Über die Sedimentationsgeschwindigkeit rezenter Tiefseesedimente

Zusammenfassung Nach einer kurzen Erörterung der wichtigsten Methoden, die die Sedimentationsgeschwindigkeit in rezenten Tiefseeablagerungen auf verschiedenen Wegen zu erfassen versuchten, werden die Werte über die Absatzgeschwindigkeit näher besprochen, die sich aus der Stratigraphie der Meeresablagerungen im äquatorialen Atlantischen Ozean an der Hand der Grundproben der Meteor-Expedition ergeben. Um zuverlässige Werte über die Sedimentationsmenge der heutigen ozeanischen Ablagerungen zu erhalten, ist es zu allererst erforderlich, die stratigraphischen Verhältnisse im Sediment festzulegen, d. h. die gleichzeitig abgelagerten Horizonte auszuscheiden, aus deren Mächtigkeit die Sedimentationsgeschwindigkeit berechnet werden kann. Danach wird auf dem äquatorialen Atlantischen Tiefseeboden seit dem Ausgang des Diluviums durchschnittlich 1 cm in 1000 Jahren sedimentiert (Tab. 1). - Auf Grund der im äquatorialen Atlantischen Ozean gewonnenen stratigraphischen Erkenntnisse wird nach einigen Grundproben der Deutschen Südpolar-Expedition die Sedimentationsgeschwindigkeit im südlichen Indischen Ozean etwas genauer als bisher festgelegt. Sie ist sehr viel geringer als in der atlantischen Äquatorialzone (Tab. 2). Für den äquatorialen Atlantischen Ozean ist außerdem die Absatzgeschwindigkeit während der letzten Diluvialzeit angegeben und das Sedimentationsverhältnis zwischen Blauschlick, Globigerinenschlamm und Rotem Ton. Dies Verhältnis hat sich seit der letzten Eiszeitperiode nicht geändert.Die Arbeit erscheint auch in englischer Sprache im Symposium on Recent Sediments", herausgegeben vom United States National Research Council in Washington.     

Cartography and the others – aspects of a complicated relationship

ABSTRACT

Cartographic visualizations have been known for thousands of years and have brought forth a wealth of different map projections and cartographic products. Yet, cartography as an independent science has been established only about 100 years ago and sometimes its position among the spatial disciplines is challenged by the scientific community. In this respect it is a young science based on a very long tradition of map making, globe production, and the development of map projections. Maps and map related visualizations play an important and indispensable role in many other spatial disciplines such as geography and geodesy. Cartography has many overlaps with these traditional disciplines as well as with the more recent ones of photogrammetry and remote sensing. This paper reviews fundamental aspects of the conception of space and time throughout human history, the historic development of cartography from a technique of map making to a spatial science, highlighting major milestones in the history of the discipline. As a young science and confronted with major technological developments in the late 20^th century cartography underwent several crises as to what exactly is cartography and how it relates to other spatial sciences, in particular to geographic information systems. Major pitfalls and misconceptions are discussed and the three major scientific pillars of cartography are identified. The relationships of cartography with neighboring disciplines are discussed and the position of cartography vis a vis the others is delineated. Finally, desirable future developments of scientific cartography are discussed.     

Atmospheric superrotation on Saturn and Jupiter

The problem is discussed whether atmospheric superrotation is driven by internal or external torques. An integral constraint is derived which under certain conditions forbids geostrophic flow, and suggests corkscrew-shaped motion along zones of constant latitude. A momentum balance consideration restricts effective viscosities in the upper atmospheres to be much smaller than maximal eddy viscosity, perhaps as small as molecular viscosity.     

The effect of mechanical waves on empirical solar models

Empirical solar models contain the effect of heating due to radiative energy loss from acoustic waves. We estimate here the temperature difference between the radiative equilibrium model and the empirical model. At optical depth ₅₀₀₀ = 0.1 this difference is small, but near the temperature minimum (₅₀₀₀ = 10^–4) it reaches between 53 and 83 K. The temperature difference between the equator and the poles caused by a hypothetical difference in the heating is estimated.     

The concentrations of the noble metals in Southern African flood-type basalts and MORB: implications for petrogenesis and magmatic sulphide exploration

Concentrations of the platinum-group elements have been determined in several suites of southern African flood-type basalts and mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), covering some 3 Ga of geologic evolution and including the Etendeka, Karoo, Soutpansberg, Machadodorp, Hekpoort, Ventersdorp and Dominion magmas. The magmas cover a compositional range from 3.7 to 18.7% MgO, 26–720 ppm Ni, 16–250 ppm Cu, and <1–255 ppb total platinum-group elements (PGE). The younger basalts (Etendeka, Karoo) tend to be depleted in PGE relative to Cu, while most of the older basalts (Hekpoort, Machadodorp, Ventersdorp, Dominion) show no PGE depletion relative to Cu. Further, the younger basalts tend to have lower average Pt/Pd ratios than the older basalts, and the MORBs have lower average Pt/Pd than the continental basalts within the broad groupings of "old" and "young" basalts. This may reflect (1) a decreasing degree of mantle melting through geologic time, and (2) source heterogeneity, in that the MORBs are derived from predominantly asthenospheric mantle, whereas the continental basalts also contain a lithospheric mantle component enriched in Pt. In addition to these factors, some PGE fractionation also occurred during differentiation of the magmas, with Pd showing incompatible behaviour and the other PGE variably compatible behaviour. The examined southern African flood-type basalts and MORB appear to offer limited prospects for magmatic sulfide ores, largely because they show little evidence for significant chalcophile metal depletion that could be the result of sulphide extraction during ascent and crystallization.Editorial responsibility: I. Parsons     

Benthic carbonate factories of the Phanerozoic

Marine carbonate precipitation occurs in three basic modes: abiotic (or quasi-abiotic), biotically induced, and biotically controlled. On a geologic scale, these precipitation modes combine to form three carbonate production systems, or "factories" in the benthic environment: (1) tropical shallow-water factory, dominated by biotically controlled (mainly photo-autotrophic) and abiotic precipitates; (2) cool-water factory, dominated by biotically controlled (mainly heterotrophic) precipitates; and (3) mud-mound factory, dominated by biotically induced (mainly microbial) and abiotic precipitates. Sediment accumulations of the factories differ in composition, geometry, and facies patterns, and some of these differences appear prominently in seismic data, thus facilitating subsurface prediction. The characteristic accumulation of the tropical factory is the flat-topped, often reef-rimmed platform. In cool-water systems, reefs in high-energy settings are scarce and hydrodynamic influence dominates, producing seaward-sloping shelves and deep-water sediment drifts often armored by skeletal framework. The typical accumulation of the mud-mound factory is groups of mounds in deeper water. Where the mud-mound factory expands into shallow water, it forms rimmed platforms similar to the tropical factory. The tropical factory is most productive; the mud-mound factory reaches 80–90%, and the cool-water factory 20–30% of the tropical growth rate. The three factories represent end members connected by transitions in space. Transitions in time are linked to biotic evolution.     

NOAA AR 8210: EVOLUTION AND FLARES FROM MULTIBAND DIAGNOSTICS

NOAA 8210 has been a region showing a remarkable level of activity well before solar maximum. Dominated by a large, rapidly rotating spot, it produced several intense flares during its disk passage at the end of April–beginning of May 1998. We examine the development of AR 8210 in H and white light (WL) and study the evolution of its complex magnetic topology. While the other principal flares are briefly reviewed, the great X1.1/3B flare of 2 May, which was observed at Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory during a SOHO/UVCS ground support campaign, is studied in detail. This event has been documented in full-disk H and Na-D intensitygrams, Dopplergrams, and magnetograms, with a time cadence of one minute each. The flare was associated with a CME and produced significant geomagnetic effects. Furthermore, we point out the perspectives for our planned Flare Monitoring and Alerting System, since the two new instruments (Magneto-Optical Filter and Digital H camera), which made their first operational run with the campaign, are crucial components for this program.     

Focal Mechanisms and Stress Field in The Region Vogtland/Western Bohemia

We calculated focal mechanisms for 30 of the strongest events (1.5 M _L 3.3) in distinct subregions of Vogtland/Western Bohemia between 1990 and 1998. Our investigations are concerned with events of the swarms near Bad Elster (1991), Haingrün (1991), Nový Kostel (1994 and 1997) and Zwickau (1998), two events from a group of earthquakes near Klingenthal (1997) and eight single events. Seismograms were provided by the digital station networks of the Geophysical Observatory of the University of Munich, the Technical University of Freiberg, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, the Masaryk University in Brno and some nearby stations of the German Regional Seismic Network (GRSN). To calculate focal mechanisms two inversion methods were applied. The inferred focal mechanisms do not show a simple, uniform pattern of seismic dislocation. All possible dislocation types – strike-slip, normal and thrust faulting - are represented. The prevailing mechanisms are normal and strike-slip faulting. Considerable differences in the fault plane solutions are noted for the individual subregions as well as in some cases among the individual events of a single swarm. For the Nový Kostel area we succeeded to resolve a change in the orientations of the nodal planes for the two successive swarms of December 1994 and January 1997. Besides this we also observe a change in the mechanisms, namely from strike-slip and normal faulting (December 1994) to strike-slip and thrust faulting (January 1997). Based on the inferred focal mechanisms the stress field was estimated. It turned out, that the dominating stress field in the region Vogtland/Western Bohemia does not substantially differ from the known stress field of West and Central Europe, being characterized by a SE-NW direction of the maximum compressive horizontal stress. We conclude that the seismicity in the Vogtland/Western Bohemia region is not predominantly caused by an independent local stress field, but rather controlled by the dominating stress regime in Central Europe.     

Heavy metal inflow into the floodplains at the mouth of the river Weiße Elster (Central Germany)

From 1998 to 2002 investigations were carried out to estimate both the quantity and quality (heavy metal contents) of suspended matter loads discharged into a floodplain area measuring approx. 5 km² of the Central German river Weiße Elster, a tributary of the river Saale in the Elbe river basin. Flood sediments, suspended particulate matter, and floodplain soils were investigated especially for the main pollutants Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Hg. Supplementary gamma spectroscopy examinations were performed to help to identify the age of deposits in order to estimate sedimentation rates for last decades. The recent flood sediments are contaminated by up to 33 times the geogenic background (Cd). Up to 55% of the total annual SPM load of the river Weiße Elster is relocated into the investigated retention area in the flood‐stricken year 2002. The sedimentation rates for the last 50 years vary between 0.5 mm/a and 1 mm/a in far away and rarely flooded parts and between 1 mm/a and 2 mm/a in the frequently flooded parts of the inflow of the retention area.