Application of electrical and electromagnetic methods to study sedimentary covers in high mountain areas

The results of geophysical studies conducted with selected electrical and electromagnetic methods in the Kondratowa Valley in the Tatra Mountains (the Carpathian Mountains, Poland) are presented in the article. The surveys were performed with the following methods: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), georadar (GPR) and conductivity meter (CM). The objective of the noninvasive geophysical measurements was to determine the thickness of the Quaternary postglacial sediments that fill the bottom of the valley and to designate the accumulation of boulders deposited on Quaternary sediments. The results of ERT surveys conducted along the axis of the valley allowed to determine the changeability of the thickness of the postglacial sediments and allowed to designate a few areas of occurrence of boulders. The ERT, GPR and CM surveys conducted across the valley allowed to designate with high accuracy the thickness of the accumulation of boulders sliding down the valley bottom from the couloirs surrounding the valley.     

Piping dynamics in mid‐altitude mountains under a temperate climate: Bieszczady Mountains,eastern Carpathians

Piping has been recognized as an important geomorphic, soil erosion and hydrologic process. It seems that it is far more widespread than it has often been supposed. However, our knowledge about piping dynamics and its quantification currently relies on a limited number of data for mainly loess‐derived areas and marl badlands. Therefore, this research aimed to recognize piping dynamics in mid‐altitude mountains under a temperate climate, where piping occurs in Cambisols, not previously considered as piping‐prone soils. It has been expressed by the estimation of erosion rates due to piping and elongation of pipes in the Bere?nica Wy?na catchment in the Bieszczady Mountains, eastern Carpathians (305 ha, 188 collapsed pipes). The research was based on the monitoring of selected piping systems (1971–1974, 2013–2016). Changes in soil loss vary significantly between different years (up to 27.36 t ha^?1 yr^?1), as well as between the mean short‐term erosion rate (up to 13.10 t ha^?1 yr^?1), and the long‐term (45 years) mean of 1.34 t ha^?1 yr^?1. The elongation of pipes also differs, from no changes to 36 m during one year. The mean total soil loss is 48.8 t ha^?1 in plots, whereas in the whole studied catchment it is 2.0 t ha^?1. Hence, piping is both spatially and temporally dependent. The magnitude of piping in the study area is at least three orders of magnitude higher than surface erosion rates (i.e. sheet and rill erosion) under similar land use (grasslands), and it is comparable to the magnitude of surface soil erosion on arable lands. It means that piping constitutes a significant environmental problem and, wherever it occurs, it is an important, or even the main, sediment source. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deep lithospheric structure beneath the Polish part of the East European Craton as a result of magnetotelluric surveys

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica - A fundamental tectonic boundary between the Precambrian East European Craton (EEC) and the younger Phanerozoic mountain belts of Europe runs through Poland....     

Chemometric analysis of <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs activity and heavy metals distribution in the Tatras’ soil

The goal of the paper was to determine the activity of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K radionuclides as well as heavy metals Zn, Cr, Pb in soil samples taken from the Tatra National Park in the south of Poland. The samples were obtained as cores (10 cm in diameter) from the top 10-cm layer of the soil. Each sample was divided into three subsamples (a, b and c), where a was the subsample closest to the surface and c was the deepest one. Activity of the radionuclides was determined by means of gamma spectrometry, while analysis of heavy metals was performed (after microwave digestion) using atomic absorption spectrometry technique. The highest activity of cesium-137 was detected (5112 ± 120 Bq kg^?1) in the “a” layer of the core with the peak concentration of cesium-137 (14,452 ± 278 Bq m^?2) in the whole soil core. The highest detected concentration of heavy metals was: Zn—52.8 ± 4.4 mg kg^?1, Pb—260.1 ± 9.4 mg kg^?1, Cr—52.8 ± 4.4 mg kg^?1, respectively. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis were used to examine the obtained data. Application of statistical analysis tools allowed specifying the interdependencies between the examined variables.     

The use of selected research methods to describe the pore space of dolomite from copper ore mine,Poland

Basic knowledge of the characteristics of copper-bearing rock such as dolomite is essential to locate those areas of the deposit which have different structural and textural properties. Those regions can be important in terms of the assessment of the possibilities of gas accumulating in them as well as in terms of gasogeodynamic hazard. To better understand those threats, it is necessary to locate, monitor and analyse those areas in detail. This article characterises the structural and textural parameters of dolomite from the Polkowice–Sieroszowice copper mine in Poland. The study involved five samples from various areas of the mine. A number of research methods were selected. Reflected and transmitted light microscopy (MS), computer microtomography (Micro-CT), gas adsorption porosimetry (LPNA), mercury porosimetry (MIP), helium and quasi-fluid pycnometry (Pycno. He, DryFlo). Each of the methods examined a different scope of the pore size, which enabled to achieve a full view of the porous nature of those rocks. We determined their porosity (open, closed, total), surface area as well as mean size and volume of the pores. Also, we studied the character and the pore size distribution from a few nm to a few mm. Comprehensive dolomite properties analyses showed that these rocks are characterised by high structural variability. They have mesopores and macropores but few micropores. The analyses presented in this paper are determined by a large petrographic diversity of the deposits containing dolomite. This article is an example of a comprehensive approach to the rock analysis in copper ore mines.     

Semiannual and annual oscillations of sea level and their impact on asymmetry between El Niño and La Niña episodes

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we demonstrate that the asymmetry between El Niño and La Niña events recorded in sea level variation occurs only during extreme episodes of El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Second, we explain that the asymmetry is controlled by certain regular cycles which have time-variable amplitudes. Gridded maps of sea level anomaly that form a spatial-temporal time series (spatial resolution: 1° × 1°, sampling interval: 1 week) spanning the time interval from 14/10/1993 to 18/04/2012 were used. We examined those time series and found that certain regular harmonic signals (periods: 365, 182, 120, 90 and 62 days) are dominant terms of their temporal variability. By subtracting those oscillations from sea level anomaly data, residuals were determined. Using skewness and kurtosis as measures of asymmetry and nonlinearity — after adopting 10-year moving window — we found that the extreme El Niño 1997/1998 has been a dominant driving force of the asymmetry and nonlinearity of El Niño/Southern Oscillation since the end of 1993. In order to detect residual signals that are responsible for the asymmetry, we applied the Fourier Transform Band Pass Filter and found that there are two important oscillations remaining in the residual sea level anomaly data, i.e. the annual and semiannual ones with time-varying amplitudes. We hypothesize that temporarily uneven amplitudes have meaningful impact on the aforementioned asymmetry.     

Lidar observations of volcanic dust over Polish Polar Station at Hornsund after eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn

Two significant volcanic eruptions, i.e., Eyjafjallajökull (April–May 2010) and Grímsvötn (May 2011) took place recently in Iceland. Within a few days after eruptions, layers of high aerosol concentration have been observed by multiwavelength lidar of the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund, Svalbard. Measurements of the aerosol’s optical properties indicated a possible presence of volcanic ash transported over the Station. The latter presumption was confirmed by the computed backward trajectories of air masses, showing their paths passing over the location of volcanoes.     

ECHOBASE—A portable geographic fishery research database system

A geographic fishery research database system (GFRDBS), called ECHOBASE, for storing and management of data on pelagic fish resources from acoustic surveys and catch samples, combined with environmental data in a geographic context, has been developed. The system constitutes a portable and inexpensive yet powerful tool for fishery research and environmental monitoring and provides on‐board data processing and mapping capabilities.

Data are acquired from an echosounder, echo signal processor, environmental profiler (CTD probe), and Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The electronic digitized maps (based on C‐MAP public format files) provide active on‐screen nautical charts.

The basic GFRDBS platform is a portable PC 486 machine, which is used as an on‐board data acquisition and processing tool running under MS Windows 3.1 operating environment. The system is designed around the Borland's PARADOX package, which provides a relational database for managing acoustic, catch, and environmental data. The ECHOBASE programs were written in Borland C ++ language as a Windows application.     

A Novel Approach of Using Selected Unconventional Geodesic Methods of Estimation on VTS Areas

Abstract

The Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) systems belong to the fundamental tools used in ensuring a high level of safety across sea basins with heavy traffic, where the presence of navigational hazards poses a great risk of collision or a ship running aground. In order to determine the mutual location of ships, VTS systems obtain information from different facilities, such as coastal radar stations, AIS, and vision systems. Fixing a ship’s position is always accompanied by a degree of error, but the degree of error depends on the specific position fixing system used. In order to increase the accuracy of position fixing in VTS systems, the authors propose the use of contemporary geodetic methods. The article presents the theoretical fundamentals of two unconventional geodesic methods of estimation: M estimation and M_split(q)estimation and the authors’ own proposal of their application in VTS systems. The article concludes with a test verifying theoretical assumptions, performed with the use of a computer application allowing position fixing with the use of selected robust adjustment methods. Furthermore, an example is presented of M_split(q)estimation as used for the acquisition of low-signal radar echoes, which in VTS systems are not automatically identified for tracking. The level of the echo signal makes it difficult for a VTS controller to separate these objects from typical radar noise and interference.