Use of mathematical modeling to investigate inter-aquifer contamination by organic-rich water through an unplugged well (central Wielkopolska, Poland)

Hydrogeological research was performed to establish the origin of organic-rich water in a Quaternary aquifer (Wielkopolska Buried Valley aquifer, Poland). The spatial distribution of such water was determined by means of multilevel sampling with a packer. The nature, spatial distribution and chemistry of the organic-rich water suggest hydraulic connection between the Quaternary aquifer and the underlying Neogene aquifer. This connection may be enabled by an old abandoned, improperly plugged well, and must therefore be considered as an artificial hydraulic connection between hydrogeologically separated aquifers. For the verification of this hypothesis, a groundwater contaminant transport model was constructed. The results of contaminant transport modeling allow the contaminant transport parameters (transverse and longitudinal dispersivity) to be identified in the field. The numerical groundwater model was used for the prognosis of organic-rich water remediation, and for specification of water-resource management principles in the region where organic-rich water occurs. The results of this research enable the verification of assumptions regarding complex groundwater flow conditions in the boundary zone of a buried valley.     

Advances in understanding calcite varve formation: new insights from a dual lake monitoring approach in the southern Baltic lowlands

We revise the conceptual model of calcite varves and present, for the first time, a dual lake monitoring study in two alkaline lakes providing new insights into the seasonal sedimentation processes forming these varves. The study lakes, Tiefer See in NE Germany and Czechowskie in N Poland, have distinct morphology and bathymetry, and therefore, they are ideal to decipher local effects on seasonal deposition. The monitoring setup in both lakes is largely identical and includes instrumental observation of (i) meteorological parameters, (ii) chemical profiling of the lake water column including water sampling, and (iii) sediment trapping at both bi-weekly and monthly intervals. We then compare our monitoring data with varve micro-facies in the sediment record. One main finding is that calcite varves form complex laminae triplets rather than simple couplets as commonly thought. Sedimentation of varve sub-layers in both lakes is largely dependent on the lake mixing dynamics and results from the same seasonality, commencing with diatom blooms in spring turning into a pulse of calcite precipitation in summer and terminating with a re-suspension layer in autumn and winter, composed of calcite patches, plant fragments and benthic diatoms. Despite the common seasonal cycle, the share of each of these depositional phases in the total annual sediment yield is different between the lakes. In Lake Tiefer See calcite sedimentation has the highest yields, whereas in Lake Czechowskie, the so far underestimated re-suspension sub-layer dominates the sediment accumulation. Even in undisturbed varved sediments, re-suspended material becomes integrated in the sediment fabric and makes up an important share of calcite varves. Thus, while the biogeochemical lake cycle defines the varves’ autochthonous components and micro-facies, the physical setting plays an important role in determining the varve sub-layers’ proportion.     

Storage of sediment‐associated heavy metals along the channelized Odra River,Poland

The importance of long‐term storage of heavy metals in groyne fields, functioning over 150 years, is investigated for the River Odra (Oder), western Poland. Construction of groynes along the Odra preceded rapid development of heavy industrialization in the largest coal mine districts in Poland and the Czech Republic that resulted in persistent riverine pollution. The 187 km long Middle Odra reach was repeatedly channelized from the first half of the eighteenth century to the turn of the twentieth century, during which time partially filled groyne fields were dissected by new bank lines and groyne systems, with older groyne fields partially keyed into the floodplain. Consequently, concentrations of zinc, lead, cadmium, and copper within historically deposited groyne field sediments exceed local geochemical background levels by more than 60, 40, 15 and 10 times, respectively. Sediments contaminated with heavy metals occur within three distinctive geomorphic zones: zone I is up to 250 m wide and furthest from the present channel, comprising decimeter‐thick polluted sediments, overlying eighteenth century sand and gravel bars; zone II represents the former nineteenth century groyne fields, with widths between 10 and 100 m, filled with as much as 3 m of polluted sediments; zone III represents the twentieth century groyne fields, which are several to a dozen metres wide and filled with polluted sediments averaging depths of more than 2 m. This investigation indicates that large and extensive sediment quantities of moderately polluted sediments are stored immediately along the banks of the River Odra. These sediments could be a significant secondary pollution source and therefore careful maintenance of contemporary bank protection structures is required. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SH waves in a layer with temperature dependent properties

The paper deals with the problem of SH harmonic wave propagation in an elastic layer with temperature dependent properties. The shear modulus and mass density are linearly dependent on temperature. The layer is rested on a rigid foundation and the upper boundary is free of loadings. The boundary planes are kept at different constant temperatures. The wave velocity and amplitude of stresses are analysed.     

Application of Ground Penetrating Radar Surveys and GPS Surveys for Monitoring the Condition of Levees and Dykes

This paper analyses the possibility of using integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) surveys and ground penetrating radar surveys to precisely locate damages to levees, particularly due to the activity of small fossorial mammals. The technology of intercommunication between ground penetrating radar (GPR) and an RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) survey unit, and the method of data combination, are presented. The errors which may appear during the survey work are also characterized. The procedure for processing the data so that the final results have a spatial character and are ready to be implemented in digital maps and geographic information systems (GIS) is also described.     

Changes of snow cover in Poland

The present paper examines variability of characteristics of snow cover (snow cover depth, number of days with snow cover and dates of beginning and end of snow cover) in Poland. The study makes use of a set of 43 long time series of observation records from the stations in Poland, from 1952 to 2013. To describe temporal changes in snow cover characteristics, the intervals of 1952–1990 and of 1991–2013 are compared and trends in analysed data are sought (e.g., using the Mann–Kendall test). Observed behaviour of time series of snow-related variables is complex and not easy to interpret, for instance because of the location of the research area in the zone of transitional moderate climate, where strong variability of climate events is one of the main attributes. A statistical link between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and the snow cover depth, as well as the number of snow cover days is found.     

The 1995–2002 Long-Term Monitoring of Comet C/1995 O1 (HALE–BOPP) at Radio Wavelength

The bright comet Hale–Bopp provided the first opportunity to follow the outgassing rates of a number of molecular species over a large range of heliocentric distances. We present the results of our observing campaign at radio wavelengths which began in August 1995 and ended in January 2002. The observations were carried out with the telescopes of Nançay, IRAM, JCMT, CSO and, since September 1997, SEST. The lines of nine molecules (OH, CO, HCN, CH₃OH, H₂CO, H₂S, CS, CH₃CN and HNC) were monitored. CS, H₂S, H₂CO, CH₃CN were detected up to r_h= 3–4 AU from the Sun, while HCN and CH₃OH were detected up to 6 AU. CO, which is the main driver of cometary activity at heliocentric distances larger than 3–4 AU, was last detected in August 2001, at r_h= 14 AU. The gas production rates obtained from this programme contain important information on the nature of cometary ices, their thermal properties and sublimation mechanisms.Line shapes allow to measure gas expansion velocities, which, at large heliocentric distances, might be directly connected to the temperature of the nucleus surface. Inferred expansion velocity of the gas varied as r_h ^-0.4 within 7 AU from the Sun, but remained close to 0.4 km s^-1 further away. The CO spectra obtained at large r_hare strongly blueshifted and indicative of an important day-to-night asymmetry in outgassing and expansion velocity. The kinetic temperature of the coma, estimated from the relative intensities of the CH₃OH and CO lines, increased with decreasing r_h, from about 10 K at 7 AU to 110 K around perihelion.