Diatoms as Indicators of Organic Pollution

There is given a list of 323 taxa of freshwater diatoms occurring in waters of Central Europe. Each taxon is characterized by 10 balls of saprobic valence, the indicative weight of species (I_i) and by the individual saprobic index (S_i) indicating its position on a conventional scale of saprobity. Diatoms are very common aquatic organisms, but are only medium or bad indicators of saprobity, because their saprobic valence is usually wide.     

Multispectral remote sensing of biomass burning in West Africa

Remote sensing measurements provide a vauable means of determining the extent of burning areas and of estimating the overall distribution of pollutant sources (identified from experimental studies) in time and space. This distribution has to be taken into account in the boundary conditions of chemistry atmospheric models.Recent methods developed for the remote sensing of active fires in tropical or temperated forest zones, have been found to be completely inadequate for fire detection on West African savannas. In order to accurately estimate the active fire distribution in the function of different sorts of West African savannas (Sahelian, Sudanian and Guinean) and forests, a multispectral methodology has been developed based on NOAA/11-AVHRR satellite data, with the purpose of eliminating as much as possible the problems related to large surface heterogeneity, confusion and bias, produced by clouds, smoke, haze, background emissivities, etc.Unlike other methods, the results show that the multispectral method, in spite of its selectivity, provides realistic results, and does not under- or over-estimate the number of fires that can be sensed by the satellite. Consequently, this methodology is more appropriate than the simplest ones for a systematic sensing of this phenomenon.     

The stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation observed in the semidiurnal ground pressure data

Ground pressure observations made at Macao (22^○N, 113^○E) from 1953 to 1991 are analyzed and compared with the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) data obtained during the same interval. The periods of the two phenomena and their time evolution are found to be close to each other. Furthermore, the time series of the stratospheric winds and the S2(p) QBO signature are highly correlated, thus confirming earlier analysis. On this basis, pressure measurements obtained at Batavia (now Djakarta: 6^○S, 107^○E) from 1870 to 1944 are used to trace back the QBO phenomenon before the advent of systematic stratospheric balloon measurements. The inferred period, which varies between 25 and 32 months, suggests that the QBO has been present in the atmosphere at least since 1870.     

Detailed gravity study of the offshore structure of Piton de la Fournaise volcano,Reunion Island

We present an interpretation of gravity data acquired in 1984 by the French R/V Jean Charcot on the submarine part of the eastern flank of Piton de la Fournaise volcano. We comment on the Bouguer anomaly map and give a quantitative interpretation of three gravity profiles. The main results are that a gravity high over Grand Brûlé, the lower subaerial part of the eastern flank, does not extend far offshore and that an anomalous topographic feature, discovered in 1982 on the submarine eastern flank, is characterized by a large negative anomaly. We propose three hypotheses to explain the origin of this anomaly, i. e., it marks the site of a new volcano, or it is a consequence of lateral volcanism from a volcano older than Piton de la Fournaise, or more probably, it represents a great landslide deposit.     

Dissolution of secondary copper sulphides using complex-forming agents (EDTA,EDA). Part II: Chalcocite dissolution in EDTA and EDA

This work is immediate continuation of Part I, using an identical method and evaluation for kinetic studies. The systems chalcocite-ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid and chalcocite-ethylene diamine were studied. It was necessary to refine the geometrical model method for chalcocite in order to establish dissolution kinetics of polydispersions. This work confirms that chalcocite leaching proceeds through covellite even in the medium of complex-forming agents and kinetic equations for both leaching stages were evaluated with an attempt at physical interpretation.     

Elimination of Nutrients in the Rozkoš-Reservoir

The reservoir, having a volume of 76 hm³, a surface area of 1001 ha and a maximum depth of 17 m, is divided by a dam into two parts. Half of the upper part with an area of 200 ha is densely covered by macrophytes (Elodea, Potamogeton). The three main tributaries with 2.6 m³/s on an average are highly polluted and show α-mesosaprobic conditions. The reservoir is investigated between September and March in its longitudinal section at eight stations. The organic load and the total solids show a total decrease by 60% and 66%, respectively, and 70% of this selfpurification occurs in the upper, separated part of the reservoir. In the same way, also the total nitrogen is reduced, whereas the total phosphorus is reduced already in the upper part of the reservoir by 71%, then decreasing to 21% in the second part of the reservoir. With phosphorus, besides the biological elimination obviously also precipitation by the dissolved iron occurs, the concentration of which is reduced by 44 or 76%, resp. The bacteriological load of water improved by two to three orders of magnitude.