Sediment dispersal from Vogelsberg Basalt,Hessen, West Germany

Volcanic detritus in sand size stream sediment spreading outward from Vogelsberg extrusive and hypabyssal rocks decreases in abundance from percentages exceeding 90 % to less than 5 % within 20 km of the source area. The rapid decrease results largely from dilution of the stream sediment resulting from disintegration of friable Bunter Sandstone on the plains surrounding the crystalline rocks. The effect is more pronounced in the fine sand fraction of the stream sediment because the Bunter sand is fine grained.If a geologist of the post-Holocene were to sample this stream sand in outcrop, he would have to be located within about 10 km of the present Vogelsberg mass to infer its existence.

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Zusammenfassung Vulkano-klastische Flußsedimente im Korngrößenbereich von Sanden, die sich aus den Ergußgesteinen und hypabyssischen Gesteinen des Vogelsbergs herleiten, nehmen die Häufigkeit von mehr als 90 % bis auf weniger als 5 % innerhalb von 20 km vom Ursprungsgebiet ab.Die starke Abnahme ist als Folge einer Verdünnung der Flußsedimente entstanden. Die Verdünnung ist durch die Zersetzung des leicht verwitterbaren Buntsandsteins auf den Ebenen, die diese vulkanischen Gesteinen geben, verursacht.Da der Buntsandstein von feinkörniger Natur ist, wird der Verdünnungseffekt in der Feinsandfraktion der Flußsedimente besonders deutlich beobachtet.Würde ein Geologe einst Gesteinsproben entnehmen, die aus diesen Sedimenten entstanden sind, so müßte er sich in einem Umkreis von 10 km des heutigen Vogelsberggebietes befinden, um dessen Existenz nachweisen zu können.

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Résumé Les débris volcaniques dans les sédiments fluviaux de granularité sableuse provenant des roches extrusives et hypabyssales du Vogelsberg voient leur proportion décroÎtre de 90 % à moins de 5 % sur une distance de 20 km. à partir de leur origine. Cette décroissance rapide provient principalement de la dilution du sédiment fluvial par suite de la désintégration des grès bigarrés sur les plaines avoisinant les roches cristallines. L'effet est encore plus prononcé dans la fraction fine du sédiment fluvial à cause de la finesse du sable bigarré.Un géologue des temps futurs qui aurait à échantillonner ce sable fluvial dans ses affleurements devrait rester dans les 10 km. de l'actuel Vogelsberg pour en présumer l'existence.

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Subdividing the Holocene Series/Epoch: formalization of stages/ages and subseries/subepochs,and designation of GSSPs and auxiliary stratotypes

The Holocene, which currently spans ~11 700 years, is the shortest series/epoch within the geological time scale (GTS), yet it contains a rich archive of evidence in stratigraphical contexts that are frequently continuous and often preserved at high levels of resolution. On 14 June 2018, the Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences formally ratified a proposal to subdivide the Holocene into three stages/ages, along with their equivalent subseries/subepochs, each anchored by a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). The new stages are the Greenlandian (Lower/Early Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP2 ice core and dated at 11 700 a b2k (before 2000 CE); the Northgrippian (Middle Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP1 ice core and dated at 8236 a b2k; and the Meghalayan (Upper/Late Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in a speleothem from Mawmluh Cave, north‐eastern India, with a date of 4250 a b2k. We explain the nomenclature of the new divisions, describe the procedures involved in the ratification process, designate auxiliary stratotypes to support the GSSPs and consider the implications of the subdivision for defining the Anthropocene as a new unit within the GTS.     

Reduction of field populations of fiddler crabs by uptake of chlorinated hydrocarbons

Fiddler crabs are particularly sensitive to chlorinated hydrocarbons. Crabs that have been feeding on contaminated material show an impairment of their escape reaction. High concentrations of Aldrin and Dieldrin in plots of marsh experimentally treated with contaminated sewage sludge indicate that these insecticides are responsible for a drastic reduction in fiddler crab populations.     

An evaluation of solar radiation pressure strategies for the GPS constellation

The subtle effects of different Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite force models are becoming apparent now that mature processing strategies are reaching new levels of accuracy and precision. For this paper, we tested several approaches to solar radiation pressure (SRP) modeling that are commonly used by International GNSS Service (IGS) analysis centers. These include the GPS Solar Pressure Model (GSPM; Bar-Sever and Kuang in The Interplanetary Network Progress Report 42-160, 2005) and variants of the so-called DYB model (Springer et al. in Adv Space Res 23:673–676, 1999). Our results show that currently observed differences between GPS orbit solutions from the various IGS analysis centers are in large part explained by differences between their respective approaches to modeling SRP. DYB-based strategies typically generate orbit solutions that have the smallest differences with respect to the IGS final combined solution, largely because the DYB approach is most commonly used by the contributing analysis centers. However, various internal and external metrics, including ambiguity resolution statistics and satellite laser ranging observations, support continued use of the GSPM-based approach for precise orbit determination of the GPS constellation, at least when using the GIPSY-OASIS software.     

Measuring the structural similarity of network time prisms using temporal signatures with graph indices

The network‐time prism (NTP) is an extension of the space‐time prism that provides a realistic model of the potential pattern of moving objects in transportation networks. Measuring the similarity among NTPs can be useful for clustering, aggregating, and querying potential mobility patterns. Despite its practical importance, however, there has been little attention given to similarity measures for NTPs. In this research, we develop and evaluate a methodology for measuring the structural similarity between NTPs using the temporal signature approach. The approach extracts the one‐dimensional temporal signature of a selected property of NTPs and applies existing path similarity measures to the signatures. Graph‐theoretic indices play an essential role in summarizing the structural properties of NTPs at each moment. Two extensive simulation experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and compare the performance of graph indices for measuring NTP similarity. An empirical application using bike‐share system data shows that the method is useful for detecting different usage patterns of two heterogenous user groups.     

Measurements of Reynolds stress in a wind-driven lagoonal estuary

Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) have been used to measure Reynolds stresses in tidally dominated environments where wave action was minimal. In this paper, we examine observations from a microtidal estuary where the effects of wind stress and surface waves dominate the velocity variance. Reynolds stress measurements in this setting require a technique for addressing surface gravity wave contamination. We present here a method of reducing the effect of wave motion on Reynolds stresses by subtracting coincident observations along the axis of the ADCP beam. Linear wave theory is used to account for the attenuation of wave orbital velocities with depth. Using this method, Reynolds stress values are brought in line with those predicted by drag laws at the surface and bottom. The apparent Reynolds stress that is removed by the along-axis subtraction is shown to be largely due to the interaction of a slight tilt (1°) in the ADCP and the wave orbital velocity. During periods of stronger wind and waves, there is evidence of enhanced near-surface turbulence and momentum flux, presumably due to breaking waves. During these events, our calculated Reynolds stress magnitudes still appear reasonable, although the directions are suspect. We develop a diagnostic technique that clearly demarcates this region when it occurs. Coincident density profile measurements are used with the ADCP data to compute gradient Richardson numbers throughout the water column. Enhanced Reynolds stresses appear to correspond to Richardson numbers less than one. Responsible editor: Alejandro Souza