Surface NO and NO2 mixing ratios measured between 30° N and 30° S in the Atlantic region

Surface NO and NO₂ mixing ratios were measured aboard the research vessel Polarstern during the mission ANT VII/1 from 24 September to 5 October 1988. The measurements were taken along the meridian at 30° W in the Atlantic region covering latitudes between 30° N and 30° S. The average mixing ratios were about 12 pptv NO/30 pptv NO₂ in the Northern Hemisphere and about 7 pptv NO/22 pptv NO₂ in the Southern. Elevated mixing ratios of 20 pptv NO/70 pptv NO₂ were found at 12° N (probably due to air masses originating from the surface of West Africa) and in the region of the ITCZ between 8° N and 5° N. Because of probable contamination by the ship, the measured mixing ratios mostly represent upper limits.     

The fog front of 25 May 1989 — A gravity flow?

Summary During the field experiment FRONTEX 1989 a shallow cold front with a fog field behind its leading edge was observed over the North Sea. The fog field was about 70 km wide, 160 m deep at the front side and 400 m deep at the rear side and was capped by a strong frontal inversion. With increasing height of the inversion the fog broke up into cumulus clouds. The horizontal temperature gradient was largest at 500 m with 9 K/100 km. The observed segment of the front was situated near the col of a geostrophic deformation field with vanishing cross-front wind but non-vanishing cross-front confluence. The front moved at a rate of 5 m/s. It exhibits characteristics of a gravity current which propagates into a stably stratified environment.The physical processes leading to the observed frontal structure and motion are elucidated by experiments with a two-dimensional numerical model. The charateristics of the observed front can be reproduced if both, geostrophic forcing and boundary-layer processes, such as air-sea temperature difference, moisture content and cloud radiational cooling are taken into account. The development of the front under altered conditions is studied by the comparison of different simulations. The reason for the movement of the front is discussed refering to the mechanisms of geostrophic forcing and the forcing by surface friction. The analysis of the forces acting on the cold air mass shows that the Coriolis force is important at some distance behind the frontal head, but has little effect on the processes at the frontal head.With 13 Figures     

Discussion of the new kinematic mantle convection theory

Summary First of all it is shown that the nine fundamental suppositions of the kinematic theory of the mantle convection fit well into the image which is obtained from the mantle by other geophysical results. The question of episodicity of the orogenesis is dealt with in connection with the questions of steadiness and unsteadiness of the convection. Moreover it is shown that the ocean-spreading theory and the kinematic mantle convection theory are compatible with each other in their main aspects and that they complement each other.     

The mantle rock (“laterite”) of the Gold Coast and its origin

Zusammenfassung Der Verwitterungsmantel (Laterit s. l.) der südlichen Goldküste besteht aus Horizonten, die sowohl verschiedene Entstehungsart als verschiedenes Alter haben. Brekzien oder Steinschichten sind unter aridem Klima als Wüstenpflaster entstanden. Zonen chemisch verwitterten Felses, Horizonte von lehmigem Sand (an deren Aufbau Termiten wesentlich beteiligt sind) und Konkretionen haben sich unter feuchtem Klima gebildet. Harte limonitische Oberflächen-Krusten deuten auf progressive Austrocknung hin. Unter diesen drei klimatischen Bedingungen gebildete Horizonte wiederholen sich mehrfach im Verwitterungsmantel der Goldküste. Ein junger, unvollständiger Zyklus ist weit verbreitet, ein älterer Zyklus tritt nur in begrenzten Vorkommen auf, und ein dritter Zyklus ist fast nur noch in aufgearbeiteten, limonitisierten Bruchstücken erhalten. Die wiederholten Klimaschwankungen machen es wahrscheinlich, daß der Verwitterungsmantel zeitlich dem größeren Teil des Quartärs entspricht. Wahrscheinlich können die Ergebnisse auf weit größere Gebiete angewandt werden.     

Daily Weather Observations in Sixteenth-Century Europe

Thirty-two weather diaries written in astronomical calendars in central Europe in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are presented and discussed. Systematic weather observations were promoted by the rise of planetary astronomy and its application in astro-meteorology. The practice of keeping weather diaries spread from Cracow (Poland) to Ingolstadt (Germany) and from there to other universities. The data obtained from these sources provided the backbone for setting up series of precipitation indices for Poland, Germany and Switzerland. Monthly statistics of days with precipitation, snowfall and frost were computed by counting the relevant entries in the most important diaries. The results were compared with either those obtained from instrumental measurements in the same place or with those from modern instrumental measurements in a neighbouring place. The final results show that autumn was considerably colder in the early sixteenth century. April was considerably drier and July was wetter during the period 1508-1531 than during 1901-1960. In order to highlight the impact of weather patterns on grain prices in a year of crisis, the timing of wet and dry spells in southern Poland and southern Germany is compared for the year 1529. Winters became 1.7°C colder from 1564 to 1576 and the month of July tended to be wetter than in 1901-1960. Details noted in the diaries kept between 1585 and 1600 by the astronomers Brahe (near Copenhagen) and Fabricius (in the Ostfriesland region of northwestern Germany) closely agree. It rained more often in June and July and temperatures dropped. The winter months were more frequently dominated by winds from easterly directions, the frequency of snowfall was higher and a deficit occurred in precipitation. This points to a higher frequency of high pressure in the Fennoscandian area with cold air advection from the east or northeast.     

The infrared spectrum of asteroid 433 Eros

The mineralogical composition of asteroid Eros has been determined from its infrared spectrum (0.9–2.7μm; 28cm^?1 resolution). Major minerals include metallic NiFe and pyroxene; no spectroscopic evidence for olivine or plagioclase feldspar was found. The IR spectrum of Eros is most consistent with a stony-iron composition.     

Lithium isotope fractionation in the southern Cascadia subduction zone

We present lithium (Li) abundances and isotope compositions for a suite of anhydrous olivine tholeiites (HAOTs) and hydrous basalt-andesitic (BA) lavas from the Mt. Shasta and Medicine Lake regions, California. The values of δ⁷Li vary from + 0.9‰ to + 6.4‰ and correlate inversely with distance from the trench. These data are consistent with continuous isotope fractionation of Li during dehydration of the subducted oceanic lithosphere, an interpretation corroborated by uniformly high pre-eruptive H₂O contents in basaltic andesites accompanied by high Li, Rb, Sr, Ba and Pb abundances. The subduction-derived component that was added to these hydrous magmas is shown to be very similar beneath both Mt. Shasta and Medicine Lake volcanoes despite characteristically distinct Li isotope compositions in the magmas themselves. More evolved andesites and dacites from Mt. Shasta have δ⁷Li from + 2.8 to + 6.9‰ which is identical with the range obtained for HAOTs and BA lavas from Mt. Shasta. Therefore, Li isotopes do not provide evidence for any other crustal component admixed to Mt. Shasta andesites or dacites during magmatic differentiation and magma mixing in the crust.