A test of classification and regionalisation of Danish watercourses

A classification of watercourses proposed by Hasholt 1999 has been tested in Denmark using data from detailed field investigations from 42 watercourses and their surrounding area. Three types of landscapes are included: the moraine landscape from the Weichselian glaciation, the moraine landscape from the Saalian glaciation and the outwash plains. The performance of the classification in separating types of watercourses is discussed and modifications are suggested.     

A new map of the Mitdluagkat glacier—a preliminary report

Hasholt, Bent: A new map of the Mitdluagkat glacier—a preliminary report. Geografisk Tidsskrift 87: 19–21, Copenhagen June 1987.

A new map covering the whole Mitdluagkat Glacier has been elaborated. The map is based on air photos from Geodetic Institute in scale 1:150,000 taken July 30, 1981. The scale of the new map is 1:20,000 with 10-m contour intervals. Preliminary field tests indicate that the map is so accurate that it might be used for comparative studies of long-term variations in mass balance of the glacier.     

Quaternary stratigraphy of the fladen area,central North Sea: A multidisciplinary study

Based on detailed stratigraphic investigations on a 200.6m long core (BGS borehole No. 81/26) from the Fladen Ground area (British sector), core material from the Sleipner field (Norwegian sector) and shallow seismic profiles between the core-sites, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) The North Sea was glaciated sometime during th elaterpart of Matuyama reversed period. A complete glacial-interglacial-glacial cycle is recorded in these sediments. (2) In a period of marine sedimentation in the Middle Pleistocene, a transgression-regression cycle under boreal-arctic regime is recorded. (3) The Fladen area has subsided between 0.9 and 0.6 m/ka through the later parts of the Quaternary (4) A major glacial event dated at between 130 and 200 ka is recorded as a thick till unit in 81/26. This till, which was deposited by ice moving from the southwest (Scotland), probably represents a period when the Scandinavian and British ice sheets coalesced in the North Sea. (5) Based on the seismic data and the stratigraphy of the Sleipner core, an ice-free, open embayment/dry land is favoured for the central North Sea during the Late Weichselian. (6) From the amino-acid data, it is shown that there has been an episodic style of sedimentation through the Quaternary. (7) of the investigated sediments (which span the last 1 mill. year) ca 98% have been deposited under arctic to boreal-arctic conditions.     

O-Sr isotopic variations in Miocene granitoids from the Aegean: evidence for an origin by combined assimilation and fractional crystallization

Sr, O, and D/H isotopic compositions have been analyzed in Miocene metaluminous to slightly peraluminous (I-type) granitoids of the central Aegean. Individual plutonic complexes display significant variations in their ¹⁸O and initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr compositions.D and ¹⁸O compositions of minerals and whole-rocks are mostly in the magmatic range. Some samples from Naxos and Mykonos/Delos show low D and ¹⁸O values characteristic of meteoric-water-hydrothermal interaction, but as a whole the changes in ¹⁸O and Sr isotopic compositions as a result of hydrothermal alteration were slight, even in instances where marked alteration is petrographically observable. Consequently, the bulk-rock variations of ¹⁸O from 8.1 to 12.0 and of⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr from 0.70438 to 0.71450 may be regarded as primary and indicative of the conditions of their evolution. Heterogeneous isotopic compositions observed in the individual plutons of Serifos, Ikaria, Samos and Kos may be caused by the multiple intrusion of chemically and isotopically distinct magma pulses, with high viscosities and relatively rapid consolidation in most cases preventing complete homogenization. The granitoids of Serifos, Ikaria and Kos display weak correlations between the initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁸O and 1/Sr. The granitoid province shows a positive correlation between⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁸O and a non-linear relationship between⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and 1/Sr, whereby 1/Sr increases more rapidly than the isotopic ratio as the degree of fractionation of the rocks increases. It is argued that assimilation of older continental material by mantle-derived arc magmas with combined fractionation (AFC) is the most plausible model to explain the chemical and isotopic characteristics of the granitoids and the geological situation in which rock-types trend from granodiorites in the (south)west, near the inferred Oligocene-Miocene suture, to granites in the center and monzonites in the (north)east of the province.     

Acidic compounds in biodegraded petroleum

Twelve oil samples have been characterised by titration, FT-IR and chromatographic analysis to determine the differences between the organic acid composition of biodegraded and non-biodegraded oils. The biodegraded oils have higher total acid and total base contents, both by titration and extraction. The molecular weight ranges of the extracted acids are lowest in the biodegraded oils, and the equivalent weight calculations indicate a dominance of multi-functional molecules. Gel permeation chromatography gives a molecular weight range with most of the molecules between 300 and 500 g/mol. FT-IR shows that the extracted acids from biodegraded oils are more carboxylic and aliphatic while the non-degraded oils are more phenolic. Molecular analysis of the derivatised extracts give UCM envelopes for biodegraded oils, and no molecular identification. The results indicate that the acidic constituents in biodegraded oils are a product of the biodegradation, as the composition is very different from the non-biodegraded oils.     

87Sr/86Sr ratio: a natural tracer to monitor groundwater flow paths during artificial recharge in the Bangkok area, Thailand

The aquifer system in the Thon Buri sedimentary basin below the deltaic flood plain of the Chao Phraya River, central Thailand, has been exploited for public water supply for the capital Bangkok since the early 1920s. Groundwater withdrawal, currently 1.4 million m³/d, has resulted in a maximum decline in hydraulic head of up to 40 m. This has induced land subsidence of as much as 1.7 m (1940–1992) in the eastern suburbs of the metropolis. Artificial injection of purified water within an area-wide network of recharge wells could constitute a remedy to slow the water level depression within the sedimentary basin, and thus the subsidence. This requires a prior shutdown of water withdrawal. The flow paths of the injected water can be traced by changes in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of the groundwater and injected water mixture within the three main aquifers in the basin that are used for public supply. The ratios, monitored at five monitoring stations within the cone of depression, have been constant over 3 years. Injection of the calculated cone volume of 5.2?×?10⁹ m³ would take at least 10 years, depending on the injection pressure and the number and position of wells.     

3D free‐boundary conditions for coordinate‐transform finite‐difference seismic modelling

New alternative formulations of exact boundary conditions for arbitrary three-dimensional (3D) free-surface topographies on seismic media have been derived. They are shown to be equivalent to previously published formulations, thereby verifying the validity of each set of formulations. The top of a curved grid represents the free-surface topography while the interior of the grid represents the physical medium. We assume the velocity–stress version of the viscoelastic wave equations to be valid in this grid before transforming the equations to a rectangular grid. In order to perform the numerical discretization we apply the latter version of the equations for seismic wave propagation simulation in the medium. The numerical discretization of the free-surface topography boundary conditions by second-order finite differences (FDs) is shown, as well as the spatially unconditional stability of the resulting system of equations. The FD order is increased by two for each point away from the free surface up to eight, which is the order used in the interior. We use staggered grids in both space and time and the second-order leap-frog and Crank– Nicholson methods for wavefield time propagation. An application using parameters typical of teleseismic earthquakes and explosions is presented using a 200 × 100 km² area of real topography from southwestern Norway over a homogeneous medium. A dipping plane wave simulates a teleseismic P-wave incident on the surface topography. Results show conversion from P- to Rg- (short period fundamental mode Rayleigh) waves in the steepest and/or roughest topography, as well as attenuated waves in valleys and fjords. The codes are parallelized for simulation on fast supercomputers and PC-clusters to model high frequencies and/or large areas.     

Breaking the impasse: towards a new regime for international climate governance

The reality of the current international order makes it imperative that a just and effective climate regime should balance the historical responsibility of developed countries with the increasing absolute emissions from many developing nations. The key pillars are briefly proposed for a new international climate architecture that envisions replacing the current annex system with two new annexes: Annex α, for countries with high current emissions and historically high emissions, and Annex β, for countries with high current emissions and historically low emissions. Countries in both annexes would implement legally binding targets under this framework. Additionally, this proposal includes alterations and revisions to funding and technology transfer mechanisms to correct for weaknesses and inequities under the current Kyoto architecture. The proposed framework stems from a belief that a top-down, international approach to climate policy remains the most effective for ensuring environmental integrity. Given the slow rate of institutional learning, the reform and improvement of the current system is held as a more efficient course of action than abandoning the progress already achieved. It is argued that the proposed framework could effectively accommodate key equity, environmental integrity, and political feasibility concerns.     

The Erbisberg drilling 2011: Implications for the structure and postimpact evolution of the inner ring of the Ries impact crater

The 26 km diameter Nördlinger Ries is a complex impact structure with a ring structure that resembles a peak ring. A first research drilling through this “inner crystalline ring” of the Ries was performed at the Erbisberg hill (SW Ries) to better understand the internal structure and lithology of this feature, and possibly reveal impact‐induced hydrothermal alteration. The drill core intersected the slope of a 22 m thick postimpact travertine mound, before entering 42 m of blocks and breccias of crystalline rocks excavated from the Variscan basement at >500 m depth. Weakly shocked gneiss blocks that show that shock pressure did not exceed 5 GPa occur above polymict lithic breccias of shock stage Ia (10–20 GPa), with planar fractures and planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz. Only a narrow zone at 49.20–50.00 m core depth exhibits strong mosaicism in feldspar and {102} PDFs in quartz, which are indicative of shock stage Ib (20–35 GPa). Finally, 2 m of brecciated Keuper sediments at the base of the section point to an inverse layering of strata. While reverse grading of clast sizes in lithic breccias and gneiss blocks is consistent with lateral transport, the absence of diaplectic glass and melt products argues against dynamic overthrusting of material from a collapsing central peak, as seen in the much larger Chicxulub structure. Indeed, weakly shocked gneiss blocks are rather of local provenance (i.e., the transient crater wall), whereas moderately shocked polymict lithic breccias with geochemical composition and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signature similar to Ries suevite were derived from a position closer to the impact center. Thus, the inner ring of the Ries is formed by moderately shocked polymict lithic breccias likely injected into the transient crater wall during the excavation stage and weakly shocked gneiss blocks of the collapsing transient crater wall that were emplaced during the modification stage. While the presence of an overturned flap is not evident from the Erbisberg drilling, a survey of all drillings at or near the inner ring point to inverted strata throughout its outer limb. Whether the central ring of the Ries represents remains of a collapsed central peak remains to be shown. Postimpact hydrothermal alteration along the Erbisberg section comprises chloritization, sulfide veinlets, and strong carbonatization. In addition, a narrow zone in the lower parts of the polymict lithic breccia sequence shows a positive Eu anomaly in its carbonate phase. The surface expression of this hydrothermal activity, i.e., the travertine mound, comprises subaerial as well as subaquatic growth phases. Intercalated lake sediments equivalent to the early parts of the evolution of the central crater basin succession confirm a persistent impact‐generated hydrothermal activity, although for less time than previously suggested.