Organisch-chemische Untersuchungen an Kohlen-Maceralen mit der Ionensonde (IMS-3F)

Secondary ion mass spectra of coal macerals were recorded using the new Cameca ionprobe IMS-3F. The sporinite shows the most significant mass spectrum, the fusinite spectrum is poor in fragmentation masses that characterizes its aromacity (see Table 1). This unexpected results is believed to be influenced by the limited recording of masses (<250). Nevertheless, progress is to be expected in the field of organic geochemistry using the SIMS method.     

The Ecology of a Novel Symbiosis Between a Marine Peritrich Ciliate and Chemoautotrophic Bacteria

Abstract. A symbiosis between a sessile colonial ciliate, Zoothamnium niveum HEMPRICH & EHRENBERG. 1831. and chemolithoautotrophic bacteria oxidizing reduced sulfur compounds is described. The ciliates and their ectosymbionts occur on mangrove peat in the Caribbean. The feather-shaped ciliate colonies expand and contract, thus exposing the microbes alternately to oxygenated water above and sulfidic water within the boundary layer developed on the surface of the highly sulfidic peat. The symbioticciliates colonize sites with high sulfide flux where the microbial surface mat has been disturbed and grow there until the microbe mat re-establishes itself.     

Formation of methane in comet impacts: implications for Earth, Mars, and Titan

We calculate the amount of methane that may form via reactions catalyzed by metal-rich dust that condenses in the wake of large cometary impacts. Previous models of the gas-phase chemistry of impacts predicted that the terrestrial planets' atmospheres should be initially dominated by CO/CO₂, N₂, and H₂O. CH₄ was not predicted to form in impacts because gas-phase reactions in the explosion quench at temperatures ∼2000 K, at which point all of the carbon is locked in CO. We argue that the dust that condenses out in the wake of a large comet impact is likely to have very effective catalytic properties, opening up reaction pathways to convert CO and H₂ to CH₄ and CO₂, at temperatures of a few hundred K. Together with CO₂, CH₄ is an important greenhouse gas that has been invoked to compensate for the lower luminosity of the Sun ∼4 Gyr ago. Here, we show that heterogeneous (gas-solid) reactions on freshly-recondensed dust in the impact cloud may provide a plausible nonbiological mechanism for reducing CO to CH₄ before and during the emergence of life on Earth, and perhaps Mars as well. These encouraging results emphasize the importance of future research into the kinetics and catalytic properties of astrophysical condensates or “smokes” and also more detailed models to determine the conditions in impact-generated dust clouds.     

Hazard assessment of silicone oils (polydimethylsiloxanes, PDMS) used in antifouling-/foul-release-products in the marine environment

Non-eroding silicone-based coatings can effectively reduce fouling of ship hulls and are an alternative to biocidal and heavy metal-based antifoulings. The products, whose formulations and make up are closely guarded proprietary knowledge, consist of a silicone resin matrix and may contain unbound silicone oils (1-10%). If these oils leach out, they can have impacts on marine environments: PDMS are persistent, adsorb to suspended particulate matter and may settle into sediment. If oil films build up on sediments, infiltration may inhibit pore water exchange. PDMS do not bioaccumulate in marine organisms and soluble fractions have low toxicity to aquatic and benthic organisms. At higher exposures, undissolved silicone oil films or droplets can cause physical-mechanic effects with trapping and suffocation of organisms. These 'new' effects are not covered by current assessment schemes. PDMS make the case that very low water solubility and bioavailability do not necessarily preclude damage to marine environments.     

Fossil fuel compounds from fly dust in recent organic matter of southern Poland peats

Several samples of peat from 6 bogs located in southern Poland were investigated for occurrence and distribution types of biomarkers present in their extractable organic matter fraction. It was found that there are inputs from two different sources of organic compounds differing in their characteristics and origin: (1) recent immature peat organic matter deposited in situ which is the source of all polar functionalized compounds, most of n-alkanes, and acyclic isoprenoids, and (2) mature fossil fuels, most probably bituminous coals from the Upper Silesia Coal Basin of vitrinite reflectance equivalent values of 0.9–1.1%. The latter compounds were most probably transported with fly ash to bogs from nearby settlements utilizing such fuel in domestic ovens. This group includes pentacyclic triterpenoids (hopanes and moretanes), minor amounts of n-alkanes, and numerous alkyl naphthalenes and alkyl phenanthrenes. All these compounds show distributions and values of geochemical ratios characteristic for mature organic matter confirming there ex situ origin.     

Phenological observations made by the I. R. Bohemian Patriotic�CEconomic Society, 1828�C1847

Drought forecasting is a critical component of drought risk management. Identification of effective predictors is a major component of forecasting models. Sea surface temperature (SST) and sea level pressure (SLP) are relevant predictors for short- to long-term drought forecasts. However, these datasets are captured globally within a cell-wise network. This paper describes an approach to locate the most effective cells of the SST and SLP datasets using data mining. They are then applied as input to an adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model to forecast possible droughts 3, 6, and 9?months in advance. Tehran plain was selected as the study area, and drought events are designated using the effective drought index (EDI). In another treatment, past values of the EDI time series were introduced to the ANFIS and the results compared with the previous findings. It was shown that R ² values were higher for all cases applying the SST/SLP datasets. Additionally, the performance of SST/SLP datasets and the ANFIS model was assessed according to ??drought?? or ??wet?? classification, and it was concluded that more than 90% of the time the ANFIS model detected the drought status correctly or with only a one class error.     

Measurements of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) During POPCORN 1994: Applying a New On-Line GC–MS-Technique

Atmospheric concentrations of ca. 250 C6–C15 hydrocarb on and C4–C12 oxygenated volatile organic compounds (VOC) including alkanes, benzene and alkyl benzenes, monoterpenes and aldehydes were measured in August 1994 during the POPCORN campaign (POPCORN = Photo-Oxidant formation by Plant emitted Compounds and OH Radicals in North-Eastern Germany). About 80 substances together contributed 90% of the atmospheric carbon in this range of molecular weight. During this field campaign VOC-emissions from several crop and tree species and the ambient concentrations of CO, C2–C7 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), C1 and C2 aldehydes, nitrogen oxides, ozone and hydroxyl-radicals (OH) were also measured. These data were used to interpret the VOC measurements presented here. The on-line GC–MS used for the VOC measurements combines adsorptive sampling with thermal desorption and GC–MS analysis in an automated system. Internal standards were used to quantify the measurements. Ozone was destroyed prior to the sample preconcentration through the gas phase reaction with NO. Aromatic compounds like benzene, toluene and xylenes were the most abundant compound class among the measured substances, -pinene and 3-carene, most probably originating from pineforests ca. 1 km away from the measuring site, were the most abundant monoterpenes. The highest mixing ratios of most compounds were measured in nights with strong inversion situations. The toluene mixing ratios then reached 630 pptv; -pinene mixing ratios went up to 430 pptv. The median of all toluene and -pinene measurements during the campaign was 125 pptv or 22 pptv, respectively. These values are on the lower end of ambient measurements reported for continental sites. In most samples also n-pentanal, n-hexananl, n-nonanal and n-undecanal were present. Median mixing ratios were 9, 16, 14 and 8 pptv, respectively. Emission studies indicate that these highly reactive compounds are most probably emitted from maize. It is shown by a simple first order approach that the potential for ozone formation during the POPCORN campaign was roughly equal for anthropogenic and biogenic VOC. From measured concentrations of ozone, OH-radicals, methane, CO, C2–C15 nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and C5–C11 aldehydes a photochemical production of ozone in the order of 3.5 ppb/h can be estimated. Apart from formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which are at least partly products of VOC oxidation, the substance group with the largest contribution to the VOC turnover are the monoterpenes. They contribute ca. 30%. However, the mechanism of terpene oxidation is very complex and presently only partly understood. Thus the actual contribution of monoterpenes to ozone formation is very uncertain. Other measured compound classes such as light alkenes, alkanes, aromatics, and C5–C11 aldehydes contribute each between 10% and 15% to ozone formation. The measuring site was not influenced directly from strong biogenic or anthropogenic sources, and the results obtained during the POPCORN campaign can be regarded as a typical picture of a remote rural central European environment.     

Transport of South Atlantic water through the passages south of Guadeloupe and across 16°N, 2000–2004

CTD, vessel-mounted ADCP and LADCP measurements in the Caribbean passages south of Guadeloupe (three repeats) and along 16°N (five repeats) were carried out between December 2000 and July 2004. The CTD data were used to calculate the contribution of South Atlantic water (SAW) in the upper 1200 m between the isopycnals σ_θ=24.5 and 27.6. Northern and southern source water masses are defined and an isopycnal mixing approach is applied. The SAW fractions are then combined with the ADCP flow field to calculate the transport of SAW into the Caribbean and across 16°N. The SAW inflow into the Caribbean through the passages south of Guadeloupe ranges from 7.6 to 11.6 Sv, which is 50–75% of the total inflow. The mean (9.1±2.2 Sv) is in the range of previous estimates. Ambiguities in the northern and southern source water masses of the salinity maximum water permitted us only to calculate the contribution of SAW from the eastern source in this water mass. We estimated the additional SAW transport by the western source to be of the order of 1.9±0.7 Sv. The calculation of the SAW transport across 16°N was hampered by the presence of several anticyclonic rings from the North Brazil Current (NBC) retroflection region, some of the rings were subsurface intensified. Provided that the rings observed at 16°N are typical rings and that all rings which are annually produced in the NBC retroflection area (6.5–8.5 per year) reach 16°N, the SAW ring transport across 16°N is calculated to 5.3±0.7 Sv. From the 5 repeats at 16°N, only two showed a net northward flow, suggesting that the mean northward SAW transport is dominated by ring advection. The joint SAW transports of the Caribbean inflow (9.1 Sv) and the flow across 16°N (5.3 Sv) sum up to 14.4 Sv. The transport increases to 16.3 Sv if the additional SAW transport from the western source of SMW (1.9±0.7 Sv) is included. These transport estimates and the following implications depend strongly on the assumption that the surface water in the Caribbean inflow is of South Atlantic origin. The transport estimates are, however, in the range of the inverse model calculations for the net cross-hemispheric flow. About 30–40% of this transport is intermediate water from the South Atlantic, presumably supporting studies which found the contributions of intermediate and upper warm water to be of a comparable magnitude. For the upper warm water (σ_θ<27.1), the Caribbean inflow seems to be the major path (7.9±1.6 Sv), the ring induced transport across 16°N is about 30% of that value. The intermediate water transport across 16°N was calculated to be 2.3–3.6 Sv, the inflow into the Caribbean is slightly smaller (1.5–2.4 Sv).     

Seafloor morphology in the Mozambique Channel: evidence for long-term persistent bottom-current flow and deep-reaching eddy activity

The Mozambique Channel plays a key role in the exchange of surface water masses between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and forms a topographic barrier for meridional deep and bottom water circulation due to its northward shoaling water depths. New high-resolution bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data show that due to these topographic constraints a peculiar seafloor morphology has evolved, which exhibits a large variety of current-controlled bedforms. The most spectacular bedforms are giant erosional scours in the southwest, where northward spreading Antarctic Bottom Water is topographically blocked to the north and deflected to the east forming furrows, channels and steep sediment waves along its flow path. Farther north, in the water depth range of North Atlantic Deep Water, the seafloor is strongly shaped by deep-reaching eddies. Steep, upslope migrating sediment waves in the west have formed beneath the southward flow of anticyclonic Mozambique Channel eddies (MCEs). Arcuate bedforms in the middle evolved through an interaction of the northward flow of MCEs with crevasse splays from a breach in the western Zambezi Channel levee. Hummocky bedforms in the east result from an interplay of East Madagascar Current eddies with overspill deposits of the crevasse and Zambezi Channel. All bedforms are draped with sediments indicating that the present-day current velocities are not strong enough to erode sediments. Hence, it can be concluded that the seafloor morphology developed during earlier times, when bottom-current velocities were stronger. Assuming a sedimentation rate of 20 m/Ma and a drape of at least 50 m thickness the bedforms may have developed during the Pliocene Epoch or earlier.     

Lower Miocene structural evolution of the central Vienna Basin (Austria)

The tectonic evolution of the Vienna Basin overlying the Alpine-Carpathian fold and thrust belt includes two stages of distinct basin subsidence and deformation. The earlier phase contemporaneous with thrusting of the Alpine-Carpathian floor thrust is related to the formation of a wedge-top basin (“piggy-back”), which was connected to the evolving foreland basin (Lower Miocene; c. 18.5–16 Ma). This stage is followed by the formation of a pull-apart basin (Middle to Upper Miocene; c. 16–8 Ma). Sediments of the latter unconformably overly wedge-top basin strata and protected them against erosion.