Sulfatreduzierende Bakterien in Schwefel- und Grulbenwässern Deutschlands und Österreichs

The sulphate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio desulfuricans have been identified in 25 different samples from diverse German and Austrian sulphur springs as well as in 42 samples of connate water from the Carboniferous of the Ruhr basin. From 33 of these samples, the bacteria were cultivated and tests were conducted to establish their tolerances to the salt content, pH and temperature. Further studies demonstrated a considerable tolerance for certain metal ions. The ecological conditions of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans are described and their importance in the diagenesis of connate water and the genesis of the sulphur springs is pointed out.

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Wir danken den Herren Markscheidern der erwähnten Gruben und den zuständigen Herren der Bäderverwaltungen für Unterstützung bei der Probenahme, Herrn Universitäts-Professor Dr. F. Scheminzky, Innsbruck, für die Überlassung von Unterlagen über Geologie und Chemismus der österreichischen Schwefelquellen sowie Herrn Professor Dr. W. von Engelhardt, dem Direktor des Mineralogisch-Petrographischen Instituts der Universität Tübingen, für förderndes Interesse an dieser Arbeit. Die Entnahme der Proben erfolgte im Rahmen der von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft unterstützten Schwefelisotopenuntersuchungen an Schwefelquellen Deutschlands und Österreichs.     

Die physikalische und chemische Erforschung der Donau

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Surface-active substances on rainwater and atmospheric particles

The surface tension lowering by surface-active substances has been measured on rainwater, melted snow, and dispersions of atmospheric particles in water, with a film balance and a tensiometer. The precipitation water was sampled during 1979, 1980, and 1981 in the city of Frankfurt/Main. From measurements with the film balance technique, normalized concentrations of insoluble and weakly soluble surface-active substances have been estimated. Soluble surface-active substances were determined from measurements with a tensiometer. It was found that the normalized concentration of theinsoluble and weakly soluble surface-active material on rainwater or melted snow shows a maximum during late spring of about 2.5 · 10⁻⁷ moles/l and a minimum during wintertime of about 5 · 10⁻⁸ moles/l. These concentrations are too low to influence significantly the condensation of water vapour on cloud droplets or the evaporation of water from them. Thesoluble surface-active material on rainwater or melted snow was found to have concentrations of the order of 2 · 10⁻⁶ moles/l. These concentrations are also too small to have a significant influence on cloud physical processes.     

Ohne Fallgewicht arbeitender Fernauslöser

A device is described which can be used where working equipment has to be instantly activated (i.e. without time delay) under water. The latch with an adjustable spring, on which the instrument is fastened, can be released by jerking on the supporting cable or by suddenly stopping the lowering motion, thereby instantly activating the working equipment.      

Alfred Wegener,from research in Greenland to plate tectonics

GeoJournal - The life of the most famous German Polar researcher is described. The investigations during his four journeys to Greenland are considered in detail. Through his hypothesis concerning...     

Shock effects in MgAl2O4-spinel

Shock recovery experiments on synthetic MgAl₂O₄-spinel samples in the pressure range 25.5 to 50.5 GPa have been performed in order to examine the effects of shock waves on this material. The shocked samples were subsequently studied in the transmission electron microscope. All samples showed shock-induced dislocations with the Burgers vector 1/2 〈110〉 and twin lamellae of the twin-law {111}. In addition, samples, which had experienced the higher pressures, showed lamellar areas of a crystalline phase that we have not yet been able fully to characterize. It is probably not ε-MgAl₂O₄.     

Lower Rotliegend fluvio-lacustrine sequences in the Saar-Nahe Basin

The Rotliegend beds of the middle of the Kusel Group to the middle of the Lebach Group in the Saar-Nahe Basin are characterized by sedimentary sequences which developed in streams, deltas, and lakes. The stream sequences consisting of cross-stratified sandstone units are attributed to braided fluvial environment. The lake-delta sequences usually show gradual transition from lacustrine mudstones to delta-front cross-stratified sandstones and to floodbasin, crevasse and overbank sandstones and mudstones. Loaded high-intensity flows occasionally result in deformation- and erosion-structures. Low-energy lacustrine sedimentation is evident from paper-shales and massive mudstones. The mudstones alternate with cross-laminated sandstones where influenced by terrigenous influx.     

Characterization of sediments in an abandoned mining area; a case study of Mansfeld region,Germany

The distribution of selected heavy metals, including some radionuclides, metalloids and non-metals was determined in stream sediments in a region influenced by abandoned copper mining and ore processing activities. A considerable amount of the ore processing waste with a very complex composition and highly elevated concentrations of zinc, sulfur, lead, copper, arsenic, and a lot of other elements in the range between 100 and 1,000 mg/kg (Sb, Mn, Ni, Cr, Cd, Hg, and Ag) was piled up on mine dumps. The dispersion of the pollutants originating from this source and their environmental impact were investigated. Both, sediments and original waste material were studied to indicate the pathways and the mobilization behavior of different pollutants. For this purpose, the process of the elution of pollutants by application of different fractionation schemes was studied. The capabilities of different analytical techniques are shown for the analysis of solid samples (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Gamma-spectrometry) and liquid ones (ICP-atomic emission spectrometry, ICP-mass spectrometry and different techniques of atomic absorption). Additionally, the coupling of ion chromatography and ICP-MS detection was used to study the distribution of arsenic species in the sediment cores of a lake which acts as a natural sink for the region.     

South foehn in the Wipp Valley – Innsbruck region: Numerical simulations of the 24 October 1999 case (MAP-IOP 10)

Summary Numerical simulations of the 24 October 1999 south foehn (MAP-IOP 10) are performed with the Penn State/NCAR mesoscale model MM5 for the Wipp Valley and the adjacent parts of the Inn Valley. The model is run in a multiple-nest configuration, the area of interest being resolved at a mesh size of 800m in most experiments. The study serves to complement an earlier work in which typical flow features of the foehn in the Wipp Valley region were investigated by means of idealized simulations, assessing whether it is possible to reproduce the temporal evolution and the spatial structure of a particular foehn case. A further objective of the paper is to examine the dependence of the model performance on the horizontal resolution, giving some information which resolution will probably be needed for future high-resolution forecasts.An encouragingly large part of the observed flow features could be well reproduced in the simulations. Except for a small region to the east of Innsbruck, the foehn breakthrough is predicted correctly to within an hour. The spatial structure of the so-called pre-foehn, an enhanced westerly wind occurring at Innsbruck prior to the breakthrough of the foehn, also agrees very well with the observations. Moreover, the maximum extent of the foehn in the Inn Valley, the structure of the gravity wave field above the Wipp Valley and the upvalley progression of a shallow cold front in the evening are consistent with the observations. Except for a few places where the airmass boundary between the warm foehn air and the adjacent colder air is not captured correctly throughout the time, the simulated surface temperatures range within 2K of the observed values. Discrepancies between the model results and the observations are found in the vicinity of Innsbruck where a flow-splitting phenomenon induces a very complex flow pattern at low levels. Another source of problems is the surface potential temperature along the Wipp Valley. The observed potential-temperature increase between the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck, which appears to be related to turbulent vertical mixing of stably stratified air, is underestimated by the model. Reducing the horizontal resolution from 800m to 1.4km deteriorates the model performance in marginally resolved side valleys, but the results obtained for the Wipp Valley and the Inn Valley are still of high quality.