) in the reference period (1979-1999), which increases to 140-200×106 person-days in the recent period (2000-2020). In addition, the highest exposure to extreme precipitation days also increases to 40-200×106 person-days during 2000-2020 than 1979-1999 (20-100×106) person-days. Relative changes in exposure are large (60%-90%) for the AEZs across northeast Pakistan, justifying the spatial population patterns over these zones. Overall, the observed changes in exposure are primarily attributed to the climate effect (50%) over most AEZs except Northern Irrigated Plain for R10 and R20 events, where the interaction effect takes the lead. The population exposure rapidly increased over major AEZs of Pakistan, which could be more vulnerable to extreme events due to rapid urbanization and population growth in the near future.

Assessment of carbonaceous aerosols at Mukteshwar: A high-altitude (~2200 m amsl) background site in the foothills of the Central Himalayas

The present study examined the equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations measured over 10.5 years (September 2005–March 2016) using a 7-wavelength Aethalometer (AE-31) at Mukteshwar, a high-altitude and regional background site in the foothills of Indian central Himalayas. The total spectral absorption coefficient (babs) was divided into three categories: black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC); fossil fuels (FF) and wood/biomass burning (WB/BB); and primary and secondary sources. At the wavelength of 370 nm, a significant BrC contribution (25 %) to the total babs is identified, characterized by a pronounced seasonal variation with winter (December–January-February) maxima (31 %) and post-monsoon (October and November) minima (20 %); whereas, at 660 nm, the contribution of BrC is dramatically less (9 %). Climatologically, the estimated BCFF at 880 nm ranges from 0.25 ± 0.19 μg m−3 in July to 1.17 ± 0.80 μg m−3 in May with the annual average of 0.67 ± 0.63 μg m−3, accounting for 79 % of the BC mass. The maximum BCFF/BC fraction reaches its peak value during the monsoon (July and August, 85 %), indicating the dominance of local traffic emissions due to tourism activities. Further, the highest BCWB concentration observed during pre-monsoon (March–May) suggests the influence of local forest fires along with long-range transported aerosols from the low-altitude plains. The increased contribution of BrC (26 % at 370 nm) and WB absorption (61 % at 370 nm) to the total absorption at the shorter wavelengths suggests that wood burning is one of the major sources of BrC emissions. Secondary BrC absorption accounts for 24 % [91 %] of the total absorption [BrC absorption] at 370 nm, implying the dominance of secondary sources in BrC formation. A trend analysis for the measured BC concentration shows a statistically significant increasing trend with a slope of 0.02 μgm−3/year with a total increase of about 22 % over the study period. A back trajectory-based receptor model, potential source contribution function (PSCF), was used to identify the potential regional source region of BC. The main source regions of BC are the northwest states of India in the IGP region and the northeast Pakistan region.

Winter surface air temperature variation over Pakistan during 1970–2014 and its principal drivers in the tropical ocean

This study examined the leading modes of Dec–Feb (DJF) month's surface temperature (DJFTs) and associated mechanisms of the most significant drivers affecting temperature variability during the season from 1970 to 2014. EOF1 of DJF temperature reveals uniform spatial patterns over most of Pakistan, except extreme north, accounting for 84.38% of the total variance. The typical warm (cold) years were 1970, 1981, 1988, 1990, 1993, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010 (1972, 1974, 1975, 1984, 2008, 2012). Favorable atmospheric conditions for warm temperature events (DJFTs) in Pakistan is an anomalous anticyclone spread over northeast Pakistan to Tibet at low to upper levels. This condition is controlled by the south and western part, of which there are significant southerly and convergent flows at low level with ascending motion over the study area. Further, examination revealed a close relationship of warm DJFTs with Western Indian Ocean warming and Eastern Indian Ocean indices but insignificant relation with the Nino3.4 index. Ocean warming related to Dipole Mode Index over eastern Indian Ocean (DMIE) is more influential (r = 0.51) than over the western Indian Ocean (DMIW) index (r = 0.37). The Ocean warming related to DMIE (EIOW), especially in Nov-Dec-Jan (NDJ) season, forced a significant ascending motion locally and then induced warm DJFTs-associated circulation pattern, propagating northward to Europe. By the dynamic diagnosis, the adiabatic and diabatic heating for the warm DJFTs is not remarkable. However, the horizontal temperature advection is positive and significant over most parts of Pakistan, both in the DJF and NDJ season, from the surface to the top of the troposphere. It suggests that the warm temperature advection is the possible prominent way of the EIOW on the warm DJFTs.

Evaluation of the Characteristics of Native Wild Himalayan Fig (Ficus palmata Forsk.) from Pakistan as a Potential Species for Sustainable Fruit Production

Wild Himalayan figs (Ficus palmata Forsk.), native to East Asia and the Himalayan region, are closely related to the well-known cultivated fig (Ficus carica L.), which is grown mainly in the Mediterranean region. The Pakistani state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has a rich variety of figs. However, no comprehensive study has been carried out to utilise the diversity of these wild figs for possible use in sustainable fruit production. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the variability of 35 wild fig accessions using quantitative and qualitative traits. Descriptive statistics were used to measure quantitative characteristics, while the coefficient of variance (CV %) was analysed using SAS® version 9.1. A principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate analysis were performed using R Studio (v1.1.4). Pearson correlation coefficients between characteristics were obtained using SPSS software. The studied accessions showed high variability and the coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 4.46–14.81%. Days to maturity varied from 71 to 86, leaf area from 38.55 to 90.06 cm2. The fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight ranged from 11.25 to 29.85 mm, 11.85 to 27.49 mm and 2.65 to 9.66 g, respectively. The photosynthetic activity and total chlorophyll content also varied from 7.94 to 10.22 μmol CO2 m−2s−1 and 37.11 to 46.48 μgml−1. In most of the fig accessions studied, apical dominance was found to be ‘absent’ while fruit shape was observed to be ‘globular’. A strong correlation was observed between all the studied characteristics. In the PCA analysis, all 35 fig accessions were distributed in four quadrants and showed a great diversity. This could be a valuable gene pool for future breeding studies and provide improved quality varieties. Wild Himalayan figs from the wild are well adapted to local pedoclimatic conditions and, combined with easy propagation and production can contribute to the local economy and have a significant impact on the socio-economic and ecological balance. The results of this study show high variability in some of the studied traits of 35 accessions from different parts of Northeast Pakistan, indicating their good potential for further enhancement and utilisation in sustainable agricultural production.

Environmental and human iodine and selenium status: lessons from Gilgit-Baltistan, North-East Pakistan

Iodine and selenium deficiencies are common worldwide. We assessed the iodine and selenium status of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. We determined the elemental composition (ICP-MS) of locally grown crops (n = 281), drinking water (n = 82), urine (n = 451) and salt (n = 76), correcting urinary analytes for hydration (creatinine, specific gravity). We estimated dietary iodine, selenium and salt intake. Median iodine and selenium concentrations were 11.5 (IQR 6.01, 23.2) and 8.81 (IQR 4.03, 27.6) µg/kg in crops and 0.24 (IQR 0.12, 0.72) and 0.27 (IQR 0.11, 0.46) µg/L in water, respectively. Median iodised salt iodine was 4.16 (IQR 2.99, 10.8) mg/kg. Population mean salt intake was 13.0 g/day. Population median urinary iodine (uncorrected 78 µg/L, specific gravity-corrected 83 µg/L) was below WHO guidelines; creatinine-corrected median was 114 µg/L but was unreliable. Daily selenium intake (from urinary selenium concentration) was below the EAR in the majority (46–90%) of individuals. Iodine and selenium concentrations in all crops were low, but no health-related environmental standards exist. Iodine concentration in iodised salt was below WHO-recommended minimum. Estimated population average salt intake was above WHO-recommended daily intake. Locally available food and drinking water together provide an estimated 49% and 72% of EAR for iodine (95 µg/day) and selenium (45 µg/day), respectively. Low environmental and dietary iodine and selenium place Gilgit-Baltistan residents at risk of iodine deficiency disorders despite using iodised salt. Specific gravity correction of urine analysis for hydration is more consistent than using creatinine. Health-relevant environmental standards for iodine and selenium are needed.

Hepatitis C Virus with Focus on Genotype or Subtype Spread in Punjab Province of Pakistan

The infection of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) often shifts due to its poor consistency in RNA-subordinate RNA polymerase. Seven inherited genotypes (TGs), each of which has a few closely associated subtypes, are circulating around the world. The following study reviewed written work documenting the ubiquity status of HCV GTs in patients hospitalized in Pakistan. The comprehensive analysis of three electric data sets and 139 eligible surveys cumulative predominant rates. Our current research was conducted at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from May 2019 to April 2020. Predominance rates have been recognized. Chi-square or Fisher's test eroded the critical gap between viral HCV GT and HCV load and hepatitis severity. The epidemiological examinations revealed that HCV GT 1-6 was observed in Pakistan, with two transcendent subtypes being one (1b (63.79% (96% of CI:56.56-67.03%)) and one (18.38% (96% CI: 16.69-18.12%). HCV GT and subtypes are critically distinct locally. Southern Pakistan, with the exception of the Jiangxi region, has the most abundant hereditary variety and Subtype 3 is the most prominent one in North, Northwest, Northwest, East, and Central Pakistan, with except Hunan, with subtypes 1b and 2a. Co-disease is also the most varied of 10 forms of co-contamination in the Liaoning region of northeast Pakistan and Tibet has the most impressive incidence of co-contamination. This survey also investigated the association between WGs for HCV and cumulative patients, the seriousness of diseases and the adequacy of antiviral care.

Ground Saturation Response During First Filling of Lined Pressure Tunnels: A Case Study

The Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Project, commissioned in April 2018 and located in the Azad Kashmir region of northeast Pakistan, is one of the most challenging and technically complex projects in the region. The project’s 28.6 km headrace tunnels are constructed in a highly mountainous region with relatively complex geology that includes various sedimentary rocks of Murree formation. The hydro-mechanical behavior of the deep headrace tunnels with a maximum overburden of 2000 m and underground powerhouse at a depth of 450 m are of particular interest. The project generates electricity by diverting water from the Neelum River to an underground powerhouse through a tunnel system crossing beneath the Jhelum River. The pressurization of the hydraulic tunnels was an important milestone and necessitated intentional planning down to the smallest detail for the first filling. Successful filling was a governing criterion for proper functioning of the tunnel lining that was supplemented by monitoring instruments, a drainage system, and ground treatments during construction of the project. Ground re-saturation during the first filling of the concrete and shotcrete-lined waterways constructed in the diversified rock mass is interesting to study. The rock mass in this area is sheared and fractured, with open fissures. In this study, we investigated the ground re-saturation and water leakages in adits, plugs, and surface outflow after the first filling of the headrace tunnel. A load rejection test was conducted to evaluate overall fitness of the power waterways, plant, and to study any change in leakages due to sudden oscillation in the waterway tunnels. Surfer3D software was used to analyze the data collected from the piezometers, which showed abnormal water pressure built up in a localized zone between penstocks three and four. This study was also supported with two-dimensional finite element modeling of the project, at a location where the tunnel has minimum rock cover susceptible to hydrojacking. Numerical analysis results were compared with field data results during the first filling process and both showed close proximity.

Population Surveys of Endangered Egyptian vulture (<i>Neophron percnopterus</i>) in Mahasheer National Park Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir

The global distribution and population of the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) has declined but the species remains poorly studied in the Azad, Jammu and Kashmir area of Pakistan. This lack of information about the species limits the ability to adopt strategies for its conservation. This study was conducted in four selected sites of northeast Pakistan to estimate the population status of Egyptian vultures in the study area. Potential sites and colonies of the Egyptian vultures were first identified and then monitored using point count methods. We counted a maximum of 121 Egyptian vultures across the four sites that were surveyed in the study area. Conservation action at the State level is needed to help protect this vulture species of global conservation concern, and our results provide a baseline from which future monitoring can proceed.

‘Burminggaon? Nottinggaon? Biradforrd?’: British Asian Noir Depictions of Bradford

Abstract In this article, I examine noir representations of Bradford, that important West Yorkshire city which, as one British-Punjabi character’s mispronunciation suggests, has been transformed by South Asian Muslim migration. I examine a trilogy: M. Y. Alam’s Bradford noir novels Annie Potts is Dead, Kilo and Red Laal (1998−2012), and a tetralogy: A. A. Dhand’s Streets of Darkness, Girl Zero, City of Sinners and One Way Out (2016−2019). These novels explore the biradari or kinship system evoked by Atia Hosain’s character in her neologism ‘Biradforrd’. They also focus, among other matters, on Bradford’s predominantly Mirpuri community from the Azad Kashmir region of northeast Pakistan. I argue that despite their different religious backgrounds, Alam and Dhand are both from the ‘myth of return’ class and generation, and portray from the inside Bradfordians’ ghettoized deprivation, drugs problem and vulnerability to racist and Islamophobic abuse.

TBM in Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan: in situ stress measurements for rockburst prevision

Using the authors’ experience, this paper details the in situ stress measurements in twin tunnel boring machine (TBM) tunnels of the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project, located in the Azad Kashmir region of north-east Pakistan in foothills of the Himalayas, with overburdens up to 2000 m and high tectonic stresses in very complex geology. The ability to predict the likelihood, location, severity and number of rockbursts directly impacts on the tunnel safety and daily production rates. This, combined with the lack of previous project experience in similar conditions, has required the use of all the available advanced geological prediction methods: forward probing, tunnel seismic tomography, continuous microseismic monitoring and in situ stress measurements were used. These methods, except in situ stress measurements, only gave an indication of likelihood and severity of rockbursts. The in situ tests provided the actual ground stresses and their orientations. The in situ stress results contradicted the forecasts based on the classical empirical rules combining stress analysis and rock strength. This paper is focused on the in situ stress measurements carried out behind the two TBMs and details the information obtained and how data were interpreted and integrated to support excavation, prevention and control of rockbursts, which improved tunnel safety and productivity.

Regional trade of medicinal plants has facilitated the retention of traditional knowledge: case study in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan

BackgroundThe ethnic groups in Gilgit-Baltistan have been utilizing local resources in their centuries-old traditional healing system. Most tribes within these ethnic groups still rely on traditional healing systems. We aim to understand the current status, uses, and abundance of medicinal plants, associated traditional knowledge, and trade.Materials and methodsThe study incorporated over 300 local community members (70% men and 30% women) in focused group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and homework assignments for 8th to 12th grade students to document traditional knowledge (TK) in six districts in Northeast Pakistan. We calculated various indices such as informant consensus factor, use value, relative frequency of citation, and CoKriging. These indices, along with repetitively used medicinal plants, were used to analyze differences in studied locations.ResultsMost of the community members still rely on traditional medication in the study areas. However, we found the highest number of medicinal plants used in Skardu and Gilgit compared to other districts and these two districts also represent trade centers and a highly populated area regarding medicinal plants. Results indicate connection amongst the surveyed villages signifying mixing of knowledge from different sources, with certain areas more influenced by traditional Chinese medicine and others more by Ayurveda and Unani.ConclusionTK is mostly retained with elder community members; however, those directly linked with market value chain retain rich knowledge on traditional use of the medicinal plants from the region. Major trade centers in the region also coincide with a high density of medicinal plant occurrence, knowledge, and higher utilization. Therefore, with the increasing trade in medicinal plant in the region, there is potential for rejuvenation of this knowledge and of plant use in the region.

Spatial distribution of secular trends in annual and seasonal precipitation over Pakistan

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 74:95-107 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01489 Spatial distribution of secular trends in annual and seasonal precipitation over Pakistan Kamal Ahmed1,*, Shamsuddin Shahid2, Eun-Sung Chung3, Tarmizi Ismail2, Xiao-Jun Wang4,5 1Faculty of Water Resource Management, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Balochistan, Pakistan 2Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia 3Department of Civil Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 139-743, South Korea 4State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, China 5Research Center for Climate Change, Ministry of Water Resources, Nanjing 210029, China *Corresponding author: kamal_brc@hotmail.com ABSTRACT: The presence of autocorrelation and long-term persistence (LTP) can lead to considerable change in the significance of trends in hydro-climatic time series. This therefore casts doubt on past findings of climatic trend studies that did not consider LTP. We assessed the trends in spatiotemporal patterns of annual and seasonal precipitation of Pakistan in recent years (1961-2010) using precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) using (1) the ordinary Mann-Kendall (MK) test and (2) the modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test, which can discriminate LTP from unidirectional trends. The results indicate that significance in trends obtained using the MK test is reduced when LTP is taken into consideration. The annual precipitation in Pakistan is increasing in the northern highlands and a few places in the sub-Himalayan ranges in northeast Pakistan, where monsoon precipitation is also increasing. There is no indication of significant change in winter precipitation. Post-monsoon precipitation is increasing at a few locations in the monsoon-dominated southeast region and decreasing in the southwestern arid region. KEY WORDS: Long-term persistence · Precipitation trend analysis · Modified Mann-Kendall · GPCC data · Pakistan Full text in pdf format NextCite this article as: Ahmed K, Shahid S, Chung ES, Ismail T, Wang XJ (2017) Spatial distribution of secular trends in annual and seasonal precipitation over Pakistan. Clim Res 74:95-107. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01489 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 74, No. 2. Online publication date: December 27, 2017 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.

A new species and new synonym of subgenus Chlaeniellus Reitter, 1908 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) with re-establishment of Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) rapyllii Morvan, 1975 as a valid species.

A new species of the subgenus Chlaeniellus Reitter, 1908 (Coleoptera: Carabidae), namely Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) kirschenhoferi sp. n., is described and illustrated from northeast Pakistan. Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) rapyllii Morvan (1975), is confirmed as a valid species and it is proposed that Chlaenius (Lithochlaenius) asara Kirschenhofer, 2014 is a synonym of Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) flavipes Menetries, 1832.

SO2 measurements at a high altitude site in the central Himalayas: Role of regional transport

Continuous measurements of a climatically important acidic gas, SO2, were made over Nainital (29.37°N, 79.45°E; 1958 m amsl), a regionally representative site in the central Himalayas, for the first time during 2009–2011. Unlike many other sites, the SO2 levels over Nainital are higher during pre-monsoon (345 pptv) compared to winter (71 pptv). High values during pre-monsoon are attributed to the transport of air masses from regions viz. Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), northern India and north-East Pakistan, which are dotted with numerous industries and power plants, where coal burning occurs. Transport from the polluted regions is evinced from good correlations of SO2 with wind speed, NOy and UV aerosol index during these periods. Daytime elevations in SO2 levels, influenced by ‘valley winds’ and boundary layer evolution, is a persistent feature at Nainital. SO2 levels are very much lower during monsoon compared to pre-monsoon, due to oxidation losses and wet scavenging. Despite this, SO2/NOy slopes are high (>0.4) both during pre-monsoon and monsoon, indicating impacts of point sources. The SO2 levels during winter are lower as the measurement site is cut off from the plains due to boundary layer dynamics. Further, the SO2 levels during winter nights are the lowest (lesser than 50 pptv) and resemble free tropospheric conditions.

Climatology of lightning over Indian region and its relationship with convective available potential energy

ABSTRACTThe spatial distribution of convective available potential energy (CAPE) and lightning activity in different seasons over the Indian region have been studied to find out the dependence of lightning activity on CAPE. It is observed that the lightning activity over the Indian region is not controlled by CAPE alone during pre‐monsoon season. The prevailing meteorological conditions and orography over northern India, central India, northeast Pakistan and Bangladesh provide favourable conditions for formation of thunderstorms, and hence, lightning activity is higher in spite of lower value of CAPE over these regions compared to other parts of Indian region. During the monsoon season, lightning activity and CAPE are found to be better correlated with each other compared to other seasons over central and north India. It has been found that the high mountains of Himalayas generate strong updrafts necessary for the deep convective events by interacting with prevailing winds and the diabatic heating and radiative cooling of mountaintops create conditions favourable for convections. The diurnal variation of lightning activity at stations over the foothills of Himalayas showing a strong peak in lighting activity after midnight supports the idea that radiative cooling at mountaintops can create a moisture convergence at foothills and trigger the convections.

Influence of Icelandic Low pressure on winter precipitation variability over northern part of Indo-Pak Region

Several studies demonstrate that North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has dominant influence on the variability of climate over Southwest Asia. We deconstruct the NAO into its two components, the Azores High and the Icelandic Low. Regional circulations are influenced by changes not only in the pressure but also the positions of the Azores High and the Icelandic Low. The results presented in this paper exhibit that significantly great portions of interannual variance of winter precipitation over Indo-Pak Region (consists of Northeast Pakistan and Northwest India) can be explained by including the contributions of the Icelandic Low pressure in addition to ENSO and AO. This contribution also explains the physical mechanisms to establish the relationships between the COA and regional climate by examining composite maps of large-scale circulation fields using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data.

Geologic constraints on the Harappa archaeological site, Punjab Province, Pakistan

The geologic setting of an urban environment affects the development of that particular urban culture. Human activities can involve devegetation, soil loosening, soil-water and ground-water changes, soil erosion, and changes in surface-water hydrology. This article focuses on how the geologic resources and history of the Punjab region have greatly influenced the cultural development of the Bronze Age city of Harappa, located in northeast Pakistan. Archaeological deposits at this site date between at least 3300 B.C. and 1700 B.C. A geologic and geomorphic framework is provided which presents the relationships of the ancient Harappans with their local and regional environment, with these geologic processes affecting both the initial settlement and development of this ancient urban center. Buried soil elevation data, mapped soil distributions, and geomorphic models are used to construct an approximation of the preoccupation paleotopography beneath this site. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Geologic constraints on the Harappa archaeological site, Punjab Province, Pakistan

The geologic setting of an urban environment affects the development of that particular urban culture. Human activities can involve devegetation, soil loosening, soil-water and ground-water changes, soil erosion, and changes in surface-water hydrology. This article focuses on how the geologic resources and history of the Punjab region have greatly influenced the cultural development of the Bronze Age city of Harappa, located in northeast Pakistan. Archaeological deposits at this site date between at least 3300 B.C. and 1700 B.C. A geologic and geomorphic framework is provided which presents the relationships of the ancient Harappans with their local and regional environment, with these geologic processes affecting both the initial settlement and development of this ancient urban center. Buried soil elevation data, mapped soil distributions, and geomorphic models are used to construct an approximation of the preoccupation paleotopography beneath this site. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Major and trace element compositions of post-collisional, peraluminous Garam Chashma granite, Hindukush Range, northwestern Pakistan.

The post-collisional Garam Chashma leucogranite with K-Ar (biotite) ages of 20-18 Ma occurs in the Hindukush Range (Trans-Himalayas), northwestern Pakistan. The leucograntie is per-aluminous and shows a restricted range of SiO2 contents (72-75 wt%). It is different, both in mineralogy and chemical characteristics, from the surrounding pre-collisional granodiorites and post-collisional meta-aluminous to per-aluminous Miocene Baltoro granite from Trans-Himalayas in Northeast Pakistan. The age and chemical trends of Garam Chashma leucogranite are similar to those of the Higher Himalayan granites of Pakistan, India, Nepal and South Tibet, suggesting similar source and/or processes of formation.