Biomarker responses in flounder (Platichthys flesus) and mussel (Mytilus edulis) in the Klaipeda-Būtinge area (Baltic Sea)

During the EU project BEEP a battery of biomarkers was applied in flounder (Platichthys flesus) and the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) collected at three locations off the Lithuanian coast (Baltic Sea) in June and September 2001 and 2002. The elevated biomarker responses in specimens sampled in September 2001 were apparently related to the extensive dredging activities in the Klaipeda port area and subsequent dumping of contaminated sediments. High concentrations of organic pollutants (organochlorines and PBDEs) were also measured in the tissues of both indicator species. In addition, response levels of genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, immunotoxicity as well as concentrations of PAH metabolites in the bile of flounder showed elevations in 2002 after an oil spill in the Būtinge oil terminal in November 2001. In flounder, biomarker measurements 10 months after the spill indicated recovery processes but in mussels a high level of genotoxicity could still be observed 22 months later. The present study illustrates the usefulness of the multi-biomarker approach in the detection of biological effects of pollution in this region of the Baltic Sea.     

Random cascade driven rainfall disaggregation for urban hydrology: An evaluation of six models and a new generator

Six variations of multiplicative random cascade models for generating fine-resolution (i.e., 5-minute interval) rainfall time series were evaluated for rainfall in Wroclaw, Poland. Of these variations, one included a new beta-normal generator for a microcanonical cascade. This newly proposed model successfully reproduces the statistical behavior of local 5-minute rainfalls, in terms of intermittency as well as variability. In contrast, both the canonical cascade models with either constant or time-scaled parameters and a microcanonical cascade model with a beta generator substantially underestimate 5-minute maximum rainfall intensities. The canonical models also fail to properly reproduce the intermittency of the rainfall process across a range of timescales. New observations are also made concerning the histograms of the breakdown coefficients (BDC). The tendency of the BDC histograms to have values exactly equal to 0.5 is identified and explained by the quality of pluviograph records. Moreover, the hierarchical evolution of BDC histograms from beta-like for long time steps to beta-normal histograms for short time steps is observed for the first time. The potential advantage is shown of synthetic high resolution rainfall time series generated by the revised microcanonical model for use in hydrology, especially hydrodynamic modelling of urban drainage networks.     

Correlation between Loess profiles on the basis of mineralogical,malacological, and anthropogenic indicators: A case study from Moravany-Lopata,western Slovakia

Moravany-Lopata, located in the complex of sites in the middle Vah basin, dates to the period immediately preceding the LGM. The authors use this site to demonstrate the usefulness of mineralogical, sedimentological, palaeomalacological, and anthropogenic criteria for the correlation of loess profiles. This analysis is especially concerned with sites in loess territories where the loess layers covering archaeological levels are not thick. Such sites occur frequently on the plateaus of the northern part of Central Europe, though they appear most notably in the areas in which the last loess cover, corresponding to the period after the last Pleniglacial and/or Late Glacial postloess sediments, is absent. The archaeological levels dated to before or directly after the LGM occur in the upper portion of the loess, overlain by the Holocene soil. The investigations at the Moravany-Lopata site have confirmed the usefulness of the anthropogenic indicators in the 0.1–1.0 mm fraction for the identification of occupation levels extending even beyond the area of occurrence of macrofinds and evident type structures. On this basis, a relationship could be established between two occupational levels and two ice-wedge generations in the period from 21.4 to 20 ky. Gravettian settlement in western Slovakia seems to have persisted up to the maximum of the LGM. Population groups representing the end of the shouldered points horizon (pointes à cran) appeared in western Slovakia in the intervals between the formation of large networks of ice wedges. The next settlement phase in that territory falls at about 18–17 ky B.P. This is the Epigravettian settlement, which is culturally unrelated to the shouldered points horizon. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Removal of lead minerals from copper industrial flotation concentrates by xanthate flotation in the presence of dextrin

Potato starch and dextrins resulting from thermolysis of potato starch in the absence of reagents and presence of -amino acids are promising depressants for separation of lead and copper minerals present in the Polish industrial copper concentrates. The polysaccharides were used for differential xanthate flotation of the final industrial concentrates produced by flotation with sulfhydryl collectors in the absence of depressants. The polysaccharides depressed galena and provided froth concentrate rich in chalcocite and other copper minerals as well as cell product containing lead minerals. The best results of separation were obtained in the presence of plain dextrin prepared by a thermal degradation of potato starch. The industrial concentrate containing 18.5% Cu and 5.5% Pb was divided into a froth product containing 38.1% Cu with 77% recovery of copper and a cell product assaying 7.3% Pb with 83% recovery of lead. It was accomplished using 2500 g/t of dextrin, 50g/t of potassium ethyl xanthate, and 50 g/t of frother (α-terpineol). The pH of flotation was 8.0–8.2.     

The Main Ostrava Whetstone: composition, sedimentary processes, palaeogeography and geochronology of a major Mississippian volcaniclastic unit of the Upper Silesian Basin (Poland and Czech Republic)

The Main Ostrava Whetstone (MOW) is an important lithostratigraphic horizon of the Late Carboniferous sedimentary fill of the late Palaeozoic foreland Upper Silesian Basin. It is the largest and best-identified volcanogenic horizon in the basin, reaching thicknesses of 15.3 m and occupying an area of ca 2,973 km² and a volume after lithification of 9.24 km³. It consists of volcanic materials transported to the basin probably by an aeolian process. Just after sedimentation, these materials were redeposited a short distance away in a shallow water environment. Granularity corresponds to a range from argillaceous siltstones to fine-grained sandstones. The components are dominated by glass shards replaced by clay minerals (mixed illite–smectite structures) in addition to quartz of volcanogenic and terrigenous origins. Sanidine and a plagioclase close to albite are also present. The sedimentary structures, micro-structures and composition of the MOW indicate variable and dynamic hydrodynamic conditions. The MOW represents a series of flooding events, which could be connected with unusual rainfall. Such major flooding events were most likely induced by volcanic eruptions. The available drill-core log data were used to construct a digital model of the whetstone, which showed an east–west zonality in the thicknesses, with the majority being synsedimentary. CA-TIMS U–Pb dating the volcanogenic zircons yields an age of 327.35 ± 0.15 Ma. The source location of the volcanogenic material is not clear; however, it is presumed to have been located in the west of the Upper Silesian Basin.     

On the significance of periodic signals in noise analysis of GPS station coordinates time series

Each of the GPS-derived time series consists of the deterministic (functional) and stochastic part. We propose that the deterministic part includes all periodicities from 1st to 9th harmonics of residual Chandler, tropical and draconitic periods and compare it with commonly used calculations of the annual and semi-annual tropical curve. Then, we address the issues of whether all residual periodicities, as proposed here, need to be taken into consideration when performing noise analysis. We use the position time series from 180 International GNSS Service stations obtained at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory using the GIPSY-OASIS software in a Precise Point Positioning mode. The longest series has 22.1 years of GPS daily solutions. The spectral indices range from –0.12 to –0.92, while the median values of “global” spectral indices are equal to: –0.41 ± 0.15, –0.38 ± 0.12 and –0.33 ± 0.18 for North, East and Up components, respectively. All non-modelled geophysical processes or non-included artificial effects in time series lead to an underestimation of errors of velocities, but also to changes in the velocity values themselves. The proposed assumption of seasonals subtraction caused the Akaike information criterion values to show a decrease in the median value of 30 %, which in fact means that all the seasonals mentioned here must be taken into account when analyzing noises. Finally, we noticed that there are some of the GPS stations that improved their velocity uncertainty even of 56 %.     

OSL‐based chronostratigraphy of river terraces in mountainous areas,Dunajec basin,West Carpathians: a revision of the climatostratigraphical approach

The technique of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating applied to fluvial sediments provided a geochronological framework of river terrace formation in the middle part of the Dunajec River basin – a reference area for studies of evolution of river valleys in the northern part of the Carpathians (West Carpathians). Fluvial sediments at 18–90 m above valley bottoms were dated in the valleys of the Dunajec River and one of its tributaries. The resulting ages range from 158.9±8.3 to 12.2±1.3 ka. This indicates that some of the terrace sediments were deposited much later than previously assumed on the grounds of a combined morphostratigraphical and climatostratigraphical approach. The OSL‐based chronostratigraphy of terrace formation consists of seven separate phases of fluvial aggradation, separated by periods of incision and lateral erosion. Some of the ages determined correspond to warm stages of the Pleistocene – Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) and MIS 5 – demonstrating that some terraces were formed during interstadial or interglacial periods. The results provide a key for evaluating rates of neotectonic uplift, allowing us to decipher the response of a fluvial system to climate change within the context of the glacial–interglacial scheme.     

The influence of late Quaternary stagnations on clay sedimentation in the eastern Mediterranean sea

Late Quaternary sapropels of the eastern Mediterranean differ from normal sediments in their clay mineral composition. Clay minerals in the sapropels studied here are only slightly affected, or are not affected at all by diagenetic alteration. This permits the observation of primary differences. During stagnation periods, the contribution of remote or accessory sources was reduced or even absent. Different circulation patterns and, particularly, a general decline in deeper water currents activity might be held responsible for the observed differences in the clay mineral composition of sapropels and normal sediments.

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Zusammenfassung Die quartären Sapropele des östlichen Mittelmeeres unterscheiden sich von den normal marinen Sedimenten in ihrer Tonmineralzusammensetzung. Die hier untersuchten Tone der Sapropele zeigen nur geringe oder gar keine diagenetischen Veränderungen. Diese Tatsache erlaubt, Rückschlüsse auf primäre Unterschiede zu ziehen. Während der Stagnationsperioden war die Zufuhr von Tonen aus entfernten oder weniger wichtigen Liefergebieten stark vermindert. Unterschiedliche Zirkulation, besonders eine geringere Aktivität der Tiefenströmungen, scheinen die Ursache für die beobachteten Unterschiede in der Tonmineralzusammensetzung zwischen Sapropel- und normal-marinen Sedimenten

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Résumé Les sapropels quaternaires de la Méditerranée orientale se distinguent des vases communes par la composition des minéraux argileux. Les argiles des sapropels examinés sont peu affectés par l'altération diagénétique, ce qui permet l'observation de différences primaires.On a conclu, que pendant les périodes de stagnation, la contribution des argiles provenant des sources éloignées ou secondaires, a été réduite ou même interrompue. Différentes conditions de circulation et, avant tout, la réduction d'activité des courants profonds, sont probablement responsables des différences observées dans la composition des minéraux argilezx des sapropels et des vases communes.

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A microphysically-based approach to modeling emissivity and albedo of the martian seasonal caps

A new model of albedo and emissivity of the martian seasonal caps represented as porous CO₂ slabs containing spherical voids and dust particles is described. In the model, a radiative transfer model is coupled with a microphysical model in order to link changes in albedo and emissivity to changes in porosity caused by ice metamorphism. The coupled model is capable of reproducing temporal changes in the spectra of the caps taken by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor and it can be used as the forward model in the retrievals of the caps' physical properties (porosity, dust abundance, void and dust grain size) from the spectra. Preliminary results from such inversion studies are presented.     

Morphology and evolution of simulated and optical clusters: a comparative analysis

We have made a comparative study of morphological evolution in simulated dark matter (DM) haloes and X-ray brightness distribution, and in optical clusters. Samples of simulated clusters include star formation with supernovae feedback, radiative cooling and simulation in the adiabatic limit at three different redshifts,   z = 0.0, 0.10  and 0.25. The optical sample contains 208 Abell, Corwin & Olowin (ACO) clusters within redshift,   z ≤ 0.25  . Cluster morphology, within 0.5 and 1.0 h ⁻¹ Mpc from cluster centre, is quantified by multiplicity and ellipticity.
We find that the distribution of the DM haloes in the adiabatic simulation appears to be more elongated than the galaxy clusters. Radiative cooling brings halo shapes in excellent agreement with observed clusters; however, cooling along with feedback mechanism makes the haloes more flattened.
Our results indicate relatively stronger structural evolution and more clumpy distributions in observed clusters than in the structure of simulated clusters, and slower increase in simulated cluster shapes compared to those in the observed one.
Within   z ≤ 0.1  , we note an interesting agreement in the shapes of clusters obtained from the cooling simulations and observation. We also note that the different samples of observed clusters differ significantly in morphological evolution with redshift. We highlight a few possibilities responsible for the discrepancy in morphological evolution of simulated and observed clusters.