Occurrence of Cladosporium spp. and Alternaria spp. spores in Western, Northern and Central-Eastern Poland in 2004–2006 and relation to some meteorological factors

The concentration of airborne spores of Cladosporium spp. and Alternaria spp. has been investigated at three monitoring stations situated along the west-north and central-east transect in Poland (Szczecin, Olsztyn, Warszawa,) i.e. from a height of 100 m to 149 m above sea level. The aerobiological monitoring of fungal spores was performed by means of three Lanzoni volumetric spore traps.Cladosporium spp. spores were dominant at all the stations. The highest Cladosporium spp. and Alternaria spp. numbers of spores were observed at all the cities in July and August.Statistically significant correlations have been found between the Cladosporium spp. and Alternaria spp. concentration in the air and the mean air temperature, amount of precipitation, air pressure and relative air humidity. The spore count of Cladosporium spp. and Alternaria spp. is determined by the diversity of local flora and weather conditions, especially by the air temperature. The identification of factors, which influence and shape spore concentrations, may significantly improve the current methods of allergy prevention.     

Effect of temperature on embryonic and larval development of bream (Abramis brama L.)

Influence of water temperature on embryonic and larval development of bream (Abramis brama L.) was stdied. Eggs of bream were incubated at eight constant water temperatures between 13.2 and 26.8°C. The temperature of 21.1°C gave highest hatching success, with no abnormalities in the eleutheroembryos and lowest mortality observed between eyed egg stage and the time of hatching. Developmental rate increased with increasing temperature. Duration of embryonic development (y; hours) decreased with increasing incubation temperature (x; °C) according to the formula: y=910.1−65.88 x+1.318 x². Larvae were reared at eight constant temperatures ranging from 13.5 to 34.0°C. The instantaneous growth rate in wet weight increased with increasing test temperature from 13.5 to 29.9°C, and then decreased at higher temperatures. Individual growth of fish and biomass production rate were highest at 27.9°C. This temperature is considered optimal when food availability and photoperiod are no limiting factors.     

Diffusive mass exchange of non‐reactive substances in dual‐porosity porous systems – column experiments under saturated conditions

Diffusive mass exchange into immobile water regions within heterogeneous porous aquifers influences the fate of solutes. The percentage of immobile water is often unidentified in natural aquifers though. Hence, the mathematical prediction of solute transport in such heterogeneous aquifers remains challenging. The objective of this study was to find a simple analytical model approach that allows quantifying properties of mobile and immobile water regions and the portion of immobile water in a porous system. Therefore, the Single Fissure Dispersion Model (SFDM), which takes into account diffusive mass exchange between mobile and immobile water zones, was applied to model transport in well‐defined saturated dual‐porosity column experiments. Direct and indirect model validation was performed by running experiments at different flow velocities and using conservative tracer with different molecular diffusion coefficients. In another column setup, immobile water regions were randomly distributed to test the model applicability and to determine the portion of immobile water. In all setups, the tracer concentration curves showed differences in normalized maximum peak concentration, tailing and mass recovery according to their diffusion coefficients. These findings were more pronounced at lower flow rates (larger flow times) indicating the dependency of diffusive mass exchange into immobile water regions on tracers' molecular diffusion coefficients. The SFDM simulated all data with high model efficiency. Successful model validation supported the physical meaning of fitted model parameters. This study showed that the SFDM, developed for fissured aquifers, is applicable in porous media and can be used to determine porosity and volume of regions with immobile water. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isotope hydrological study of mean transit times in an alpine basin (Wimbachtal, Germany)

Measurements of tritium and ¹⁸O concentrations in precipitation and runoff were used to provide further insight into the groundwater storage properties of the Wimbachtal Valley, a catchment area of 33.4 km², extending between 636 and 2713 m a.s.l. in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The catchment includes three aquifer types: a dominant porous aquifer; a fractured dolomite; a karstic limestone aquifer. Employing a simple hydrological model, information about mean transit times of environmental tracers is derived for the groundwater runoff component and several karst springs from the application of the exponential and dispersion flow models to the isotopic input and output data. The mean transit times calculated from a dispersion model with transit times of 4.1 years for ¹⁸O and 4.2 years for tritium, which agree well, allow calculation of total (mobile + stagnant) groundwater storage volume, which is equivalent to 6.6 m of water depth. Direct runoff appears negligible as in many other cases.     

Meltwater discharge through the subglacial bed and its land‐forming consequences from numerical experiments in the Polish lowland during the last glaciation

Numerical experiments suggest that the last glaciation severely affected the upper lithosphere groundwater system in NW Poland: primarily its flow pattern, velocities and fluxes. We have simulated subglacial groundwater flow in two and three spatial dimensions using finite difference codes for steady‐state and transient conditions. The results show how profoundly the ice sheet modifies groundwater pressure heads beneath and some distance beyond the ice margin. All model runs show water discharge at the ice forefield driven by ice‐sheet‐thickness‐modulated, down‐ice‐decreasing hydraulic heads. In relation to non‐glacial times, the transient 3D model shows significant changes in the groundwater flow directions in a regionally extensive aquifer ca. 90 m below the ice–bed interface and up to 40 km in front of the glacier. Comparison with empirical data suggests that, depending on the model run, only between 5 and 24% of the meltwater formed at the ice sole drained through the bed as groundwater. This is consistent with field observations documenting abundant occurrence of tunnel valleys, indicating that the remaining portion of basal meltwater was evacuated through a channelized subglacial drainage system. Groundwater flow simulation suggests that in areas of very low hydraulic conductivity and adverse subglacial slopes water ponding at the ice sole was likely. In these areas the relief shows distinct palaeo‐ice lobes, indicating fast ice flow, possibly triggered by the undrained water at the ice–bed interface. Owing to the abundance of low‐permeability strata in the bed, the simulated groundwater flow depth is less than ca. 200 m. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of climatic change on river discharge in the driest region of Poland

Abstract

Discharge in the Warta River in Poland has been analysed based on long series of measurements at the Gorzów Wielkopolski gauge station (covering the whole catchment area) and at Poznań (middle and upper catchment area), and the Note? River is characterized by the gauge station at Nowe Drezdenko. The annual mean discharge of the Warta River for the period 1981–2010 was equal to the average value for the last 163 years (209 m³ s^-1), and there was no significant change in comparison with the ratio of runoff in the summer and winter half-years. In the driest region of Poland, the climate has been described on the basis of precipitation and air temperature. The annual mean precipitation for 1981–2010 (544 mm) in the Warta River catchment area was the same as that for the period 1848–2010. The precipitation has been increasing in spring and winter, and decreasing in summer. There is a positive and very significant correlation (r = 0.705) between the annual discharge and annual precipitation totals. The annual mean air temperature has risen by 0.6°C between the periods 1848–1980 and 1981–2010.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis

Citation Ilnicki, P., Farat, R., Górecki, K., and Lewandowski, P., 2014. Impact of climatic change on river discharge in the driest region of Poland. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (6), 1117–1134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.831979     

Lidar observations of volcanic dust over Polish Polar Station at Hornsund after eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn

Two significant volcanic eruptions, i.e., Eyjafjallajökull (April–May 2010) and Grímsvötn (May 2011) took place recently in Iceland. Within a few days after eruptions, layers of high aerosol concentration have been observed by multiwavelength lidar of the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund, Svalbard. Measurements of the aerosol’s optical properties indicated a possible presence of volcanic ash transported over the Station. The latter presumption was confirmed by the computed backward trajectories of air masses, showing their paths passing over the location of volcanoes.     

RbSr and KAr ages of paleozoic glauconites from Ohio—Indiana and Missouri,U.S.A.

Glauconite pellets from the Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation on both limbs of the Cincinnati Arch in Ohio and Indiana give a RbSr age of 370 ± 11 Ma, which is substantially younger than the stratigraphic age of the formation. The age is concordantcwith conventional KAr ages of 355 ± 6 and 368 ± 5 Ma for two of the same glauconites. Concordant ages were also obtained from the Viburnum Trend in Missouri, where glauconite pellets from the Davis Formation in an ore-zone collapse structure into the underlying Bonneterre Formation give a RbSr age of 387 ± 21 Ma and conventional KAr ages of 368 ± 5 and 369 ± 5 and 369 ± 5 Ma. A third suite of glauconite from the Bonneterre Formation in the Old Lead Belt ～ 10 km from the nearest ore body has given a RbSr age of 423 ± 7 Ma and slightly older conventional KAr ages of 434 ± 6, 445 ± 6 and 441 ± 11 Ma.Because these glauconite-bearing rocks have been buried to depths of less than 1 km, thermal resetting of the RbSr and KAr systematics appears unlikely. The initial ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ ratios of the RbSr isochrons are similar to the ratios for vein- and vug-filling dolomite and calcite. This is consistent with resetting of the RbSr and KAr systems during diagenetic changes which included the isotopic equilibration (perhaps by cation exchange) of the Sr in the glauconite with that in the diagenetic and Mississippi Valley-type ore fluids. This interpretation implies that the age of the Mississippi Valley-type mineralization in the Viburnum Trend is Devonian rather than Carboniferous—Permian as has been inferred from paleomagnetic measurements.Cation-exchange experiments with a dilute Sr-bearing solution and an artificial oilfield brine indicate that glauconite adsorbs large amounts of Sr, some of which is sufficiently strongly attached to the glauconite lattice as to resist leaching with ammonium acetate. The introduction of this strongly attached Sr may be the first step in the resetting of the RbSr systematics of glauconite by cation exchange.     

Magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian boundary

A magnetic polarity pattern for Boreal and Sub-Boreal ammonite zones of the Upper Oxfordian to Lower Kimmeridgian was established and confirmed in four British sections, including the proposed Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) on the Isle of Skye (Scotland) to define the base of the international Kimmeridgian Stage. A coeval pattern for Sub-Mediterranean ammonite zones was compiled from seven sections in Poland, one German section and multi-section composites from France and Spain. The mean paleopole for the European Craton (excluding Spain) at the Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian boundary is 74.2°N, 181.3°E (Α₉₅ = 3.8°). The common magnetic polarity scale enables inter-correlation of ammonite subzones among these three faunal provinces and to the marine magnetic-anomaly M-Sequence. The proposed GSSP at the base of the Pictonia baylei Zone is near the base of an extended interval dominated by reversed polarity, which is interpreted to be Chron M26r. This GSSP level projects to the lower to middle part of the Epipeltoceras bimammatum Subzone, which is the middle subzone of this E. bimammatum Zone in the Sub-Mediterranean standard zonation. In contrast, the traditional placement of the Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian boundary in that Sub-Mediterranean standard zonation (base of Sutneria platynota Zone) is at the base of Chron M25r, or nearly 1 million years younger.