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Himalayas
Kinds of Himalayas Selected AbstractsRegolith and soils in Bhutan, Eastern HimalayasEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004I. C. Baillie Summary Bhutan lies at altitudes of 100,7500 m on the steep, long and complex southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. Soil surveys show that, despite steep gradients, there are many moderately or deeply weathered soils. Many slopes are mantled with polycyclic, layered drift materials, so soil horizons owe as much to regolith heterogeneity as to pedogenesis. In the limited arable areas soil profiles are further complicated by rice cultivation and the construction, maintenance and irrigation of flat terraces on steep slopes. Some natural pedogenic horizonation is apparent, and there is an altitudinal zonation of soil types. Although the climate is warm and seasonally wet, most soils on the subtropical southern foothills are not particularly weathered and leached. The foothills are seismically active, and many soils are formed in unstable landslide debris. Elsewhere the regoliths are more stable. The main soils up to about 3000 m in the inner valleys are moderately weathered and leached, and have bright subsoil colours and thin dark topsoils. Above these there is a zone of bright orange-coloured non-volcanic andosolic soils. Further upslope there are acid soils with thick surface litter, stagnogleyic topsoils, and drab brown subsoils with organic cutans. These grade to weak podzols, which extend from about 3500 m up to the treeline, around 4000 m. Above this, alpine turf soils, with deep, dark, and friable topsoils and yellowish friable subsoils, are intermixed with unweathered glacial deposits. The interactions between pedogenesis and the deposition of the varied and layered drift materials complicate mapping and classification of the soils. [source] SONG VARIATION IN AN AVIAN RING SPECIESEVOLUTION, Issue 3 2000Darren E. Irwin Abstract., Divergence of mating signals can occur rapidly and be of prime importance in causing reproductive isolation and speciation. A ring species, in which two reproductively isolated taxa are connected by a chain of intergrading populations, provides a rare opportunity to use spatial variation to reconstruct the history of divergence. I use geographic variation in the song of a likely ring species, the greenish warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides) to reconstruct the microevolutionary steps that occurred during divergence of a trait that is often important in speciation in birds. Populations of a western Siberian (P. t. viridanus) and an eastern Siberian (P. t. plumbeitarsus) form of the greenish warbler meet, but do not interbreed in central Siberia; these forms are connected by a chain of interbreeding populations extending in a ring to the south around the treeless Tibetan Plateau. I show that: (1) song structure differs greatly between the two Siberian forms, which share the same habitat; (2) song structure changes gradually around the ring; (3) singing behavior is relatively simple in the Himalayas, but becomes increasingly complex to the north, both to the west and east of the Tibetan Plateau; and (4) song varies along independent axes of complexity in the western and eastern south-north clines. By comparing geographic variation in singing behavior and ecological variables, I distinguish among possible causes of song divergence, including selection based on the acoustic environment, stochastic effects of sexual selection, and selection for species recognition. I suggest that parallel south-to-north ecological gradients have caused a greater intensity of sexual selection on song in northern populations and that the stochastic effects of sexual selection have led to divergence in song structure. [source] Variation in essential oil composition of rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium sp.) distilled by different distillation techniques,FLAVOUR AND FRAGRANCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2005Kiran G. D. Babu Abstract The rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium sp.) cultivar ,Kelkar', grown in the agroclimatic conditions of the western Himalayas, was processed by various hydrodistillation methods, which revealed that water distillation of the herb gave a higher oil yield (0.16,0.22%) than the water,steam distillation (0.09,0.12%) and steam distillation methods (0.06,0.18%). The samples were analysed by GC and GC,MS to study and compare the essential oil compositions which revealed that the oil distilled by the water,steam distillation method contained a higher content of monoterpene hydrocarbons (1.7%), followed by steam distillation without cohobation and without recycling (1.5%). A higher content of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (4.4%) was found in cumulative oil followed by ,direct oil' (4.2%) obtained by steam distillation with cohobation and without recycling of hydrosol, followed by the water,steam distillation method (3.4%). ,Decanted oil', recovered from redistilling the hydrosol obtained by steam distillation with cohobation and without recycling, contained maximum monoterpene cyclic ethers (1.1%) and carbonyl content (9.9%), closely followed by water,steam distillation method (1.1% and 7.2%, respectively). Steam distillation without cohobation and without recycling of hydrosol yielded essential oil with a higher percentage of esters (21.1%), followed by ,direct oil' (16.6%). Lower ester content (5.3%) was noticed in ,decanted oil', followed by oil distilled by steam distillation with cohobation and with recycling (11.8%) and oil distilled in a Clevenger apparatus by the water distillation method (12.2%), whereas maximum total alcohols were found in the ,decanted oil' (75.1%), followed by oil from the Clevenger apparatus (72.8%) and steam distillation with cohobation and with recycling (69.1%). A lower alcohol content was found in the ,direct oil' (55.2%) closely followed by ,cumulative oil' (55.8%). The variation in total alcohol and ester contents in geranium oil samples, distilled by using different processing techniques on pilot scale distillation, is mainly due to hydrolysis of some volatile constituents. This was further supported by acid values of the oils, along with other physicochemical properties, such as speci,c gravity, optical rotation, refractive index, solubility in alcohol, ester value with cold and hot methods, estimation of ester content as geranyl formate and geranyl tiglate, ester number after acetylation, and ester number after formylation with aceto-formic acid and formic acid. Methods have been standardized and proposed for distillations of speci,c quality, e.g. ester-rich and alcohol-rich geranium oils, to meet different requirements of the industry. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sirococcus shoot blight on Picea spinulosa in BhutanFOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2007T. Kirisits Summary During a recent survey of forest tree diseases in Western and Central Bhutan, Sirococcus shoot blight and an associated Sirococcus sp. were found on saplings and mature trees of Eastern Himalayan spruce (Picea spinulosa). Based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence comparisons of the ITS region of the rDNA operon, representative isolates from Bhutan were unequivocally identified as Sirococcus conigenus. The DNA sequence data also showed that these isolates belong to the P group of S. conigenus. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of Sirococcus shoot blight from the Himalayas or any other part of Asia. Sirococcus conigenus does not appear to cause dramatic damage at the moment, but this fungus has the potential to cause severe disease problems on P. spinulosa in Bhutan. [source] Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric power project , experience with TBM excavation under high rock cover / . Tapovan-Vishnugad Wasserkraftwerk , Erfahrungen mit TBM-Vortrieb bei hoher ÜberlagerungGEOMECHANICS AND TUNNELLING, Issue 5 2010Johann Brandl Mechanised tunnelling - Maschineller Vortrieb; Hydro power plants - Wasserkraftanlagen Abstract NTPC Ltd. of India is presently constructing the 520 MW (4 x 30 MW) Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric power plant in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas. As part of this project, an approximately 12.1 km head race tunnel (HRT) is to be constructed, of which approximately 8.6 km are being excavated by DS-TBM with an excavation diameter of 6.575 m. Construction of this HRT has been awarded to a Joint Venture (JV) of Larsen, Toubro Ltd., India, and Alpine, Austria. Geoconsult ZT GmbH is acting as a Consultant to NTPC Ltd. for the TBM part of the HRT. The overburden above the tunnel is up to 1, 100 m with the result that knowledge of the geology along the HRT alignment could only be based on projections made from surface exposures available in the area. Basically, the ground consists of jointed quartzite, gneiss and schist. Excavation of the HRT started in October 2008 and excavation rates of over 500 m per month were achieved in November 2009. However, in December 2009 the TBM encountered a fault zone along with high-pressure water inflow and became trapped. This paper outlines the present status of HRT construction and describes in particular the difficulties encountered during TBM excavation in fault zones with large high-pressure water inflows and how these problems are being dealt with. Die indische Firma NTPC Ltd. errichtet derzeit das 520 MW (4 x 130 MW) Tapovan-Vishnugad Wasserkraftwerk in Uttarakhand, Himalaya. Als Teil dieses Projekts wird ein ungefähr 12,1 km langer Triebwasserstollen (TWS) errichtet, wobei rund 8,6 km davon mittels einer DS-TBM mit einem Ausbruchdurchmesser von 6.575 m aufgefahren werden. Der Bau dieses Triebwasserstollens wurde an die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Larsen, Toubro Ltd., Indien, und Alpine, Österreich vergeben. Geoconsult ZT GmbH fungiert als Berater von NTPC Ltd. für den TBM-Teil des TWS. Aufgrund der Überlagerung des Tunnels von bis zu 1,100 m konnte die Geologie entlang des Triebwasserstollens nur durch Projektion von vorhandenen Oberflächenaufschlüssen aus der Umgebung bestimmt werden. Das Gebirge besteht hauptsächlich aus geklüftetem Quarzit, Gneis und Schiefer. Der Ausbruch des TWS begann im Oktober 2008. Im November 2009 wurde eine Vortriebsgeschwindigkeit von über 500 m pro Monat erreicht. Im Dezember 2009 jedoch fuhr die TBM eine Störzone mit einem Hochdruckwassereinbruch an, wodurch die TBM stecken blieb. Dieser Artikel skizziert den derzeitigen Stand des TWS und legt besonderes Augenmerk auf die Schwierigkeiten beim Auffahren der Störzone inklusive Hochdruckwassereinbruch mit einer TBM. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, wie sich die auftretenden Probleme lösen lassen. [source] Hydrological importance of an unusual hazard in a mountainous basin: flood and landslideHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 14 2006Umesh K. Haritashya Abstract The Bhagirathi River, a proglacial melt water stream of the Gangotri Glacier, is the principal source of the Ganges river system. The upper part of the basin lies in the high altitude region of the Garhwal Himalayas and is extensively covered by glaciers. We provide hydro-meteorological insight into a severe storm that produced unusual high rains in June 2000 in the uppermost part of the Bhagirathi River. This storm was concentrated upstream of Gangotri town and triggered landslides/rockslides at several locations between the glacier snout and Gangotri town. One of the major rockslides blocked the Bhagirathi River at Bhujbas, about 3 km downstream of the Gangotri Glacier snout, creating an artificial lake at this location. High stream flow in the river, generated by rapid runoff response from mountain slopes along with melt runoff from the glacier, quickly increased the level of water stored in the artificial lake. Daily rainfall in this region rarely exceeds 10 mm, while total rainfall during this 6-day storm was 131·5 mm. This unusual rain event occurred during the tourist season in June, consequently trapping a large number of tourists and vendors in this area. Sudden release of stored water generated floods that created havoc downstream of the artificially created lake. This paper presents the hydrological and meteorological information related to such an unusual and devastating event observed in the high altitude region of the Himalayas. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Dendroclimatic signals in long tree-ring chronologies from the Himalayas of NepalINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2003Edward R. Cook Abstract We describe the development of a tree-ring chronology network in Nepal that is suitable for reconstructing temperature-related climate forcing over the past few hundred years. The network is composed of 32 tree-ring chronologies and is represented by five indigenous tree species. An empirical orthogonal function analysis of the chronologies over the common interval 1796,92 indicates the existence of coherent large-scale signals among the tree-ring chronologies that are hypothesized to reflect, in part, broad-scale climate forcing related to temperatures. A long monthly temperature record for Kathmandu is developed and used to test this hypothesis. In so doing, significant monthly and seasonal temperature responses are identified that provide guidance for the formal reconstruction of two temperature seasons: February,June (1546,91) and October,February (1605,91). Each reconstruction indicates the occurrence of unusually cold temperatures in 1815,22, which coincides with the eruption of Tambora in Indonesia. A novel method is also used to add probable missing multi-centennial temperature variance to each reconstruction. The resulting ,adjusted' reconstructions strongly reflect patterns of temperature variability associated with Little Ice Age cooling and warming into the 20th century, with the October,February season exhibiting the strongest increase in temperature over the past ,400 years. Only the October,February season shows any evidence for late- 20th century warming, whereas February,June temperatures have actually cooled since 1960 (as with the observational series). Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society [source] ,It Takes Two Hands to Clap': How Gaddi Shepherds in the Indian Himalayas Negotiate Access to GrazingJOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 1 2007RICHARD AXELBY This article examines the effects of state intervention on the workings of informal institutions that coordinate the communal use and management of natural resources. Specifically it focuses on the case of the nomadic Gaddi shepherds and official attempts to regulate their access to grazing pastures in the Indian Himalayas. It is often predicted that the increased presence of the modern state critically undermines locally appropriate and community-based resource management arrangements. Drawing on the work of Pauline Peters and Francis Cleaver, I identify key instances of socially embedded ,common' management institutions and explain the evolution of these arrangements through dynamic interactions between individuals, communities and the agents of the state. Through describing the ,living space' of Gaddi shepherds across the annual cycle of nomadic migration with their flocks I explore the ways in which they have been able to creatively reinterpret external interventions, and suggest how contemporary arrangements for accessing pasture at different moments of the annual cycle involve complex combinations of the formal and the informal, the ,traditional' and the ,modern'. [source] Effect of Altitude on Energy Exchange Characteristics of Some Alpine Medicinal Crops from Central HimalayasJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004S. Chandra Abstract To explore the conservation and cultivation of endangered alpine medicinal crops at comparatively lower altitudes, a study on variations in morphological parameters and energy exchange characteristics was conducted on five herbaceous medicinal crops from the alpines of Central Himalayas. Plants of same age were selected from the alpine medicinal crop nursery, Tungnath (3600 m), and were planted at the nurseries at 2100 and 550 m altitudes. After well acclimatization at lower altitudes, plants were examined for morphological and energy exchange studies during their active growth period. The energy balance sheet of these plant species indicates that most of the energy absorbed by the leaves dissipates by re-radiation, transpiration and thermal conductance across leaf surfaces. All species maintained leaf temperature below the surrounding air temperature at all altitudes and therefore gained energy by convection of heat as well as by boundary layer thermal conduction. Leaf-to-air temperature difference, gain of energy by convection of heat and boundary layer thermal conduction was maximum at an altitude of 2100 m in all the species. Boundary layer thermal conductivity, boundary layer thickness, thermal conductivity of the leaf and therefore, total energy absorbed by the leaves of these species increase significantly with decreasing altitude. Leaf thickness significantly decreases with decreasing altitude, which in turn enhances total energy absorption (r = ,0.975, P < 0.005) of the leaves in all the species. The results indicate that all these species absorb higher amount of energy at lower altitudes, which indicates their adaptability to warm temperatures at low altitudes (up to 550 m). Therefore, these species can be cultivated at relatively lower altitudes. However, a proper agronomic methodology needs to be developed for better yields. [source] The phylogeny of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens): evidence from the hindlimbJOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 5 2008Rebecca E. Fisher Abstract The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is an endangered carnivore living in the temperate forests of the Himalayas and southern China. The phylogeny of the red panda has been the subject of much debate. Morphological and molecular studies have supported a wide range of possible relationships, including close ties to procyonids, ursids, mustelids, and mephitids. This study provides additional morphological data, including muscle maps, for Ailurus. The hindlimbs of four cadavers from the National Zoological Park were dissected. Red pandas retain a number of muscles lost in other carnivore groups, including muscles and tendons related to their robust and weight-bearing hallux. Three features, including a single-bellied m. sartorius, a proximal insertion for m. abductor digiti V, and an absent m. articularis coxae, are found in all terrestrial arctoids, including Ailurus. In addition, red pandas are similar to ursids and canids in lacking a caudal belly of m. semitendinosus, while they resemble procyonids and mustelids in the degree of fusion observed between mm. gluteus medius and piriformis. Furthermore, Ailurus and procyonids are characterized by numerous subdivisions within the adductor compartment, while red pandas and raccoons share a variable m. semimembranosus, composed of one, two, or three bellies. Lastly, a deep plantar muscle inserting onto the metatarsophalangeal joint of the hallux is described for Ailurus. This muscle has not been previously described and is given the name m. flexor hallucis profundus. Additional dissections of the forelimb and axial musculature of red pandas may shed further light on the phylogeny of this species. In addition, the muscle maps presented here offer a valuable resource for interpreting the functional anatomy of fossil ailurids. [source] Discovery of ten new specimens of large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus, and new insights into its distributional rangeJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Lars Svensson We here report the finding of ten new specimens of the poorly known large-billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus. Preliminary identifications were made on the basis of bill, tarsus and claw measurements, and their specific identity was then confirmed by comparison of partial sequences of the cytochrome b gene with a large data set containing nearly all other species in the genus Acrocephalus, including the type specimen of A. orinus. Five of the new specimens were collected in summer in Afghanistan and Kazakhstan, indicating that the species probably breeds in Central Asia, and the data and moult of the others suggest that the species migrates along the Himalayas to winter in N India and SE Asia. The population structure suggests a stable or shrinking population. [source] When Thailand was an island , the phylogeny and biogeography of mite harvestmen (Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi, Stylocellidae) in Southeast AsiaJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2010Ronald M. Clouse Abstract Aim, To develop a comprehensive explanation for the biological diversity of Southeast Asia, especially in the Wallacea and Sundaland regions. This study focuses on a group of arachnids, mite harvestmen, which are thought to be an extremely old group of endemic animals that have been present in the region since most of its land supposedly formed part of the northern rim of the supercontinent Gondwana. Location, Eastern Himalayas, Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and New Guinea. Methods Approximately 5.6 kb of sequence data were obtained from 110 South-east Asian Cyphophthalmi specimens. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted under a variety of methods and analytical parameters, and the optimal tree was dated using calibration points derived from fossil data. Event based and paralogy-free subtree biogeographical analyses were conducted. Results, The Southeast Asian family Stylocellidae was recovered as monophyletic, arising on what is now the Thai-Malay Peninsula and diversifying into three main clades. One clade (Meghalaya, here formally placed in Stylocellidae) expanded north as far as the eastern Himalayas, a second clade entered Borneo and later expanded back across the Sundaland Peninsula to Sumatra, and a third clade expanded out of Borneo into the entire lower part of Sundaland. Molecular dating suggested that Stylocellidae separated from other Cyphophthalmi 295 Ma and began diversifying 258 Ma, and the lineage that inhabits mostly Borneo today began diversifying between 175 and 150 Ma. Main conclusions, The topology and molecular dating of our phylogenetic hypothesis suggest that Stylocellidae originated on Gondwana, arrived in Southeast Asia via the Cimmerian palaeocontinent, and subsequently diversified north, then south. Their present distribution in the Indo-Malay Archipelago is explained largely by a diversification over the Sundaland Peninsula before western Sulawesi departed and the peninsula was extensively inundated. [source] Inverted metamorphic sequence in the Sikkim Himalayas: crystallization history, P,T gradient and implicationsJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 5 2004S. Dasgupta Abstract The metapelitic rocks of the Sikkim Himalayas show an inverted metamorphic sequence (IMS) of the complete Barrovian zones from chlorite to sillimanite + K-feldspar, with the higher grade rocks appearing at progressively higher structural levels. Within the IMS, four groups of major planar structures, S1, S2 and S3 were recognised. The S2 structures are pervasive throughout the Barrovian sequence, and are sub-parallel to the metamorphic isograds. The mineral growth in all zones is dominantly syn-S2. The disposition of the metamorphic zones and structural features show that the zones were folded as a northerly plunging antiform. Significant bulk compositional variation, with consequent changes of mineralogy, occurs even at the scale of a thin section in some garnet zone rocks. The results of detailed petrographic and thermobarometric studies of the metapelites along a roughly E,W transect show progressive increase of both pressure and temperature with increasing structural levels in the entire IMS. This is contrary to all models that call for thermal inversion as a possible reason for the origin of the IMS. Also, the observation of the temporal relation between crystallization and S2 structures is problematic for models of post-/late-metamorphic tectonic inversion by recumbent folding or thrusting. A successful model of the IMS should explain the petrological coherence of the Barrovian zones and the close relationship of crystallization in each zone with S2 planar structures along with the observed trend(s) of P,T variation in Sikkim and in other sections. A discussion is presented of some of the available models that, with some modifications, seem to be capable of explaining these observations. [source] Interaction of metamorphism, deformation and exhumation in large convergent orogensJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2002R. A. Jamieson Abstract Coupled thermal-mechanical models are used to investigate interactions between metamorphism, deformation and exhumation in large convergent orogens, and the implications of coupling and feedback between these processes for observed structural and metamorphic styles. The models involve subduction of suborogenic mantle lithosphere, large amounts of convergence (, 450 km) at 1 cm yr,1, and a slope-dependent erosion rate. The model crust is layered with respect to thermal and rheological properties , the upper crust (0,20 km) follows a wet quartzite flow law, with heat production of 2.0 ,W m,3, and the lower crust (20,35 km) follows a modified dry diabase flow law, with heat production of 0.75 ,W m,3. After 45 Myr, the model orogens develop crustal thicknesses of the order of 60 km, with lower crustal temperatures in excess of 700 °C. In some models, an additional increment of weakening is introduced so that the effective viscosity decreases to 1019 Pa.s at 700 °C in the upper crust and 900 °C in the lower crust. In these models, a narrow zone of outward channel flow develops at the base of the weak upper crustal layer where T,600 °C. The channel flow zone is characterised by a reversal in velocity direction on the pro-side of the system, and is driven by a depth-dependent pressure gradient that is facilitated by the development of a temperature-dependent low viscosity horizon in the mid-crust. Different exhumation styles produce contrasting effects on models with channel flow zones. Post-convergent crustal extension leads to thinning in the orogenic core and a corresponding zone of shortening and thrust-related exhumation on the flanks. Velocities in the pro-side channel flow zone are enhanced but the channel itself is not exhumed. In contrast, exhumation resulting from erosion that is focused on the pro-side flank of the plateau leads to ,ductile extrusion' of the channel flow zone. The exhumed channel displays apparent normal-sense offset at its upper boundary, reverse-sense offset at its lower boundary, and an ,inverted' metamorphic sequence across the zone. The different styles of exhumation produce contrasting peak grade profiles across the model surfaces. However, P,T,t paths in both cases are loops where Pmax precedes Tmax, typical of regional metamorphism; individual paths are not diagnostic of either the thickening or the exhumation mechanism. Possible natural examples of the channel flow zones produced in these models include the Main Central Thrust zone of the Himalayas and the Muskoka domain of the western Grenville orogen. [source] Variations in body melanization impact desiccation resistance in Drosophila immigrans from Western HimalayasJOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 2 2008R. Parkash Abstract Ectothermic species face problems of water balance under colder and drier climatic conditions in montane localities. We investigated five ecophysiological traits (body melanization, desiccation resistance, rate of water loss or gain and body size) in eight populations of Drosophila immigrans from an altitudinal gradient (600,2226 m) in the Western Himalayas. The traits showed bell-shaped variability patterns characteristic of quantitative traits. For body melanization, we observed high heritability (0.65) on the basis of parent,offspring regression. A comparison of highland versus foothill populations showed significant divergence for all the traits except body size. Darker flies from the highlands exhibited higher desiccation resistance but reduced rate of water loss or gain as compared with lighter flies from the foothills, which showed lower desiccation resistance and higher rates of water loss as well as gain. Lack of differences in the amount of epicuticular lipids cannot account for differential reduction in cuticular water loss in altitudinal populations. However, within- as well as between-population differences in body melanization can account for changes in desiccation resistance and reduction in cuticular water loss. Analyses of highland versus lowland populations as well as in assorted darker and lighter flies from a highland population have shown differences in haemolymph and dehydration tolerance. For the mechanistic basis of desiccation resistance, our results on wild populations of Drosophila immigrans are not in agreement with those reported for laboratory-selected desiccation-resistant strains in Drosophila melanogaster. Thus, ecophysiological mechanisms could be different under laboratory versus field selection. [source] Legal Autonomy as Political Engagement: The Ladakhi Village in the Wider WorldLAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 1 2006Fernanda Pirie Local systems of law are constantly forced to adapt to powerful external legal orders. As well as employing tactics of resistance and accommodation, some communities respond by maintaining boundaries around their legal sphere, safeguarding a measure of judicial autonomy. This article examines one such instance, from the Indian Himalayas. It argues that, much more complex than a case of domination and resistance, this autonomy represents a long history of deference and distance toward external forces. The maintenance of legal autonomy ultimately represents community ontology, but it is also a means of engaging with wider forces within the modern world. [source] Cretaceous and Paleogene boundary strata in southern Tibet and their implication for the India-Eurasia collisionLETHAIA, Issue 2 2002XIA QIAO WAN Recent stratigraphic studies in southern Tibet provide new information about the timing of the initial collision between the India and Eurasia continental blocks. The stratigraphic and paleontological evidence document dramatic changes in sedimentary facies and microfauna content across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. In the Zhongba and Gamba areas in southern Tibet, the K/Pg boundary is marked by a major disconformity, separating platform carbonates from overlying terrigenous conglomerates and sandstones. The stratigraphy of the boundary sequences has recently been improved with the recognition of three foraminiferal assemblages. They are: Maastrichtian Orbitoides-Omphalocyclus, Danian Rotalia-Smoutina-Lockhartia and Thanetian Miscellanea-Daviesina microfaunal assemblages. The K/Pg boundary at the Gamba area is placed between the Orbitoides-Omphalocyclus and Rotalia-Smoutina-Lockhartia faunas. In Tingri, Cretaceous Globotruncana and tertiary Globigerina-Globorotalia microfauna demark the position of the K/Pg boundary. The occurrence of terrigenous sandstones and boulder-size conglomerates in the early Paleocene is compelling evidence for tectonic uplift and emergence of the southern margin of the Lhasa block and of the northern margin of the Indian plate. Therefore, supported by biostratigraphic evidence, we argue that the uplift is caused by the onset of continental collision during the earliest Danian. Progressing plate collision resulted in deformation and fragmentation of the Paleocene carbonate platform and deposition of limestone breccias, which we consider as further evidence for tectonic compression as a result of early continental collision during the Thanetian, earlier than indicated by previous studies in the Himalayas. It is the change in the sedimentary facies and depositional environment that provides the earliest evidence and dating of the initiation of the collision process. From studies of sedimentary strata in southern Tibet, the collision of the India and Lhasa continental blocks was initiated at ,K/Pg boundary time (,65Ma). If that is the case, than the major lithofacies changes at the K/Pg boundary observed in the western Tethys, mostly referred to as intrinsic to the eustatic sea level change, has been driven by continental convergence and collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. [source] New species and records of Agyrtidae (Coleoptera) from the Nepal HimalayasMITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE IN BERLIN-DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, Issue 1 2005Wolfgang Schawaller Abstract Newly collected Agyrtidae from the Nepal Himalayas are presented. New species: Apteroloma lagnaense sp. n., Apteroloma sankhaense sp. n., Ipelatesjumlanus sp. n., Ipelates ruzickai sp. n., Ipelates schmidti sp. n. Photographs of all Nepalese species are added and their distribution and altitudinal zonation (1650,4800 m) is mapped. From Nepal now 12 species of Agyrtidae are known, which seems to be a remarkably high number of species for this relatively small country. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Neu gesammelte Agyrtidae aus dem Nepal Himalaya werden präsentiert. Neue Arten: Apteroloma lagnaense sp. n., Apteroloma sankhaense sp. n., Ipelatesjumlanus sp. n., Ipelates ruzickai sp. n., Ipelates schmidti sp. n.. Fotografien aller nepalischen Arten werden beigefügt und ihre Verbreitung und Höhenzonierung (1650,4800 m) ist auf Karten zusammengefasst. Insgesamt sind aus Nepal jetzt 12 Arten von Agyrtidae bekannt, eine bemerkenswert hohe Zahl für dieses relativ kleine Land. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Recolonization and radiation in Larix (Pinaceae): evidence from nuclear ribosomal DNA paraloguesMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 10 2004XIAO-XIN WEI Abstract Gene paralogy frequently causes the conflict between gene tree and species tree, but sometimes the coexistence of a few paralogous copies could provide more markers for tracing the phylogeographical process of some organisms. In the present study, nrDNA ITS paralogues were cloned from all but one species of Larix, an Eocene genus having two sections, Larix and Multiserialis, with a huge circumboreal distribution and an Eastern Asia,Western North America disjunction, respectively. A total of 96 distinct clones, excluding five putative pseudogenes or recombinants, were obtained and used in the gene genealogy analysis. The clones from all Eurasian species of section Larix are mixed together, suggesting that recolonization and recent morphological differentiation could have played important roles in the evolution of this section. In contrast, the species diversification of the Eurasian section Multiserialis may result from radiation in the east Himalayas and its vicinity, considering extensive nrDNA founder effects in this group. Our study also suggests that the distribution pattern analysis of members of multiple gene family would be very useful in tracking the evolutionary history of some taxa with recent origin or rapid radiation that cannot be resolved by other molecular markers. [source] Friendship in practice: Girls' work in the Indian HimalayasAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 3 2010JANE DYSON ABSTRACT In this article, I examine the relationship between friendship, cultural production, and social reproduction through reference to the everyday practices of girls working in the Indian Himalayas. I build on 15 months of ethnographic research in the village of Bemni, Uttarakhand. Focusing especially on girls' work collecting leaves, I stress the importance of contextualizing friendship with reference to lived everyday actions and environments. Friendship among girls in Bemni is a contradictory resource: a medium through which girls reproduce gendered norms and a basis for improvised cultural practice and effective cooperation. [source] Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas by Kim GutschowAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 3 2010SARA SHNEIDERMAN No abstract is available for this article. [source] MS/MS profiling of taxoids from the needles of Taxus wallichiana,PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2002K. P. Madhusudanan Abstract Ammonium cationisation has been used for taxoid profiling of partially purified methanolic extracts of needles of Taxus wallichiana growing in different regions of the Himalayas (Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, UP Hills, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh) by electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The MS/MS spectra of the [M,+,NH4]+ or [M,+,H]+ ions gave structurally diagnostic fragment ions which revealed information about the taxane skeleton as well as the number and nature of the substituents. The rearranged 11(15,,,1)- abeo -taxanes showed a characteristic elimination of the hydroxyisopropyl group with an acetoxy/benzoyloxy group from C-9. The identification of the taxoids was achieved by comparison of the MS/MS spectra with those of authentic taxoids or was based on biogenetic grounds. The results were corroborated by liquid chromatography,MS analysis. Out of the 50 taxoids identified, 21 belonged to the rearranged class. The presence of paclitaxel in the samples from four regions was confirmed: the study also revealed the occurrence of several basic taxoids in these samples. MS/MS profiling by electrospray ionisation was shown to be a fast and reliable technique for the analysis of taxoid samples. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Internal wave drag in stratified flow over mountains on a beta planeTHE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Issue 630 2008M. A. C. Teixeira Abstract The impact of the variation of the Coriolis parameter f on the drag exerted by internal Rossby-gravity waves on elliptical mountains is evaluated using linear theory, assuming constant wind and static stability and a beta-plane approximation. Previous calculations of inertia-gravity wave drag are thus extended in an attempt to establish a connection with existing studies on planetary wave drag, developed primarily for fluids topped by a rigid lid. It is found that the internal wave drag for zonal westerly flow strongly increases relative to that given by the calculation where f is assumed to be a constant, particularly at high latitudes and for mountains aligned meridionally. Drag increases with mountain width for sufficiently wide mountains, reaching values much larger than those valid in the non-rotating limit. This occurs because the drag receives contributions from a low wavenumber range, controlled by the beta effect, which accounts for the drag amplification found here. This drag amplification is shown to be considerable for idealized analogues of real mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas and the Rocky mountains, and comparable to the barotropic Rossby wave drag addressed in previous studies. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Farming flexibility and food security under climatic uncertainty: Manang, Nepal HimalayaAREA, Issue 2 2010Tor Halfdan Aase Climate change is predicted to cause a substantial decrease in food production in poor regions during this century. But since reliable models of future climates have not been produced at local level as yet, this article focuses on the flexibility of farming systems in terms of adaptability to changing conditions of production, whatever those changes may turn out to be. Defining flexibility as ,uncommitted potentiality for change'Bateson 1972, the aim of the article is to identify such potentialities among subsistence farmers in a remote part of the Himalayas. Our analysis reveals four ,uncommitted potentialities' for adaptation to a future situation that will be climatologically different from the present. In order to maintain local food security under changing climate conditions, farmers in the study valley of Manang can reclaim abandoned land, they can depend more on barley, they may reduce the conspicuous exhibition of horses, and relocate farming from the slope to the valley bottom. The inherent flexibility in their farming system renders Mananges quite robust in facing future uncertainties. Thus, Manang is more appropriately labelled ,dynamic' than ,fragile', which is a term often ascribed to high Himalayan communities and environments. [source] An integrated analysis of lidar observations in association with optical properties of aerosols from a high altitude location in central HimalayasATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE LETTERS, Issue 1 2009P. Hegde Abstract In order to study the aerosol backscatter profiles, a portable micro pulse lidar (MPL) system was installed in the year 2006 at Manora Peak, (29°22,N, 79°27,E, ,1960 m amsl) Nainital, a high altitude location in the central Himalayas. In the present study the results of observed lidar profiles, columnar aerosol optical depths (AOD) and prevailing meteorology during May 2006 to June 2007 are presented. Although the lidar was operated from a sparsely inhabited free tropospheric site, nevertheless the height distribution of aerosol layers are found to be extended up to the summit of ,2 km above the ground level (AGL). The backscatter ratio (BSR) varies from ,10 to ,20 having lowest values during post-monsoon and highest during pre-monsoon period. The observed boundary layer height during the post monsoon was shallower to the pre-monsoon period. Occasionally the lidar profiles reveal the presence of cirrus clouds at an altitude of 8,10 km AGL. The extended lidar observations over Manora Peak not only provided the profiles of aerosol extinction coefficient but also significantly substantiate the elevated aerosol layers and clouds, which are important in the study of climate modelling. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Structure of a novel ribosome-inactivating protein from a hemi-parasitic plant inhabiting the northwestern HimalayasACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 12-2 2004Vandana Mishra This is the first report of the structural studies of a novel ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) obtained from the Himalayan mistletoe (Viscum album) (HmRip). HmRip is a type II heterodimeric protein consisting of a toxic enzyme (A-chain) with an active site for ribosome inactivation and a lectin subunit (B-chain) with well defined sugar-binding sites. The crystal structure of HmRip has been determined at 3.8,Å resolution and refined to a crystallographic R factor of 0.228 (Rfree = 0.271). A comparison of this structure with other type II RIPs reveals the presence of distinct structural features in the active site of the A-chain and in the 2, sugar-binding site of the B-chain. The conformation of the side chain of Tyr110, which is a conserved active-site residue in the A subunit, is strikingly different from those observed in other mistletoe RIPs, indicating its unique substrate-binding preference. The deletion of two important residues from the kink region after Ala231 in the 2, subdomain of the B-chain results in a significantly different conformation of the sugar-binding pocket. A ribosome-recognition site has also been identified in HmRip. The site is a shallow cavity, with the conserved residues Arg51, Asp70, Thr72 and Asn73 involved in the binding. The conformations of the antigenic epitopes of residues 1,20, 85,103 and 206,223 differ from those observed in other type II RIPs, resulting in the distinct antigenicity and pharmacological properties of HmRip. [source] Universality and variability in basin outlet spacing: implications for the two-dimensional form of drainage basinsBASIN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Rachel C. Walcott ABSTRACT It has been observed that the distance between the outlets of transverse basins in orogens is typically half of the distance between the main divide and the range front irrespective of mountain range size or erosional controls. Although it has been suggested that this relationship is the inherent expression of Hack's law, and/or possibly a function of range widening, there are cases of notable deviations from the typical half-width average spacing. Moreover, it has not been demonstrated that this general relationship is also true for basins in morphologically similar nonorogenic settings, or for those that do not extend to the main drainage divide. These issues are explored by investigating the relationship between basin outlet spacing and the 2-dimensional geometric properties of drainage basins (basin length, main valley length and basin area) in order to assess whether the basin outlet spacing-range width ratio is a universal characteristic of fluvial systems. We examined basins spanning two orders of magnitude in area along the southern flank of the Himalayas and the coastal zone of southeast Africa. We found that the spacing between basin outlets (Los) for major transverse basins that drain the main divide (range-scale basins) is approximately half of the basin length (Lb) for all basins, irrespective of size, in southeast Africa. In the Himalayas, while this ratio was observed for eastern Himalayan basins (a region where the maximum elevations coincided with the main drainage divide), it was only observed in basins shorter than ,30 km in the western and central Himalayas. Our analysis indicates that basin outlet spacing is consistent with Hack's law, apparently because the increase in basin width (represented by outlet spacing) with basin area occurs at a rate similar to the increase in main stream length (Lv) with basin area. It is suggested that most river systems tend towards an approximately diamond-shaped packing arrangement, and this applies both to the nonorogenic setting of southeast Africa as well as most orogenic settings. However, in the western Himalayas shortening associated with localised rock uplift appears to have occurred at length scales smaller than most the basins examined. As a result rivers in basins longer than ,30 km have been unable to erode in a direction normal to the range front at a sufficiently high rate to sustain this form and have been forced into an alternative, and possibly unstable, packing arrangement. [source] Tectonic evolution of the Himalaya constrained by detrital 40Ar,39Ar, Sm,Nd and petrographic data from the Siwalik foreland basin succession, SW NepalBASIN RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006A. G. Szulc ABSTRACT 40Ar,39Ar dating of detrital white micas, petrography and heavy mineral analysis and whole-rock geochemistry has been applied to three time-equivalent sections through the Siwalik Group molasse in SW Nepal [Tinau Khola section (12,6 Ma), Surai Khola section (12,1 Ma) and Karnali section (16,5 Ma)]. 40Ar,39Ar ages from 1415 single detrital white micas show a peak of ages between 20 and 15 Ma for all the three sections, corresponding to the period of most extensive exhumation of the Greater Himalaya. Lag times of less than 5 Myr persist until 10 Ma, indicating Greater Himalayan exhumation rates of up to 2.6 mm year,1, using one-dimensional thermal modelling. There are few micas younger than 12 Ma, no lag times of less than 6 Myr after 10 Ma and whole-rock geochemistry and petrography show a significant provenance change at 12 Ma indicating erosion from the Lesser Himalaya at this time. These changes suggest a switch in the dynamics of the orogen that took place during the 12,10 Ma period whereby most strain began to be accommodated by structures within the Lesser Himalaya as opposed to the Greater Himalaya. Consistent data from all three Siwalik sections suggest a lateral continuity in tectonic evolution for the central Himalayas. [source] Temporal-Spatial Structure of Intraplate Uplift in the Qinghai-Tibet PlateauACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 1 2010Dewei LI Abstract: The intraplate uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau took place on the basis of breakup and assembly of the Precambrian supercontinent, and southward ocean-continent transition of the Proto-, Paleo-, Meso- and Neo-Tethys during the Caledonian, Indosinian, Yanshanian and Early Himalayan movements. The intraplate tectonic evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau underwent the early stage of intraplate orogeny characterized by migrational tectonic uplift, horizontal movement and geological processes during 180,7 Ma, and the late stage of isostatic mountain building characterized by pulsative rapid uplift, vertical movement and geographical processes since 3.6 Ma. The spatial-temporal evolution of the intraplate orogeny within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau shows a regular transition from the northern part through the central part to the southern part during 180,120 Ma, 65,35 Ma, and 25,7 Ma respectively, with extensive intraplate faulting, folding, block movement, magmatism and metallogenesis. Simultaneous intraplate orogeny and basin formation resulted from crustal rheological stratification and basin-orogen coupling that was induced by lateral viscous flow in the lower crust. This continental dynamic process was controlled by lateral flow of hot and soft materials within the lower crust because of slab dehydration and melted mantle upwelling above the subducted plates during the southward Tethyan ocean-continent transition processes or asthenosphere diapirism. Intraplate orogeny and basin formation were irrelevant to plate collision. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a whole was actually formed by the isostatic mountain building processes since 3.6 Ma that were characterized by crust-scale vertical movement, and integral rapid uplift of the plateau, accompanied by isostatic subsidence of peripheral basins and depressions, and great changes in topography and environment. A series of pulsative mountain building events, associated with gravity equilibrium and isostatic adjustment of crustal materials, at 3.6 Ma, 2.5 Ma, 1.8,1.2 Ma, 0.9,0.8 Ma and 0.15,0.12 Ma led to the formation of a composite orogenic belt by unifying the originally relatively independent Himalayas, Gangdisê, Tanghla, Longmenshan, Kunlun, Altyn Tagh, and Qilian mountains, and the formation of the complete Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with a unified mountain root after Miocene uplift of the plateau as a whole. [source] Systematics and biogeography of Klasea (Asteraceae,Cardueae) and a synopsis of the genusBOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006LUDWIG MARTINS Klasea, traditionally treated as a section in Serratula, is now widely accepted at the generic level. A classification of the genus is presented here, accommodating the 46 species in ten sections based on nuclear ribosomal DNA external and internal transcribed spacer sequence data and morphology. New combinations for five species and ten subspecies are published, and a new hybrid species is described. The genus ranges from the Iberian Peninsula and north Africa through southern and eastern Europe, west and central Asia to the Himalayas, and the Far East of Russia and China. The ancestral area is in west Asia, most probably eastern Anatolia and northern and western Iran. In this region, representatives of all sections are present. The largest section Klasea diversified most likely in the mountains of central Asia. A key to all Klasea species is provided. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 152, 435,464. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||