Conditions for deposition of annually laminated sediments in small meromictic lakes: a case study of Lake Suminko (northern Poland)

A three-year field study was conducted in Lake Suminko, Poland, to gain an understanding of the limnological variables that influence the formation and spatial extent of annually laminated sediments in the lake. The water body is divided into three depth strata, the mixolimnion, chemocline and monimolimnion, each defined by distinct values of temperature, electrical conductivity and oxygen concentration. Typical for meromictic lakes, the monimolimnion remains perennially anoxic and is rich in dissolved solids and nutrients. The annual pattern of particle flux in Lake Suminko is closely related to biochemical processes in the euphotic zone. During winter months we observed very low accumulation rates of non-carbonaceous matter, while during the rest of the year, three periods of calcite deposition were recorded (April, July–August, and October–November). The periods of high calcite deposition corresponded with algal blooms and oxygen concentration maxima. Two principal factors contribute to meromixis in Lake Suminko: (1) the basin is sheltered, preventing wind mixing, and (2) biochemical processes in the lake associated with high lacustrine productivity. Meromictic conditions must control the formation and preservation of laminated sediments in the lake because preserved laminations occur only in areas where the lake floor lies below monimolimnetic waters.     

Dynamic processes in a medium subject to loading as detected by resistivity measurements

The paper presents the results of measurements of electric resistivity changes in the sample subject to uniaxial loading in the automatic press. Four-electrode method was used. All minielectrodes were fixed inside the samples. The zone of future fracture was determined by a kind of pre-cut. Distribution of minielectrode sets in various parts of the samples ensured the possibility of monitoring the changes of electric resistivity either in the direct fracture zone, or outside of that zone. The comparison of the measurement data obtained in the fracture zone and outside of it shows that electric resistivity method can be used to failure prediction in both zones, although the precursor phenomena are much better visible in the direct fracture zone. The typical progress of changes obtained in the fracture zone is similar to that observed while investigating the resistivity changes in mines. Decreased repetition time of measurements improved the quality of results. New precursor phenomena were found out in the course of electric resistivity changes. The Chinese version of this paper appeared in the Chinese edition ofActa Seismologica Sinica,14, 220–228, 1992.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as an indicator of contamination of medicinal waters in the spas in the Sudetes mountains of Southwestern Poland

Thirteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) compounds have been identified in spa waters of 10 different health sources in the Sudetes region. In some of the waters the amount of PAH exceed the standard limits set up by the World Health Organization (WHO). The results obtained show that PAH can be a sensitive indicator of pollution of underground water.     

Heavy metals in sediments as evidence for recent pollution and quasi-estuarine processes: an example from Lake Druzno,Poland

This article presents the results of a geochemical investigation of sediments from Lake Druzno (northern Poland), a reservoir fed by freshwater from the catchment, with periodic input of brackish water from Vistula Lagoon. This study analyzed the spatial variation in heavy metal content in surface sediments as well as the temporal changes in metal content in two sediment cores dated using the ²¹⁰Pb method. In the surface sediments, the highest metal concentrations were recorded in the northern part of the lake, with lower concentrations in the central and southern parts. Absolute values of metal concentrations in the cores were low, but normalization with respect to Al showed an increase during the second half of the 20th century. Mean enrichment factors (EF) in sediments from the second half of the 20th century ranged from insignificant (1–1.2) for Fe to (1.55–3.3) for Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn. The sediments deposited before 1950 had lower EF values (>1.5) and had low variability. Results from both the surface sediments and the cores indicate that the main source of lake pollution is brackish water intrusion from the Vistula Lagoon via the contaminated River Elbląg.     

Dynamic stratigraphy of composite peripheral unconformity in a foredeep basin

This study employs facies analysis and basic principles of sequence stratigraphy to correlate isolated outcrop sections and reveal the depositional history of the Chmielnik Formation – a prominent mid‐Serravalian clastic wedge formed on the basinward forebulge flank of the Polish Carpathian Foredeep. The coarse‐grained clastic wedge, up to 30 m thick and spanning ca 1·1 Ma within biozone NN6, consists of fluvio‐deltaic, foreshore and shoreface deposits with a range of large littoral sand bars, all enveloped in muddy offshore‐transition deposits. Its dynamic stratigraphy indicates rapid shoreline shifts and environmental changes due to the interplay of forebulge tectonism, sediment supply and third‐order eustatic cycles. A similar interplay of tectonism and eustasy is recognizable in the whole middle Miocene sedimentary succession deposited on the forebulge flank, demonstrating an extreme case of an accommodation‐controlled shelf and indicating tectonic cycles of the forebulge uplift and subsidence spanning ca 800 to 900 ka. The episodes of forebulge uplift correlate with the main pulses of orogen thrusting. The resulting composite peripheral unconformity differs markedly from the idealized model of a ‘steady‐state’ stepwise onlap driven by forebulge continuous retreat. It is concluded that the foredeep peripheral unconformities, instead of being simplified in accordance with this idealized model, should rather be studied in detail because they bear a valuable high‐resolution record of regional events and give unique insights into the local role of tectonics, eustasy and sediment supply.     

Gully erosion as a natural hazard: the educational role of geotourism

Gully erosion is one of the greatest natural hazards in the loess areas of E. (Eastern) Poland. At the same time, permanent gullies are a major tourist attraction and can provide a basis for the development of geotourism. The study objective was to assess the possibilities of using the loess gullies for educational purposes. Detailed studies were conducted within the municipality of Kazimierz Dolny, an area with an extremely high concentration of permanent gullies. The questionnaire survey of students and tourists (nearly 300 surveys were completed) showed that the respondents’ knowledge of geomorphology was limited, despite their familiarity with gullies. In most cases, they were unable to accurately identify the determinants of gully erosion, its negative effects and methods for preventing it. An assessment of the tourism and geotourism potential of the municipality made it possible to identify the sites (gullies) that can perform an educational function, with regard to gully erosion. The establishment of the Ma?opolska Vistula Gap Geopark, whose highlights will include numerous loess gullies, can pave the way for the development of geotourism.     

Ubiquitous interactive visualization of 3D mantle convection using a web-portal with Java and Ajax framework

We have developed a new strategy and espouse a novel paradigm for large-scale computing and real-time interactive visualization. This philosophy calls for intense interactive sessions for a couple of hours at a time at the expense of storing data on many disk drives during regular or heroic runs on massively parallel systems. We have already carried out successfully real-time volume-rendering visualization by employing hundreds of processors for a grid with over 25 million unknowns. Both Cartesian and spherical 3D mantle convection are visualized. The volume-rendered images are viewed on a large display device, with many panels holding around 13 million pixels. We will employ a software strategy involving an hierarchical rendering service, which will have as software an Ajax interface for interactive visualization of large data sets on many different platforms from desktop PC’s to hand-held devices, such as the OQO and the Nokia N-800. An option for stereo viewing is also implemented. We have installed a user interface as web application, using Java and Ajax framework in order to achieve over the Internet reasonable accessibility to our ongoing runs. Our goal is to expand the array of interactive devices, which will make it feasible to carry out ubiquitous visualization and monitoring of large-scale simulations or onsite events and to allow for collaborations across oceans.     

Podhale,Poland, earthquake of November 30, 2004

Earthquake of November 30, 2004, in Podhale region, southern Poland, was of unexpectedly big size in this area of weak seismicity. As Poland is considered a country of low seismicity, the earthquake has caused concern about seismic hazard in Poland, especially since it took place shortly after the even more unexpected Kaliningrad Region, Russia, earthquakes of September 21, 2004, that inflicted minor damage in northern Poland. The paper presents the findings on the Podhale earthquake which reached macroseismic intensity up to 7 and magnitude 4.7 (m _b ; ISC). The event was felt up to a distance of about 100 km and inflicted slight damage to buildings in its narrow epicentral area, thus evidencing its relatively shallow depth. The quake has been located near the village of Skrzypne, about 15 km west-southwest of the district capital Nowy Targ. The source mechanism has been found to be of dip slip normal fault type, although a problem remains of association of this mechanism with known tectonic dislocations in the region. The earthquake has been followed by a long series of aftershocks. Their distribution in time is also studied and the biggest aftershocks have been located.     

Sublimation coefficient of water ice under simulated cometary-like conditions

In papers dealing with evolution of cometary nuclei it is commonly assumed that the coefficients of sublimation _s and condensation _c of vapour are both equal to one. The experimental investigation of ice samples under simulated cometary-like conditions (Kossacki, K.J., Kömle, N.I., Leliwa-Kopysty ski, J., Kargl, G., 1997. Thermal and structural evolution of cometary subsurface layer: selfconsistent model and experimental verification. Icarus 128, 127–144) suggests, however, that the sublimation flux calculated with the Hertz–Knudsen formula and the above assumption is nearly an order of magnitude too high. This may imply that actual values of _s for the ice/dust sample used in these experiments are of the order of 0.1. A similar conclusion can be drawn for _c from the results of various experiments concerning growth of ice crystals from the vapour phase and their sublimation (Lamb, D., Scott, W.D., 1972. Linear growth rates of ice crystals grown from the vapor phase. Journal of Crystal Growth 12, 21–31; Beckmann, W., Lacmann, R., 1982. Interface kinetics of growth and evaporation of ice II. Journal of Crystal Growth 58, 433–442; Sei, T., Gonda, T., 1989. The growth mechanism and the habit change of ice crystals growing from the vapour phase. Journal of Crystal Growth 94, 697–707). The exact values of both of these coefficients depend on various parameters such as temperature, concentration of surface impurities and deviation of the vapour pressure from that of the phase equilibrium. In this work the temperature dependence of the sublimation and condensation coefficients is discussed and an appropriate formula is proposed to fit the experimental results. This new formulation is then used to analyse the implications for the thermal conductivity of a porous cometary-like ice and the rate of vapour flux from a cometary nucleus.