Sea Level Variations during the Late Quaternary and Coastal Evolution along the Northern Kerala, South West of India

In the present investigation, an attempt is made to document various episodes of transgression and regression during the late Quaternary period from the study of coastal and shelf sequences extending from the inland across the beach to the shelf domain. Shore parallel beach ridges with alternating swales and occurrence of strand line deposits on the shelf make the northern Kerala coast an ideal natural laboratory for documenting the morpho-dynamic response of the coast to the changing sea level. The objectives of the study are lithographic reconstruction of environments of deposition from the coastal plain and shelf sequences; documentation of episodes of transgression and regression by studying different coastal plain sequences and shelf deposits and evolve a comprehensive picture of late Quaternary coastal evolution and sea level changes along the northern Kerala coast by collating morphological, lithological and geochronological evidences from the coastal plain and shelf sequences. The present study is confined to two shore-normal east-west trending transects, Viz. Punjavi and Onakkunnu, in the northern Kerala coast.

Salinity Intrusion and Seasonal Water Quality Variations in the Tidal Canals of Cochin

The study conducted on the salinity intrusion and seasonal water quality variations in the tidal canals of cochin. The main objectives are, salinity intrusion profile, water quality variation of the surface water of the canals,hierarchical utility of the water bodies and to understand the non-conservative components in the water body. The parameters monitored werepH,temperature,alkalinity,conductivity,DO(dissolvedoxygen),COD(chemical oxygen demand),BOD(biochemical oxygen demand0,chloride, total hardness, calcium hardness, dissolved phosphate, nitrate, total iron, sulphate, turbidity, total coliform and SUVA at 254nm. The tidal canals of GCDA were found to be creeks extending to the interior, canals inter connecting parts of the estuary or canals with seasonally broken segments. Based on utility the canals could be classified as: canals heavely polluted and very saline,canals polluted by urban waste , canals having fresh water for most part of the year and not much polluted, fresh water bodies heavily polluted. During the rainy months carbon fixation by plankton is nonexistent,and during the dry months Chitrapuzha becomes a sink of phosphate. The study indicated abiotic subrouts for dissolved phosphate and revealed the potential pitfalls in LOICZ modeling exercise on sewage ladentidal canals. It was also found that all canals except for the canals of West cochin and chittoorpuzha have fresh water for some part of the year. The water quality index in the durable fresh water stretches was found to be of below average category.

Tailoring the microwave dielectric properties of BaRE2Ti4O12 and BaRE2Ti5O14 ceramics bycompositional variations

Ceramic dielectric resonators in the BaO-RE2O3-TiO2 (RE=rare earth) system have been prepared by the conventional solid state ceramic route. The dielectric properties have been tailored by substitution of different rare earth oxides and by bismuth oxide addition. The dielectric constants increased with Bi addition whereas the Q decreased. The temperature coeffecient of the resonant frequency improved with bismuth addition.

Tailoring the Microwave Dielectric Properties of BaRE2Ti4012 and BaRE2Ti5014 Ceramics by Compositional Variations

Ceramic dielectric resonators in the BaO-RE2O3-TiO2 (RE = rare earth) system have been prepared by the conventional solid state ceramic route. The dielectric properties have been tailored by substitution of different rare earth oxides and by bismuth oxide addition. The dielectric constants increased with Bi addition whereas the 0 decreased. The temperature coefficient of the resonant frequency improved with bismuth addition

Variations on the infaunal polychaetes due to bottom trawling along the inshore waters of Kerala (south-west coast of India)

Variations of the infaunal polychates populations due to bottom trawling were studied during December 2000 to November 2002 at depth ranging from 0-50 m along Cochin-Munambam area (Kerala, long. 76degree10'94" to 75degree 56' and lat.9degree58' to 10degree10'), in the southwest coast of India.Infaunal polychaetes from the sediment samples were collected both before and after experimental trawling in order to assess the variations on their abundance (no.m-2),biomass(g.m-2) and diversity due to bottom trawling .Highest variations in polychaetes were recorded at station 9 in May 2002 where polychaete abundance increased to 20710 no.m-2 after trawling from 2787 no.m-2 before trawling.Biomass showed highest variations at station 3 in December 2000 where biomass increased from 7.16g.m-2 recorded before trawling to 34.53 g.m-2 in the samples collected after trawling .Multivariate community analysis carried out based on both species abundance and biomass of plychaetes also confirm the wide variations in the similarities of the stations comparing both before and after trawling

Ecobiogeography, Spatial and Temporal Variations of Microzooplankton Along the East Coast of India

In the present study an attempt has been made to understand the microzooplankton community along the easr coast of India. Most of the earlier studies projected Bay of Bengal as an oligotrophic system where phytoplankton growth is limited by a number of factors among which nutrients are the foremost. Hence it is logical to consider that the most of the primary production in the Bay of Bengal could be contributed by small sized phytoplankton harnessing the available resources, which in turn can be utilized effiency by the microzooplankton only. Hence microzooplankton could play in transferring primary organic carbon to higher tropic levels in this region.

Studies on the Quality of Rainwater at Various Land Use Locations and Variations by Interaction with Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Systems

The present study focused on the quality of rainwater at various land use locations and its variations on interaction with various domestic rainwater harvesting systems.Sampling sites were selected based upon the land use pattern of the locations and were classified as rural, urban, industrial and sub urban. Rainwater samples were collected from the south west monsoon of May 2007 to north east monsoon of October 2008, from four sampling sites namely Kothamangalam, Emakulam, Eloor and Kalamassery, in Ernakulam district of the State of Kerala, which characterized typical rural, urban, industrial and suburban locations respectively. Rain water samples at various stages of harvesting were also collected. The samples were analyzed according to standard procedures and their physico-chemical and microbiological parameters were determined. The variations of the chemical composition of the rainwater collected were studied using statistical methods. It was observed that 17.5%, 30%, 45.8% and 12.1% of rainwater samples collected at rural, urban, industrial and suburban locations respectively had pH less than 5.6, which is considered as the pH of cloud water at equilibrium with atmospheric CO,.Nearly 46% of the rainwater samples were in acidic range in the industrial location while it was only 17% in the rural location. Multivariate statistical analysls was done using Principal Component Analysis, and the sources that inf1uence the composition of rainwater at each locations were identified .which clearly indicated that the quality of rain water is site specific and represents the atmospheric characteristics of the free fall The quality of harvested rainwater showed significant variations at different stages of harvesting due to deposition of dust from the roof catchment surface, leaching of cement constituents etc. Except the micro biological quality, the harvested rainwater satisfied the Indian Standard guide lines for drinking water. Studies conducted on the leaching of cement constituents in water concluded that tanks made with ordinary portland cement and portland pozzolana cement could be safely used for storage of rain water.

Acid activated montmorillonite: an efficient immobilization support for improving reusability, storage stability and operational stability of enzymes

Three enzymes, α-amylase, glucoamylase and invertase, were immobilized on acid activated montmorillonite K 10 via two independent techniques, adsorption and covalent binding. The immobilized enzymes were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption measurements and 27Al MAS-NMR spectroscopy. The XRD patterns showed that all enzymes were intercalated into the clay inter-layer space. The entire protein backbone was situated at the periphery of the clay matrix. Intercalation occurred through the side chains of the amino acid residues. A decrease in surface area and pore volume upon immobilization supported this observation. The extent of intercalation was greater for the covalently bound systems. NMR data showed that tetrahedral Al species were involved during enzyme adsorption whereas octahedral Al was involved during covalent binding. The immobilized enzymes demonstrated enhanced storage stability. While the free enzymes lost all activity within a period of 10 days, the immobilized forms retained appreciable activity even after 30 days of storage. Reusability also improved upon immobilization. Here again, covalently bound enzymes exhibited better characteristics than their adsorbed counterparts. The immobilized enzymes could be successfully used continuously in the packed bed reactor for about 96 hours without much loss in activity. Immobilized glucoamylase demonstrated the best results.

Farm Poverty in Kerala: A case study of Alappuzha, Trissur, Palakkad and Wayanad

The present study was an attempt to analytically approach the problem of farm poverty in Kerala from an entirely different angle by incorporating an independently developed and reformulated definition of poverty line in terms of physical units of operational holdings (say, acre). The entire discussion on farm poverty emerged out of proper co-ordination of two important factors popularly considered as the distinct features of Ivariations in farm productivity tried to highlight various grave issues deserving thorough introspection.

A Study on Variations in Industrial Electricity Tariff & Regulatory Intervention in kerala State

Department of Applied Economics, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Studies on storm surges and sea level variations along the east coast of india

It became so usual for the east coast of India to face at least IO to 15 cyclones every year, out of which 3 to 4 may reach the deep depression stage. As a result the east coast of India experiences frequent heavy damages of varying intensities due to storm surges and it is also not unusual to experience a calamitous deluge once in a decade or so. Loss of life and damages can be minimized only if the magnitude of the surge could be predicted at least a day in advance. Therefore, an attempt to study the storm surges generated by the cyclones that strike the east coast of India and. suggest a method of predicting them through nomogram is made

District Level Planning In Kerala And Karnataka - A Comparative Study

When we consider Kerala and Karnataka States according to their levels of decentralisation. Kerala is at the beginning of the scale of decentralisation whereas Kamataka has moved far ahead along this scale. Therefore I in order to conduct a comparative study of the SUbject under analysis t Kamataka has been selected owing to the fact that it is in an advanced stage in the experience of district planning compared to Kerala , Karnataka could successfully implement district planning and it is me of the pioneering states in this regard. But Kerala has not gained much experience in the field of decentralised district planning till now. Furthermore Kerala and Kamataka states are selected for the present study due to operational reasons I besides the author I s familiarity with the socia-economic conditions of these states. Thus. an analysis of the district planning experience of Kamataka will provide constructive and valuable information. which will be of great importance to Kerala State, which is now aspiring to introduce ful.I-f'Iedge district planning by constituting elected District Coancils in every district of Kerala. Moreover. the findings and policy implications of the present study will be of immense help to planners, politicians. administrators, academicians and people at large.

Inter- State Variations in Productivity trends and Technological Change in Indian industry

The present study entitled ‘Inter-State Variations in Manufacturing Productivity and Technological Changes in India’ covers a period of 38 years from l960 tol998-99. The study is mainly based on ASI data. The study starts with a discussion of the major facilitating factors of industrialization, namely, historical forces, public policy and infrastructure facilities. These are discussed in greater details in the context of our discussion on Perrox’s (1998) ‘growth pole’ and ‘development pole’, Hirschman’s (1958) ‘industrial centers’ and Myrdal’s ‘spread effect’ Most of the existing literature more or less agrees that the process of industrialization has not been unifonn in all Indian states. There has been a decline in inter-state industrial disparities over time. This aspect is dealt at some length in the third chapter. An important element that deserves detailed attention is the intra-regional differences in industrialisation. Regional industrialisation implies the emergence of a few focal points and industrial regions. Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were the initial focal points. Later other centers like Bangalore, Amritsar, Ahemedabad etc. emerged as nodal points in other states. All major states account for focal points. The analysis made in the third chapter shows that industrial activities generally converge to one or two focal points and industrial regions have emerged out of the focal points in almost all states. One of the general features of these complexes and regions is that they approximately accommodate 50 to 75 percent of the total industrial units and workers in the state. Such convergence is seen hands in glow with urbanization. It was further seen that intra-regional industrial disparity comes down in industrial states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.