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The Indian west coast is under constant threat from climate change-induced hazards. Various social, economic, and infrastructural disparities along the coast cause significant variations in climate vulnerability. Current literature assesses vulnerability either over (1) a large area with poor spatial resolution or (2) a local area with better spatial resolution. The former assessments provide more comprehensive and broad insights into large spatial trends of vulnerability, while the latter provide more accurate and specific inputs needed by the local governments for effective intervention. However, there is a lack of studies that assess vulnerability simultaneously at a high-resolution and over a large geographic area, due to inadequacies in existing methodologies and difficulty in data management and analysis. This is a key gap that we address in our paper. We assess climate vulnerability of the entire Indian west coast at the village level, and propose a novel machine-learning based methodology tailored for high-resolution assessment over large geographic areas. This helped us produce the first high-resolution (i.e. village-level) climate vulnerability map of the entire Indian west coast. We found that the state of Maharashtra has the highest number of vulnerable villages and the state of Kerala has the least number of vulnerable villages. We collate and utilize a large dataset of 112 indicators describing socioeconomic characteristics, infrastructure and availability of financial services, among other aspects, to obtain a comprehensive picture of vulnerability. We analyze geospatial trends and attribute high vulnerability to specific indicators, which will help in effective decision-making at the village level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aimed to assess the sediment distribution pattern, mode of transport, and its interaction with hydrodynamic and topographic conditions at different depths and regions along the east coast of India. About 900 surficial sediment samples were collected and analysed on a monthly basis for the Chennai coastal region at 32 stations from 2013 to 2015. The study region is classified into four types, such as beach, inlet, 5 m, and 10 m depth. Sediment textural and grain size trend analyses were conducted to achieve the objectives. Sediment characteristics for the region were recorded as sandy, equally dominated by unimodal and bimodal at the beach, while unimodal at shallow depths (5 and 15 m). The sediments were medium sand to coarse sand at the beach, mostly fine followed by medium at 5 and 15 m depths. The sediment sorting is dominated by moderately well-sorted sediments; the skewness of beach sediments was negative, while nearshore sediments were found positive; average kurtosis values of sediments were noticed to be mesokurtic. The CM plot depicts that the sediments were mostly derived by tractive current, and the modes of transport are "bottom suspension and rolling" and "graded suspension no rolling" at beach locations and shallow water depths, respectively. The GSTA analysis reveals the annual average sediment transport pattern is northerly. The numerical hydrodynamic study confirms the GSTA and CM plot analysis. The study reveals a stable sedimentary environment south of the Chennai port and instability in the northern part. The study includes large spatiotemporal nearshore sediment data with hydrodynamic conditions, immensely helpful to coastal stakeholders and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 lockdown in India in March 2020 revealed the presence of Adivasi communities in the marine fishing industry of Goa, a coastal state in India. While the migration for work of Adivasi communities from the central regions of the country is well recorded, their movement across geographies of the forest and the coast is relatively unknown. Working with initial data collected during the lockdown, interviews conducted after the pandemic and using secondary materials, the paper sought to understand the social and material conditions in the forest and the coastal regions that shape this movement. Centring the waged relation of Adivasi workers opened the door to thinking about the marine fishing sector in India as a capitalist industry, while paying attention to social reproduction highlighted how the coastal and forest regions are spatially linked through their movement and labour. This highlights that the coasts and forests are going through distinct processes of capitalist intensification and expansion. Making connections between ecological appropriation, historical processes of resource extraction and marginalization, the paper finds that the extraction of fish resources in Goa is made productive through the hierarchization and differentiation of Adivasi workers. It reveals how the social relations of identity and caste mediate access to and define conditions of work at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventionally, volcanic margins have been considered devoid of hydrocarbon, but many discoveries and research in recent past have proved the presence of hydrocarbon prospects within them. However, hydrocarbon exploration within volcanic margin is constrained by seismic imaging. Further, identification of continent to oceanic boundary (COB) is critical to hydrocarbon search as hydrocarbon is found mostly over continental crust. Seaward dipping reflectors, associated with volcano-sedimentary sequences, located along rifted continental margins and represented by highly dipping strong amplitude seismic reflectors, play an important role to study volcanic margins. Keeping in view the problems of hydrocarbon exploration within volcanics, seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) in Indian context have been studied in detail in this paper. It facilitates mapping of continent-oceanic boundary (COB). It has impact on hydrocarbon prospectivity in volcanic margins as it can provide formidable seal and secondary induced maturity. In India, several discoveries have been made in volcanic margins along west coast, from weathered, fractured basalt and sub-basalt sediments. In the present work, long offset regional seismic data (18 dip lines and 1 cross line), along east coast, have been interpreted. SDRs help in hydrocarbon prospectivity assessment for both discrimination of interbedded sediments and preferential accumulation of hydrocarbon. Mapping of linear features not only helped to demarcate COB but also their presence at 6–10 km depth. For the first time, such comprehensive study on SDRs has been done along Indian peninsular region with indications for hydrocarbon prospectivity at deeper levels along Indian peninsular region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bivalves are ubiquitous in all habitats, including marine and freshwater environments. The present paper revises bivalve diversity and their current status along the two selected sites of the Sikka coast, i.e., the Vador site and the GSFC jetty site. The selected study site, the Sikka coast, lies at the centre of the southern coast of the Gulf of Kachchh, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India under the jurisdiction of Marine National Park, Forest Department, Jamnagar. During the study, samples were recorded during low tide hours followed by a tide chart for a period of six regularly scheduled months, from December 2021 to May 2022. The voucher specimens were collected for each species. The collected samples were identified up to species level with the help of different reference books. During the entire study, 15 bivalve species belonging to 7 orders, 11 families and 15 genera were recorded from two sites. Brachidontes undulatus and Saccostrea cucullata were the densest and abundant species throughout the study period at both sites whereas Pinna bicolor and Pinctada fucata were most frequently recorded throughout the study. Mean Shannon diversity index (H') values for bivalve for the entire study period at GSFC (1.603) were comparatively higher than at Vador (1.421). Station-wise, mean Margalef's richness index was higher at GSFC (2.185) than Vador (1.917). The mean evenness value at the Vador was 0.3672, while the GSFC value was 0.4282. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 2000 s the demand for sand has proliferated at the coastal-land interface to fill up the increasing demand straining Blue Economy (BE) activities and provision of water-energy-food resources. Recent studies have revealed that increased sand mining in both coastal and freshwater zones has continued to impact livelihood-ecological systems threatening the provision of livelihood goods and services. These impacts are exacerbated by a lack of comprehensive frameworks to regulate sand mining and trade; creating the need to develop micro and macro-frameworks and guidelines for sustainable sand mining. This paper uses a non-systematic literature review approach to build on this gap to develop an understanding of the resource nexus perspectives and trade-offs due to sand mining. The paper proposes a novel framework based on the Ecosystem Service Assessment advanced from the review of the literature to guide risk assessments toward more sustainable sand mining. In order to add evidence, the paper analyses in-depth the state of Kerala - one of India's coastal states that has experienced unprecedented rates of sand mining since the 1990 s especially along the Chavara coast albeit with less research on the intersectionality of mining on the resource nexus. Both the framework and our case study highlight how sand mining stresses local ecosystems and livelihoods thus increasing vulnerability to both human and environmental impacts. The paper brings to the fore seven (7) key steps that local institutions can use to guide sustainable sand mining and build integrated governance systems that promote interaction among natural capitals in a given area and livelihood considerations. The article further documents that the use of coherent guidelines and the framework can help in amalgamating the various actors in a given system that can guide local participation in local resource management and the development of cooperative agreements for the sustainable utilization of resources among coastal communities. This could further help understand the resource nexus from the perspective of the synergies and trade-offs in the BE. • The Blue Economy and Resource Nexus offer new pathways for sustainable livelihoods. • But, the proliferation of sand mining is increasing trade-offs thus livelihood and ecosystem vulnerability. • A lack of a comprehensive sand mining governance framework increases such vulnerability. • The developed novel framework based on Ecosystem Service Assessment can help reverse these externalities and trade-offs. • Our framework integrated new insights on sand mining governance that could be leveraged at all levels [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate risks threaten the coastal areas all over the world. In the case of India, which has a densely populated coastline of 7516.6 km, developing effective policies and management strategies to cope with the current and future climate risks is imperative. The paper attempts to identify the major climate risks faced by coastal India through a systematic literature review between 1991 and 2022. Cyclones, Sea Level Rise, Floods, and Rainfall extremes accounted for more than 60 percent of the climate risks/issues on the Indian coast, with more pronounced incidences in the eastern coastal states than the western coastal states. We further analysed how different acts and policies associated with coastal management have addressed climate risks through a qualitative assessment of climate action plans of the Indian coastal states following the concept matrix approach. The results revealed that though a national-level policy is absent specifically for addressing coastal climate risks and adaptation, the coastal states have specific components on coastal vulnerabilities and adaptation. Further review of different states' disaster management acts, and policies emphasized the need for micro-level planning for climate-inclusive disaster management and building capacities of the concerned officials. The review of the evolution of coastal zone management in India revealed that there has been a dilution in the conservation of coastal ecosystems and reduction of no development zone under the pretext of enhancing livelihoods. The overall analysis of the national and state action plans, disaster management policies, and coastal regulation zone notifications in India shows that there is a need to include emerging climate risks in integrated planning and promote synergy amongst different sectors and institutions related to coastal governance and blue economy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous geophysical investigations of the western continental margin of India (WCMI) confirm the two-phase breakup history of the margin with the first breakup taking place between India and Madagascar that created the Mascarene Basin in the Late Cretaceous and the second breakup event in Early Paleocene with Seychelles separating from India. Despite numerous geoscientific studies along the WCMI, the opening of the Laccadive basin, situated along the southern part of the margin, remains poorly constrained. In this study, we evaluate the multi-channel seismic reflection and gravity anomalies at the margin to identify the early rift signatures in conjunction with the magnetic anomaly identifications in the Mascarene Basin. The analysis led to the identification of two trends of extensional structures, a NNW–SSE-oriented structure over the Laccadive Ridge north of Tellicherry Arch, interpreted to result from ENE–WSW extension, and a SSW–NNE-oriented structure in the Laccadive basin region towards the south, interpreted to result from NW–SE extension. Previous plate reconstruction models of the Mascarene Basin using marine magnetic lineations suggest that the ENE–WSW extension observed over the Laccadive Ridge could be related to the India–Madagascar separation. We associate the pattern of sediment deposition and the presence of a Paleocene trap volcanics, linked with the NW–SE grabens observed in the Laccadive basin region, to the extension between the Laccadive Ridge and the western coast of India after the separation of Madagascar from India. We further propose that the anticlockwise rotation of India and the passage of the Réunion plume have facilitated the opening of the Laccadive basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutritive value of mulberry leaves makes it the only food of silkworms (Bombyx mori L.). It is recorded that 6.73 million hectares of area are affected by salinity and sodicity stresses covering various states of the country, which is becoming one of the major threats to popularizing sericulture in India. In the present study, chlorophyll, protein, catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase content of leaves of six mulberry germplasm viz., English Black, Kolitha-3, C776, Rotundiloba, BC259, and S1 grown under coastal saline soils of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India was investigated. Results demonstrated a sharp decrease in the chlorophyll (2.35 to1.19 mg.g FW-1) and protein (30.10 to 15.20 mg.g FW-1) contents of leaves of all the mulberry germplasm with increasing soil salinity (1.60 to 22.70 dS.m-1). On the contrary, the number of stress-related antioxidant enzymes like catalase, peroxidases, and superoxide dismutase increased from 1.15 to 5.43, 1.43 to 4.76, and 8.65 to 25.15 g-1 FW.min-1, respectively. Overall, the field study indicated the superiority of Kolitha-3 and C776 grown in Canning (Canning I and II), Basanti, Namkhana, Kakdwip, and Sagar blocks of coastal regions of South 24 Parganas. The study deals with issues of the utilization of scarce land promoting income-generating avenues like sericulture in saline areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the fate of atmospheric release and transport of Tritium requires an understanding of the exchange/transfer of Tritium (HTO) from within the compartments; air, soil, and plant systems. The Tritium transfer parameters within these compartments are used in specific activity models to compute TFWT and OBT in terrestrial plants and are highly dependent on the site-specific conditions. Hence a study was carried out to generate site-specific Tritium transport model parameters in the tropical environment of Tarapur which receives the atmospheric releases of Tritium from nuclear facilities operating at this site, on the West coast of India. The paper presents the details of the study carried out in Tarapur, India. The transfer parameters generated through this study are soil water to air moisture HTO transfer ratio: CR s , plant water to air moisture HTO transfer ratio: R pa, and plant water to soil water HTO transfer ratio: R pw. The geometric mean and geometric standard deviation (GSD) of the transfer ratios, CR s , R pa and R pw determined were found to be 0.50 (GSD: 3.52), 0.53 (GSD: 2.51) and 1.12 (GSD: 2.58), respectively. In addition, the Tritium scavenging ratio, surface loading, and wet deposition velocity were also derived and were found to be 1.59 ± 1.32, 1.21 × 10−2 Bq m−2 s−1, and 7.91 × 10−2 m s−1, respectively. The study has generated a set of site-specific model input parameters for a tropical coastal site of Tarapur, India, and details are discussed in the manuscript. • The terrestrial tritium transport model assumes air, soil, and plant compartments. • HTO or TFWT was determined in air moisture, soil water, vegetation, and rainwater. • Derived tritium scavenging ratio, surface loading, and wet deposition velocity. • Site-specific tritium transport model parameters generated at Tarapur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaweed, or macroalgae, is a diverse group of marine plants found in various aquatic environments. Seaweed has gained attention due to its potential uses in various industries, including food, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, etc. Its proximate composition refers to the essential nutritional components that make up seaweed. The present study aimed to conduct proximate composition analysis on three different seaweeds, Valonia utricularis, Ulva reticulata and Kappaphycus alvarezii, collected from the Mandapam region coast, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, India. A result of three seaweeds Valonia utricularis, Ulva reticulata and Kappaphycus alvarezii was followed ash (23.42% DW), (22.19%) and (19.7%DW). Protein was (11.5% DW), (10.11%) and (15.91%DW); lipid content was (4.24% DW), (5.27%) and (2.75%DW); crude fibre was (12.72% DW), (16.20%) and (23.51%DW); carbohydrate (31.33% DW), (27.05%) and (26.19 %DW), Total Dietary Fiber was (2.7% DW), (3.03%) and (6.76% DW). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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