Red dust rain within the Spanish Mediterranean area

Dust rain belongs to the climatological conditions of the Iberian Peninsula's Mediterranean seaboard. Traditionally known as muddy' or bloody rains, red dust rain has become a topical issue as a result of more frequent rainfall of this kind in recent years. In spite of the difficulties that studying this phenomenon involves, owing to the lack of systematically kept records at meteorological observatories, details are provided of the high frequency of such phenomena within the Spanish Mediterranean area, using records from other phenological sources. The study analyzes the chemical composition of red dust rain and the atmospheric factors giving rise to such phenomena. Whether there is a relationship betwen the higher frequency of dust rain and possible changes in global atmospheric circulation is as yet unclear.     

Dynamics of the plasmasphere in the dusk sector as observed in the outer ionosphere

Summary Direct measurements of the thermal plasma parameters in the topside ionosphere reveal variations of the plasmasphere boundary in the dusk sector. The ACTIVE satellite's near-polar orbits at altitudes of 500 – 1800 km around winter solstice 1989 were used to study the bulge region of the plasmasphere during intervals with different levels of geomagnetic agitation. The narrow, sharply defined trough in electron concentration corresponding to the plasmapause under quiet conditions situated at L = 6 – 7 moved to lower L-values with increasing geomagnetic activity. This narrow trough can be found in all main ion constituents. During periods of moderate geomagnetic activity, following the onset of a weak magnetic storm, a portion of the plasmaspheric bulge region was separated from the main plasmaspheric body. This can be seen in the outer ionosphere as an inner narrow trough at lower L-value. Troughs in light ions need no longer coincide with this in electron concentration. He⁺ is the most sensitive constituent reflecting the dusk sector plasmaspheric situation at this altitude.Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Karel P     

Paleogeothermal gradient in the boskovice furrow

Summary A coalification data set from the first seam of the Rosice-Oslavany coal district in the Boskovice furrow was used to estimate the temperature gradient prevailing within the furrow during Autunian sedimentation. An appreciable scatter of the data reflects the complicated history of the sedimentary region. The northern part of the district displays a higher degree of coalification. The results of the evaluation suggest that the region ceased to subside in the upper Autunian, and that the extent of the post-Autunian erosion does not exceed 500 metres. This version of the burial history, which is consistent with geological data, yields a temperature paleogradient of 76 mK/m for the northern part and of 72 mK/m for the southern part of the district. The gradients estimated are higher than those prevailing during the Carboniferous sedimentation in the Central Bohemian Basin (45 – 53 mK/m), lower than values found for the Ostrava Formation in the Upper Silesian Basin during its Namurian A sedimentation (about 95 mK/m), but comparable with values evaluated for the Karviná Formation of the same basin deposited during the Namurian B - C and Westphalian A (60 – 77 mK/m).Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Karel P     

Behavioural-geographical aspects of environmental quality

The behavioural approach in human geography accentuates the view of quality of the environment through man and his value orientations. The quality of environment from the point of view of human experience raises behavioural-geographical questions that are the core of the presented topic. Aspects of environmental imaginations and sensations as well as human value system are presented as variables affecting the structure of the perceived environment and human spatial behaviour. In this context, the authors present results of two behavioural studies that correspond to new models of man and environment from the viewpoint of a behavioural approach. The suggested humanistic approach in behavioural geography emphasizes above all the emotional aspect of the relationship between man and environment, which through environmental values, spatial sensations, and meanings, leads to human spatial behaviour.     

Blind prediction of the site effects at Ashigara Valley,Japan, and its comparison with reality

Weak and strong ground motions were numerically predicted for three stations of the Ashigara Valley test site. The prediction was based on the records from a rock-outcrop station, one weak-motion record from a surface-sediments station, and the standard geotechnical model. The data were provided by the Japanese Working Group on the Effects of Surface Geology as a part of an international experiment. The finite-difference method for SH waves in a 2-D linear viscoelastic medium (a causalQ model) was employed.Comparison with the real records shows that at two stations the predictions fit better than at the third one. Strangely, the two better predictions were for stations situated at larger distances from the reference rock station (one station was on the surface, the other in a borehole). The strong ground motion (the peak acceleration of about 200 cm s^–2) was not predicted qualitatively worse than the weak motion (8 cm s^–2). A less sophisticated second prediction (not submitted during the experiment), in which we did not attempt to fit the available weak-motion record at the sedimentary station, agrees with the reality significantly better.     

Geomagnetic activity as a possible cause of changes in the middle atmosphere and troposphere; observations made in Prague in the years 1932–1987

Summary A possible relation between the 10-day, 1-month, and 2-month geomagnetic as well as solar activity, characterized by Kp and Wolf's number R, and temperatures measured at the Prague-Klementinum meteorological station in January–February of the years 1932–1987 was sought. It was found that:1) Kp correlates with the temperature in Prague better than Wolf's number R.2) If the QBO phase is taken into account, the correlations improve.3) Even if the correlations improves with increasing length of the subintervals into which the individual winter periods (January-February) were derived, their statistical significance declines.     

Some results of biogeographic research on meadows in the Dyje-Svratka basin in the Czech Republic

Some results of biogeographic research on meadows in the Dyje-Svratka basin in the Czech Republic. The paper shows one example of biogeographic inventory of natural ecosystems in an unflooded meadow in the Dyje-Svratka basin. It is part of the complex physio-geographic research of the Geographic Department of the Masaryk University in Brno aimed at gaining a basis for territorial interpretation of ecological regularities and territorial application of general ecological optimizing principles. A segment of biocenosis of Ulmi-fraxineta carpini has been analyzed (Zlatník 1956).The endeavour of Czech geographers to study geosystems of various dimensions completely gets in the limelight. In question is the understanding of mutual relationship of components of geosystems based on the exchange of mass and energy. There are two ways of studying them: spatial relations or approaches concentrated on processes. In contrast to the above unilateral concept, the endeavour to make the approaches compatible appears rarely. This complex view is made possible by geobiocenologically taken biogeography in papers of Zlatník and Rauer, their students and successors. This paper shows only one example of the results of biogeographic stock-taking of meadows in the Dyje-Svratka basin, indicating relations of eco- and geosystems which confirm the necessity of ecological orientation of the present biogeography and its potential contribution to ecology.     

Die Rheingrabenrandverwerfung im Wattkopftunnel bei Ettlingen (Nordschwarzwald)

The Wattkopftunnel, near Ettlingen (Nordschwarzwald), drives through the eastern margin of the Rheingraben. The tunnel passes cenozoic and mesozoic sediments. Early quarternary and tertiary beds are situated west of the main thrust of the Rheingraben. Fossil record indicates upper Oligocene age (Chatt) for parts of the tertiary sediments. At the eastern border of the Rheingraben, wedges of jurassic and middle triassic series are squeezed. East of the Rheingraben the tunnel drives in the lower triassic Bausandstein. The eastern margin of the Rheingraben was investigated in detail during tunneling. Faults of the Rheingraben margin are distributed in an 130 meter wide fault zone in the tunnel. Total stratigraphic separation by the normal faults reaches more than 2 000 meters. The cenozoic sequence suffered synsedimentary to early diagenetic deformation, while the mesozoic series are characterized by ruptural deformation. The fault- and joint system is directed in the rheinische Richtung (SSW-NNE). East of the Rheingraben a second direction occur, running parallel to the lower Albtal (W-E).

     

The role of bathymetry and directional wave conditions on observed crescentic bar dynamics

Nearshore sandbars are important features in the surf zone of many beaches because they strongly influence the mean circulation and evolving morphology. Due to variations in wave conditions, sandbars can experience cross-shore migration and vary in shape from alongshore uniform (shore-parallel) to alongshore rhythmic (crescentic). Sandbar dynamics have been studied extensively, but existing observational studies usually do not quantify the processes leading to crescentic bar formation and straightening. This study analyses the dynamics of crescentic bar events at the fetch-limited beach of Castelldefels (northwestern Mediterranean Sea, Spain) using 7.5 years of hourly time-exposure video images and detailed wave conditions. The results show that, despite the generally calm wave conditions, the sandbars were very dynamic in the cross-shore and longshore directions. They often migrated rapidly offshore during storms (up to 70 m in one day) and more slowly onshore during post-storm conditions. Crescentic bars were often present at the study site (48% of the time), but only when the sandbar was at least 10 m from the shoreline. They displayed a large variability in wavelengths (100–700 m), alongshore migration speeds (0–50 m/day) and cross-shore amplitudes (5–20 m). Wavelengths increased for larger bar–shoreline distances and the alongshore migration speeds were strongly correlated with the alongshore component of the radiation stresses. Crescentic patterns typically developed during low–medium energetic waves with limited obliquity ( $\theta \lesssim 20$° at 10 m depth), while bar straightening occurred during medium–high energetic waves with strong oblique angles of incidence ( $\theta \gtrsim 15$°). Overall, this study provides further proof for the important role of wave direction in crescentic bar dynamics and highlights the strong dependence of crescentic bar development on the initial bathymetric configuration.     

A calibration system for superconducting gravimeters

A new method for the calibration of a superconducting gravity meter is described, in which a 273 Kg annular mass is placed around the meter and is moved up and down. The geometry of the apparatus is easy to model and the accuracy in the computation of the gravity variation induced by the mass, 6.7µgal, is limited only by the accuracy in the knowledge of value of the gravitational constant. Measurements done in 91 and 92 for the calibration of the instrument GWR-T015 are described. The calibration factor has been determined with a precision of about 0.3%.