Microbial community and activity shifts after soil transplantation in a glacier forefield

The majority of Alpine glaciers are currently receding because of global warming. Their forefields have become interesting sites to study primary microbial colonisation and microbial adaptation. Here, the structure and enzyme activity of microbial communities in exposed rock substrates and their changes in a gradient of temperature and soil moisture conditions within the forefield of the Damma glacier in the Swiss Central Alps are discussed. The temperature at the sites differed in the course of a day and also showed differing mean temperatures over the summer. Distinct bacterial communities inhabit the differing sites at the beginning of the experiment and even after transplantation they stay distinct. But a seasonal shift in the communities could be observed, which followed the same pattern for all the samples. Interestingly, microbial enzyme activity was highest at the site with the smallest temperature shifts.     

Effect of thickness variation on collapse pressure of seamless pipes

The present paper is concerned with determining the effect of thickness variation on collapse pressure of seamless pipes. There exists extensive information on the effects external pressure has on pipelines. A substantial amount of literature deals with results of analysis, numerical modelling and testing of pipes those are gradually subject to external pressure. This knowledge has been incorporated into standards which are intended for designing linepipe operating in deepwater locations. One such example is the DNV-OS-101 (DNV, 2007) Submarine Pipeline Systems standard. This code only addresses pipes with a nominally uniform wall thickness making it inadequate for designing seamless pipe which is prone to thickness variation arising from the manufacturing process. The DNV (2007) code effectively ignores the problem as it simply provides a vague statement regarding a conservative value of wall thickness that should be used in the design calculations.The present paper uses finite element analysis (FAE) modelling to predict the external pressure acting on the pipes. The present paper explains the manner in which FEA models will be used to study the effect wall thickness variation will have on the pressure at which the pipe will collapse. An improvement to the DNV (2007) code is then suggested by interpreting the results of the FEA models. The case study that follows provides insight on the savings the improved method is projected to offer.     

Vegetation re-establishment in polar "lichen-kill" landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact

It has been accepted that the extremely sparse vegetation currently observed in Canadian polar deserts is due to prevailing unfavourable climatic conditions, inhibiting plant establishment, growth and survival. Less considered in the literature is the additional antagonistic factor of episodic adverse climatic anomalies. Such was the most recent Little Ice Age (LIA) cooling which caused a setback to, or even largescale extinction of, high Arctic plant communities that had taken centuries to develop. The LIA brought about new glacial advances, expansion of permanent snow banks and formation of ice crusts over entire landscapes. The newly formed ice (and snow) killed the underlying vegetation, thus creating what is in the geological literature referred to as "lichen-kill zones." In these zones the current plant diversity and abundance are exceedingly low and the plants are all relatively young and even-aged, factors which all point to their recent origin. Here we maintain that this vegetation has not yet reached equilibrium with the present prevailing climate and that it is still in an initial stage of succession. We present results of eight upland sites sampled in the vicinity of Alexandra Fiord Lowland, Ellesmere Island, Canada, to demonstrate the slow recolonization process that has been occurring within the last 100–150 years after the LIA termination. The widespread presence of the "lichen-kill" zones throughout the Canadian polar regions reflects the extent and destructive nature of even minor climatic cooling on vulnerable polar ecosystems.     

Differential sedimentation versus coring artifacts: a comparison of two widely used piston-coring methods

In order to compare two widely used piston-coring techniques, parallel cores were taken with both a Kullenberg and a Livingstone corer in the deepest part of Soppensee (25 m), a small eutrophic Swiss lake containing varved sediments. The cores were taken within a horizontal distance of 3 m and yield comparable stratigraphic records. Differences in millimetre-scale microstructure are attributed to primary sedimentation processes at the water/sediment interface. Sediment thin-sections, as well as sediment x-radiograph investigations, reveal no difference in microstructure that could unequivocally be attributed to one of the coring methods used. The differences in deposition are therefore thought to reflect the inherent variability of lacustrine sedimentation in Soppensee.Major differences in overall core recovery do occur, however, in organic-rich, highly porous sediments. These variations are primarily attributed to differential gas expansion. Actual sediment-accumulation rates can therefore only be correctly estimated if the sedimentary record can be constrained within a high-resolution temporal framework, e.g. by annual laminations.     

Synthetic radii and visibilities for pulsating red giants

We present synthetic radii and visibilities in the IR, based on hydrostatic and dynamic model atmospheres of carbon stars. The differences between these two sets of input models and to uniform disc models are discussed and compared to the expected capabilities of the VLTI. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Einige Bemerkungen zur Problematik der Spektralanalyse

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Vorgetragen auf dem KAPG-Seminar Geomagnetische Pulsationsindizes, Niemegk//DDR, September 1977.     

The parallactic refraction determined with the aid of meteorological balloon data

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