Asian Journal of Geographical Research

Extensive living creatures on the Earth from 4.0 billion years ago to date lived and diversified under a specific physical & environmental condition of the Earth, where the Earth’s gravity plays an important role. But populations of this planet are growing so rapidly to the point of concern that the Earth’s Carrying Capacity has been surmounted. So, for maintaining the Carrying Capacity, it is important to find out another/other planets which are like the Earth. In our generation, there are some who believe that an ecosystem fit for human survival is creatable on Mars (Red Planet). Although there seems to be no life at present in Mars, there is substantial evidence, returned by various robotic missions, that in the early Mars’ history, liquid water environments existed, and conditions may have been suitable for the origin of native life.

The biostratigraphic characterization of the Cretaceous carbonate levels of the offshore sedimentary basin of Côte d'Ivoire was made possible by a palynological and micropaleontological study of two drilling cutting (SN-X and DH-X). These sediments provided a rich microfauna consisting of species such as Ticinella madecassiana, Ticinella primula, Ticinella raynaudi and Ticinella roberti associated with a rich microflora composed of spores and pollen grains such as Appendicisporites potomacensis, Cicatricosisporites venustus, Appendicisporites baconicus, Ephedripites sp., Schizea certa and Elaterosporites klaszi characterizing the upper Albian.

This study highlights several stages including the Cenomanian foraminifera Globigerinelloides bentonensis, Globigerinelloides caseyi, and pollen grains Steevesipollenites cupuliformis, and Ephedripites barghornii and Turonian by the planktonic foraminifera Heterohelix moremani, Hedbergella planispira, Whiteinella archaeocretacea, Whiteinella baltica.

The lower Senonian is marked by the planktonic foraminifera Hedbergella delrioensis, Heterohelix globulosa, Heterohelix reussi, and the dynocyst Oligosphaeridium complex and Dinogymnium westralium. The Campanian is evidenced by the presence of the dinocysts Circulodinium distinctum and Hystrichodinium pulchrum.

Thanks to the lithological and biostratigraphic analysis of these carbonate sediments, the palaeo-provinces have been determined and are located in the internal, medium or external neritic domains. Massive limestones were established between the upper Albian and the lower Senonian. The matrix is generally present in the lower and medium Albian.  The full carbonate sedimentation occurs between the medium Albian and the lower Senonian, with a maximum in the upper Albian.

Coastal zones are the most dynamic feature of earth surface in which lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere gets into contact with each other. Such dynamic process should be monitored with great importance as a large portion of the world’s population is living along the coastal zones. This paper focuses on delineation of the changes in the coastal land areas of Chittagong in Bangladesh through the shifting of coastline. Chittagong coastal area is around 245 km with an unbroken 125 km gently slopped sandy sea beach in Cox’s Bazar. However, due to both the natural phenomenon and human interventions, coastline in these areas has been changing gradually. These changes have occurred in relation to land biomass, erosion and accretion rate. Therefore, shoreline geometry analysis can help understand such dynamic coastal process. Several satellite images from Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) were used for the long term coastline change analysis. The digital shoreline analysis (DSA) using ArcGIS 10.1, and image rectification, atmospheric correction, edge separation techniques between earth surface and water surface using ENVI software were used in this analysis. DSAS was used as a reliable statistical approach for the rate of coastline change.  The result shows that changes in dynamic changes due to erosion and accretion have been impacting the morph-dynamics in the study area. The maximum accession rate was 3.6 km and 1.9 km at different section points and on the contrary the maximum erosion at several section points was 0.37 km and 3.3 km at the time interval of 1989 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014, respectively. Overall, it was found that the area was affected with huge rate of accretion and increase in the landmass of the Chittagong area till the year 2009 but later on till the date of 2014 the erosion rate of the area again increased. The findings of this study can help policy makers to make decisions in delineating new islands emerging at the sea boundary of Bangladesh and planning for better coastal management.

The study is conducted to determine the correlation between climatic parameters and rice yield. The present study is also undertaken to analyze the land cover change in Sylhet district between 2013 and 2018 using LANDSAT-8 images. Local climate and rice yield data are collected from BMD (Bangladesh Meteorological Department) and BRRI (Bangladesh Rice Research Institute) and BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics). ArcGIS 10.5 and SPSS software are used to show the vegetation condition and correlation coefficient between rice yield and climatic variables respectively. It is revealed from the result that rainfall is negatively correlated with Aman and Boro (local and HYV) rice whereas temperature and relative humidity showed a positive correlation with local Aman and Boro rice. On the other hand, relative humidity showed a strong linear relationship with HYV Boro rice. Finally, both temperature and relative humidity have substantial effects on yields in the Boro rice. Furthermore, vegetation condition is observed through NDVI and found the moderate-high vegetation in 2013. After that NDVI value is fluctuating which evidently signifies the rapid vegetation cover change due to a flash flood, flood and other climate changing aspects. Additionally, Forested and high land vegetation’s are endangered rapidly. Some adaptation strategies should be followed to minimize the effects of natural calamities for improving better vegetation condition.

Impaired sustainability of livelihoods, threatened survival of wildlife, and altered integrity of environments and ecosystems are the most persistent critical challenges plaguing the Maasai-inhabited savanna rangelands of Kenya. This study engages the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) model to integratively and simultaneously examine those challenges. Causal social-biophysical components and links driving shifts in the interactions of Maasai’s livelihood strategies/diversifications and terrestrial wild megafaunas via ecological services (ecoservices) are explored; plausible scenarios under changing social-biophysical conditions explicated; and practical interventions illuminated. The study reveals that Maasai’s traditional and emerging livelihoods contextually interact with diverse social-biophysical conditions, particularly those related to land-use/resource-extraction and recurrent/extreme droughts, to occasion diverse and shifting ecoservice-interactions. Sharing of provisioning ecoservices predominate Maasai’s traditional strategies; emergence of heretofore rarely-extracted ecosystem goods become evident as livelihoods increasingly diversify. The study indicates that under recurrent and/or prolonged droughts occasioned by the changing climate, the existing ecoservice-tradeoffs between water needs for arable-farming and livestock, and amongst water-dependent ungulates will, ceteris paribus, intensify. Intensified ecoservice-tradeoffs among wild and domestic faunas under similar ecological-gild and/or trophic-level will plausibly unfold under that scenario. Under the same scenario, lion (Panthera leo) predation on Maasai’s livestock will intensify, and ceteris paribus, increased retaliatory killings of such nuisance terrestrial wild faunas will ensue. Apropos these rangelands, the existence of nuisance lions is revealed as a human generated reality. Collectively, persistent shifts in cross-scale social-biophysical conditions will alter and are altering, in ways yet unknown, the existing ecoservice-tradeoffs/synergies, and therefore the very sustainability of the Maasai’s livelihoods and the survival of terrestrial wild faunas. Therefore, interventions toward ensuring sustainability of ecoservices and of linked livelihoods and terrestrial wild faunas should simultaneously be adaptive to shifts in those interactions and in the changing geography of the various social-biophysical landscapes. The DPSIR model suffices as a practical tool to guide and support such interventions. The need for practical interventions entailing paradigm shift from the existing relevant policies/practices to incorporate the causal-links of the disharmonious human-wildlife interactions, in the context of various dynamic socio-ecological systems, cannot be overemphasized. Collectively, the current study reveals that it is through simultaneous assessment and systematization of the causal and proximate social-biophysical conditions linked to the presently pressing ecoservice-interactions that informed goals can be set, critical indicators defined, and evaluation and prioritization of plausible interventions made.