Severity Assessment of Dieback in Green Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) within the Western Traras Mountains (Northwestern Algeria) | Chapter 1 | Research Perspective on Biological Science Vol. 10

 

The Common Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) is a tree representative of the Mediterranean flora, and is traditionally associated with cemeteries, symbolising mourning in the Mediterranean region. Dieback in forest trees is a complex phenomenon whose responsible factors can be diverse and not easily identifiable and prioritised, and they lead to general deterioration, which often ends with the death of the trees. The objective of this study is to characterize symptomatologically the decline of green cypress in the mountains of the Western Traras. The experimental approach prevails in the installation of the sampling units through all the tasks of Cyprès desperis in the region of Bab El Assa and Marsa Ben M'hidi. These sampling units number 25, with a surface area of 10 ares, or 450 stems sampled. The overall dieback index estimated at 2.6564 shows that the stands sampled are at the beginning of dieback. The results obtained show that 36% of the stands are at the beginning of dieback. 24% of the stands are declining, while 16% exhibit severe decline. Therefore, monitoring and precautions are necessary for maintaining the health of the Cypress tree.

 

Author(s) Details

Nichane Mohamed
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Sciences, University of Naama, Algeria.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rpbs/v10/8653A

Characterisation of Bauxite and Laterite ores in Yercaud Hill, Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India | Chapter 7 | Geography, Earth Science and Environment: Research Highlights Vol. 10

The charnockitic suite of rocks underlying the bauxite deposits of Yercaud Hill consists of quartz, plagioclase and potash feldspar, ortho and clino-pyroxenes, garnet and secondary hornblende. Bauxite consists mainly of aluminum hydroxide minerals. Bauxite occurs in Yercaud Hill as a part of the Eastern Ghats range of Tamil Nadu of the Achaean age. It is formed due to residual weathering and lateritization of Achaean charnockite. In the study area, bauxite consists of hydrous aluminum oxides, aluminum hydroxides and laterites, which are mostly found in humid tropical climatic conditions due to intense weathering of the parent rock. The XRD study shows that gibbsite (Al (OH)₃), goethite (FeO(OH)) and hematite (Fe₂O₃) are the major minerals in the bauxites. From the XRF analysis, the major oxides are Al₂O_3, Fe₂O_3, SiO₂, TiO₂, P₂O₅, and Cr₂O_3. Based on the Al₂O_3, SiO_2, Fe₂O₃ ternary plot, bauxites of this region have undergone strong lateritization. According to the chemical classification of laterites, Yercaud bauxites are categorized as Ferrite and Bauxitic Ferrite with some amounts of bauxite. At high Al₂O₃ weight percentage (86%), low Fe₂O₃ concentration (10.56%), and TiO₂ (0.49%) indicates it as a high-grade Bauxite of aluminium hydroxides mineral Gibbsite (Exploited mines-III, Semmedu). High Fe₂O₃ constitutes (77.61% by weight), low Al₂O₃  (18.22%) and 0.89 % TiO₂ portrays it as iron-rich laterite (Exploited mines – I, Manjakuttai). This geochemistry reveals the site-specific Al₂O₃ weight percentage of bauxite ore within the study area of Shevaroy Hill in Salem district.

 

Author (s) Details

 Aravindan.S
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar – 608 002, India.

 

Sanjay Kumar Balabantaray
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar – 608 002, India.

 

Bharathiraja. S
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar – 608 002, India.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/geserh/v10/5439