Die Altersfolge der primär ausgeschiedenen sulfidischen Mineralien in den oberschlesischen Zink- und Bleierzlagerstätten und die Bedeutung der Altersfolge der primär ausgeschiedenen Mineralien der Erzlagerstätten überhaupt

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Subterranean microorganisms and radioactive waste disposal in Sweden

In 1987, microbiology became a part of the Swedish scientific program for the safe disposal of high level nuclear waste (HLW). The goal of the microbiology program is to understand how subterranean microorganisms will interact with the performance of a future HLW repository. The Swedish research program on subterranean microbiology has mainly been performed at two sites in granitic rock aquifers at depths ranging from 70 m down to 1240 m, the Stripa research mine in the middle of Sweden and the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) situated on the south eastern coast of Sweden. Some work has also been performed in cooperation with other national or international research groups in Sweden, Canada and at the natural analogue sites Oklo in Gabon and Maqarin in Jordan. The following conclusions are drawn. There is a very high probability of the existence of a deep subterranean biosphere in granitic rock. The documented presence of a deep biosphere implies that relevant microbial reactions should be included in the performance assessment for a HLW repository. A HLW repository will be situated in a subterranean biosphere that is independent of solar energy and photosynthetically produced organic carbon. The ultimate limitation for an active microbial life will be the availability of hydrogen as energy source over time, and hydrogen has indeed been found in most deep groundwaters. Sulphide producing microorganisms are active in environments typical for a Swedish HLW repository, and the potential for microbial corrosion of the copper canisters must be considered. The bentonite buffer around the copper canisters will be a hostile environment for most microbes due to the combination of radiation, heat and low water availability. Discrete microbial species can cope with each of these constraints, and it is theoretically possible that sulphide producing microbes may be active inside a buffer, although the experiments conducted thus far have shown the opposite. Microorganisms have the capability to enzymatically recombine radiolysis oxidants formed by radiation of water. It has earlier been concluded that the migration of radionuclides due to sorption on microorganisms can be neglected. The influence of microbially produced complexing agents remains to be studied at realistic conditions in deep groundwater. Microorganisms have been found in natural alkaline groundwaters, but it could not be conclusively demonstrated that they were in situ viable and growing, rather than just transported there from neutral groundwater. A possible hypothesis based on the obtained results from investigations of natural alkaline groundwaters is that fresh concrete may be a bit too extreme for active life even for the most adaptable microbe – but this remains to be demonstrated.     

The Wadden Sea in transition - consequences of sea level rise

The impact of sea level rise (SLR) on the future morphological development of the Wadden Sea (North Sea) is investigated by means of extensive process-resolving numerical simulations. A new sediment and morphodynamic module was implemented in the well-established 3D circulation model GETM. A number of different validations are presented, ranging from an idealized 1D channel over a semi-idealized 2D Wadden Sea basin to a fully coupled realistic 40-year hindcast without morphological amplification of the Sylt-Rømøbight, a semi-enclosed subsystem of the Wadden Sea. Based on the results of the hindcast, four distinct future scenarios covering the period 2010–2100 are simulated. While these scenarios differ in the strength of SLR and wind forcing, they also account for an expected increase of tidal range over the coming century. The results of the future projections indicate a transition from a tidal-flat-dominated system toward a lagoon-like system, in which large fractions of the Sylt-Rømøbight will remain permanently covered by water. This has potentially dramatic implications for the unique ecosystem of the Wadden Sea. Although the simulations also predict an increased accumulation of sediment in the back-barrier basin, this accumulation is far too weak to compensate for the rise in mean sea level.     

A note on ocean surface drift with application to surface velocities measured with HF Radar

The ocean drift current consists of a (local) pure drift current generated by the interaction of wind and waves at the sea surface, to which the surface geostrophic current is added vectorially. We present (a) a similarity solution for the wave boundary layer (which has been validated through the prediction of the 10-m drag law), from which the component of pure drift current along the direction of the wind (and hence the speed factor) can be evaluated from the 10-m wind speed and the peak wave period, and (b) a similarity solution for the Ekman layers of the two fluids, which shows that under steady-state neutral conditions the pure drift current lies along the direction of the geostrophic wind, and has a magnitude 0.034 that of the geostrophic wind speed. The co-existence of these two similarity solutions indicates that the frictional properties of the coupled air-sea system are easily evaluated functions of the 10-m wind speed and the peak wave period, and also leads to a simple expression for the angle of deflection of the pure drift current to the 10 m wind. The analysis provides a dynamical model for global ocean drift on monthly and annual time scales for which the steady-state neutral model is a good approximation. In particular, the theoretical results appear to be able to successfully predict the mean surface drift measured by HF Radar, which at present is the best technique for studying the near surface velocity profile.     

Polar organic micropollutants in the coastal environment of different marine systems

Polar anthropogenic organic micropollutants are frequently detected in freshwater and discharged on large scale into marine systems. In this work the results of 153 samples collected from the shorelines of the Baltic Sea (Germany), Northern Adriatic Sea (Italy), Aegean Sea and Dardanelles (Greece & Turkey), San Francisco Bay (USA), Pacific Ocean (USA), Mediterranean Sea (Israel), and Balearic Sea (Spain) are presented. The samples were analyzed for various classes of micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors, biocides, and stimulants. Caffeine, paraxanthine, theobromine, tolyltriazole, 1H-benzotriazole, and atrazine were detected in >50% of all samples. The detection frequencies of carbamazepine, iopamidol, diuron, sulfamethoxazole, paracetamol, theophylline, and atenolol were between 20% and 32%. As caffeine is linked to untreated wastewater, the widespread occurrence of raw sewage in marine environments and thus potentially elevated nutrient concentrations and risk for the presence of wastewater-related pathogens is remarkable.     

On the variability of the Charnock constant and the functional dependence of the drag coefficient on wind speed: Part II-Observations

An analytical expression for the 10 m drag law in terms of the 10 m wind speed at the maximum in the 10 m drag coefficient, and the Charnock constant is presented, which is based on the results obtained from a model of the air-sea interface derived in Bye et al. (2010). This drag law is almost independent of wave age and over the mid-range of wind speeds (5?17 ms^?1) is very similar to the drag law based on observed data presented in Foreman and Emeis (2010). The linear fit of the observed data which incorporates a constant into the traditional definition of the drag coefficient is shown to arise to first-order as a consequence of the momentum exchange across the air-sea boundary layer brought about by wave generation and spray production which are explicitly represented in the theoretical model.     

Transfer functions simulating the coprecipitation of trace elements in unsaturated soils

Transfer functions describing the coprecipitation of various trace elements (TE; As, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn), precipitating with iron(oxihydr)oxides from an aqueous solution, were developed and implemented in the computer model ‘Seeper’. ‘Seeper’ was developed to predict the progression of the concentrations of inorganic pollutants in unsaturated soils underneath contaminated areas and to evaluate the prospective contamination of the groundwater. Transfer functions provide a straight and simple relation between the coprecipitation of TE and easy to obtain standard soil parameters, without excessive repercussions on the usability and computation time of the model. Laboratory experiments were conducted to quantify coprecipitation in solutions with pH values ranging from 5 to 12 and containing various iron and TE concentrations. For the examined TE, the transfer functions describe the coprecipitated fraction as a function of the pH value and the concentration ratio between precipitated iron and a TE. The transfer functions yielded a good prediction of cadmium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc (R ² from 0.73 to 0.83). As for arsenic, chromium, and lead the correlation was not as good albeit a significant influence of precipitating iron on the mobility of these elements was observed and represented in the corresponding transfer functions.     

Remote and local forcing of a coastal lagoon: The Virginia Coast Reserve

The effects of local and remote wind forcing of water level heights in the Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) are examined in order to determine the significant forces governing estuarine motions over subtidal time scales. Recent (1996–2008) data from tide and wind stations in the lagoon, a tide station to the north at Sandy Hook, NJ, and one offshore wind station at the Chesapeake Light Tower are examined. Sea surface height spectrum calculations reveal significant diurnal and semidiurnal tidal effects along with subtidal variations, but a suppressed inertial signal. Sea-surface heights (SSH) with 2–5 day periods at Wachapreague, VA are coherent with those at Sandy Hook and lag them in time, suggesting that southward-propagating continental shelf waves provide subtidal variability within the lagoon. The coherence between lagoon winds and sea surface height, as well as between winds and cross-lagoon sea height gradient, were significant at a relatively small number of frequency and wind direction combinations. The frequencies at which this wind forcing occurs are the tidal and subtidal bands present to the north, so that lagoon winds selectively augment existing SSH signals, but do not generate them. The impact of the wind direction is closely related to the geometry of the lagoon and bounding landmasses. The effect of wind stress is also constrained by geometry in affecting the cross-lagoon water height gradient. Water levels at subtidal frequencies are likely forced by a combination of local wind forcing, remote wind forcing and oceanic forcing modified by the complex topography of the lagoon, shelf, and barrier islands.