Validation and Application of Plants as Biomonitors of Trace Element Atmospheric Pollution – A Co-Ordinated Effort in 14 Countries

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organized a co-ordinated research project (CRP) on Validation and application of plants as biomonitors of trace element atmospheric pollution analysed by nuclear and related techniques involving 14 participating countries. The CRPs objective was to identify appropriate bioindicators for local and/or regional application and validate them for general air pollution monitoring. Activities included quantification studies, research into spatial and time resolution for particular organisms, and physiological studies. A number of suitable bioindicators were identified in different parts of the globe and tested during the CRP. Sampling strategies were reviewed and the recommended approach adopted by the group. Appropriate sample preparation procedures were assessed and harmonised to the degree allowed by different geographic and climatic conditions in the participating countries. Two interlaboratory comparison exercises were carried out on lichen and moss materials. Results confirmed definite improvement in analytical performance of the participating laboratories, but also revealed possible inconsistencies due to different sample processing procedures. Several monitoring surveys were carried out and consequently pollution maps drawn for extended areas or countries. Overall results confirmed applicability of lower plants for assessing the degree of atmospheric pollution and provided several countries with effective monitoring tools not used before.     

Influence of viscous dissipation on a hydromagnetic field

The effect of a transverse magnetic field and of the viscosity diffusion on the free-convection flow of an electrically-conducting incompressible fluid past a uniformally accelerated vertical plate is discussed. A finite difference method has been used to obtain a numerical solution. The influence of the various parameters on the flow field is discussed.     

Using neural networks for the derivation of Runge-Kutta-Nyström pairs for integration of orbits

In this paper we present Runge-Kutta-Nyström (RKN) pairs of orders 4(3) and 6(4). We choose a test orbit from the Kepler problem to integrate for a specific tolerance. Then we train the free parameters of the above RKN4(3) and RKN6(4) families to perform optimally. For that we form a neural network approach and minimize its objective function using a differential evolution optimization technique. Finally we observe that the produced pairs outperform standard pairs from the literature for Pleiades orbits and Kepler problem over a wide range of eccentricities and tolerances.     

First results from the North Iceland experiment

Between June 2004 and September 2004 a temporary seismic network was installed on the northern insular shelf of Iceland and onshore in north Iceland. The seismic setup aimed at resolving the subsurface structure and, thus, the geodynamical transition from Icelandic crust to typical oceanic crust along Kolbeinsey Ridge. The experiment recorded about 1,000 earthquakes. The region encloses the Tjörnes Fracture Zone containing the Husavik–Flatey strike-slip fault and the extensional seismic Grimsey Lineament. Most of the seismicity occurs in swarms offshore. Preliminary results reveal typical mid-ocean crust north of Grimsey and a heterogeneous structure with major velocity anomalies along the seismic lineaments and north–south trending subsurface features. Complementary bathymetric mapping highlight numerous extrusion features along the Grimsey Lineament and Kolbeinsey Ridge. The seismic dataset promises to deliver new insights into the tectonic framework for earthquakes in an extensional transform zone along the global mid-ocean ridge system.     

Stability dependence of the temperature structure parameter

Experimental data of C _T ², determined during various experiments in the surface layer, are compared with several functions giving the stability dependence of the temperature structure parameter. The universal function of the dimensionless temperature gradient by Skeib (1980) follows very well the experimental data and the empirical function by Wyngaard et al. (1971). This function can be used in an inertial-dissipation method.     

A note on the feldspars in the granite xenoliths of the nyiragongo magma

The lavas of the Nyiragongo volcano in Eastern Zaire contain partially fused granite xenoliths. The relictic feldspars found in these xenoliths were studied by microprobe analysis and by X-ray diffraction methods. Some xenoliths represent originally two-feldspar granites, in others only alkali feldspars or those of an anorthoclase composition were detected. All feldspars are homogeneous without perthitic textures detectable under the microscope. In thebc-diagram of Stewart and Wright all feldspars plot on the analbite-high sanidine join. These feldspars have been perfectly disordered through heating in the melilite-nephelinite magma of the volcano.     

2D/3D Dust Continuum Radiative Transfer Codes to Analyze and Predict VLTI Observations

Radiative Transfer (RT) codes with image capability are a fundamental tool for preparing interferometric observations and for interpreting visibility data. In view of the upcoming VLTI facilities, we present the first comparison of images/visibilities coming from two 3D codes that use completely different techniques to solve the problem of self-consistent continuum RT. In addition, we focus on the astrophysical case of a disk distorted by tidal interaction with by-passing stars or internal planets and investigate for which parameters the distortion can be best detected in the mid-infrared using the mid-infrared interferometric device MIDI. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modeling the Phase Transition Associated with Melting Snow in a 1D Kinematic Framework: Sensitivity to the Microphysics

A simple 1D kinematic cloud model coupled to a two-moment bulk microphysics scheme is used to perform quasi-idealized simulations of snow, with a prescribed upper boundary snow field based on observed radar reflectivity and temperature, falling into a low-level melting layer. The model realistically simulates the formation of a nearly isothermal layer below the melting level, the surface precipitation rate, and the phase transition from liquid to solid, consistent with observations for this case. A series of test runs is performed to examine the sensitivity of modeling the timing and duration of the phase transition period to details of specific parameterization aspects related to snow in the microphysics scheme. The sensitivity tests include varying the number of prognostic moments, the mass–diameter relation, the fall velocity–diameter relation, the treatment of aggregation, and the lower limit for the slope of the size distribution. It is shown that the simulated transition period, for such a case with the initial melting level being close to the surface, can be quite sensitive to model parameters specified within realistic ranges and/or ranges within our physical understanding.     

Mesozoic rotation of Iberia: Subduction in the Pyrenees?

Following on paleomagnetic studies in the sixties showing ~ 35° counterclockwise rotation of Iberia during the Mesozoic, two classes of scenarios have been proposed for the motion history of Iberia which are currently competing. One class infers convergence in the Pyrenees in response to a scissor-type opening of the Bay of Biscay, described by a pole of rotation for Iberia with respect to Europe located within the Bay. The other class of scenarios assumes extensional or transtensional motions in the Pyrenees, compatible with opening of the Bay of Biscay described by a pole of rotation located in northern France. Although plate-kinematic studies over the last decade increasingly support the scissor-type model, geological studies in the Pyrenees have accumulated arguments in favour of an extensional or transtensional regime in the Pyrenean realm.We perform a detailed plate-kinematic analysis of the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous motion history of Iberia and surrounding plates with respect to Europe. A total of six sea-floor reconstructions in combination with paleomagnetic studies onland allow to recognize four distinct stages. (1) Early rifting and ultraslow spreading since the Kimmeridgean led to the development of an oceanic Neotethys domain north of Iberia. (2) This was followed by ~ 35° CCW rotation of Iberia during the Aptian, kinematically linked to progressive opening of the Bay of Biscay. (3) Motions in the Bay became stagnant during the Albian till Santonian, followed by the latest stages of spreading in the Bay, and (4) onset of largely Tertiary continental collision between Iberia and Europe eventually leading to the present day structure of the belt.Our analysis confirms the results of previous studies indicating that extensional or transtensional motions in the Pyrenean realm during opening of the Bay of Biscay and concurrent rotation of Iberia are incompatible with plate-kinematic reconstructions based on sea-floor anomalies. This invites a reappraisal of the geological data. Convergence in the Pyrenean realm during opening of the Bay and rotation of Iberia was accommodated by up to 300 km of subduction of mantle-dominated ocean floor exhumed during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. The stagnant stage in the progressive opening of the Bay indicates that convergence in the Pyrenean realm virtually came to a halt during the Albian. We hypothesize that the lithosphere previously subducted during Aptian convergence became gravitationally unstable, leading to asthenospheric upwelling and consequent magmatism and high temperature metamorphism in the overlying European margin now exposed in the North Pyrenean Zone. Aside from these magmatic and thermal effects, an enhanced gravitational potential energy of the remaining lithosphere column underlain by shallow asthenosphere may have led to a stress state allowing belt-parallel extensional deformation. Such a detachment scenario, inspired by plate-kinematic results, may provide an alternative to explain many of the geological data commonly quoted to infer a transtensional or extensional tectonic regime in the Pyrenees during the rotation of Iberia.