Uncertainty estimation of pathlines in ground water models

A method is proposed to estimate the uncertainty of the location of pathlines in two-dimensional, steady-state confined or unconfined flow in aquifers due to the uncertainty of the spatially variable unconditional hydraulic conductivity or transmissivity field. The method is based on concepts of the semianalytical first-order theory given in Stauffer et al. (2002, 2004), which allows estimates of the lateral second moment (variance) of the location of a moving particle. However, this method is reformulated in order to account for nonuniform recharge and nonuniform aquifer thickness. One prominent application is the uncertainty estimation of the catchment of a pumping well by considering the boundary pathlines starting at a stagnation point. In this method, the advective transport of particles is considered, based on the velocity field. In the case of a well catchment, backtracking is applied by using the reversed velocity field. Spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity or transmissivity is considered by taking into account an isotropic exponential covariance function of log-transformed values with parameters describing the variance and correlation length. The method allows postprocessing of results from ground water models with respect to uncertainty estimation. The code PPPath, which was developed for this purpose, provides a postprocessing of pathline computations under PMWIN, which is based on MODFLOW. In order to test the methodology, it was applied to results from Monte Carlo simulations for catchments of pumping wells. The results correspond well. Practical applications illustrate the use of the method in aquifers.     

Laboratory experiments on three-dimensional deformable granular landslides on planar and conical slopes

Landslides of subaerial and submarine origin may generate tsunamis with locally extreme amplitudes and runup. While the landslides themselves are dangerous, the hazards are compounded by the generation of tsunamis along coastlines, in enclosed water bodies, and off continental shelves and islands. Tsunamis generated by three-dimensional deformable granular landslides were studied on planar and conical hill slopes in the three-dimensional NEES tsunami wave basin at Oregon State University based on the generalized Froude similarity. A unique pneumatic landslide tsunami generator (LTG) was deployed to control the kinematics and acceleration of the naturally rounded river gravel and cobble landslides to simulate broad ranges of landslide shapes and velocities along the slope. Lateral and overhead cameras are used to measure the landslide shapes and kinematics, while acoustic transducers provide the shape of the subaqueous deposits. The subaerial landslide shape is extracted from the camera images as the landslide propagates under gravity down the hill slope, and surface reconstruction of the landslide is conducted using the stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) system on the conical hill slope. Subaerial landslide surface velocities are measured with a planar PIV system on the planar hill slope and stereo PIV system on the conical hill slope. The submarine deposits are characterized by the runout distances and the deposit thickness distributions. Larger cobbles are observed producing hummock type features near the maximum runout length. These unique laboratory landslide experiments serve to validate deformable landslide models as well as provide the source characteristics for tsunami generation.     

III. Tektonik Die saxonische Tektonik im Bilde Europas

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

2001年1月26日高纬磁层顶通量管事件的观测研究--空间电流密度计算及分析

讨论了三种根据Cluster Ⅱ四颗卫星的磁场测量数据计算空间电流的方法及其误差,论证了这几种方法的内在一致性,并得到了完全相同的计算结果. 进而依据Cluster Ⅱ 磁场探测资料,计算了2001年1月26日多重磁通量管和FTE事件中高纬磁层顶边界层和磁鞘区的电流密度. 结果表明,磁通量管内电流密度较大,可达到约10-8A/m2;计算精度较高,结果可靠. 本文还应用最小方差分析法（MVA）,发现电流方向与通量管的轴向基本一致;论证了电流MVA分析在研究通量管性质时的作用,同时提出了电流管的概念.     

Hydrographische Untersuchungen in der Brackwasserzone der Elbe

Zusammenfassung An Hand des reichhaltigen Materials an Strömungs- und Salzgehaltsmessungen des Wasser- und Schiffahrtsamtes Cuxhaven wird die Brackwasserzone im Mündungsgebiet der Elbe festgelegt und die Verschiebung ihres Schwerpunktes flußabwärts während der letzten Jahrzehnte nachgewiesen. Die qualitativen Eigenschaften im Mündungsgebiet eines Tideflusses werden untersucht; auf die Schwierigkeiten der Salzgehaltsmessung im Brackwasser wird eingegangen. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist der Reichtum der Brackwasserzone an Kolloiden und der hiermit im Zusammenhang stehende Schlickfall in den Häfen und auf den Untiefen dieses Gebietes. Der Mischungsvorgang des salzreichen Seewassers mit dem Flußwasser der Elbe in seiner Abhängigkeit von den Gezeitenströmen wird verfolgt. Für den Gang des Salzgehaltes an der Oberfläche mit der Tide wird eine charakteristische Kurve gefunden, die nicht nur für die Elbe, sondern für die Gezeitenflüsse überhaupt typisch zu sein scheint.

---

Hydrographic studies of the zone of brackish water in the estuary of the Elbe river

Summary With the aid of a rich material of measurements of tidal currents and salinity observations from the Wasser- und Schiffahrtsamt Cuxhaven, the author determines the zone of brackish water in the estuary of the Elbe river and proves that its centre has been displaced downstream during the recent decades. The qualitative features of the estuary of a river are investigated; the difficulties encountered in determining the salinity of brackish water are discussed. The abundance in colloids in brackish water is of special importance, giving rise to increased precipitation of mud particles in the ports and on the shoals of the area in question. The mixing process of the saltwater with the fresh water of the Elbe river as depending on the tidal streams is pursued. A curve is found which is characteristic of the variations in surface salinity under the influence of tides; this curve seems to be typical not only of the Elbe estuary but also of other tidal rivers.

---

Études hydrographiques de la région de l'eau saumâtre dans l'estuaire de l'Elbe

Résumé À l'aide d'un grand nombre de mesures de courants et d'observations de salinité du Wasser- und Schiffahrtsamt Cuxhaven l'auteur précise la région de l'eau saumâtre dans l'embouchure de l'Elbe et prouve que son centre s'est déplacé en aval pendant les dernières dizaines d'années. Les caractéristiques qualitatives rencontrées dans l'estuaire d'un fleuve sont examinées et les difficultés que l'on rencontre en déterminant la salinité de l'eau saumâtre sont exposées. La richesse en colloides de la zone saumâtre est d'une grande importance parce qu'elledonne lieu à la précipitation plus intensive des particules vaseuses dans les ports et sur les bas-fonds de cette région. Les procès de mélange de l'eau salée avec l'eau douce de l'Elbe sous l'influence des courants de marée sont poursuivis. Une courbe caractéristique est dessinée qui montre les variations de la salinité à la surface causées par les marées; elle semble être typique non seulement pour l'estuaire de l'Elbe mais encore pour d'autres fleuves à mareé.

     

Coupling of a Column System with ICP‐MS for the Characterisation of Colloid‐mediated Metal(loid) Transport in Porous Media

In this work a coupling method for the characterisation of colloid‐mediated transport of the metal(loid) species in porous media was developed. For this transport experiments quartz sand was used as column packing material and the synthetic three‐layer clay mineral laponite as model colloid. The determination of colloids was conducted by means of UV detection. The quantification of the metal(loid) ions was carried out in two different ways: (1) The fractions collected at the column outlet were analysed with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP‐MS) (offline measurements); (2) the column system was directly coupled with ICP‐MS (online measurements). In the column experiments the influence of laponite colloids on the transport of Cu, Pb, Zn, Pt and As species was investigated. In the offline experiments as a consequence of dilution during sample preparation no metal(loid) species at the column outlet could be found. Unlike this the breakthrough of all metal(loid)s could be detected under the same experimental column conditions in the coupling experiments. This coupling technique offers the online detection of the metal species and colloidal particles with high resolution even at low concentrations and without any time‐consuming preparation. The coupling experiments have shown that the laponite particles accelerate the transport of the cationic metals. For anionic metal(loid) species no influence of laponite on their transport behaviour was found.     

Microcrystals of Th-rich monazite (La) with a negative Ce anomaly in metadiorite and their role for documenting Cretaceous metamorphism in the Slavonian Mountains (Croatia)

Microcrystals (1–15 μm) of unusual monazite (La) with 41–47 mol% cheralite [ThCa(PO₄)₂] component and a strong negative Ce anomaly are described from a metadiorite from the SW Slavonian Mountains, Psunj, Croatia. The dioritic host rock still shows a relictic igneous fabric on macroscopic scale. However, metamorphic reaction textures can be recognized in thin section. These include partial recrystallization of igneous plagioclase to albite coupled with the formation of epidote. Furthermore, partial replacement of igneous hornblende by a fine-grained orthoamphibole-chamosite-epidote paragenesis can be observed and replacement of ilmenite by titanite. The compositions of the metamorphic minerals indicate upper greenschist facies conditions (460–500 °C according to two-feldspar geothermometry) under a high oxygen fugacity. Microstructures show that the monazite crystals belong to the metamorphic paragenesis and formed at the expense of magmatic allanite. Their negative Ce anomalies reflect the oxidizing conditions of metamorphism. Application of the xenotime in monazite solvus geothermometer provides unrealistically high temperatures of ~500–660 °C which disagree with the greenschist facies metamorphic paragenesis. We interpret that the presence of cheralite has a profound effect on the nature of the monazite-xenotime solvus curve and hence the existing calibrations of this geothermometer may be generally unsuitable for cheralite-rich monazite. An important geological result is that the Th-U-total Pb ages of the monazite grains are uniformingly Upper Cretaceous. Our data thus suggest that the imprint of the Alpine orogeny on the Slavonian Mountains was stronger than presumed until now.