Probabilistic seismic hazard evaluation in underground mines

Stress concentrations produced by rock deformation due to extraction in underground mines induce seismicity that can take the shape of violent and quite dangerous rockbursts.The hazard evaluation presented in this paper is based on a Bayesian probabilistic synthesis of information determined from mining situations during excavation, with previous and present data from microseismicity and seismoacustics.The method proposed in this study is an example of time-dependent on-line seismic hazard evaluation. All results presented were obtained retrospectiely for different underground coal mines in Poland and Czechoslovakia.On leave from Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences 01-452 Warszawa, ul. Ksiecia Janusza 64, Poland.     

Distribution of trace metals in the Odra River system: Water–suspended matter–sediments

Extensive investigations of trace metals concentrations in water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and bottom sediments of the whole Odra River system were carried out over the years 1997–2000. The vertical distribution of selected metals and their mobility were also studied in the sediment cores from upper and middle river sections. Significant levels of metal contamination were found. Median concentrations (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn and As) in the SPM and sediments were (mg kg⁻¹) 7.1 and 8.9 Cd, 128 and 146 Pb, 81 and 119 Cu, 1198 and 1204 Zn, 48 and 54 As, respectively. The highest metal pollution of the Odra River solids was found with cadmium, zinc, lead and arsenic, showing high similarity in their frequency distributions in both SPM and sediments. Cd, Zn and As appear to be of particular concern because of the high levels, that appear to be bioavailable, and their high mobility. The exchangeable and carbonate chemical forms of Cd and Zn reached up to 50% of their total amount. Besides the determination of total metal concentration, the metal chemical forms in river solids were investigated. The results of very wide studies of the Odra River system through 4 years suggest that metal pollution decreased, especially for Zn, Pb and Cu. Among all metals studied in the Odra River sediments, substantial reductions of Cd contamination were observed neither in the period after ’97 flood, nor if compared with the earlier results obtained before ’97. No essential differences of the metal contents were observed among the samples for the same river compartment, from the same locality, taken within the five sampling campaigns. The pattern of spatial and vertical metal distributions in the river solids indicates that a variety of sources might be responsible for the contamination; very intensive, historical and current mining and smelting activities probably are the most important ones.     

Plant assemblage from Opole,southern Poland: New data on Late Cretaceous vegetation of the northern part of the European Province

This paper presents the results of studies on plant macroremains found in the upper Turonian of the Folwark Quarry, Opole, Poland, associated with palynological studies of the host rocks. In addition to a few macrofossils (gymnosperm wood, conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii and fern ?Didymosorus) rich sporomorphs (bryophyte, lycopod and fern spores, conifer and angiosperm pollen grains) and marine palynomorphs (mainly dinoflagellate cysts) were recorded. The palynological analysis revealed that the vegetation on the neighbouring land (the East Sudetic Island) in the late Turonian was much more diverse than could be reconstructed based on only macrofossil remains. The latter are taxonomically restricted and dominated by one gymnosperm species (Geinitzia reichenbachii), which make them similar to most neighbouring, coeval Central European assemblages. Its over representation is, thus, a result of taphonomy.     

Inter‐laboratory Characterisation of Apatite Reference Materials for Chlorine Isotope Analysis

Here we report on a set of six apatite reference materials (chlorapatites MGMH#133648, TUBAF#38 and fluorapatites MGMH#128441A, TUBAF#37, 40, 50) which we have characterised for their chlorine isotope ratios; these RMs span a range of Cl mass fractions within the apatite Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(F,Cl,OH)₂ solid solution series. Numerous apatite specimens, obtained from mineralogical collections, were initially screened for ³⁷Cl/³⁵Cl homogeneity using SIMS followed by δ³⁷Cl characterisation by gas source mass spectrometry using both dual‐inlet and continuous‐flow modes. We also report major and key trace element compositions as determined by EPMA. The repeatability of our SIMS results was better than ± 0.10‰ (1s) for the five samples with > 0.5 % m/m Cl and ± 0.19‰ (1s) for the low Cl abundance material (0.27% m/m). We also observed a small, but significant crystal orientation effect of 0.38‰ between the mean ³⁷Cl/³⁵Cl ratios measured on three oriented apatite fragments. Furthermore, the results of GS‐IRMS analyses show small but systematic offset of δ³⁷Cl_SMOC values between the three laboratories. Nonetheless, all studied samples have comparable chlorine isotope compositions, with mean 10³δ³⁷Cl_SMOC values between +0.09 and +0.42 and in all cases with 1s ≤ ± 0.25.     

Motion of salt water and associated fronts in tideless estuaries

The hydrodynamics of saline water in Polish estuaries are addressed in this paper. The phenomena are described on the basis of field data from several types of estuaries along the Polish Baltic Coast. Field measurements were made to reveal and to characterize the physical processes in these estuaries; this information was then used for analytic testing and verification of mathematical models. The results demonstrate the unsteady and changeable nature of both the flow conditions and the motion of salt water in tideless estuaries. The magnitudes and directions of the barotropic and baroclinic horizontal pressure gradients have a marked influence on the flow characteristics and motion of salt water in these tideless estuaries.     

Evolution of peaks in weakly non-linear density field and dark halo profiles

Using the two-point Edgeworth series up to second order in the linear rms density fluctuation we construct the weakly non-linear conditional probability distribution function for the density field around an overdense region. This requires calculating the two-point analogues of the skewness parameter S ₃. We test the dependence of the two-point skewness on distance from the peak for scale-free power spectra and Gaussian smoothing. The statistical features of such a conditional distribution are given as the values obtained within linear theory corrected by the terms that arise as a result of weakly non-linear evolution. The expected density around the peak is found to be always below the linear prediction while its dispersion is always larger than in the linear case. For large enough overdensities the weakly non-linear corrections can be more significant than the peak constraint introduced by Bardeen et al. We apply these results to the spherical model of collapse as developed by Hoffman & Shaham and find that in general the effect of weakly non-linear interactions is to decrease the scale from which a peak gathers mass and therefore also the mass itself. In the case of an open universe this results in steepening of the final profile of the virialized proto-object.     

Lithification analysis — Experimental observations

Thin sections prepared from laboratory compacted dry sediment mixtures are compared with selected thin sections from natural sedimentary rocks. Compression of a quantity of calcium carbonate bioclasts at a pressure of 1,000 kg/cm² gives rise to plastic deformation of grain contacts, penetration contacts, and the reduction of porosity and permeability. Compressing a mixture of carbonate fragments and quartz grains at a pressure of 1,000 kg/cm² causes the quartz grains to penetrate the softer carbonate bioclasts. Compression of a dry, well-rounded quartz sand at a confining pressure of 3,000 kg/cm² leads to the crushing of the majority of the grains. An artificial sediment consisting of a mixture of quartz spheres and gem fragments demonstrates upon compaction by a pressure of 3,000 kg/cm² the capacity of the harder gem minerals to penetrate quartz grains by way of plastic deformation of the grain contacts. Differences in hardness between dolomite and calcite/aragonite fragments are responsible for the creation of lithification textures of the dolomite crystals penetrating the softer carbonate grains.

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Zusammenfassung Dünnschliffe von Sedimentmischungen, die einer Trockenkompaktion unterzogen wurden, werden mit ausgewählten Dünnschliffen natürlicher Sedimentgesteine verglichen. Kompression von Kalziumkarbonatbioklasten mit einem Druck von 1000 kg/cm² bewirkt die plastische Deformierung der Kornkontakte, Entstehung von Eindruckkontakten und beträchtliche Reduktion der Porosität und Permeabilität. Bei Kompression einer Mischung von Karbonatfragmenten und Quarzkörnern mit einem Druck von 1000 kg/cm² dringen die Quarzkörner in die weicheren Karbonatbioklaste ein. Kompaktion eines trockenen, gut gerundeten Quarzsandes mit einem Druck von 3000 kg/cm² bewirkt das Zerbrechen des größten Teiles dieser Quarzkörner. Ein künstliches Sediment aus einer Mischung von Quarzkörnern und Edelsteinfragmenten zeigt, daß bei Kompaktion mit einem Druck von 3000 kg/cm² die härteren Edelsteinmineralien in die Quarzkörner eindringen. Unterschiede in der Mineralhärte zwischen Dolomit und Kalzit- und Aragonit-Fragmenten sind verantwortlich für das Auftreten von Lithifikationstexturen von Dolomitkristallen in den weicheren Karbonatkörnern.

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Résumé Des lames minces préparées à partir de mélanges artificiels de sédiments compactés à l'état sec, forment la base d'une comparaison avec des lames minces tirées des roches sédimentaires naturelles sélectionnées. La compression exercée par des biofragments composés d'aragonite, d'une valeur de 1000 kg/cm², imprime une déformation plastique des contacts intergranulaires, la formation de contacts par impressionement, et une réduction de la porosité et de la perméabilité. La compression d'un mélange de bio-fragments carbonatés avec une quantité de grains de quartz, sous une pression de 1000 kg/cm² donne aux grains de quartz la capacité de pénétrer les grains carbonatés moins dûrs. La compression d'un sable composé des grains bien-arrondis, complètement sec, à 3000 kg/cm² a comme résultat l'éclatement de la plupart des grains. Un mélange sédimentaire artificiel de grains de quartz et de fragments de pierres précieuses montre, après la compression sous 3000 kg/cm², la capacité des pierres précieuses (minéraux avec une dureté spécifique plus grande que celle du quartz) de pénétrer les grains de quartz grâce à la déformation plastique des contacts intergranulaires. Les différences dans la durété spécifique de la dolomite et de la calcite/aragonite sont-responsables de la création des textures de lithification, où des cristaux de dolomite pénétrent les grains carbonatés moins durs.

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The importance of interloper removal in galaxy clusters: saving more objects for the Jeans analysis

We study the effect of contamination by interlopers in kinematic samples of galaxy clusters. We demonstrate that without the proper removal of interlopers the inferred parameters of the mass distribution in the cluster are strongly biased towards higher mass and lower concentration. The interlopers are removed using two procedures previously shown to work most efficiently on simulated data. One is based on using the virial mass estimator and calculating the maximum velocity available to cluster members and the other relies on the ratio of the virial and projected mass estimators. We illustrate the performance of the methods in detail using the example of A576, a cluster with a strong uniform background contamination, and compare the case of A576 to 15 other clusters with different degree of contamination. We model the velocity dispersion and kurtosis profiles obtained for the cleaned data samples of these clusters solving the Jeans equations to estimate the mass, concentration and anisotropy parameter. We present the mass–concentration relation for the total sample of 22 clusters.