Zur Deckentektonik des Hochbalkans

Zusammenfassung Im Botewgebiet der Stara Planina (Hochbalkan) liegt inmitten paläozoischer, mesozoischer und tertiärer Schichten ein 30 km langer und 12 km breiter Granitkomplex, der als autochthone Einheit, aber auch als Deckscholle gedeutet worden ist. Die Deckennatur des Komplexes wird durch die großtektonischen Verhältnisse eindeutig belegt. Der Bewegungsplan besitzt meridionale Symmetrie, die tektonischen Haupttransporte erfolgten von S nach N. Groß- und Kleingefüge entsprechen einander. Das Liegende der Decke besitzt keine einheitliche Prägung. Diskordante Lagerungsverhältnisse lassen variszische, kimmerische, kretazische, laramische und pyrenäische Bewegungen erkennen.     

A meteorological 80-m tower near Rotterdam

Construction, observation site and instrumentation are described of an 80-m meteorological observation tower, erected in Vlaardingen, The Netherlands, for studies in connection with air pollution problems along the Nieuwe Waterweg. From measurements made regularly in the period April 1967–April 1968 summaries are given of wind profile parameters and gustiness averages. Case histories are presented of an air pollution episode lasting several days, and of an hourly average wind direction difference of 120 ° over 70 m.     

Electrostatic Force in Blowing Snow

Separation of electrostatic charge during the transport of particles by wind adds a force to the gravitational and fluid forces that determine trajectories of particles moving by saltation. Evaluating this electrostatic force requires the electric field strength very near the saltation surface, and charge-to-mass ratios for the moving particles. Field mill readings 4 cm above the surface in a moderate blizzard showed electric field strength as high as +30 kV m^-1. Another experiment gave charge-to-mass ratios of individual saltation particles in low-level drifting that ranged between +72 C kg^-1 and -208 C kg^-1. From these measurements, we estimated electrostatic forces as large as the gravitational force on some saltating particles. Including forces of this magnitude in the equations of motion significantly alters predicted saltation trajectories from those for uncharged particles. Predictions appear reasonable that for some saltating particles, the electrostatic force prevents new surface impacts. These results should help improve models of energy transfer in the planetary boundary layer during blizzards and sandstorms.     

High-resolution solar spectroscopy with TESOS – Upgrade from a double to a triple system

We present the characteristics and demonstrate the performance of the Triple Etalon SOlar Spectrometer (TESOS) operated at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) on Tenerife. The Fabry–Pérot interferometer TESOS is ideally suited for precise measurements of photospheric and chromospheric motion. Installed in 1997 and equipped with two etalons, TESOS has recently been completed with a third etalon and upgraded with two high-speed, backside-illuminated CCD cameras. The image scale of 0.089 arc sec pixel^–1 is adapted to the resolution of the telescope. The improved system enables frame rates up to 5 frames per second. The spectral resolution of 300000 allows for spectral diagnostics of weak photospheric lines, including individual CH-lines within the G-band at 430.6 nm.     

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.     

The composition of liquids coexisting with dense hydrous magnesium silicates at 11-13.5 GPa and the endpoints of the solidi in the MgO-SiO2-H2O system

High-pressure liquids in the MgO-SiO₂-H₂O (MSH) system have been investigated at 11 and 13.5 GPa and between 1000 and 1350 °C. A bulk composition more magnesian than the tie-line forsterite-H₂O was employed for the study. Rocking multi-anvil experiments were combined with a diamond trap set-up. After termination of the experiments, the liquid trapped in the diamond layer was analysed by laser ablation ICP-MS using the ‘freezing’ technique. At 11 GPa, liquids coexist with one or two of phase A, clinohumite, chondrodite, and forsterite. A marked discontinuity in the evolution of liquid compositions near 1100 °C is observed at 11 GPa. A step of ∼13 wt% H₂O and 13 wt% MgO is interpreted to result from overstepping the fluid-saturated solidus reaction mass balanced to 1.00(18) phase A + 1.07(4) fluid = 0.63(15) chondrodite + 1.44(2) melt. At 13.5 GPa liquids coexist with one or two of hydrous wadsleyite, clinohumite, superhydrous B, phase B, and forsterite. The discontinuity in liquid composition is no longer present, indicating that the second critical endpoint of the solidus has been overstepped. Thus, hydrous melts in the Mg-rich part of the MSH system (molar bulk Mg/Si > 2) are chemically distinct from aqueous fluids at pressure up to 11 GPa. Convergence of fluid and melt compositions along the solidus resulting in a supercritical liquid occurs between 11 and 13.5 GPa, at which pressure the entire MSH system becomes supercritical.     

Biomediation of calcrete at the gold anomaly of the Barns prospect,Gawler Craton,South Australia

Anomalously high Au concentrations (2.5 to 50 ppb) in regolith carbonate accumulations, such as calcrete and calcareous sands in aeolian sand dunes overlying Au mineralisation of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, show a marked covariance of Au with K, Mg and most notably Ca. This relationship appears to be linked to the authigenic formation of smectites and carbonates within the aeolian dunes in the region. However, little is known about the processes involved in the formation of carbonates under semi-arid and arid conditions. In this study the geochemical properties of aeolian dunes along several depth profiles of 2 to 4 m are investigated in order to assess the relationship between Au mobility and calcrete formation. In the profiles a strongly systematic relationship between Au and the increasing Ca–Mg contents at depth highlights the close association between the enrichment of Au in the calcrete and the underlying hydrothermal mineralisation. Intense calcrete formation and concurrent Au enrichment also occurs in the vicinity of roots penetrating the dune. Thin section petrography and cathodoluminescence show that most of the calcrete in the regolith profiles is micritic; some sparic crystallites have also been identified. To demonstrate the presence of microbial processes that may mediate the formation of calcrete, samples from a depth profile in the dune were taken under sterile conditions. After amendment with urea and incubation of up to 24 h, up to 18 mg/l of NH₄⁺ were detected in near surface samples. At depth of 2.3 m 1 mg/l NH₄⁺ were detected compared to a control that contained below 0.05 mg/l NH₄⁺. These results suggest that the genesis of calcrete and pedogenic carbonate in the area may be partly biologically mediated via processes such as the metabolic breakdown of urea by resident microbiota which generates a pH and pCO₂ environment conducive to the precipitation of carbonate. In the process of urea breakdown organic Au complexes such as Au-amino acid complexes may become destabilised in solution and Au may be co-precipitated, resulting in the fine, non-particulate distribution of Au throughout the micritic calcrete carbonate. In conclusion, this study suggests a coupled mechanism of biologically mediated and inorganic mechanisms that lead to the formation of Au-in-calcrete anomalies.     

Sources and sinks of atmospheric methane

In 1972 average mixing ratio of methane in the troposphere was 1.41 ppm and 1.3 ppmv for the northern and southern hemisphere, respectively, which corresponds to a total amount of 4×10¹⁵ g of CH₄ present in the atmosphere. Most is of recent biologic origin.¹⁴C analyses show that no more than 20 percent is released by fossil sources. The various ecosystems producing CH₄ are discussed and the total annual production is estimated to lie between 5.5×10¹⁴ g/yr and 11×10¹⁴ g/yr. The corresponding turnover times for atmospheric CH₄ range from 4 to 7 yrs. The destruction of CH₄ takes place mainly in the troposphere, most probably through the reaction of CH₄ + OH CH₃ + H₂O. About 10 percent of the CH₄ is destroyed in the stratosphere. The CH₄ cycle contributes on the order of 1 percent to the atmospheric carbon cycle.     

The variation of the blocking temperature in models of thermoremanence (TRM)

The simplest non-interactive forms of Néel's domain-reversal and wall-motion models are examined and the variations of their respective blocking temperatures as functions of applied field and coercivity are compared. Both models show remarkably similar blocking temperature behavior, but the remanence acquisition mechanisms are so different as to produce diametrically opposed results when the Lowrie-Fuller stability criterion is considered. In particular, in low fields the wall-motion model selectively activates high-coercivity fractions while the domain-reversal model favors the low coercivities. This results in the paradox that the wall-motion model predicts behavior experimentally associated with the single-domain and pseudo-single-domain size range while the domain-reversal model predicts behavior usually associated with the large multidomain range. The paradox can be partly resolved within the multidomain model alone, but this would not apply for the smallest grain sizes. Several alternative approaches to the problems of this size range are suggested.