Web-based 4D visualization of marine geo-data using WebGL

For marine logistics and maintenance of extensive and expensive marine engineering projects in the coastal zone, it is essential that institutions provide the public with relevant information in an easily understandable yet comprehensive manner over the web. A perennial challenge, however, has been the development of spatio-temporal (four-dimensional (4D)) geo-visualization algorithms to enable the integration of time-varying geo-information in map-based visualizations on the Internet. In this paper, we address the challenge of visualizing marine spatial data in web-based applications through a 4D visualization concept, focusing on usability criteria, performance parameters, the required implementation effort, and delivering a breath of spatial information that supports decision-making on multiple levels. We used Web Graphic Library (WebGL) to validate our concept through a prototypical implementation. In our technology evaluation, WebGL proved highly suitable for the development of interactive, responsive, efficient, and mobile web-based Geographic Information applications, including 2D, 3D, and 4D (spatiotemporal) content. During our research, we identified a number of open research questions, including mapping graphic variables to thematic expressivity, representation of the time dimension in 4D systems, generic temporal generalization, and integration of (pseudo-)photorealistic illustrations in web-based geo-visualization systems.     

Effective stability around the Cassini state in the spin-orbit problem

We investigate the long-time stability in the neighborhood of the Cassini state in the conservative spin-orbit problem. Starting with an expansion of the Hamiltonian in the canonical Andoyer-Delaunay variables, we construct a high-order Birkhoff normal form and give an estimate of the effective stability time in the Nekhoroshev sense. By extensively using algebraic manipulations on a computer, we explicitly apply our method to the rotation of Titan. We obtain physical bounds of Titan’s latitudinal and longitudinal librations, finding a stability time greatly exceeding the estimated age of the Universe. In addition, we study the dependence of the effective stability time on three relevant physical parameters: the orbital inclination, $i$ , the mean precession of the ascending node of Titan orbit, $\dot{\varOmega }$ , and the polar moment of inertia, $C$ .     

Regional dynamical downscaling with CCLM over East Asia

Inspired by the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), the hindcast (1971–2000) and projection (2021–2050) simulations based on a resolution of $0.44^\circ$ over the East Asia domain are performed with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM). The simulations are driven by ERA-40 reanalysis data and output of the global climate model ECHAM5. This is the first time that the CCLM is adapted and evaluated for the East Asia Monsoon region; the setup is considered a starting point for further improvements in this region by the CCLM community. The evaluation results show that the CCLM is able to reasonably capture the climate features in this region, especially the monsoon dynamics on small scales. However, total precipitation in the northern part of the domain, over the Tibetan Plateau, and over east Indonesia has a pronounced wet bias. The projected climate change under the A1B scenario indicates an overall annual surface temperature increase of 1–2 K, but no significant precipitation changes.     

Suitability of Existing Numerical Model Codes and Thermodynamic Databases for the Prognosis of Calcite Dissolution Processes in Near-Surface Sediments Due to a CO2 Leakage Investigated by Column Experiments

Among the risks of CO₂ storage is the potential of CO₂ leakage into overlaying formations and near-surface potable aquifers. Through a leakage, the CO₂ can intrude into protected groundwater resources, which can lead to groundwater acidification followed by potential mobilisation of heavy metals and other trace metals through mineral dissolution or ion exchange processes. The prediction of pH buffer reactions in the formations overlaying a CO₂ storage site is essential for assessing the impact of CO₂ leakages in terms of trace metal mobilisation. For buffering the pH-value, calcite dissolution is one of the most important mechanisms. Although calcite dissolution has been studied for decades, experiments conducted under elevated CO₂ partial pressures are rare. Here, the first study for column experiments is presented applying CO₂ partial pressures from 6 to 43 bars and realising a near-natural flow regime. Geochemical calculations of calcite dissolution kinetics were conducted using PHREEQC together with different thermodynamic databases. Applying calcite surface areas, which were previously acquired by N₂-BET or calculated based on grain diameters, respectively, to the rate laws according to Plummer et al. (Am J Sci 278:179–216, doi:10.2475/ajs.278.2.179, 1978) or Palandri and Kharaka (US Geol Surv Open file Rep 2004–1068:71, 2004) in the numerical simulations led to an overestimation of the calcite dissolution rate by up to three orders of magnitude compared to the results of the column experiments. Only reduction of the calcite surface area in the simulations as a fitting procedure allowed reproducing the experimental results. A reason may be that the diffusion boundary layer (DBL), which depends on the groundwater flow velocity and develops at the calcite grain surface separating it from the bulk of the solution, has to be regarded: The DBL leads to a decrease in the calcite dissolution rate under natural laminar flow conditions compared to turbulent mixing in traditional batch experiments. However, varying the rate constants by three orders of magnitudes in a field scale PHREEQC model simulating a CO₂ leakage produced minor variations in the pH buffering through calcite dissolution. This justifies the use of equilibrium models when calculating the calcite dissolution in CO₂ leakage scenarios for porous aquifers and slow or moderate groundwater flow velocities. However, the selection of the thermodynamic database has an impact on the dissolved calcium concentration, leading to an uncertainty in the simulation results. The resulting uncertainty, which applies also to the calculated propagation of an aquifer zone depleted in calcite through dissolution, seems negligible for shallow aquifers of approximately 60 m depth, but amounts to 35 % of the calcium concentration for aquifers at a depth of approximately 400 m.     

Alteration and chemical U-Th-total Pb dating of heterogeneous high-uranium zircon from a pegmatite from the Aduiskii massif,middle Urals,Russia

Mineralogy and Petrology - The U-Th-Pb isotope system in the accessory mineral zircon may be disturbed, as for instance by the secondary loss of radiogenic lead. The recognition of such alteration...     

Retrieval of mixing height and dust concentration with lidar ceilometer

The Vaisala ceilometers CT25K and CL31 are eye-safe single lens lidar systems reporting attenuated backscatter profiles; they often operate 24 h a day in fully automated, hands-off operation mode. These profiles can be used for more than just cloud-base height determination. In dry weather situations, there is a fairly good correlation between the ceilometer near-range backscatter and in situ PM10 concentration readings. The comparison of mixing height values based on soundings and on ceilometer backscattering profiles indicates that ceilometers are suitable instruments for determining the convective mixing height. Its enhanced optics and electronics enables the CL31 ceilometer to detect fine boundary-layer structures whose counterparts are seen in temperature profiles.     

Die Glaukophangesteine,ihre stofflichen Äquivalente und Uniwandlungsprodukte in Nordcalabrien (Süditalien)

In the southern Apennin (= northern part of the region dealt with) and the Coasta Chain (= southern part) there are metabasalts wich are classified in the northern part as:

1. Glaucophane rocks of the albite-lawsonite-glaucophane-subfacies with the assemblage glaucophane + pumpellyite + lawsonite ±albite ±aragonite ±muscovite (7 rock analyses, 8 mineral analyses). These rocks are conceived as relics of an older burial metamorphism.
2. Rocks with pumpellyite and chlorite or also chlorite alone, that are interpreted as reaction rims between the metastable glaucophane rocks and the country rock (phyllites, quartzites). The assemblages pumpellyite + chlorite and chlorite alone are to be found (2 rock analyses and 2 mineral analyses).
3. Rocks with lawsonite and/or epidote belong to the same mineral facies as the country rock: a facies similar to the greenschist facies (called “lawsonite-albite-chlorite-subfacies”) which is characterized by the assemblages lawsonite + albite + chlorite ±calcite and also epidote ±lawsonite + albite + chlorite ± muscovite. These types are attributed to a younger dynamo-metamorphism (2 rock analyses).

In the southern part, the metabasalts can be found only as rocks with epidote and/or lawsonite, a metamorphism with more than one event cannot be proved petrologically (3 rock analyses). Equations of the observed mineral reactions are given. The transitions of one facies into another are represented in the pseudo-quaternary system Al₂O₃-CaO-Na₂O · Al₂O₃-2 Fe₂O₃ + FeO + MnO + MgO-(H₂O). The pressure-temperature conditions are estimated on the basis of published experimental data (300° C and 6–7 kb for the glaucophane rocks; 400° C and about 6 kb for the rocks with lawsonite and/or epidote) and are compared with geologic facts.