A GCM Simulation of Heat Waves, Dry Spells, and Their Relationships to Circulation

Heat waves and dry spells are analyzed (i) at eightstations in south Moravia (Czech Republic), (ii) inthe control ECHAM3 GCM run at the gridpoint closest tothe study area, and (iii) in the ECHAM3 GCM run fordoubled CO₂ concentrations (scenario A) at thesame gridpoint (heat waves only). The GCM outputs arevalidated both against individual station data andareally representative values. In the control run, theheat waves are too long, appear later in the year,peak at higher temperatures and their numbers areunder- (over-) estimated in June and July (in August).The simulated dry spells are too long, and the annualcycle of their occurrence is distorted.Mid-tropospheric circulation, and heat waves and dryspells are linked much less tightly in the controlclimate than in the observed. Since mid-troposphericcirculation is simulated fairly successfully, wesuggest the hypothesis that either the air-masstransformation and local processes are too strong inthe model or the simulated advection is too weak. Inthe scenario A climate, the heat waves become a commonphenomenon: warming of 4.5 °C in summer(difference between scenario A and control climates)induces a five-fold increase in the frequency oftropical days and an immense enhancement of extremityof heat waves. The results of the study underline theneed for (i) a proper validation of the GCM outputbefore a climate impact study is conducted and (ii)translation of large-scale information from GCMs intolocal scales using downscaling and stochasticmodelling techniques in order to reduce GCMs' biases.     

Acid leaching of ash and coal: Time dependence and trace element occurrences

The leaching of coal and coal/asphaltite/wood-ashes in sulfuric acid (pH 1.0, 25 °C, S/L, 1:10) was studied as a function of time; acid consumption and extracted metal concentrations are presented. Whole coals consumed acid rapidly during the first few minutes, followed by slow acid consumption. Wood-, lignite-, and asphaltite-ashes consumed acid in two stages, the rapid phase extending < 30 min and the slow phase extended up to 10 days. The rapid phase was dominated by the dissolution of Ca, K and Mg ions for wood-ash, by Ca, Al and Mg ions for lignite-ash and Ca and Mg ions for asphaltite-ash. The sulfur concentration in solution and the concentrations of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, Al and Mn in the aqueous phase verified the neutralizing capacity of the untreated ashes as well as the formation of insoluble sulfates in the residues. The slow phase kinetics differed for different fuels and exhibited leaching of several abundant elements—Fe, Al, K, Na and Mn. Trace elements (Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Th, U, V, Zn) sometimes required up to 32 h for maximal extraction from ashes. Suggestions are presented regarding the chemical nature of trace elements in the untreated coals and ashes and suitable residence times for economical industrial processes. We think it possible to combine bacteriological oxidation of sulfidic concentrates of acid leaching from ash of various qualities or even whole coals.     

Assessment of groundwater recharge processes through karst vadose zone by cave percolation monitoring

Recharge processes of karst aquifers are difficult to assess given their strong heterogeneity and the poorly known effect of vadose zone on infiltration. However, recharge assessment is crucial for the evaluation of groundwater resources. Moreover, the vulnerability of karst aquifers depends on vadose zone behaviour because it is the place where most contamination takes place. In this work, an in situ experimental approach was performed to identify and quantify flow and storage processes occurring in karst vadose zone. Cave percolation monitoring and dye tracing were used to investigate unsaturated zone hydrological processes. Two flow components (diffuse and quick) were identified and, respectively, account for 66% and 34% of the recharge. Quickflow was found to be the result of bypass phenomenon in vadose zone related to water saturation. We identify the role of epikarst as a shunting area, most of the storage in the vadose zone occurring via the diffuse flow component in low permeability zones. Relationship between rainfall intensity and transit velocity was demonstrated, with 5 times higher velocities for the quick recharge mode than the diffuse mode. Modelling approach with KarstMod software allowed to simulate the hybrid recharge through vadose zone and shows promising chances to properly assess the recharge processes in karst aquifer based on simple physical models.     

Geologic structure and neotectonics of the North African Continental Margin south of Sicily

Marine geological and geophysical data together with drilling information indicate that the North African passive continental margin has been subjected to extension and wrenching after it collided with the northern part of Sicily. The area of the Tripolitania Basin, Jarrafa Trough, Melita and Medina Bank and the Ragusa-Malta Plateau has formed part of a sinking passive margin since the dispersal of Gondwanaland at about 180 My ago as observed from geohistory diagrams. A record of rifting in a NW-SE direction accompanied by dextral shear along the southern troughs is observed in seismic reflection data. The rifting started during the Neocomian and lasted until the Eocene when activity became minor. A pre-Middle Miocene period of northward subduction of oceanic crust is inferred from the geology in NE Sicily. Uplift of the northern part of the African margin after collision in the Middle Miocene is seen in wells in southern Sicily. After the Messinian a rift and dextral shear zone established itself across the African Margin from the Strait of Sicily to the Medina Ridge in the lonian Basin. The zone is marked by up to 1.7 km deep grabens, narrow active wrench faulted channels, volcanic fissures and local uplifted ‘Keilhorsts’ such as Malta. This zone, which varies in width from 100 to 35 km, forms the southern boundary of a microplate which includes Sicily. We speculate that the present motion of this microplate is partly due to the eastward movement of the Calabrian Arc with the Sicilian block over the last remaining oceanic lithosphere in the Eastern Mediterranean.     

Organic and inorganic speciation of copper in the Irish Sea

The metal complexing ability of surface water of the Irish Sea has been measured by the MnO₂ adsorption method. In all samples strong copper-chelating compounds are present at concentrations of 60–150 nM, with conditional stability constants (log values) of 10.0–10.4. The concentrations of Cu, Pb and Cd in the samples are 16–39 nM, 1–7 nM and 0.1–2 nM, respectively; much less than the ligand concentrations. The organic compounds form complexes with 94–98% of dissolved copper, and therefore constitute the major form of copper in surface water of the Irish Sea. Recalculation of speciation of the inorganic fraction of copper in seawater reveals that the major complex ion is that of CuCO₃⁰ (60%), followed by CuOH⁺ (16%) and Cu(OH)₂⁰ (16%). Complexes with borate ions form a small and rather insignificant fraction of 1%.     

Sedimentology of the Upper Burdekin River of North Queensland, Australia—an example of a tropical, variable discharge river

The Burdekin River is an example of a class of tropical streams which experience two to four orders of magnitude variation in discharge, in response to seasonal but erratic monsoonal rainfall. Floods of the Burdekin rise abruptly, reaching peak discharges of up to 40,000 m³ s^-1 in less than 24 h; maintain peak flow for up to a few days, and recede exponentially. The geomorphology and deposits of these rivers reflect the extreme discharge fluctuations, and have not previously been described. A stretch of the upper Burdekin River comprising four bends and one straight reach was examined near the town of Charters Towers. The river bed is largely exposed for most of any year, with a small, misfit perennial channel carrying low stage flow. Major geomorphic elements of bends include point bars with ridge-and-swale topography, three distinct types of chute channels, avalanche slipfaces up to 5 m or more high around the downstream edges of bars, and on the outer part of one point bar an elevated, vegetated ridge. Straight reaches are flat or gently inclined, sand- and gravel-covered surfaces. Much of the river bed is covered by well sorted, in places gravelly, coarse to very coarse-grained sand with local accumulations of pebble to boulder gravel. Lower parts of the river bed are periodically draped by mud which is desiccated on exposure. Dunes and plane beds are the most commonly occurring bedforms, with local development of gravelly antidunes. Most bank tops and upper, vegetated bars are covered by silt and fine-grained sand. The river bed also hosts a low-diversity but locally high-abundance, flood-tolerant flora dominated by the paperbark tree Melaleuca argentea, which plays an important role in controlling the distribution of sediment. The gross geomorphology of the river bed and most of the sedimentary features are interpreted as having formed during major (bankfull or near bankfull) flows, which have a recurrence of about 18 years (based on 65 years hydrographic data). The initial rapid drop in discharge following flood peaks appears to preserve flood peak features on upper bars more or less intact, whereas lower areas are subjected to variable degrees of modification during falling stage and by more frequent, non-bankfull discharge events.     

Binarity of the red-rectangle and other extremely fe-poor (post?)-AGB stars

We present radial velocity measurements proving the binary nature of all the known extremely Fe-deficient Post-ABG stars including HD 44179, the central star of the well known but poorly understood Red-Rectangle nebula. With the observed orbital parameters, it is more likely that the stars represent a particular stage in binary evolution, rather than a typical post-AGB evolutionary stage.     

Modelling and distance determination of planetary nebulae

At present the lack of a good, generally accepted distance scale is the major limitation in the study of Planetary Nebula (PN) evolution and their distribution. We describe our fully self-consistent method to derive the physical parameters of a PN, including its distance, from a set of observables. For this we calculate various models and search for a best fit of the model predictions to the observables. An accurate determination of the angular diameter is important for a good distance determination. We think that we shall achieve an accuracy of 30% in distance. We estimate the error in stellar temperature at less than 15% and the uncertainty in the abundances at 0.10 dex.     

The thermal stability of coronal loops numerical simulations

We have studied the radiative stability of thermally isolated coronal loops with free-flow boundary conditions by nonlinear numerical simulation. We first establish a chromosphere-to-corona loop equilibrium (including the option of a deep chromosphere) by following the nonlinear evolution from an initial isothermal state with rigid boundaries. We then change the end conditions, to allow free flow and to fix the temperature, and investigate the response to non-isobaric perturbations. Within a family of loops of the same pressure, we find long hot loops to be stable and short cool loops to be unstable to the thermal chromosphericexpansion mode. The stable cases remain so, even when long chromospheric ends and/or gravity are added. In those cases which are unstable, we follow the subsequent nonlinear evolution which exhibits swelling of the chromosphere until the entire loop becomes cool and dense.