Chemical and Isotopic Composition of Waters and Dissolved Gases in Some Thermal Springs of Sicily and Adjacent Volcanic Islands, Italy

Hydrochemical (major and some minor constituents), stable isotope ( and , δ13C_TDIC total dissolved inorganic carbon) and dissolved gas composition have been determined on 33 thermal discharges located throughout Sicily (Italy) and its adjacent islands. On the basis of major ion contents, four main water types have been distinguished: (1) a Na-Cl type; (2) a Ca-Mg > Na-SO₄-Cl type; (3) a Ca-Mg-HCO₃ type and (4) a Na-HCO₃ type water. Most waters are meteoric in origin or resulting from mixing between meteoric water and heavy-isotope end members. In some samples, δ¹⁸O values reflect the effects of equilibrium processes between thermal waters and rocks (positive ¹⁸O-shift) or thermal waters and CO₂ (negative ¹⁸O-shift). Dissolved gas composition indicates the occurrence of gas/water interaction processes in thermal aquifers. N₂/O₂ ratios higher than air-saturated water (ASW), suggest the presence of geochemical processes responsible for dissolved oxygen consumption. High CO₂ contents (more than 3000 cc/litre STP) dissolved in the thermal waters indicate the presence of an external source of carbon dioxide-rich gas. TDIC content and δ¹³C_TDIC show very large ranges from 4.6 to 145.3 mmol/Kg and from –10.0‰ and 2.8‰, respectively. Calculated values indicate the significant contribution from a deep source of carbon dioxide inorganic in origin. Interaction with Mediterranean magmatic CO₂ characterized by heavier carbon isotope ratios ( value from -3 to 0‰ vs V-PDB (CAPASSO et al., 1997, GIAMMANCO et al., 1998; INGUAGGIATO et al., 2000) with respect to MORB value and/or input of CO₂-derived from thermal decomposition of marine carbonates have been inferred.     

Power-law Distributions of Offspring and Generation Numbers in Branching Models of Earthquake Triggering

We consider a general stochastic branching process,which is relevant to earthquakes as well as to many other systems, and we study the distributions of the total number of offsprings (direct and indirect aftershocks in seismicity) and of the total number of generations before extinction. We apply our results to a branching model of triggered seismicity, the ETAS (epidemic-type aftershock sequence) model. The ETAS model assumes that each earthquake can trigger other earthquakes (aftershocks). An aftershock sequence results in this model from the cascade of aftershocks of each past earthquake. Due to the large fluctuations of the number of aftershocks triggered directly by any earthquake (fertility), there is a large variability of the total number of aftershocks from one sequence to another, for the same mainshock magnitude. We study the regime in which the distribution of fertilities is characterized by a power law ~1/¹⁺. For earthquakes we expect such a power-distribution of fertilities with =b/ based on the Gutenberg-Richter magnitude distribution ~ 10^–bm and on the increase ~ 10^–m of the number of aftershocks with the mainshock magnitude m. We derive the asymptotic distributions p_r(r) and p_g(g) of the total number r of offsprings and of the total number g of generations until extinction following a mainshock. In the regime < 2 for which the distribution of fertilities has an infinite variance, we find This should be compared with the distributions obtained for standard branching processes with finite variance. These predictions are checked by numerical simulations. Our results apply directly to the ETAS model whose preferred values =0.8–1 and b=1 puts it in the regime where the distribution of fertilities has an infinite variance. More generally, our results apply to any stochastic branching process with a power-law distribution of offsprings per mother     

Puhimau Thermal Area: A Window into the Upper East Rift Zone of Volcano, Hawaii?

We report the results of two soil CO₂ efflux surveys by the closed chamber circulation method at the Puhimau thermal area in the upper East Rift Zone (ERZ) of volcano, Hawaii. The surveys were undertaken in 1996 and 1998 to constrain how much CO₂ might be reaching the ERZ after degassing beneath the summit caldera and whether the Puhimau thermal area might be a significant contributor to the overall CO₂ budget of . The area was revisited in 2001 to determine the effects of surface disturbance on efflux values by the collar emplacement technique utilized in the earlier surveys. Utilizing a cutoff value of 50 g m⁻² d⁻¹ for the surrounding forest background efflux, the CO₂ emission rates for the anomaly at Puhimau thermal area were 27 t d⁻¹ in 1996 and 17 t d⁻¹ in 1998. Water vapor was removed before analysis in all cases in order to obtain CO₂ values on a dry air basis and mitigate the effect of water vapor dilution on the measurements. It is clear that Puhimau thermal area is not a significant contributor to CO₂ output and that most of CO₂ (8500 t d⁻¹) is degassed at the summit, leaving only magma with its remaining stored volatiles, such as SO₂, for injection down the ERZ. Because of the low CO₂ emission rate and the presence of a shallow water table in the upper ERZ that effectively scrubs SO₂ and other acid gases, Puhimau thermal area currently does not appear to be generally well suited for observing temporal changes in degassing at .     

Far-field Gravity and Tilt Signals by Large Earthquakes: Real or Instrumental Effects?

A wide set of dynamics phenomena (i.e., Geodynamics, Post Glacial Rebound, seismicity and volcanic activity) can produce time gravity changes, which spectrum varies from short to long (more than 1 year) periods. The amplitude of the gravity variations is generally in the order of consequently their detection requires instruments with high sensitivity and stability: then, high quality experimental data. Spring and superconducting gravimeters are intensively used with this target and they are frequently jointed with tiltmeters recording stations in order to measure the elasto-gravitational perturbation of the Earth. The far-field effects produced by large earthquakes on records collected by spring gravimeters and tiltmeters are investigated here. Gravity and tilt records were analyzed on time windows spanning the occurrence of large worldwide earthquakes; the gravity records have been collected on two stations approximately 600 km distant. The background noise level at the stations was characterized, in each season, in order to detect a possible seasonal dependence and the presence of spectral components which could hide or mask other geophysical signals, such as, for instance, the highest mode of the Seismic Free Oscillation (SFO) of the Earth. Some spectral components (6.5; 8; 9; 14, 20, 51) have been detected in gravity and tilt records on the occasion of large earthquakes and the effect of the SFO has been hypothesized. A quite different spectral content of the EW and NS tiltmeter components has been detected and interpreted as a consequence of the radiation pattern of the disturbances due to the earthquakes. Through the analysis of the instrumental sensitivity, instrumental effects have been detected for gravity meters at very low frequency.F.S.E. (Fondo Sociale Europeo -European Community -)     

The Local Magnitude Scale in the Korean Peninsula

A formula to determine the local magnitude (M_L) following Richters original definition was empirically derived for the Korean Peninsula. A total of 1,644 digital seismograms from 142 Korean earthquakes that occurred from 1997 to 2000 were corrected for instrument response and convolved with the nominal Wood-Anderson torsion seismograph response to be appropriate for the original definition of M_L. Then, the zero-to-peak amplitude was measured in millimeters on the synthetic Wood-Anderson seismogram. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine distance and station correction terms for the measured peak amplitudes. The best-fit solution for M_L yielded the following formula for the Korean Peninsula:where A() and S denote the peak amplitude on the synthetic Wood-Anderson seismogram at distance and the station correction term, respectively. Note that the second term, distance correction, was adjusted with Richters M_L, taking into consideration attenuation differences between the Korean Peninsula and southern California, where Richter originally introduced M_L. On average, the magnitudes determined in this study are nearly the same as those determined by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), but are larger than those of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) by as much as 0.36.     

Characterization of Earthquake Dynamics in Northeastern India Regions: A Modern Nonlinear Forecasting Approach

— The Northeastern India (NEI) region, is seismotectonically one of the most active regions of the world. Earlier studies of NEI earthquake data have provided contrasting evidence for the presence of randomness and low-dimensional strange attractor. Here, in the present study, we assess the dimensionality of an earthquake-generating mechanism by nonlinear predictability analyses on phase portrait constructed by monthly frequency earthquake time series which was obtained from the NOAA catalogue. The result of nonlinear forecasting analyses suggests that the earthquake processes in the NEI region evolve on a non-random high-dimensional chaotic system. Such a complex high-dimensional earthquake behavior is indicative of heterogeneous geological structures in which weak fault zones and/or individual fault interactions might have strength fluctuations due to pore pressure variation. Further, K₂ entropy analysis was performed to isolate the non-random component from the data. The analysis reveals a quasi-coherent time structure, (K₂ 0.08/month) which corresponds to a seasonal time scale of about 12 months. We argue that stochastic resonance created by seasonality bias may have combined with noise to affect the pore pressure variation leading to subsequent earthquake triggering. It is interesting to note that most earthquakes and swarm activities occurred during or after the monsoon season. Geological and geophysical evidence also reconciles with the above view. Evidence for high-dimensional chaos associated with seasonal bias in the NEI region may provide useful constraints for testing models and criteria to assess earthquake hazards on a more rigorous and quantitative basis.Received: 1 September 2001     

Nonlinear Analysis of the Frequency-magnitude Relationship in the Western Circum-Pacific Region

— It has long been realized that the linear Gutenberg-Richter model arduously describes the frequency-magnitude relationship for the magnitude span ranging from small to large earthquakes because of the breakdown of the self-similarity rule due to the changing scaling of the magnitude. Three different segments should be observed from small (usually M < 3.0), through moderate (M < M_c, where M_c is the frequency-magnitude turning point caused by the seismogenic thickness), to large earthquakes (M M_c). We will only concentrate on the moderate and large earthquakes due to their importance. The breakdown of the self-similarity rule from moderate to large earthquakes occurs where the earthquake is big enough to cut through the entire seismogenic layer. A nonlinear hyperbolic model, which fits two linear relations smoothly, is studied in the present paper, where N is the cumulative number of earthquakes with magnitudes larger than or equal to M; a₁ to a₅ are constants to be calculated. The G-R linear relation is actually a special case of the present nonlinear model, i.e., a₃ or a₅ equal to zero. The nonlinear form, with the support of a reasonable physical mechanism, can generally give a better fitting with comparatively minor errors for complete data sets, especially for the areas where large earthquakes are numerous. In order to demonstrate its superiority to the linear G-R relation, thirteen seismogenic zones are examined around the western part of the Circum-Pacific region and western part of China and it is found that the fitting errors from this nonlinear model are, as expected, generally much smaller than those for G-R. Furthermore, the parameter a₄ is believed to relate with the saturated magnitude M_c,which to some extent reflects the mean thickness of the seismogenic layer.Acknowledgement. The author thanks Dr Paul W. Burton for his useful discussions. He appreciates two anonymous reviewers comments and suggestions which enhanced the quality of the paper. This research was partially supported by the project EPAN-M.4.3/2013555 of bilateral cooperation between Greece and China funded by the General Secretariat of Research & Technology of Greece and by the project of UK-China Science and Technology Fund funded by the British Council. Some figures were made with GMT software (WESSEL and SMITH, 1995).     

Spatial Scaling of Effective Modulus and Correlation of Deformation Near the Critical Point of Fracturing

Many observations point to the lithosphere being metastable and close to a critical mechanical point. Exercises in modelling deformation, past or present, across subsurface reservoirs need to take account of this criticality in an efficient way. Using a renormalization technique, the spatial scaling of effective elastic modulus is derived for 2-D and 3-D bodies close to the critical point of through-going fracturing. The resulting exponent, d_μ, of spatial scaling of effective modulus with size, , takes the values ~ −2.5 and −4.2 in two- and three-dimensional space, respectively. The exponents are compatible with those for scaling of effective modulus with fracture density near the percolation threshold determined by other workers from numerical experiments; the high absolute values are also approximately consistent with empirical data from a) fluctuations in depth of a seismic surface; b) `1/k' scaling of heterogeneities observed in one-dimensional well-log samples; c) spatial correlation of slip displacements induced by water injection. The effective modulus scaling modifies the spatial correlation of components of displacement or strain for a domain close to the critical point of fracturing. This correlation function has been used to geostatistically interpolate components of the strain tensor across subsurface reservoirs with the prime purpose of predicting fracture densities between drilled wells. Simulations of strain distributions appear realistic and can be conditioned to surface depths and observations at wells of fracture-related information such as densities and orientations, welltest permeabilities, changes in well-test permeabilities, etc.     

On SEC disturbances in the polar cap ionosphere and their relation to the solar wind parameters

Summary Based on the analysis of the occurrence ofSEC disturbances in the polar cap ionosphere under varying solar wind parameters, the relation between the generation ofSEC-type ionospheric disturbances and interplanetary and magnetospheric conditions is discussed. It is emphasized that the Farley-Buneman instability in the E-layer of the ionosphere, reflected in ionograms as anSEC disturbance, depends on the complex effect of the solar wind parameters, the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field playing an important role.

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Generalized thermoelastic longitudinal waves in unbounded medium

Summary In this paper the generalized thermoelastic longitudinal waves and the temperature field set up due to coupling of the displacement and the temperature fields, with heat wave travelling with certain finite velocity, in an unbounded medium are studied. The thermoelastic displacement potential and the temperature field at any point are obtained in terms of the surface integrals involving the potential, the temperature and their normal derivatives.Notation x _i the cartesian coordinate system,i=1,2,3 - n (u _i) the displacement vector - (/x _i) the del operator - _t /t the derivative with respect to time - T _o the temperature corresponding to the natural stat of zero stress and strain - T Absolute temperature - c _e the specific heat - , Lamé's constants - ₀ the density - coefficient of linear thermal expansion - K thermal conductivity coefficient - _kk u - ₀ the relaxation time     

Scaling of Canadian low flows

Scaling properties of Canadian low flows, namely annual minimum mean 1-, 5- and 7-day flows, are evaluated across Canada and in its sub-climatic regions. Across the entire country, the log relationship between the kth product moments (PMs, E[Q_i^k]) of low flows and drainage area (A_i) can be represented by: ln(E[Q_i^k])=a_k+b_kln(A_i)and b_k=k, with = 0.86, 0.94 and 0.93 for annual minimum mean 1-, 5- and 7-day flows, respectively. The log linear relationships between the kth probability weighted moments (PWMs, ) and A_i are ln()=c_k+Hln(A_i), in which H is constant and is independent of k. The values of H are 0.87, 0.97, and 0.96 for annual minimum mean 1-, 5- and 7-day flows, respectively, which are almost the same as the values. The coefficients of variation (Cv) are almost independent of drainage area. These results demonstrate that Canadian low flows generally exhibit simple scaling and drainage area alone describes most of the variability in the moments of the low flows. Low flows in each of the sub-climatic regions also obey a simple scaling law. The values of , H and Cv are different in each region, which may stem from physiographical and climatological differences among these regions. The finding lays a basis for applying the index flood method to conduct regional low flow frequency analysis as simple scaling is equivalent to the index flood method.Acknowledgements The authors thank Prof. Thian Yew Gan of University of Alberta, Canada for providing additional pristine data sites for regions 4 and 10. A constructive comments provided by an anonymous reviewer improved the quality of the paper.     

A note on tidal current rotation

The rotational form of the vertically averaged equations of motion is applied to derive a formula, linear friction included, which establishes a direct connection between sense of rotation of tidal currents and features of tidal amphidromic systems. Two factors in the formula, called and , influence the sense of rotation of tidal currents; the factor involves the frequency of the tidal signal , the Coriolis parameter f, and the linear friction coefficient r. The sign of the cross-product of the logarithm of sea-surface elevation (), and phase () gradients determines whether the factor favors clockwise or anticlockwise sense of rotation. is a unit vector and is the angle between ln and . The limits ||0, ||0 and 0 lead to a clockwise sense of rotation in the Northern Hemisphere. 0 favors anticlockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere. Friction and low frequencies favor an anticlockwise sense of rotation. The theory works well in semi-enclosed regions like the North Sea. Although only linear friction and sea-surface elevation gradients were considered, there are ocean regions where the agreement between theory and observations is also good.Responsible Editor: Hans Burchard     

Analysis of State of Stress During The 1997 Earthquake Swarm In Western Bohemia

Focal mechanisms of 70 events of the January 1997 earthquake swarm were analysed using the Gephart and Forsyth method to determine the state of stress in the West Bohemia/Vogtland region and to reveal possible stress variations during the swarm activity. The method was applied to the whole set of 70 focal mechanisms and to several subsets distinguishing magnitudes of events and the spatial and temporal distribution of the swarm. The three representative stress models A ( ₁ ,A: 0/45 (az/dip), ₂ A: 134/35, ₃ A: 243/25), B ( ₁ ,B: 162/38, ₂ B: 263/14, ₃ B: 10/49), and C ( ₁ C: 135/30, ₂ C: 1/50, ₃ C: 239/23) which could characterise the state of stress in the region were found. Model C can be considered to be the most probable stress model because of its consistency with the European stress field. The results of the stress analysis applied to the individual subsets of focal mechanisms indicate that the state of stress was more uniform during the first phase of the swarm. To distinguish between the fault plane and the auxiliary plane of fault plane solutions a statistical approach was used. The results showed that the fault planes striking NW-SE and dipping 45° to NE were activated during the swarm.     

The Bam Earthquake of 26 December 2003

The devastating earthquake of 26 December 2003 claimed more than 26,000 lives in the city of Bam and surrounding towns and villages in Southeast Iran, and left the majority of the Bam population homeless. The reason for this tragedy was an unfortunate combination of geological, social and human circumstances. The causative fault practically traversed the city of Bam and the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth. The residential buildings were completely inappropriate for a seismic region, being extremely vulnerable to earthquake shaking, and the earthquake occurred early in the morning when most people were still sleeping. The damage pattern was nearly symmetric about a line 3 km to the west of the surface expression of the Bam fault, and the damage attenuated rapidly with distance from this line. The industrial facilities and the lifelines performed relatively well and experienced slight to moderate damage, but this might have been due to their distance from the earthquake epicentre. However, many of the qanat (traditional subterranean irrigation channels) chains that served the twin cities of Bam and Baravat collapsed. Emergency facilities (hospitals, police and fire stations), schools and the university were destroyed and/or heavily damaged during the earthquake. The geotechnical effects of the earthquake were not significant. There was little evidence that site response effects played a major role in the damage pattern in the city. There were no reports of liquefaction and only minor sliding activity took place during the event. A unique set of strong motion acceleration recordings were obtained at the Bam accelerograph station. The highest peak ground acceleration (nearly 1g) was recorded for the vertical component of the motion. However, the longitudinal component (fault-parallel motion in N–S direction) clearly had the largest energy flux, as well as the largest maximum velocity and displacement.     

山东乳山震群遗漏地震检测及震源区活动特征分析

对震群活动特征的深入研究可以为区域地震危险性分析和地震活动趋势判断提供有效的依据,但受台网布局和震群位置的影响,地震目录中往往会遗漏一些地震,而地震目录的完整性将会影响震群活动特征分析的可靠性.因此,本文利用基于GPU加速的模板匹配方法对山东乳山震群2014年5月至2015年6月期间固定台站和流动台阵记录的连续波形进行...     

2010年6月广西凌云-凤山交界3级震群应力水平分析

2010年6月28日至8月15日,在广西凌云与凤山交界持续发生了高密集、高集中、高频率的震群活动,共记录地震3 071次,其中ML2~2.9级地震41次,3级以上地震3次,最大为7月1日10时27分3.2级地震。对此次震群的空间分布范围、2级以上地震震源机制解P轴优势方向、b值特征、应力降等进行了分析研究。结果表明,此次震群震中集中,深度较浅,震源机制解P轴没有形成优势分布,序列参数b值较高,约为1.21,应力降主要分布在0.19~2.0 Mpa之间,认为广西凌云-凤山交界3级震群是属于低应力背景下的地震活动,不具有前兆震群和前震序列的性质。分析结果对正确了解此次震群的特征、正确判断地震趋势具有一定的帮助作用。     

福建仙游震群的孔隙压扩散特征

2010年8月至2015年12月,福建仙游地区发生了一系列小震群活动。基于孔隙压力扩散机制对精定位的小震数据进行分析,结果显示仙游震群序列在空间上呈丛集分布,且具有明显的分区现象,发震时间受金钟水库水位变化的调制作用较为明显。5个分区（A—E）的流体孔隙压力扩散系数分别为0.04,0.08,0.07,0.12和0.05 m2/s,伴随着地震活动性由强至弱,孔隙压扩散系数呈先增后减的变化规律。仙游震群位于断裂构造发育区内,震中分布优势方向与石苍断裂一致,沿着断裂走向的孔隙压扩散系数最大,说明地下流体沿狭长的石苍断裂由NW向NE活动。各分区的流体孔隙压系数与扩散最大距离、最大诱发地震震级及地震释放能量均有较好的相关性。此外,当金钟水库水位下降时,各分区的扩散距离r呈现减小趋势,震群范围收缩,地震频次增加,并伴有较大震级的地震,说明水位下降时,流体孔隙压力的扩散作用在同一地点反复作用,使得触发源附近区域的应力水平更容易达到饱和或临界状态,进而触发较大震级的地震,这也解释了水位下降过程中地震更为强烈的原因。      

Fractal Dimension of the 1999 Chamoli Earthquake from Aftershock Studies in Garhwal Himalaya

The Aftershock sequence of Chamoli earthquake (M _w 6.4) of 29 March 1999 is analyzed to study the fractal structure in space, time and magnitude distribution. The b value is found to be 0.63 less than which is usually observed worldwide and in the Himalayas. This indicates that the numbers of smaller earthquakes are relatively less than the larger ones. The spatial correlation is 1.64, indicating that events are approaching a two-dimensional region meaning that the aftershocks are uniformly distributed along the trend of the aftershock zone. Temporal correlation is 0.86 for aftershocks of M 1, indicating a nearly continuous aftershock activity. However, it is 0.5 for aftershocks of M 1.75, indicating a non continuous aftershock activity. From the assessment of slip on different faults it is inferred that 70% displacement is accommodated on the primary fault and the remainder on secondary faults.     

Earthquake magnitude or seismic moment in seismic hazard evaluation?

Seismic hazard analysis requires the estimation of the probabilities that earthquakes will take place within a region of interest, and the expected level of ground motion which will be received at a site during the nextt years. The earthquake magnitude has been used as a basic parameter, because it is available, under the assumption that the earthquake occurrence is a compound Poisson process with exponential or multinomial distribution of magnitude.For improving the hazard prediction, we used the seismic moment as a basic parameter to estimate the mean rate, , of occurrence of earthquakes in a function of seismic moment rate and slip rate released in a seismogenic region.As an illustration of the model, the seismic hazard analysis at different sites in and around the Gulf of Corinth, central Greece, is presented on the basis of the earthquake magnitude and the seismic moment. Comparison of the results shows that determination of the mean rate of earthquake occurrence, using the conventional Gutenberg-Richter recurrence model, underestimates the seismic hazard at a site.     

Chemisch-hydrographische Untersuchungen in der inneren Deutschen Bucht

Zusammenfassung Anläßlich eines größeren Unternehmens wurde Anfang August 1954 eine achttägige eingehende hydrographisch-chemische Untersuchungsfahrt mit dem Forschungskutter Südfall vom Institut für Meereskunde der Universität Kiel in der inneren Deutschen Bucht durchgeführt. Infolge der wochenlangen gleichförmigen Wetterlage vor Beginn der Fahrt zeigte die oberflächennahe Schicht auf Grund der Salzgehalts-Untersuchungen ein verhältnismäßig ausgeglichenes Bild der Wasserverteilung. Als beherrschende hydrographische Erscheinung zog sich das salzarme und leichte Eibwasser von der Elbmündung als in sich geschlossene zungenförmige Wassermasse in nordwestlicher Richtung diagonal durch das Untersuchungsgebiet. Verwirbelungserscheinungen mit dem von Südwesten andringenden Nordseewasser, wie sie von früheren Beobachtungen her bekannt sind und die Regel bilden, waren nur verhältnismäßig schwach ausgebildet. Auf der rechten Flanke der Elbwasserzunge im küstennahen Gebiet ließen sich jedoch zwei bisher noch nicht bekannte antizyklonal ausgerichtete Wirbel erkennen.Ergänzt wurden die Salzgehalts-Messungen durch eine Anzahl verschiedenartiger chemischbiologischer Untersuchungen. Die Bearbeitung des Eiweiß-, Chlorophyll- und Gelbstoff-Gehalts, sowie der Wasserfluoreszenz und des Gehalts an Silikat und Phosphat ergaben interessante gegenseitige Beziehungen und ließen deutlich den zyklischen Charakter der Lebensvorgänge im Meere hervortreten. Die Zusammenhänge erscheinen jedoch derartig vielfältig und unregelmäßig, daß eine endgültige Klärung zunächst noch nicht möglich ist.

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Chemical and hydrographical investigations in the inner part of the German Bight

Summary In connection with an extensive research programme, an eight-days' research cruise was undertaken on board the cutter Südfall of the Institut für Meereskunde der Universität Kiel to the inner part of the German Bight at the beginning of August 1954, in order to study in detail the hydrographic and chemical conditions. As could be seen from the salinity records, the distribution of the water masses in the subsurface layer was found to be of a comparatively uniform character owing to the prevailing meteorological conditions that had shown but little change throughout a period of several weeks before the beginning of the cruise. As a dominating hydrographic phenomenon, the light Elbe river water with its low salinity formed a closed water body similar to a tongue that, issueing from the mouth of the Elbe river, crossed the region of research in a north-westerly direction. Contrary to what has been previously observed and regularly encountered in this region, there occurred no eddy activity to any significant extent between this type of water and the water masses that were advancing from the south-western part of the North Sea. On the right-hand flank of the tongue of Elbe river water near the coast two anticyclonic eddies could be recognized that heretofore had never been observed.The salinity observations were supplemented by a number of different chemical and biological investigations. The elaboration of the content in albumen, chlorophyll, andGelbstoff as well as the studies of fluorescence in sea water and of the content in silicate and phosphate revealed interesting correlations and gave a clear evidence of the cyclic character of biological processes in the ocean. However, the complexity and irregularity of the relations do not permit at the present stage of research to give a definite explanation.

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Recherches d'hydrographie et de chimie dans la «Deutsche Bucht» (golfe allemand)

Résumé A l'occasion de travaux étendus une croisière de huit jours a été exécutée au commencement du mois d'août 1954 dans la partie intérieure de la Deutsche Bucht à bord du cutter «Südfall» de l'Institut für Meereskunde der Universität Kiel pour étudier en détail des conditions hydrographiques et chimiques. Suivant les observations de salinité, la. distribution des eaux dans la couche subsuperficielle était relativement uniforme par suite des conditions météorologiques peu variées qui régnaient pendant plusieurs semaines avant le commencement de la croisière. Les eaux légères à faible salinité de l'Elbe, phénomène hydrographique dominant, formaient une masse serrée d'eau en forme de langue qui, partant de l'embouchure de l'Elbe, traversait en direction nord-ouest la région de recherches. L'activité des tourbillons comme elle est connue des observations antérieures et régulièrement remarquée au rencontre des eaux à faible salinité avec celles venant de la partie sud-ouest de la mer du Nord n'était que relativement faible. On pouvait, cependant, reconnaître sur le flanc droit de la «langue de l'eau de l'Elbe», au voisinage de la côte, deux tourbillons anticyclonaux inconnus jusqu'ici.Les mesures de la salinité furent supplementées par plusieurs recherches différentes dans le domaine de la chimie biologique. L'exploitation des observations de la teneur en albumine, en chlorophylle et enGelbstoff ainsi que les études de la fluorescence de l'eau de mer et de la teneur en silicate et en phosphate révélaient des corrélations intéressantes et mettaient nettement en relief le caractère cyclique des processus biologiques. Cependant, la complexité et l'irrégularité des relations ne permettent pas à l'état actuel de nos recherches d'en donner une explication définitive.

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Herrn Professor Dr. Gerhard Schott zum 90. Geburtstag gewidmet.