Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia

This study presents the results of the palynological and diatom analyses of the sediment core recovered in Hoton-Nur Lake (48°37′18″N, 88°20′45″E, 2083 m) in 2004. Quantitative reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation and climate dynamics in the semiarid Mongolian Altai suggests that boreal woodland replaced the primarily open landscape of northwestern Mongolia at about 10 kyr BP (1 kyr = 1000 cal yr) in response to a noticeable increase in precipitation from 200–250 mm/yr to 450–550 mm/yr. A decline of the forest vegetation and a return to a predominance of open vegetation types occurred after 5 kyr BP when precipitation sums decreased to 250–300 mm/yr. Prior to 11.5 kyr BP diatom concentrations are relatively low and the lake is dominated by planktonic Cyclotella and small Fragilariaceae, suggesting the existence of a relatively deep and oligotrophic/mesotrophic lake. The great abundance of Staurosirella pinnata from the beginning of the record until 10.7 kyr BP might imply intensified erosion processes in the catchment and this is fully consistent with the presence of scarce and dry vegetation and the generally arid climate during this period. From about 10.7 kyr BP, more planktonic diatom taxa appeared and increased in abundance, indicating that the lake became more productive as diatom concentration increased. This change correlates well with the development of boreal woodland in the catchment. Decrease in precipitation and changes in the vegetation towards steppe are reflected by the rapid increase in Aulacoseira distans from about 5 kyr BP. The Holocene pollen and diatom records do not indicate soil and vegetation cover disturbances by the anthropogenic activities, implying that the main transformations of the regional vegetation occurred as a result of the natural climate change. Our reconstruction is in agreement with the paleomonsoon records from China, demonstrating an abrupt strengthening of the summer monsoon at 12 kyr BP and an associated increase in precipitation and in lake levels between 11 and 8 kyr BP, followed by the stepwise attenuation of the monsoon circulation and climate aridization towards the modern level. The records from the neighboring areas of Kazakhstan and Russia, situated west and north of Hoton-Nur, demonstrate spatially and temporally different Holocene vegetation and climate histories, indicating that the Altai Mountains as a climate boundary are of pivotal importance for the Holocene environmental and, possibly, habitation history of Central Asia.     

On the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols — Part III: Trends of the total annual precipitation with respect to the chemical content of rainwater over the United States

Summary Following a recent hypothesis on the role of activated sodium chloride particles as potential nuclei of atmospheric precipitation, further analysis is made of average annual data due toC. Junge on the chemical composition of rainwater salts, and correlation of some parameters with the total amount of rainfall is attempted. It is found that the results obtained are in agreement with the proposed role of activated sodium chloride as a nucleus of a substantial part of the atmospheric precipitation.     

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of NBS 1633a Fly Ash and 1632a Bituminous Coal Reference Samples With the Use of Short Irradiation

Instrumental neutron activation analysis has been applied to the analysis of recently issued NBS reference materials SRM 1633a Fly Ash and SRM 1632a Bituminous Coal. Only the nuclides with half-lives of less than 48 hours have been used. The results for the determination of 18 elements (Fly Ash) and 19 elements (Coal) are compared with the values given by NBS and with recent results obtained by other investigators.     

H-chondrites: Trace element clues to their origin

We have analyzed 10 H-chondrites for 20 trace elements, using RNAA. The meteorites included 4 of petrologic type 4 and 2 each of types 3, 5 and 6.The data show that H-chondrites are not isochemical. H3's are depleted by some 10% not only in Fe (Dodd, 1976), but also in the siderophiles Os, Re, Ir, Ni, Pd, Au, and Ge. Moreover, the abundance pattern of siderophiles varies systematically with petrologic type. As similar fractionations of REE have been observed by Nakamura (1974), it appears that both the proportions and compositions of the main nebular condensates varied slightly during accretion of the H-chondrites. Thus the higher petrologic types are independent nebular products, not metamorphosed descendants of lower petrologic types.Abundances of highly volatile elements (Cs, Br, Bi, Tl, In, Cd, Ar³⁶) correlate with petrologic type, declining by ≤ 10^?3 from Type 3 to Type 6. The trends differ from those for artificially heated Type 3's (Ikramuddinet al., 1977b; Herzoget al., 1979), but agree passably with theoretical curves for nebular condensation. Apparently the low volatile contents of higher petrologic types are a primary feature, not the result of metamorphic loss.The mineralogy of chondrites suggests that they accreted between 405 K (absence of Fe₃O₄) and 560 K (presence of FeS), and the abundances of Tl, Bi, and In further restrict this interval to 420–500 K. Accretion at 1070 ± 100 K, as proposed by Hutchisonet al. (1979, 1980), leads to some extraordinary problems. Volatiles must be injected into the parent body after cooling, which requires permeation of the body by 10¹¹ times its volume of nebular gas. This process must also achieve a uniform distribution of the less volatile elements (Rb, Cu, Ag, Zn, Ga, Ge, Sn, Sb, Se, F), without freezeout in the colder outer layers.Factor analysis of our data shows 3 groupings: siderophiles (Os, Re, Ir, Ni, Pd, Au, and Ge), volatiles (Ag, Br, In, Cd, Bi, and Tl) and alkalis (Rb and Cs). The remaining 5 elements (U, Zn, Te, Se, and Sb) remain unassociated.     

Long-term change in precipitation in southern Italy

Summary Annual average precipitation values obtained at 765 Italian raingauge stations south of the Rome parallel and in the Italian Isles, are analyzed. The analysis is extended over 18 years and marked variations in precipitation with the Zürich annual relative sunspot numbers are found. It is found furthermore that the magnitude of change appears to depend also on the average altitude of the 5 categories of stations considered.

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Riassunto In questo articolo viene fatta un'analisi sulle variazioni delle precipitazioni medie annue in base ai dati forniti da 765 stazioni pluviometriche dell'Italia meridionale, Sicilia e Sardegna, negli anni dal 1926 al 1943 incluso. Tali variazioni sembrano essere legate al numero medio annuo di macchie solari e dipendono anche dall'altezza delle stazioni.

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Contribution of the Centro Nucleazione Aerosoli of the National Research Council of Italy; Via Vettore 4 (Monte Sacro)     

Dolomitmarmor in der Umgebung der Stadt Prilep und die in ihm vorkommenden Minerale

Zusammenfassung In der Umgebung der Stadt Prilep in Mazedonien kommen an mehreren Stellen in einer hochmetamorphen, aus Glimmerschiefern und Amphiboliten bestehenden Zone Calcit- und Dolomitmarmore vor. In den letzterwähnten wurden bisher Dolomit, Calcit, Korund, Diaspor, -Zoisit, Rutil, Fluorit, Achroit, Pyrit, Muskovit, Illit, Margarit und Chlorit (vonErdmannnsdörfer auch Kossmatit) festgestellt. Diese Paragenese ist regionalmetamorph entstanden.

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Dolomite-marble in the surroundings of the town prilep, macedonia, and its minerals

Summary Calcite- and dolomite-marbles occur in a highly metamorphic series together with micaschists and amphibolites at several localities in the surroundings of Prilep, Macedonia. In the dolomite-marbles, dolomite, calcite, corundum, diaspore, -zoisite, rutile, fluorite, achroite pyrite, muscovite, illite, margarite, chlorite, and kossmatite (the last only byErdmannsdörffer) have been found. The paragenesis is of regional metamorphic origin.

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Mit 1 Abbildung     

A critical evaluation of using bulk sediment instead of fine fraction in environmental marine studies, investigated on example of Rijeka harbor, Croatia

This work tested the preferential use of fine (<63 μm) or bulk sediment (<2 mm) in environmental research of marine sediments in the Eastern Adriatic. Fine fraction sediment containing silt and clay (<63 μm), predominating in the studied area, was examined to evaluate past and present anthropogenic inputs and to test our hypothesis that investigation of bulk sediment should be preferred. Following aqua regia digestion, chemical analyses of 58 elements were performed by ICP/OES, ICP-MS and cold vapor AAS, and statistical analysis was performed. The concentrations of the majority of the analyzed elements increased with age of the sediment, except for Ag and Sn, which had higher concentrations in recent sediments. The previous main sources of metal contamination in Rijeka harbor were now abandoned municipal-sewage outflow and oil refinery, and continuing harbor activities and antifouling paint use. All activities except of antifouling paint use have been decreasing significantly. Anomalies of selected elements were determined by the box-plot method. More anomalies were found in the bulk sediment than in the fine fraction. Results of Q-modality clustering and factor analysis in the fine fraction almost correlate with that applied on bulk sediments. Thus, it can be said that the differences between the element distribution in the bulk and fine fraction are not statistically significant. Our conclusion is that analysis of bulk marine sediment gives a better insight into the state of pollution and supports previous recommendations to use bulk sediment as a chosen media for environmental studies.     

3D modeling and monitoring of karst system as a base for its evaluation and utilization: a case study from eastern Serbia

Beljanica Mountain in eastern Serbia is a part of the Carpathian Balkan arch (northern Alpine branch). It covers an area of about 300 km² and consists mostly of Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones. Numerous surface karst features, long caves and several large karstic springs located in Beljanica’s piedmont along the contact of karstic and non-karstic rocks are all indicators of an intense karstification. Currently, the large karstic water reserves of Beljanica Mountain are not properly utilized because of their distance from main consumers, the objection by national water managers that the springs lack a stable and sufficient discharge particularly during recession periods. Due to its unpolluted and high quality water, the area is a great prospect for future water supply, and provides an opportunity for artificial regulation and for the design and implementation of specific tapping structures. This paper includes an analysis of the created 3D ArcGIS model of karst interior and its correlation with historical and newly collected data of spring discharges and groundwater physico-chemical characteristics. The results of karst aquifer monitoring (both quantitative and qualitative) are linked with the results of extensive field geological and speleological survey of the upper non-saturated part of the karst (such as sinkholes, pits and caves) and with the investigation of the permanently saturated deeper part of the aquifer (including the diving methods). The model of karst interior is based on the data from the 69 caves, 15 sinks and 1,682 dolines (sinkholes) surveyed. The total length of the karst channels network, calculated using the GIS model and presented in a 3D environment, is 647 km. The catchment areas of five major springs that drain the areas are estimated to range from only 7 km² (Malo Vrelo Spring) to 124 km² (Vrelo Mlave Spring). The groundwater exploitable reserves of Beljanica karst aquifer are estimated to be over 4 m³/s. The waters are low mineralized, unpolluted and have a great potential for water supply.     

Coupling multipoint flux mixed finite element methodswith continuous Galerkin methods for poroelasticity

We study the numerical approximation on irregular domains with general grids of the system of poroelasticity, which describes fluid flow in deformable porous media. The flow equation is discretized by a multipoint flux mixed finite element method and the displacements are approximated by a continuous Galerkin finite element method. First-order convergence in space and time is established in appropriate norms for the pressure, velocity, and displacement. Numerical results are presented that illustrate the behavior of the method.     

Dynamics of the Kopački Rit (Croatia) wetland floodplain water regime

Kopa?ki Rit Nature Park is part of the Danube River natural floodplain and one of the last oases of wild life in the Danube River Basin. Due to its extraordinary value, it was inscribed on the list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1993. More than 2,000 species have been registered in this area, which consists of lakes, canals, grassland, marshland and forests. Even the number of investigations which have been performed on its biological and ecological features, hydrological and water resources characteristics, as a prerequisite for ecohydrological analyses, are still rather unknown in the scientific community. Mainly the Danube River and partly the River Drava cause flooding of Kopa?ki Rit and inundations enter the area from both the northern and southern parts. Results of hydrological and meteorological analysis show a decreasing trend of both mean and minimum, annual water levels in the Rivers Drava and Danube (respectively 1.8 and 1.38 cm/year). These reductions in water level can reduce the replenishment periods of Kopa?ki Rit Nature Park. In addition, a significant rise of mean annual air temperature and consequently water temperature (data 1988–2011) may be causing increasing evapotranspiration and loss of water within Kopa?ki Rit. But an encouraging counteracting finding is that, the results of frequency analysis show, even a discharge of 5-years’ return period on the River Danube inundates 70 % of the Danube floodplain and Kopa?ki Rit Nature Park.