The paleoecological record of human disturbance in wetlands of the Lake Tahoe Basin

Increased human activities since discovery of gold in northern California have changed the structure and function of many ecosystems. To reconstruct the changes in watershed environmental conditions, sediment cores were collected from three montane marshes in northern Sierra Nevada, CA. Pollen analysis was conducted, and water content, bulk density, ash, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, major cations, and lead concentrations of sediments were determined. Cores were dated by the 210Pb method. Pollen analyses showed changes in plant communities in this region due to severe logging in the late-1800s and moderate logging in the 1900s. The local changes were more clearly recorded in small marsh pollen profiles than regional changes. The water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L.) introduction into Tahoe Basin was inferred from the pollen record and ²¹⁰Pb dating. Road construction and maintenance activities were recorded in physical and chemical characteristics, such as increases in sodium, calcium, and magnesium concentrations. Pollen and physical and chemical records also documented the time line of the expansion of dry meadow, and the decrease of pine forest in one of the watersheds. This study showed that sediments in small marshes were especially useful to reconstruct local disturbance by human activities.     

Determination of Geopotential Differences between Local Vertical Datums and Realization of a World Height System

The methodology developed for connecting Local Vertical Datums (LVD) was applied to the Australian Height Datum (AHD) and the North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88). The geopotential values at AHD and NAVD88 were computed and the corresponding vertical offset of 974 mm with rms 51 mm was obtained between the zero reference surfaces defined by AHD and NAVD88. The solution is based on the four primary geodetic parameters, the GPS/levelling sites and the geopotential model EGM96. The Global Height System (or the Major Vertical Datum) can be defined by a geoidal geopotential value used in the solution as the reference value, or by the geopotential value of the LVD, e.g. NAVD88.     

Reviews Monitoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Source Location,edited by Frode Ringdal and Brian L. N. Kennett. Birkhäuser Verlag Basel-Boston-Berlin, 2001, Reprint from Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH), Volume 158 (2001), No.1/2, 428 pages

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica -     

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.     

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.     

The mesometeorological temperature field in a mediterrannean-alpine region

Summary The structure of the surface-air temperature field in meso-alpha and meso-beta scale is studied for the purpose of regionalisation and for the optimum interpolation meso-analysis in Slovenia. The possibilities of subregionalisation, of the split into the horizontal and the vertical part of autocorrelation function and of separation according to the general weather type have been tested. It was found that the influence of weather type could not be introduced without the simultaneous introduction of first-guess fields for each weather type. The relative importance of first-guess field versus the importance of the type of autocorrelation function is estimated by several tests of the optimum interpolation meso analysis.With 6 Figures     

Weather categorization in climate change research: Preliminary results

Summary The results of an objective weather categorization are presented. The 9 meteorological variables recorded daily during winter seasons of 1961–66 at Prague-Clementinum represent the input dataset. The principal component analysis and a few clustering procedures have been evaluated. 5 component solution and the average linkage clustering method were found optimal. The winter days have been grouped, according to their meteorological character, into 14 clusters. The warm categories represent 20% of the time and the cold categories less than 15% of the days. The mean maps of 1000 hPa and 500 hPa are shown for a few selected categories. Clustering techniques applied to long-time instrumental series can provide a better basis for attempting to detect temperature changes which have taken place over a long time span.     

A contribution to the measurement of frequency dependence of electrical conductivity of rocks

Summary Some errors of method occurring in A. C. measurements of the electrical conductivity of rocks are discussed. It is demonstrated that the difference between A.C. and D.C. conductivities, at given frequency, depends mostly on the magnitude of the D.C. conductivity and magnitude of the dielectric constant.     

Improved indirect phase reflection height measurement at panská ves — method,equipment, evaluation

Summary Indirect phase reflection height measurements have been performed at the Panská Ves Observatory, Czechoslovakia, for 30 years to monitor solar flare effects (SFA). Only after introducing the new receiver in May 1985, could the indirect phase height analysis (IPHA) method be applied to measurements along the Allouis — Panská Ves 162 kHJ measuring path. The IPHA method allows the electron density and pressure variability in the lower ionosphere to be studied, particularly near the 80 km altitude. This paper describes the theoretical background of the IPHA method, the measuring equipment used at Panská Ves, the method of evaluating records and checking of data, and the program package developed by us both for graphic and numerical processing, as well as our efforts to develop a homogeneous East European IPHA network. The IPHA method has been introduced succesfully at the Panská Ves Observatory.