Therapeutic waters in the Polish geological and mining law

The Polish legislation gives groundwaters declared as curative ones a high rank of basic minerals or, in well-defined cases, of common minerals. Both kinds of minerals are subject of mining law regulations. This explains the use of the word deposit which, in the case of groundwaters, often does not reflect reality.     

Granulometric and chemical composition of the Sava River sediments upstream and downstream of the Krsko nuclear power plant

Total concentrations of 13 elements (K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Pb) in the size-fractionated Sava River sediments upstream and downstream of the Krsko nuclear power plant together with metal speciation within bulk sediment have been investigated. Trace metals generally increase with decreasing particle size, however, because of entrapment of organic matter in the 0.63–1 mm fraction, concentrations in the coarser sediment fraction are higher than expected. Exchangeable Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr and Fe are generally found to represent a negligible fraction of the total metal concentration of the bulk sediment. Seasonal variations of the Pb, Zn and Cu concentrations in the <0.5 mm fraction reflect decreased values during the spring period. Heavy metal concentrations in the 2003 waste water discharges from the Krsko nuclear power plant released into the Sava River were much lower than their maximum allowed values. Combined rubidium and organic matter normalization of the Zn, Pb and Cu concentrations, which was applied on the minus 0.063 mm fraction, indicated three potential sources of contaminants.     

Barium anomaly in the Cambrian-Vendian aquifer system in North Estonia

A barium anomaly with a maximum Ba²⁺ concentration of 6.37 mg/l was distinguished in a Cambrian-Vendian (Cm-V) aquifer system that is widely used as a drinking water source in the towns Kunda, Rakvere and Kohtla-Järve of North-Estonia. The modelling results show that at low sulphate concentrations (below 3 mg/l) Ba²⁺ contents can exceed the limit values for drinking water (such as 2 mg/l set by US EPA). Bicarbonate ions in their common concentration range in groundwater cannot limit Ba²⁺ at its content below 10 mg/l. The probable natural sources of the anomaly are the crystalline basement and its weathering zone. Groundwater in the clayey weathering core is hydraulically connected with the overlying Cm-V aquifer system, thus the upconing of deeper-seated groundwater, caused by intensive exploitation of wells, is possible.     

Effects of iron black varnish on petrophysical properties of building sandstone

In zones washed by rain (façades, pinnacles, pilasters), fine siliceous sandstones are covered by a black varnish, which gives a dirty appearance to monuments. In composition, structure and areas covered by it, it differs from the usual black gypsum crust. Experiments carried out on blocks covered by black varnish show the modifications due to their growth. Results show that despite their low thickness and the coherence of the stone below, the accumulation of hydrophobic matters and the wetting-drying cycles modify the transfer properties of sandstones several centimeters below the surface. Thus, although sandstones seem to be protected by the black varnish, in the long run, a flake detachment process, in the areas covered by it, affects them. Therefore, damage to sandstones by black varnish can be explained by the fact that a wetting and drying cycle modifies the pore network.     

Composition and assemblage characteristics of magnetic minerals in layer S<Subscript>5-1</Subscript> of Xifeng and Duanjiapo sections

Relatively strongly magnetic fine components (< 30μm, XS-4J and DS-4J) which are most environmentally sensitive were separated from layer S_5-1 in the Xifeng and Duanjiapo loess sections and analyzed by MPV-3 for their morphometric characteristics and reflectance, SEM-ESD for their element contents and XRD for their mineral phases, respectively. The results showed that minerals in both samples are dominated by detrial Fe-Ti oxides of aeolian origin. In sample XS-4J the reflectance and iron contents of magnetic minerals are usually high. In addition to magnetite (Fe₃O₄), maghemite (γFe₂O₃) and hematite (Fe₂O₃), some Fe-high oxide (72.25 wt%–86.67 wt%), ilmenite (FeTiO₃), and magnetite-ulvöspinel [Fe(FeCr)O₄, Fe (FeNi)O₄] were also detected. In sample DS-4J obvious negative linear correlations were found between Ti and Fe, and the contents of Mn, Si, Al and Ca are usually high and the minerals are dominated by magnetite (maghemite), goethite (FeOOH) and limonite (containing Si and OH). In addition, the signs of corrosion of magnetic minerals and newly crystallized magnetite (maghemite) were recognized. Differences in the composition and assemblage characteristics of magnetite minerals between XS and DS reflect significant differences in source rocks and preserving conditions.     

Surface gravitational field and topography changes induced by the Earth’s fluid core motions

Using a Love number formalism, the elastic deformations of the mantle and the mass redistribution gravitational potential within the Earth induced by the fluid pressure acting at the core–mantle boundary (CMB) are computed. This pressure field changes at a decadal time scale and may be estimated from observations of the surface magnetic field and its secular variation. First, using a spherical harmonic expansion, the poloidal and toroidal part of the fluid velocity field at the CMB for the last 40 years is computed, under the hypothesis of tangential geostrophy. Then the associated geostrophic pressure, whose order of magnitude is about 1000 Pa, is computed. The surface topography induced by this pressure field is computed using Love numbers, and is a few millimetres. The mass redistribution gravitational potential induced by these deformations and, in particular, the zonal components of the related surface gravitational potential perturbation (J₂, J₃ and J₄ coefficients), are calculated. Overall perturbations for the J₂ coefficient of about 10^–10, for J₃ of about 10^–11 and for J₄ are found of about 0.3×10^–11. Finally, these theoretical results are compared with recent observations of the decadal variation of J₂ from satellite laser ranging. Results concerning J₂ can be described as follows: first, they are one order of magnitude too small to explain the observed decadal variation of J₂ and, second, they show a significant linear trend over the last 40 years, whose rate of decrease amounts to 7% of the observed value.     

Analysis of temporal sar and optical data for rice mapping

This study investigates the potential of multi-temporal signature analysis of satellite imagery to map rice area in South 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal. Two optical data (IRS ID LISS III) and three RADARSAT SAR data of different dates were acquired during 2001. Multi-temporal SAR backscatter signatures of different landcovers were incorporated into knowledge based decision rules and kharif landcover map was generated. Based on the spectral variation in signature, the optical data acquired during rabi (January) and summer (March) season were classified using supervised maximum likelihood classifier. A co-incidence matrix was generated using logical approach for a combined “rabi-summer” and “kharif-rabi-summer” landcover mapping. The major landcovers obtained in South 24 Paraganas using remote sensing data are rice, water, aquaculture ponds, homestead, mangrove, and urban area. The classification accuracy of rice area was 98.2% using SAR data. However, while generating combined “kharif-rabi-summer” landcovers, the classification accuracy of rice area was improved from 81.6% (optical data) to 96.6% (combined SAR-Optical). The primary aim of the study is to achieve better accuracy in classifying rice area using the synergy between the two kinds of remotely sensed data.     

The ellipsoidal corrections to the topographic geoid effects

The topographic effects by Stokes formula are typically considered for a spherical approximation of sea level. For more precise determination of the geoid, sea level is better approximated by an ellipsoid, which justifies the consideration of the ellipsoidal corrections of topographic effects for improved geoid solutions. The aim of this study is to estimate the ellipsoidal effects of the combined topographic correction (direct plus indirect topographic effects) and the downward continuation effect. It is concluded that the ellipsoidal correction to the combined topographic effect on the geoid height is far less than 1 mm. On the contrary, the ellipsoidal correction to the effect of downward continuation of gravity anomaly to sea level may be significant at the 1-cm level in mountainous regions. Nevertheless, if Stokes formula is modified and the integration of gravity anomalies is limited to a cap of a few degrees radius around the computation point, nor this effect is likely to be significant.AcknowledgementsThe author is grateful for constructive remarks by J Ågren and the three reviewers.     

On the effect of thermal forcing on the global atmospheric angular momentum and the general circulation

The effect of latitudinal differential heating on the atmospheric general circulation is studied using a simple general circulation model driven by different heating rates. It is found that an increase in differential heating leads to a strengthening of the general circulation as characterized by an increase in global available potential energy, kinetic energy and atmospheric angular momentum. The strengthening of the circulation results in three circulation regimes characterized by different eddy activities. One is a zonally symmetric Hadley regime with no eddy activity while the other two are Rossby regimes dominated by eddies with intermediate and low wave numbers, respectively. Relative to other global indices, the global relative atmospheric angular momentum is superior in detecting the transition of circulation regimes. The regime changes in mid- and high-latitudes resemble the response of the atmosphere to large changes in Earths rotation rate.     

Calibration of Local Magnitude M<Subscript>L</Subscript> in the Azores Archipelago Based on Recent Digital Recordings

—The development of the digital seismic network in the Azores Archipelago during recent years made it possible to obtain the amplitudes (waveform) of recorded motion in a large set of stations. With this new data, maximum amplitudes of the Wood Anderson seismograph are computed, for each station/component, which, together with epicentral distances, allows for the estimation of local magnitude M _L . We used data recorded in 8 digital permanent three-component stations, with inter-stations distances up to 300 km, in the period June 1998 – June 2000, corresponding to a set of 1315 events with magnitude (M _L or M _D ) 2<M<5.8 and epicenters located in the Azores region, to estimate the coefficients of the equation to compute M _L , as well as to determine the corrections to be applied to each station. The new set of parameters, formed by attenuation coefficients and station corrections, were introduced in the calculations of the M _L , leading to smaller dispersions in the analyzed dataset. We also conclude that the attenuation in the first 150 km is similar to the California values, although higher for longer distances.