Sustainable landscape management in Slovenia: Environmental improvements for the Velenje coal mining community 1991–2000

The Velenje area (almost 200 km² with over 31,000 inhabitants) is based on the Šalek Valley, which became a leading area of industrialisation and urbanisation after the Second World War, with consequent pollution problems. Various industrial plants polluted the river Paka while more serious hazards arose through the coal mine which is a still causing landscape subsidence and the thermal power station in the neighbourhood of Šoštanj which is a major source of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution. In 1987 there was an ecological protest which marked the beginning of a sustainable development strategy for the community. During the past decade programmes have dealt with the degradation of air, soil and water to achieve cleaner air, a transformation in landuse and enhancement the river's formerly weak self-purifying capabilities. This article examines the changes in the valley since the attention of the authorities was drawn to the deterioration of living conditions. Despite the pressures of transition which have seen unemployment rising to over ten percent, significant environmental improvements have been made and the area stands as a model for the rest of the country. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Organic matter, putative nannobacteria and the formation of ooids and hardgrounds

Modern ooids from Joulters Cay, when baked at 500 °C, turn various shades of black depending upon the organic content. Mucus-rich laminae occur at quasi-regular intervals of a few micrometres within the cortex. When mucus is still present, it turns black; when it is absent, there is a gap. The cortex consists of two types of aragonite: (1) 'batons' of circular cross-section capped by a single 0·1-μm (100-nm) ball, which can be interpreted as a single nannobacteria cell that precipitated the baton; (2) elongate crystals made of multiple rows of minute balls of about 0·03 μm (30 nm), which may or may not have been small organisms in the size range of viruses. There are also some crystals that show no evidence of organic precipitation. Hardground cementation begins with the formation of a terminal mucus-rich ring on the ooid that bakes black and is crowded with 0·1-μm (100-nm) balls. Some ooids are then joined by a meniscus also made of mucus with aragonite crystals. The final, most abundant hardground cement forms a fur of inorganic aragonite crystals often shaped like plywood sheets, although some 'organic', elongate crystals composed of ≈0·03 μm (≈30 nm) balls are also found in the later cement. For a century, ooids have been known to be closely associated with organic matter; this paper goes further and proposes that the bulk of the ooid may be precipitated by nannobacterial processes. Hardground formation, in the beginning, may also be a microbiological process, but most cementation is accomplished inorganically.     

Application of the photoacoustic method for characterization of natural galena (PbS)

Electron transport properties of single crystal and polycrystalline natural mineral galena (PbS) samples from the Trep?a mine, Yugoslavia, were determined using the photoacoustic frequency transmission technique. Their thermal diffusivity (D _T≈0.16 × 10^?5 m² s^?1), the coefficient of diffusion (D between 0.15×10^?2 0.16×10^?2 m² s^?1) and lifetime of the excess carrier (τ≈35 μs and the front and rear recombination velocity (s _g≈65.5 m s^?1 and s _b≈66.4 m s^?1, respectively), were calculated by comparing the experimental results and the theoretical photoacoustic amplitude and phase signals. The lattice parameter obtained by X-ray work was a?=5.936?Å. The free carrier concentration of these single-crystal samples was measured using the Hall method (N?=?3×10¹⁸ cm^?3). Measurements of the optical reflectivity of the same samples, as a function of wavelength, in the infrared and far infrared ranges, were performed. In the far infrared range a free electron plasma frequency was observed and numerically analyzed, using the least-squares fitting procedure. The values of optical parameters were calculated and the value of the free carrier concentration obtained by the Hall method was confirmed.     

Numerical model for quantitative precipitation forecasting

Summary A numerical model for the quantitative precipitation forecasting has been formulated. In this model precipitation is computed as a function of the vertical velocity and humidity distribution in the atmosphere. The orographic influence on the vertical velocity was taken into consideration. Further, the relation between vertical velocity and static stability of the atmosphere has been considered and, as an important factor in the condensation process, was introduced into the equation of the model. This numerical model for the precipitation forecasting has been applied in the North Adriactic Sea region, which is characterized by a strong vertical gradient of the specific humidity and pronounced orographic influence. The results achieved show that this model could successfully be used as an objective method in the routine forecasting of the amount of precipitation.     

The iron-tungsten-sulphur system and its geological application

The subsolidus region of the Fe-W-S system was studied by experiments performed in evacuated silica tubes. Ternary phases were not encountered. Tungsten disulphide WS₂ is stable with the iron sulphides but not with metallic iron. The major tie-line pyrrhotite-tungsten differentiates this system from the analogous Fe-Mo-S system. Experiments on the Fe-W-O-S system demonstrate that WS₂ (tungstenite) is not stable in the presence of iron oxides. Molybdenum and tungsten show different affinities to sulphur which is manifested in nature in abundant molybdenite as contrasted with rare tungstenite. Sulphur fugacity data in the literature differ on WS₂. There data are compared with the present experimental results.

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Zusammenfassung Das ternäre System Fe-W-S wird durch Abschreckungsexperimente in evakuierten Quarzglasampullen sowie durch Differential-Thermoanalyse untersucht, die Phasengleichgewichtsbeziehungen sind in einem isothermen Digramm T<743 °C veranschaulicht. Unterhalb 743±2 °C liegt der Stabilitätsbereich des Pyrits, FeS₂, welcher mit Tungstenit, WS₂, koexistiert. Konodenscharen erstrecken sich ferner von WS₂ zu Pyrrhotin und zwar über einen weiten Bereich der Fe_1-xS-Mischkristallreihe. Von FeS, oder annähernd stöchiometrischem FeS verlaufen Konoden zum metallischen Wolfram und zu den intermetallischen Phasen Fe₂W und Fe₃W₂. Eine ternäre Phase wurde nicht gefunden. Experimente im ternären sowie im quaternären System Fe-W-O-S demonstrieren, daß WS₂ weder mit metallischem Eisen noch mit Eisenoxiden stabil ist. Molybdän und Wolfram zeichnen sich durch unterschiedliche Affinität zu Schwefel aus, und daraus resultierende Schlußfolgerungen werden in bezug auf natürliche Mineralvergesellschaftungen diskutiert. Die in der einschlägigen Literatur gemachten Angaben über die Schwefelfugazität von Fe, Mo und W werden kritisch untersucht. Dominierende Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Phasengleichgewichtsbeziehungen des Fe-W-S-Diagrammes zu anderen Fe-beinhaltenden Sulfidsystemen, wie Fe-Mo-S, Fe-Sn-S und Fe-Bi-S, werden aufgezeigt.

     

Comment on some relations between the shape of streamlines and frontal interface in the proximity of a cyclonic vortex

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein einfaches Modell des zykolnalen Wirbels vorgeschlagen und die Beziehung zwischen seiner Intensität, der Form der Stromlinien und der Deformation der frontalen Grenzoberfläche in seiner Nähe diskutiert. Die Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, die Kriterien der sogenannten dynamischen Klassifikation der aus den meteorologischen Satelliten photographierten Bewölkung zu finden.     

On the problem of frequency calibration of induction variometers with large air-core loops

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine Methode für experimentelle Untersuchung der Frequenzkennlinien von Induktionsvariometern mit Aufnahmeschleifen nichttraditioneller Ausmasse beschrieben. Die Grundlage des beschriebenen Verfahrens bildet eine genaue Bestimmung jenes Teils des magnetischen Kraftflusses, der durch die Aufnahmeschleife durchgeht.     

Dolomitmarmor in der Umgebung der Stadt Prilep und die in ihm vorkommenden Minerale

Zusammenfassung In der Umgebung der Stadt Prilep in Mazedonien kommen an mehreren Stellen in einer hochmetamorphen, aus Glimmerschiefern und Amphiboliten bestehenden Zone Calcit- und Dolomitmarmore vor. In den letzterwähnten wurden bisher Dolomit, Calcit, Korund, Diaspor, -Zoisit, Rutil, Fluorit, Achroit, Pyrit, Muskovit, Illit, Margarit und Chlorit (vonErdmannnsdörfer auch Kossmatit) festgestellt. Diese Paragenese ist regionalmetamorph entstanden.

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Dolomite-marble in the surroundings of the town prilep, macedonia, and its minerals

Summary Calcite- and dolomite-marbles occur in a highly metamorphic series together with micaschists and amphibolites at several localities in the surroundings of Prilep, Macedonia. In the dolomite-marbles, dolomite, calcite, corundum, diaspore, -zoisite, rutile, fluorite, achroite pyrite, muscovite, illite, margarite, chlorite, and kossmatite (the last only byErdmannsdörffer) have been found. The paragenesis is of regional metamorphic origin.

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