Preface

Sedimentary rocks are a powerful tool for better understanding the mechanism of the Earth's surface. Compared to igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are much more abundant on Earth, sedimentary rocks are more abundant on the crust. That allows their studies to unravel the processes that occur at these rocks and their relation to the tectonic in particular and plate tectonics in general. The study of the occurrence of such rocks gives us important information on their geological past and more importantly on past geological climate conditions. There are many sediments that can be used to reconstruct past climate conditions. For example, speleothems are sediments that can be used to reconstruct the past of the Quaternary climate. The study of sedimentary terrains can provide more information about recent times as well. However, there is still much to be done in terms of understanding past climate conditions and projecting those of the future.

Aquifers are an important resource for many countries. For example, in Italy, aquifers have been exploited since Roman times when aqueducts were first built. Aquifers are intimately linked to permeable sedimentary rocks (e.g., limestone) and igneous rocks (e.g., granites) like in Europe where phreatic water has been stored and cleaned by the water cycles and used by people for centuries. The unbalanced use of water, an unevenly distributed resource among continents, makes aquifers very fragile to exploit, as they are in Africa. Today, aquifers must be studied more, especially in zones where water apparently seems limited. Moreover, global warming is another negative anthropogenic climatic process that weakens aquifers, especially when temperatures are changing very quickly and drought is approaching (e.g., Spain, Greece, and Italy).

Section 1, "Sedimentary Rocks and Tectonics" includes five chapters.

Chapter 1 by Angelo Paone and Sung-Hyo Yun studies the genesis and evolution of the Pontine Plain of central Italy. The plain's morphology and sea level have persistently changed through the Pleistocene, and from the last post-glacial period, the coast started to retreat. The most recent hydrogeological maps (1957, 1977, 2007) clearly show that water is saturating the plain and this will cause serious mobility problems in the future. The chapter highlights several hazards of the plain, including volcanic, seismic, coastal erosion, and sinkhole hazards, as well as water contamination hazards (e.g., arsenic and fluorine), which have increased the prevalence of cancers in the region. Thus, there is an urgent need for monitoring in the area (i.e., Latina Province).

Chapter 2 by Kader explains a new and abnormal type of sandstone in the world derived from the Zagros Ophiolite Thrust Belt in Northeast Iraq, which extends from the Himalayas in Pakistan passing through Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and along Europe. This sandstone reflects the composition of the ophiolite sequence composed essentially of fresh olivine-pyroxene and ultrabasic igneous rock fragments. Ophiolite sandstone composed mainly of serpentinite rock fragments (about 40%) was reported in

Italy only. The chapter deals with the origin and mechanism of the preservation of the high percentages of the fresh olivine-pyroxene and ultrabasic igneous fragments grains.

Chapter 3 by Zahid A. Khan and Ram Chandra Tewari studies the primary sedimentary features (cross strata and planar strata) used in estimating the hydraulic geometry parameters of the Barakar River, including channel form, channel dimensions, channel paleoslope, flow velocity, boundary shear stress, and friction factor. In the chapter, the hydraulic geometry parameters of the Barakar River are computed quantitatively and the trunk of the river is three-dimensionally modeled. The chapter shows that the river channel that carried sediments in the basin had a sinuosity of 1.361 in the south–southwest part and progressively became more sinuous in the northern and northeastern parts. The estimated catchment area of the Barakar River lies between 4452.69 and 14,749.83 km<sup>2</sup> and paleo-discharge between 4510 and 22,070 m3 /sec with a maximum of 66,000 m3 /sec and a mean annual flood of 183,700 m3 /sec. Consequently, the estimated flood plain area of the Barakar River is about 66,000 km<sup>2</sup> . The paleo-morphological and paleo-hydrological data suggests that the Barakar River is remarkably broad, extending far and wide with a northward drainage flow along the northeastern border of India (Sikkim, Assam, and Bangladesh) towards the Tethys Ocean.

Chapter 4 by Ishaq Yusuf and Eswaran Padmanabhan discusses the goal of rock fabric characterization. It describes the spatial and geometric distribution of pore attributes and their impact on rock petrophysical parameters such as porosity, permeability, and water saturation. The goal of rock fabric characterization is to describe the spatial and geometric distribution of pore attributes as they impact petrophysical parameter variations. The chapter shows that multiple fabrics occur in a single lithofacie in the form of a fabric domain. It also infers that these fabric domain types are responsible for the multiple occurrences of hydraulic fluid units (HFUs). No long-range process exists that aligns the microscopic internal fabric or micro fabric architecture among grain aggregates in sedimentary rock.

Chapter 5 by Sanjib K. Biswas and Gaurav D. Chauhan presents the tectonic framework of the Indian Plate since the breakup of Gondwanaland in the Late Triassic. Its evolution continued between its separation from the African Plate in the Early Cretaceous and its collision with the Eurasian Plate on the north in the Late–Middle Eocene. Subduction and plate motion are responsible for the activation of primordial faults depending on the related stress field. The major tectonic zones (TZs) are the Himalayan TZ, Assam-Arakan TZ, Baluchistan-Karakoram TZ, Andaman-Nicobar TZ, and Stable Continental Region (SCR) earthquake zone. The orogenic belt circumscribing the northern margin of the Indian Plate is highly tectonised as the subduction of the plate continues due to northerly push from the Carlsberg Ridge in the southwest and slab-pull towards northeast and east along the orogenic and island arc fronts in the northeast. Three major fault zones from north to south are the North Kathiawar fault - Great Boundary fault (along the Aravalli belt) zone, South Saurashtra fault (extension of Narmada fault), Sonata-Dauki-Naga fault zone, and Tellichery-Cauvery-Eastern Ghat-T3-Hail Hakalula-Naga thrust zone. The neotectonic movements along these faults, their relative motion, and displacement are the architects of the present geomorphic pattern and shape of the Indian craton. With the reactivation of this shear zone, the two proto-cratonic blocks are subjected to relative movement as the plate rotates anticlockwise.

**V**

Section 2, "Aquifers," includes two chapters.

compared to other aquifers using aquifer mapping.

Chapter 6 by Abhay Soni et al., studies areas of the basaltic aquifer through aquifer mapping. Areas under study dominated by igneous rock consisting of basaltic lava flows have low storage potential. The groundwater storage and movement within the aquifer can be classified according to their hydraulic condition, which varies from the geological formations (lithological condition). This chapter discusses the management of basaltic aquifers where the groundwater storage potential is very low

Chapter 7 by Malebo Matlala analyzes the groundwater dynamics in aquifers of Southern Africa. Groundwater resources are indispensable not only in water-scarce or water-stressed countries but also globally as dependable reservoirs and an alternative resource of freshwater. This chapter assesses the spatiotemporal variability of groundwater resources within two of the biggest transboundary aquifers that South Africa shares with its neighboring countries. The Karoo-Sedimentary Transboundary Aquifer (KSTA) and the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) were studied over a period of 72 years from 1948 to 2020. The results show that the use of remote sensing (RS) techniques coupled with geographic information system (GIS) applications are invaluable where there is a dearth of scientific data and information. Furthermore, they can be used for the monitoring, management, and protection of

> **Dr. Angelo Paone** Research Professor, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea

> > **Dr. Abhay Soni** Chief Scientist,

**Dr. Prabhat Jain**

Government of India, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

**Dr. Sung-Hyo Yun**

Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea

Professor,

Nagpur Research Centre,

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

Central Ground Water Board,

Central Region, Ministry of Jal Shakti,

CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR),

groundwater resources on local, regional, and international scales.

Section 2, "Aquifers," includes two chapters.

Chapter 6 by Abhay Soni et al., studies areas of the basaltic aquifer through aquifer mapping. Areas under study dominated by igneous rock consisting of basaltic lava flows have low storage potential. The groundwater storage and movement within the aquifer can be classified according to their hydraulic condition, which varies from the geological formations (lithological condition). This chapter discusses the management of basaltic aquifers where the groundwater storage potential is very low compared to other aquifers using aquifer mapping.

Chapter 7 by Malebo Matlala analyzes the groundwater dynamics in aquifers of Southern Africa. Groundwater resources are indispensable not only in water-scarce or water-stressed countries but also globally as dependable reservoirs and an alternative resource of freshwater. This chapter assesses the spatiotemporal variability of groundwater resources within two of the biggest transboundary aquifers that South Africa shares with its neighboring countries. The Karoo-Sedimentary Transboundary Aquifer (KSTA) and the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) were studied over a period of 72 years from 1948 to 2020. The results show that the use of remote sensing (RS) techniques coupled with geographic information system (GIS) applications are invaluable where there is a dearth of scientific data and information. Furthermore, they can be used for the monitoring, management, and protection of groundwater resources on local, regional, and international scales.
