UNLABELLED BACKGROUND OF THE WORK: The phylogenetic position and evolution of Hemidactylus anamallensis (family Gekkonidae) has been much debated in recent times. In the past it has been variously assigned to genus Hoplodactylus (Diplodactylidae) as well as a monotypic genus 'Dravidogecko' (Gekkonidae). Since 1995, this species has been assigned to Hemidactylus, but there is much disagreement b...

Angle dispersive x-ray diffraction (ADXRD) is a basic non destructive tool for the determination of crystal structure. Energy tunability and high flux are added advantages in using synchrotron radiation (SR) source for ADXRD technique. We have installed an ADXRD beamline (BL-12) on Indus-2, the Indian synchrotron source. Indus-2 is a 2.5GeV, 300mA SR source. The beamline consists of a Si (311) ...

The popularity of steel bridges is increasing in the modern era because of its unmatchable advantages. Engineers are using various national codes to achieve an optimum design. Some of the Asian countries are using their own codes and also American and other country code provisions to achieve better economy and better standards. In this regard the comparison of design codes is relevant. Comparis...

In the original plate-tectonic centric framework for Earth evolution as proposed in 1960s, term ‘subduction’ was initially applied to down thrusting of oceanic lithosphere below a continental or upper plate, delineated by Wadati-Benioff zone earthquake foci. Over time, use has broadened and its meaning weakened application diversity mechanisms accommodating lithospheric convergence, foundering ...

We present a study of the vertically integrated deviatoric stress field for the Indian plate and the Tibetan Plateau associated with gravitational potential energy (GPE) differences. Although the driving forces for the Indian plate have been attributed solely to the mid-oceanic ridges that surround the entire southern boundary of the plate, previous estimates of vertically integrated stress mag...

Tsunami of 2004, caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, is the most devastating tsunami in modern times, affecting 18 countries in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa, killing more than 250,000 people in a single day, and leaving more than 1.7 million homeless. However, less reported, albeit real, is its impact in the islands of the Indian Ocean more than 1,000 miles away from its epicenter. This...

-While most aspects of subduction have been extensively studied, the process of subduction initiation lacks an observational foundation. The Macquarie Ridge complex (MRC) forms the Pacific-Australia plate boundary between New Zealand to the north and the Pacific-Australia-Antarctica triple junction to the south. The MRC consists of alternating troughs and rises and is characterized by a transit...

Knowledge of Nubia/Somalia relative motion since the Early Neogene is of particular importance in the Earth Sciences, because it (i) impacts on inferences on African dynamic topography; and (ii) allows us to link plate kinematics within the Indian realm with those within the Atlantic basin. The contemporary Nubia/Somalia motion is well known from geodetic observations. Precise estimates of the ...

As an extension of the NDIF method developed by the authors, a practical analytical method for the free vibration analysis of a simply supported polygonal plate with arbitrary shape is proposed. Especially, the method is more effective for plates highly concave shapes because it employs a sub-domain method dividing the plate of interest with two sub-plates. The approximate solution of each sub-...