National flood discharge mapping in Austria

This article presents the approach and the results of a study in which 30, 100 and 200 year return period flood discharges were estimated for 26,000 km of Austrian streams. Three guiding principles were adopted: combination of automatic methods and manual assessments by hydrologists to allow speedy processing and account for the local hydrological situation; combination of various sources of information including flood peak samples, rainfall data, runoff coefficients and historical flood data; and involvement of the Hydrographic Services to increase the accuracy and enhance the acceptance of results. The flood discharges for ungauged catchments were estimated by the Top-kriging approach with manual adjustment to the local flood characteristics. The adopted combination approach proved to be very efficient both in terms of the project time required and in terms of the accuracy and acceptability of the estimated flood discharges of given return periods.     

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Der Pyroxentuff vom Heilsberg im Hegau

Zusammenfassung Das Tuffvorkommen vom Heilsberg bei Gottmadingen im Hegau wurde neu kartiert und mineralogisch untersucht. Die Korngrößenverteilung zeigt ein deutliches Maximum bei 0,6–1,2 mm. Der Tuff besteht aus 40% magmatogenem Material und 60% Bestandteilen des durchschlagenen Untergrundes. Die magmatogenen Komponenten sind 17% Einzehnineralien, 10% Grundmasse und 13 % Auswürflinge. Unter den Einzelmineralien wiegt der Pyroxen (Fassait) vor, daneben kommen Amphibol, Biotit und Magnetit, ferner Apatit und Analcim sowie einige seltenere Mineralien vor. Für Pyroxen, Amphibol, Biotit und Magnetit werden chemische Analyse und optische Eigenschaften mitgeteilt. Die größte Menge der magmatogenen Auswürflinge sind kugelförmige Lapilli, die hinsichtlich ihrer Entstehung genauer untersucht und chemisch analysiert wurden. Seltener sind grobkristalline, dunkle und belle Bomben, deren Mineralgehalt und chemische Zusammonsetzung genauer beschrieben werden. Sic stellen wahrscheinlich Differentiate des Heilsbergmagmas dar. Die ehemals glasige, magmatogene Grundmasse des Tuffs liegt heute als ein Gemenge von Montmorillonit und Calcit vor.Aus den nichtmagmatogenen Bestandteilen kann auf den Untergrund im Bereich des Heilsbergvulkans geschlossen werden. Aus dem Deckgebirge wurden Tertiär, Mahn, Dogger, Jura, Keuper und Muschelkalk nachgewiesen. Das Grund-gebirge besteht hauptsächlich aus granodioritischen bis granitischen Gesteinen und enthält auffallenderweise nur wenig Gneise. Der Herd der Eruption dürfte mindestens 4000 m tief liegen.Der Chemismus des Heilsbergmagmas ist hornblenditisch. Es ist dem Magma der Melilithite verwandt und leitet zu den Phonolithen des Hegau über. Das Gestein ist als hornblenditischer Pyroxen-Analcim-Tuff zu bezeichnen.Zwei unabhängige Bestimmungen nach der K-Ar-Methode ergaben für den Biotit des Tuffs ein obermiozänes Alter von 14,0 bzw. 14,5 Mill. Jahren.Mit 2 Textabbildungen     

Identification of chlorite and chlorite-related minerals in sediments

A scheme is presented for the identification and classification of chlorite and related minerals in sediments which is mainly based on X-ray characteristics of the orginal sample and the sample heated at 350°C and treated with K⁺ and with glycerol. Examples are given. It is emphasized that additional data about clay mineral genesis, electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and chemical analyses are needed for the ordening of a certain mineral in the proposed scheme. Many names of minerals so far found to occur in the clay separate of sediments proved to be synonymous (52 of a total of 88) and thus should be abandoned. They only give confusion and needlessly increase the many difficulties which already exist in the identification, classification and quantitative determination of this complicated group of minerals of about 36 well defined specimens which may be found in sediments.     

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Trace element diagenesis in pyrite-rich sediments of the Achterwasser lagoon, SW Baltic Sea

The early diagenesis of trace elements (V, Cr, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Ba, U) in anoxic sediments of the Achterwasser, a shallow lagoon in the non-tidal Oder estuary in the Baltic Sea, was investigated in the context of pyrite formation. The dissolved major redox parameters show a two-tier distribution with transient signals in the occasionally re-suspended fluid mud layer (FM) and a permanently established diagenetic sequence in the sediment below. Intense microbial respiration leads to rapid depletion of O₂ within the uppermost mm of the FM. The reduction zones of Mn, Fe and sulfate overlap in the FM and in the permanently anoxic sediment section which appears to be a typical feature of estuarine sediments, under low-sulfate conditions. Degrees of pyritization (DOP) range from 50% in the FM to remarkably high values > 90% at 50 cm depth. Pyrite formation at the sediment surface is attributed to the reaction of Fe-monosulfides with intermediate sulfur species via the polysulfide pathway. By contrast, intense pyritization in the permanently anoxic sediment below is attributed to mineral growth via adsorption of aqueous Fe-sulfide complexes onto pyrite crystals which had originally formed in the surface layer.The studied trace elements show differential behavior patterns which are closely coupled to the diagenetic processes described above: (i) Zn, Cu and Cd are liberated from organic matter in the thin oxic layer of the sediment and diffuse both upwards across the sediment/water boundary and downwards to be trapped as monosulfides, (ii) V, Cr, Co and As are released during reductive dissolution of Mn- and Fe-oxyhydroxides, (iii) U removal from pore water occurs concomitantly to Fe reduction in the FM and is attributed to reduction of U(VI) to U(IV), (iv) the Ba distribution is controlled by reductive dissolution of authigenic barite in the sulfate reduction zone coupled with upward diffusion and re-precipitation. The incorporation of trace elements into pyrite is most intense for Co, Mn and As, intermediate for Cu and Cr and little to negligible for U, Zn, Cd, V and Ba. The observed trend is largely in agreement with previous studies and may be explained with differing rates for ligand exchange. Slow and fast ligand exchange and thus precipitation kinetics are also displayed by downcore increasing (Mn, Cr, Co and As) or constantly low (Zn, Cu, Cd) pore water concentrations. The downward increasing degrees of trace metal pyritization (DTMP) for Co, Cu, Zn and As are, in analogy to pyrite growth, assigned to adsorption of sulfide complexes or As oxyanions onto preexisting pyrite minerals.