The impact of morphostructural development on the extension of the North European Ice at the main European watershed in the Moravian Gate (Czech Republic)

The territory of the Czech Republic has been investigated by geographers for many decades. The Moravian Gate situated in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, became a place of high human concentration due to its geographical location. Geomorphological research in the Czech republic has reached an impressive level in the field of both the morphostructure of the whole territory and the extent of glaciation. The article treats the relationship between the morphostructure and the extent of glaciation in a geographically complicated region. Both of these have been investigated separately. The synthesis of all results brings new knowledge and suggestions for future research in the region close to the main European watershed. The paper is completed on the basis of the author's research including the complex geomorphological analysis, especially morphostructural and morfosculptural analysis, the investigation of the features and genesis of georelief, the digital elevation model of studied area, the detailed geomorphological mapping in 1:10.000 scale and the compilation of denudation chronology.     

Structure and evolution of the Northeastern German Basin and its transition onto the Baltic Shield

The post-Permian sequence stratigraphical and structural evolution of the Northeastern German Basin and its transition onto the Baltic Shield has been studied in the Bay of Mecklenburg (SW Baltic Sea) by means of seismic interpretation. Five major sequences have been identified: Middle Triassic, Upper Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Time–isochore maps allowed the identification of several phases of salt pillow growth. The contemporaneity of active salt tectonics and the well studied tectonic evolution of the Northeastern German Basin suggest a causative correlation. The E–W directed extension during the Triassic-Early Jurassic marking the beginning break-up of Pangaea is seen as the trigger process for the first period of salt movement. A fault system outside the limit of the Zechstein evaporates is understood as the consequence of thin-skinned faulting and brittle thick-skinned deformation that accompanied this extension. The observed pronounced erosion of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata is considered to result from the uplift due to the Mid North Sea Doming event in Middle Jurassic times. The seismic data show an undisturbed Late Cretaceous succession which reflects a period of rising sea level, tectonic quiescence and no salt movement. In contrast to the salt pillows which emerged above Triassic fault systems in the westernmost Baltic and western North German Basin, the Cenozoic salt movement activity is the most pronounced. This period of reactivated salt pillow growth started coevally with the onset of the Alpine orogeny at the Cretaceous/Cenozoic transition when the Africa-Arabian plate collided with Eurasia. Generally, no significant faults were identified in the overburden of the salt floored southern Bay of Mecklenburg where ductile Zechstein salt decouples deep rooted faulting from supra-salt deformation.     

Modeling soil desiccation cracking by analytical and numerical approaches

An energy approach is proposed as a complement to the stress approach commonly considered for investigating soil desiccation cracking. The elastic strain energies before and after crack initiation are estimated by both numerical and analytical solutions. The energy released by cracking is then compared with the fracture energy to discuss crack initiation conditions. This leads to combined energy and stress conditions for crack initiation following Leguillon's theory. An approximate analytical solution is derived from a variational formulation of the porous elastic body equations. A cohesive zone model and finite element code are used to simulate crack propagation in an unsaturated porous body. This analysis shows that the energy criterion is reached before the stress criterion, and this can explain unstable crack propagation at the beginning. The approximate analytical solution allows predicting correctly the crack depth and opening in its initiation stage.     

Qualitätsziele für die Nordsee?- Pro und Kontra-Pro

Zusammenfassung Bereits im Oktober 1973 wurde von der EG ein Aktionsprogramm für den Umweltschutz verabschiedet, in dem die Definition von Qualitätszielen gefordert wird. Danach sollen Qualitätsziele für den Schutz des Menschen gegen Umweltverschmutzung, aber auch für den Schutz der Umwelt an sich formuliert werden. Die Vorstellungen bezogen das Meerwasser zwar ausdrücklich mit ein, waren jedoch stark funktionsbezogen (Badewasser, Fischzucht). 1986 fanden Qualitätsziele in die Leitlinien Umweltvorsorge Eingang. Die Dritte Internationale Nordseeschutzkonferenz 1991 forderte, Qualitätsziele international zu entwickeln. Im selben Jahr erhielt das Nationalparkamt vom Schleswig-Holsteinischen Umweltministerium den Auftrag, ein Diskussionspapier zu erarbeiten. Dieses Papier liegt inzwischen vor. Es beschreibt ökologische Schäden und schlägt auch Parameter für Qualitätsziele vor.In der aktuellen Diskussion wird z. T. bestritten, daß die Beschreibung ökologischer Ziele von Nutzen sein könnte. Sinnvolles Handeln zum Schutz der Umwelt ist aber nur möglich, wenn Klarheit über die Ziele besteht. Auch in der Umweltpolitik reichen vage Formulierungen nicht aus, zumal dann allzu leicht eine breite, aber folglose Zustimmung erfolgt. Präzise definierte Ziele ermöglichen dagegen eine Kontrolle über den Erfolg von eingeleiteten Maßnahmen.Aus diesen Gründen müssen ökologische Qualitätsziele für den Natur- und Umweltschutz definiert werden. Die dafür benötigten Begriffe sind eindeutig festzulegen und zu verwenden (z. B. Qualitätsstandards, Grenzwerte, Richtwerte). Erst dann ist es möglich, die Ziele von den anzuwendenden Methoden zu unterscheiden, die in der bisherigen Diskussion ständig verwechselt werden. Ohne Beteiligung der Naturwissenschaftler können Qualitätsziele nicht verständlich und präzise formuliert werden.

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For and against ecological quality objectives for the North Sea-for

Summary In October 1973 the EC approved environmental protection measures in which a demand was made for a definition of ecological quality objectives. These were to be formulated to ensure that humans were protected against environmental pollution, but aims to protect the environment itself were also to be drawn up. Sea water was included in the programme, but suggestions were strongly oriented towards its various uses (bathing, fish farming). Quality aims were included in the 1986 Leitlinien Umweltvorsorge (Guidelines for environmental precautions). The 3rd International North Sea conference in 1991 requested that ecological quality objectives should be developed internationally. Also in 1991, the Ministry of the Environment in Schleswig-Holstein instructed the Nationalpark agency to draw up a discussion document which has now been presented. It describes ecolgical damage and suggests parameters for ecological quality objectives.In the current discussion, it is partly disputed that describing ecological aims could be useful. But sensible action to protect the environment is only possible if there is no confusion about the aims. In ecological policy, too, vague formulations are not sufficient, particularly if what follows is broad but ineffective agreement. Precisely defined aims, on the other hand, mean that the success of measures taken can be checked.It is for these reasons that ecological quality objectives must be defined for conservation purposes. The terms to be used must be fixed and used unambiguously (e. g. quality standards, limit values, guide values). Only then it will be possible to distinguish between aims and the methods which in previous discussions have always been confused. Ecological quality objectives cannot be formulated intelligibly and precisely without the pariticipation of scientists.

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Veröffentlichung Nr. 32 des Projektes Ökosystemforschung Wattenmeer     

Impacts of the plane strain ratio on excavations in soft alluvium deposits

Acta Geotechnica - Due to tool, time and budget limitations, 2-dimensional analyses of deep excavation are often adopted for engineering practice; thus, the 3-dimensional behaviour is ignored....     

ENSIP: the El Niño simulation intercomparison project

An ensemble of twenty four coupled ocean-atmosphere models has been compared with respect to their performance in the tropical Pacific. The coupled models span a large portion of the parameter space and differ in many respects. The intercomparison includes TOGA (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere)-type models consisting of high-resolution tropical ocean models and coarse-resolution global atmosphere models, coarse-resolution global coupled models, and a few global coupled models with high resolution in the equatorial region in their ocean components. The performance of the annual mean state, the seasonal cycle and the interannual variability are investigated. The primary quantity analysed is sea surface temperature (SST). Additionally, the evolution of interannual heat content variations in the tropical Pacific and the relationship between the interannual SST variations in the equatorial Pacific to fluctuations in the strength of the Indian summer monsoon are investigated. The results can be summarised as follows: almost all models (even those employing flux corrections) still have problems in simulating the SST climatology, although some improvements are found relative to earlier intercomparison studies. Only a few of the coupled models simulate the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in terms of gross equatorial SST anomalies realistically. In particular, many models overestimate the variability in the western equatorial Pacific and underestimate the SST variability in the east. The evolution of interannual heat content variations is similar to that observed in almost all models. Finally, the majority of the models show a strong connection between ENSO and the strength of the Indian summer monsoon.     

Contours of saturated and unsaturated overhanging slopes at limiting equilibrium condition

Overhangs are frequently observed in riverbanks, coastal headlands, and rock formations. The geometry of an overhang is an input into most slope stability analyses and is often idealised or back-calculated from empirical data. This study investigates the geometries of overhang slopes, which exist while in limiting conditions satisfying static equilibrium with soil strength governed by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The overhanging contour is formulated as the unknown in a boundary value problem and solved for using the slip line theory. Analyses consider nonhomogeneous soils, where cohesion and, if unsaturated, the contribution of suction to the effective stress vary linearly with depth. The solutions are presented in general dimensionless charts. Applications of the charts are illustrated via examples. It has been observed that soil with varying amounts of friction and cohesion could develop overhanging arches of different sizes and shapes. This study shows that the curvature of an overhang becomes more pronounced for small values of φ′ . It is also demonstrated that changing the contribution of suction to the effective stress has a direct impact on the size of an unsaturated soil overhang. Overhanging slope shapes observed in reality may be different from the idealised subset studied in this paper since real slopes are not necessarily at impending failure. The real shapes may be influenced by various physical processes such as weathering, stress variations caused by cycles of wetting-drying. Even so, the results presented in the paper indicated how key soil properties influence slope shapes, albeit it while in limiting conditions.     

Carbonate-associated sulfate as a proxy for lake level fluctuations: a proof of concept for Walker Lake, Nevada

Closed-basin alkaline lakes record climate change particularly well because they generally contain a sedimentary record that is high in carbonate mineral content from which climate proxies can be determined. Various approaches are used to estimate paleo-lake level and volume (δ¹⁸O, dating of “shoreline” tufas, biotic proxies, etc.), yet all carry certain caveats that limit their usefulness. Ultimately, the relationship between the chemistry of the lake, the volume of the lake, and the response of the proxy will determine how well a proxy serves a paleolimnologic purpose. Here, we discuss the use of carbonate-associated sulfate (CAS), the sulfate contained within the lattice of carbonate minerals that precipitate in lake water, as a proxy for lake water chemistry and by extension, lake volume. Walker Lake, an alkaline closed-basin lake in western Nevada, has experienced a well-documented lake-level decline since 1880 and provides a test case for CAS as a lake-level proxy. By extracting the CAS from sedimentary carbonate and tufas that have been age dated, we can relate these values to lake sulfate content based on historical or other proxy data. We confirm that CAS tracks lake sulfate. Our study of sedimentary carbonates demonstrates that CAS is a linear function of lake sulfate through a range of 10–25 mM, which corresponds to a change in lake level of 30 m. As confirmation of the CAS technique, we analyzed a stromatolitic tufa dated using AMS ¹⁴C. The CAS trend in the stromatolite suggested that it grew during a lake-level decline, a result consistent with other proxy data. Finally, laboratory experiments were conducted that demonstrate CAS is monotonically correlated with sulfate concentration and that precipitation kinetics are not likely a major control on CAS in alkaline lakes, but that ionic strength of the solution exerts a strong control on CAS.