High resolution re-analysis for the Baltic Sea region during 1965–2005 period

Regional reanalysis database BaltAn65+ comprising meteorological data for Baltic Sea region for the time period 1965–2005 is described. For data assimilation and hindcasts, the numerical weather prediction model HIRLAM 7.1.4 is applied, with 11 km horizontal and 60-layer vertical resolution. Reanalysis includes three-dimensional weather analysis data. Standard surface observations and meteorological soundings together with ship and buoy measurements from WMO observational network are used in analysis. Boundary fields are obtained from ECMWF ERA-40 global re-analysis. The BaltAn65+ can be considered as a regional refinement of ERA-40 for Baltic Sea region, providing the historical weather and climate data with enhanced spatial resolution, which is main motivation for creation of this novel reanalysis database.     

High-resolution monitoring of water temperature and oxygen concentration in Lake Murten (Switzerland)

Lake Murten is located in the Lake District in western Switzerland and so far, it has been poorly investigated. The Environmental Service of Fribourg (SEn) has monitored this lake once a month for several years by water profiles (water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity) at its deepest part. The SEn identified the stratification of water masses as one of the main causes for oxygen consumption in the hypolimnion. In the present study, a Lander System was deployed in Lake Murten from April to September 2015 at 20 m depth at the northwestern part of the lake to monitor water temperature and dissolved oxygen at higher resolution (30 s interval). These records were compared with time series of atmospheric parameters like atmospheric temperature, wind speed and precipitation. A clear correlation of lake temperatures with wind speed was observed during the Spring and Autumn. The water mass stratification evolved through the season and reached its peak during Summer, preventing surface turbulences to reach the deeper part (20 m) of the water column and to partially oxygenate the metalimnion.     

Fatal landslides in Europe

Landslides are a major hazard causing human and large economic losses worldwide. However, the quantification of fatalities and casualties is highly underestimated and incomplete, thus, the estimation of landslide risk is rather ambitious. Hence, a spatio-temporal distribution of deadly landslides is presented for 27 European countries over the last 20  years (1995–2014). Catastrophic landslides are widely distributed throughout Europe, however, with a great concentration in mountainous areas. In the studied period, a total of 1370 deaths and 784 injuries were reported resulting from 476 landslides. Turkey showed the highest fatalities with 335. An increasing trend of fatal landslides is observed, with a pronounced number of fatalities in the latest period from 2008 to 2014. The latter are mostly triggered by natural extreme events such as storms (i.e., heavy rainfall), earthquakes, and floods and only minor by human activities, such as mining and excavation works. Average economic loss per year in Europe is approximately 4.7 billion Euros. This study serves as baseline information for further risk mapping by integrating deadly landslide locations, local land use data, and will therefore help countries to protect human lives and property.     

The Ebro Deep-Sea Fan system

The Ebro Fan System consists of en echelon channel-levee complexes, 50×20 km in area and 200-m thick. A few strong reflectors in a generally transparent seismic facies identify the sand-rich channel floors and levee crests. Numerous continuous acoustic reflectors characterize overbank turbidites and hemipelagites that blanket abandoned channel-levee complexes. The interlobe areas between channel complexes fill with homogeneous mud and sand from mass flow and overbank deposition; these exhibit a transparent seismic character. The steep continental rise and sediment “drainage” of Valencia Trough at the end of the channel-levee complexes prevent the development of distributary channels and midfan lobe deposits.     

Tektonische Untersuchungen im Gebiet der Eisenspatgrube „Pfannenberger Einigkeit“ im Siegerland

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Continental shelf architecture and sea-level cycles: Late Quaternary high-resolution stratigraphy of the Gulf of Cádiz, Spain

 The stratal architecture of the Gulf of Cádiz continental margin (SW Spain) has been analyzed by using single-channel, very high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. An evolutionary scheme of asymmetrical depositional sequences is proposed that was governed by the Late Pleistocene–Holocene sea-level fluctuations. Stratigraphic analysis defined 14 seismic units, that are configured into two major type-1 depositional sequences related to 4th-order eustatic sea level changes (100–110 ka). Within these sequences, minor asymmetrical depositional sequences have been recognized related to 5th-order eustatic cycles (22–23 ka) superimposed and modulated by the regressive trends of 4th-order cycles. In 5th-order depositional sequences, the forced regressive and lowstand deposits are volumetrically dominant. They cause the main progradation of the margin in such a way that they form the margin structure almost entirely. Received: 6 April 1995 / Revision received: 8 March 1996     

Functional diversity of fish and invertebrates in coral and rocky reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

To define the functional groups of fish and macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), visual censuses were performed in 18 areas of four biogeographic provinces: Cortés, Mexican, Panamic and Oceanic Islands. A total of 257 fish and macroinvertebrate species were recorded, and from them, 27 morpho‐functional groups (MFGs) were constructed on the basis of trophic level, maximum size, taxonomy and morphology. Biomass, richness, diversity and evenness of MFGs were calculated for each province and compared statistically; a regression analysis between taxonomic and functional diversity was conducted to observe the relationship between these two indicators. There were significant differences in all ecological indices (p < .002), highlighting the high biomass and richness of MFGs in the Cortés and Oceanic Islands provinces (>400 g/m²), associated with the influence of cold currents in the northernmost region and less fishing pressure in protected areas. A decreasing pattern of MFG richness towards the tropics was observed, which demonstrates that in the ETP, the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species diversity has been translated into functional complexity. The Mexican province was the most functionally diverse (biomass well distributed in the MFG; H′ = 0.46 ± 0.009). Related to this, it is predicted that biomass is biased towards certain functional groups (i.e., large carnivores), which shows that the H′ index of the MFG is not a good indicator of the conservation status of ETP reefs. Finally, regression analysis suggests that functional diversity increases at low species diversity but eventually reaches an asymptote (almost all possible functions are represented).     

Tracking and orbit determination performance of the GRAS instrument on MetOp-A

The global navigation satellite system receiver for atmospheric sounding (GRAS) on MetOp-A is the first European GPS receiver providing dual-frequency navigation and occultation measurements from a spaceborne platform on a routine basis. The receiver is based on ESA’s AGGA-2 correlator chip, which implements a high-quality tracking scheme for semi-codeless P(Y) code tracking on the L1 and L2 frequency. Data collected with the zenith antenna on MetOp-A have been used to perform an in-flight characterization of the GRAS instrument with focus on the tracking and navigation performance. Besides an assessment of the receiver noise and systematic measurement errors, the study addresses the precise orbit determination accuracy achievable with the GRAS receiver. A consistency on the 5 cm level is demonstrated for reduced dynamics orbit solutions computed independently by four different agencies and software packages. With purely kinematic solutions, 10 cm accuracy is obtained. As a part of the analysis, an empirical antenna offset correction and preliminary phase center correction map are derived, which notably reduce the carrier phase residuals and improve the consistency of kinematic orbit determination results.

Fetkin-hydro,a new thermo-hydrological algorithm for low-temperature thermochronological modeling

Despite two decades of major advances in the field of thermochronological modeling, state-of-the-art numerical implementations still rely mostly on burial and exhumation processes to explain radiometric measurements.Even though such an approach has proved valuable, failing to account for other first-order geological variables has led to misinterpretations and therefore, calls for a refinement.In this study a new version of the Fetkin(finite element temperature kinematics, Ecopetrol) program is presented.Its new algorithm couples time-dependent hydrological and thermal calculations, thus rendering thermochronological ages that, instead of being solely dependent on the kinematical evolution of a system, conditioning by the fluid flow is also present.In contrast with previous thermochronological models, this work considers the influence of effective stress on rock properties(porosity and permeability) and therefore, in thermal conductivity.Sensitivity analyses addressing relevant geological questions show not only the versatility of the code but also, new perspectives on forward low-temperature thermochronological modeling.Groundwater circulation through pure-sandstone settings produce colder thermal architectures than those obtained in impermeable domains.Differences in cooling ages from models with and without fluid circulation are up to 5 Myr.A 4-fold variation in thrusting rates(0.5 km/Myr to 2 km/Myr) produces a 15-Myr difference in cooling ages in models with fluid flow, which contrasts to much lower differences, only 2 Myr, in domains without(or minimal) fluid circulation.2D thermal solutions in fold-bend-fold thrust belts composed of sandstones remain static despite substantial relief development by kinematic folding.A case-study from Western Argentina, in the Andean Precordillera, confirms the plausibility of the numerical algorithm here posed and raises new questions on the first-order thermal controls in settings under deformation.     

K-Ar dating,whole-rock and Sr-Nd isotope geochemistry of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks around the Gümüşhane area: implications for post-collisional volcanism in the Eastern Pontides,Northeast Turkey

Volcanic rocks from the Gümü?hane area in the southern part of the Eastern Pontides (NE Turkey) consist mainly of andesitic lava flows associated with tuffs, and rare basaltic dykes. The K-Ar whole-rock dating of these rocks range from 37.62?±?3.33 Ma (Middle Eocene) to 30.02?±?2.84 Ma (Early Oligocene) for the andesitic lava flows, but are 15.80?±?1.71 Ma (Middle Miocene) for the basaltic dykes. Petrochemically, the volcanic rocks are dominantly medium-K calc-alkaline in composition and show enrichment of large ion lithophile elements, as well as depletion of high field strength elements, thus revealing that volcanic rocks evolved from a parental magmas derived from an enriched mantle source. Chondrite-normalized rare-earth element patterns of the volcanic rocks are concave upwards with low- to-medium enrichment (La_CN/Lu_CN?=?3.39 to 12.56), thereby revealing clinopyroxene- and hornblende-dominated fractionations for andesitic-basaltic rocks and tuffs, respectively. The volcanic rocks have low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.70464 to 0.70494) and εNd_(i) values (+1.11 to +3.08), with Nd-model ages (T_DM) of 0.68 to 1.02 Ga, suggesting an enriched lithospheric mantle source of Proterozoic age. Trace element and isotopic data, as well as the modelling results, show that fractional crystallization and minor assimilation played an important role in the evolution of the volcanic rocks studied. The Eocene to Miocene volcanism in the region has resulted from lithospheric delamination and the associated convective thinning of the mantle, which led to the partial melting of the subduction-metasomatized lithospheric mantle.