Height transformation models from ellipsoidal into the normal orthometric height system for the territory of the City of Zagreb

The paper presents the testing of the possibility of determining the heights of GPS points in the homogeneous field in the new Croatian Height Reference System (HVRS71) by using the method of height transformation. The testing was made in the area of Zagreb. As part of the field works, normal orthometric heights of 27 GPS points were determined according to the new height system, by transferring the benchmark heights using the geometric levelling method, thus obtaining GPS/levelling points of known ellipsoidal and normal orthometric heights. The GPS/levelling points served as the basis for determining the transformation models that enabled the computation of normal orthometric heights from ellipsoidal heights of any GPS point in the observed area. The empirical data used for modelling were reduced undulation dN values of GPS/levelling points. As part of the dN modelling with parametric functions, the approximation surfaces were obtained on the basis of three polynomials: FN310, FN312 and FN318. The transformation models were also tested using non-parametric Watson and Loess algorithms. The FN318 and Loess models yielded the best results.     

An estimate of the contribution of high nergy cosmic-ray protons to the absorbed dose inventory of a cometary nucleus

We discuss the contribution of cosmic-ray protons at all energies above 1 MeV to the absorbed doses of the surface layers of a comet. Since there exists no calculation which takes into account proton energy losses by means of losses to electrons and nuclear collisions (in a cascade process), and losses due to the low energy end-products of the cascade, we have made a rough estimate of all of these contributions. An analytical formula is proposed that allows a rapid estimate of ranges and the dose absorbed at any depth. We give dose-depth curves for two extreme values of the energy at which nuclear collisions begin to dominate the slowing-down process, and for an intermediate value we display the dose-depth curve down to 20 m from the surface. The relevance of these findings to dosimetry in comets and some alterations of cometary material are considered. The need for improving the analytical expression proposed is stressed.     

Comparison of three mathematical models for the estimation of 10-day drain discharge

Summary This paper presents an the evaluation of three mathematical models for the estimation of 10-day drain discharge using weather, pedological and phenological parameters. One model uses modified Palmer’s procedure for the calculation of water balance components and the second two use empirical multiple linear regression. The models have been applied to data of an amelioration experimental field in central Croatia (south-western part of the Pannonian Lowland), where a set of average 10-day air temperature and relative humidity data, average wind speed, cumulative precipitation and drain discharge amounts, insolation and soil moisture data and vegetation indices have been collected. The experiment has been performed during the period 1990–1992. The models have been tested by comparing estimated and observed 10-day drain discharge amounts. All models mainly give acceptable cumulative results although their accuracy depends on the season.     

3D modeling and monitoring of karst system as a base for its evaluation and utilization: a case study from eastern Serbia

Beljanica Mountain in eastern Serbia is a part of the Carpathian Balkan arch (northern Alpine branch). It covers an area of about 300 km² and consists mostly of Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones. Numerous surface karst features, long caves and several large karstic springs located in Beljanica’s piedmont along the contact of karstic and non-karstic rocks are all indicators of an intense karstification. Currently, the large karstic water reserves of Beljanica Mountain are not properly utilized because of their distance from main consumers, the objection by national water managers that the springs lack a stable and sufficient discharge particularly during recession periods. Due to its unpolluted and high quality water, the area is a great prospect for future water supply, and provides an opportunity for artificial regulation and for the design and implementation of specific tapping structures. This paper includes an analysis of the created 3D ArcGIS model of karst interior and its correlation with historical and newly collected data of spring discharges and groundwater physico-chemical characteristics. The results of karst aquifer monitoring (both quantitative and qualitative) are linked with the results of extensive field geological and speleological survey of the upper non-saturated part of the karst (such as sinkholes, pits and caves) and with the investigation of the permanently saturated deeper part of the aquifer (including the diving methods). The model of karst interior is based on the data from the 69 caves, 15 sinks and 1,682 dolines (sinkholes) surveyed. The total length of the karst channels network, calculated using the GIS model and presented in a 3D environment, is 647 km. The catchment areas of five major springs that drain the areas are estimated to range from only 7 km² (Malo Vrelo Spring) to 124 km² (Vrelo Mlave Spring). The groundwater exploitable reserves of Beljanica karst aquifer are estimated to be over 4 m³/s. The waters are low mineralized, unpolluted and have a great potential for water supply.     

The Carpatho-Balkanides and adjacent area: a sector of the Tethyan Eurasian metallogenic belt

The Tethyan Eurasian metallogenic belt (TEMB) was formed during Mesozoic and post-Mesozoic times in the area of the former Tethyan ocean on the southern margin of Eurasia, with the Afro-Arabian and Indian plates to the south. It extends from western Mediterranean via the Alps and southeastern Europe through the Lesser Caucasus, the Hindu Kush, and the Tibet Plateau to Burma and SW Indonesia, linking with the West Pacific metallogenic belt. The Carpatho-Balkan region is one of the sectors of the TEMB, characterized by some specific features. The emplacement of ore deposits is related to a definite time interval, and to specific tectonic settings such as: 1. Late Permian-Triassic intracontinental rifting along the northern margin of Gondwanaland and/or fragments already separated. This setting involves volcanogenic and volcano-sedimentary deposits (iron, lead/zinc, manganese, antimony, mercury, barite), skarn deposits associated with volcano-plutonic complexes of bimodal magmatism, and low temperature carbonate-hosted lead/zinc deposits. 2. Jurassic intraoceanic rifting – ophiolite complexes: This setting hosts major magmatic (particularly podiform chrome deposits) and volcano-sedimentary deposits, mainly of the Cyprus type. 3. Subduction-related setting involves porphyry copper deposits, lesser skarn deposits (iron, locally Pb-Zn), massive sulphide Cu (e.g. Bor) accompanied locally by Pb-Zn of replacement type, epithermal gold deposits, associated with calc-alkaline igneous complexes of the Early Tertiary-Late Cretaceous, and the Neogene gold/silver and base metals deposits. 4. Post-collision continent-continent setting includes deposits of Pb-Zn, Sb, As, Au-Cu associated with volcano-plutonic complexes of calc-alkaline affinity. Several major Alpine metallogenic units are developed in the Carpatho-Balkanides and adjacent area, each characterized by specific development, mineral associations, and types of ore deposits. Received: 3 June 1996 / Accepted: 10 January 1997     

Zur Revision der GattungGloeocapsa Kützing (Cyanophyta)

Ohne Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Arbeit entstand dank der Unterstützung der Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung, Bad Godesberg.     

Lysosomal membrane stability and metallothioneins in digestive gland of Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam.) as biomarkers in a field study

The lysosomal membrane destabilization and the metallothionein content in the digestive gland cells of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam.), collected along the east coast of the North Adriatic (Istrian and Kvarnerine coast, Croatia), were examined over a period of four years (1996–1999). The lysosomal membrane stability, as a biomarker of general stress, showed that the membrane labilization period in mussels from polluted, urban- and industrial-related areas was significantly decreased (p<0.05) when compared to mussels from control, clean sea water sites. In the harbour of Rijeka, the most contaminated site, the lysosomal membrane stability was reduced by more than 70% compared to the control. This method also proved to be a useful biomarker for detection of additional stress caused by short-term hypoxia that occurred once during this study inside the polluted and periodically quite eutrophic Pula Harbour. The concentration of metallothioneins in the mussel digestive gland, as a specific biomarker of exposure to heavy metals, did not reveal significant differences (p<0.05) between sites covered by this study.     

Super-massive binary black holes and emission lines in active galactic nuclei

It is now agreed that mergers play an essential role in the evolution of galaxies and therefore that mergers of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) must have been common. We see the consequences of past supermassive binary black holes (SMBs) in the light profiles of so-called ‘core ellipticals’ and a small number of SMBs have been detected. However, the evolution of SMBs is poorly understood. Theory predicts that SMBs should spend a substantial amount of time orbiting at velocities of a few thousand kilometers per second. If the SMBs are surrounded by gas observational effects might be expected from accretion onto one or both of the SMBHs. This could result in a binary Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) system. Like a single AGN, such a system would emit a broad band electromagnetic spectrum and broad and narrow emission lines.The broad emission spectral lines emitted from AGNs are our main probe of the geometry and physics of the broad line region (BLR) close to the SMBH. There is a group of AGNs that emit very broad and complex line profiles, showing two displaced peaks, one blueshifted and one redshifted from the systemic velocity defined by the narrow lines, or a single such peak. It has been proposed that such line shapes could indicate an SMB system. We discuss here how the presence of an SMB will affect the BLRs of AGNs and what the observational consequences might be.We review previous claims of SMBs based on broad line profiles and find that they may have non-SMB explanations as a consequence of a complex BLR structure. Because of these effects it is very hard to put limits on the number of SMBs from broad line profiles. It is still possible, however, that unusual broad line profiles in combination with other observational effects (line ratios, quasi-periodical oscillations, spectropolarimetry, etc.) could be used for SMBs detection.Some narrow lines (e.g., [O III]) in some AGNs show a double-peaked profile. Such profiles can be caused by streams in the Narrow Line Region (NLR), but may also indicate the presence of a kilo-parsec scale mergers. A few objects indicated as double-peaked narrow line emitters are confirmed as kpc-scale margers, but double-peaked narrow line profiles are mostly caused by the complex NLR geometry.We briefly discuss the expected line profile of broad Fe Kα that probably originated in the accretion disk(s) around SMBs. This line may also be very complex and indicate the complex disk geometry or/and an SMB presence.Finally we consider rare configurations where a SMB system might be gravitationally lensed by a foreground galaxy, and discuss the expected line profiles in these systems.     

Present-day Horizontal Mobility in the Serbian Part of the Pannonian Basin; Inferences from the Geometric Analysis of Deformations

In tectonically complex environments, such as the Pannonian Basin surrounded by the Alps–Dinarides and Carpathians orogens, monitoring of recent deformations represents very challenging matter. Efficient quantification of active continental deformations demands the use of a multidisciplinary approach, including neotectonic, seismotectonic and geodetic methods. The present-day tectonic mobility in the Pannonian Basin is predominantly controlled by the northward movement of the Adria micro-plate, which has produced compressional stresses that were party accommodated by the Alps-Dinarides thrust belt and partly transferred towards its hinterland. Influence of thus induced stresses on the recent strain field, deformations and tectonic mobility in the southern segment of the Pannonian Basin has been investigated using GPS measurements of the horizontal mobility in the Vojvodina area (northern Serbia).