Impedance spectroscopy and defect chemistry of fayalite

Impedance spectra of polycrystalline synthetic fayalite were measured at 900°C and 1 atm pressure in a CO/CO₂ gas mixing furnace at oxygen fugacities f _{O 2}=10^-13 to 10^-17 atm. The frequency range applied to the samples was 20 Hz–1 MHz. The spectra show two semicircular arcs, which are attributed to polarization processes within the bulk material and at the sample-electrode interface. Two different types of behaviour of the bulk resistance as a function of oxygen fugacity were observed. The first is proportional to the -1/4.5 to -1/6 power of f_{I 2}, which is consistent with the existing defect model. The second shows a lesser dependence on f_{O 2}, often lowered by a factor of about two, relative to the expected value, resulting in a resistance proportional to the -1/10 to -1/12 power of f_{O 2}. It is assumed, that the lesser f _{O 2}-dependence is caused by aliovalent impurities, producing an f_{O 2}-independent amount of charge carriers. The electrode arcs show a resistance proportional to the-1/2 to -1/4 power of oxygen fugacity, implying that a reaction with the gas phase is involved in the polarization process at the sample-electrode interface.     

A possible relation between geomagnetic activity and winter air surface temperatures in Prague

Summary A possible relation between the 10-day geomagnetic activity, solar activity and temperatures as measured at the meteorological station Prague - Klementinum in 1932–1975 was sought. It was found that: 1) Kp correlates with the surface temperature in Prague substantially better than Wolf's number R. 2) The correlation between Kp and the surface air temperature is not very close, but is significant at the level p=0.9! 3) If the QBO phase is taken into account, the correlations for the January and February decades of the years 1956–1975 improve as in [27] (van Loon, Labitzke).     

Schlierenoptische Untersuchungen der kinematischen und dynamischen Parameter von Oberflächenwellen

Summary An attempt was made to apply the Schlieren method for the investigation of kinematic and dynamic parameters of surface waves. The wave field generated by an exploding wire was studied in two-dimesional plexiglas models of a half space. Travel-time curves of the observed wave groups are given. Densitograms of surface waves obtained by microphotometric profiling parallel or perpendicular to the direction of the wave propagation enable to estimate the horizontal or vertical components of compressional stresses forming these waves.     

Preparation of input data,inclusive of satellite data,for forecasting precipitation within a limited area

Summary The inclusion of cloudiness characteristics, obtained by computer analysis of multispectral satellite photographs, in the objective analysis of the dew-point temperature deficit is suggested for the mesomodel. The basic principle of the method is the correction of mathematically packed data using processed satellite cloudiness observations. Special fast algorithms for constructing bicubic splines are used to effect the basic mathematical packing.

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The effect of high pH alkaline solutions on the mineral stability of the Boom Clay – Batch experiments at 60 °C

Boom Clay is currently viewed as a reference host formation for studies on deep geological disposal of radioactive waste in Belgium. The interactions between bulk rock Boom Clay and 0.1 M KOH, 0.1 M NaOH, 0.1 M Ca(OH)₂, young cement water and evolved cement water solutions, ranging in pH from 12.5 to 13.2, were examined as static batch experiments at 60 °C to simulate alkaline plume perturbations, which are expected to occur in the repository due to the presence of concrete. Both liquids and solids were investigated at specific times between 90 and 510 days in order to control the elemental budget and to search for potential mineralogical alterations. Also, the clay fraction was separated from the whole-rock Boom Clay at the end of each run and characterized for its mineralogical composition. Thereby, the importance of the mineral matrix to buffer the alkaline attack and the role of organic matter to protect clay minerals were also addressed. The results indicate that the degree of geochemical perturbation in Boom Clay is dependent on the initial pH of the applied solution together with the nature of the major cation in the reactant fluids. The higher the initial pH of the media, the stronger its interaction with Boom Clay. No major non-clay mineralogical alteration of the Boom Clay was detected, but dissolution of kaolinite, smectite and illite occurred within the studied experimental conditions. The dissolution of clays is accompanied by the decrease in the layer charge, followed by a decrease in the cation-exchange capacity. The highest TOC values coincide with the highest total elemental concentrations in the leachates, and correspondingly, the highest dissolution degree. However, no quantitative link could be established between the degree of organic matter decomposition and clay dissolution.     

Lead Isotopic Composition in Biogenic Certified Reference Materials Determined by Different ICP‐based Mass Spectrometric Techniques

This work presents data for the radiogenic Pb isotopic ratios (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb) in nine biogenic certified reference materials (NIST SRM 1515, 1566b, 1570a, 1573a, 1575a; BCR 100, BCR 101, BCR 670 and IAEA 359), which are suitable for analytical quality control in environmental research. The results were obtained using three different types of ICP‐based mass spectrometer (quadrupole‐based/magnetic sector field single‐collector ICP‐MS instruments and a multi‐collector ICP‐MS) and applying different mass bias correction procedures (calibrator‐sample bracketing and external Tl normalisation) with and without Pb separation from the matrix using ion exchange chromatography. In the majority of the samples, the measurements from all three of the ICP‐MS instruments were in agreement within ± 0.1%, despite the lower analytical precision of the single‐collector ICP‐MS instruments. We demonstrate that the presence of the sample matrix did not significantly influence the Pb isotopic ratios measured by magnetic sector field ICP‐MS, whereas the use of the two different mass bias corrections resulted in a systematic difference of 0.09% for the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ratio.     

Sunrise effect on atmospherics and its relation to the direction of the night noise source

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Special Contribution: An Overview of Recent Seismic Refraction Experiments in Central Europe

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica -     

Geoeffectiveness of XRA events associated with RSP II and/or RSP IV estimated using the artificial neural network

A forecasting scheme of geomagnetic activity is presented, based on the analysis of the geoeffectiveness of X-ray flares, accompanied by Type II and/or Type IV radio bursts (RSP) observed on the solar disc in the years 1996–2004. The neural network was used to construct this scheme enabling us to determine the probability, with which flares will be followed by a geomagnetic response of a particular intensity. The successfulness of forecasts produced after the fact depended on the flare class and on the combination of radio-burst types. In the case of RSP IV, 58% of the geomagnetic responses of X-ray flares of at least B class were successful. If only RSP II was observed, the forecast was successful only for flares of the X class (67% of successful forecasts). In the second step, a strong geomagnetic response was correctly forecast after geoeffective flares in 58% of the cases. The results are in a good agreement with recent papers based on physical modelling. fridrich@geomag.sk ph@ig.cas.cz, jboch@ig.cas.cz     

Determination of the boundary values for the Stokes–Helmert problem

 The definition of the mean Helmert anomaly is reviewed and the theoretically correct procedure for computing this quantity on the Earth's surface and on the Helmert co-geoid is suggested. This includes a discussion of the role of the direct topographical and atmospherical effects, primary and secondary indirect topographical and atmospherical effects, ellipsoidal corrections to the gravity anomaly, its downward continuation and other effects. For the rigorous derivations it was found necessary to treat the gravity anomaly systematically as a point function, defined by means of the fundamental gravimetric equation. It is this treatment that allows one to formulate the corrections necessary for computing the `one-centimetre geoid'. Compared to the standard treatment, it is shown that a `correction for the quasigeoid-to-geoid separation', amounting to about 3 cm for our area of interest, has to be considered. It is also shown that the `secondary indirect effect' has to be evaluated at the topography rather than at the geoid level. This results in another difference of the order of several centimetres in the area of interest. An approach is then proposed for determining the mean Helmert anomalies from gravity data observed on the Earth's surface. This approach is based on the widely-held belief that complete Bouguer anomalies are generally fairly smooth and thus particularly useful for interpolation, approximation and averaging. Numerical results from the Canadian Rocky Mountains for all the corrections as well as the downward continuation are shown. Received: 9 March 1998 / Accepted: 16 November 1998