A mean behavior model of aerobic biodegradation in heterogeneous formation

It has been observed that the field biodegradation rates for soluble hydrocarbon plumes are significantly smaller than the aerobic rates observed in the laboratory. It is believed that this difference is related to the fact that in the field oxygen and hydrocarbon must be mixed before the biodegradation reaction can occur, and that the effective degradation rate is controlled by the actual, not mean, concentrations of oxygen and hydrocarbon. In this work, we present a conceptual model of oxygen-mixing limited biodegradation, which indicates that the effective degradation rate should depend on the cross correlation between the oxygen and hydrocarbon concentration fluctuations. This is followed by a development of a rigorous, field-scale model.     

Late Jurassic tectonics and sedimentation: breccias in the Unken syncline,central Northern Calcareous Alps

This study analyses and discusses well preserved examples of Late Jurassic structures in the Northern Calcareous Alps, located at the Loferer Alm, about 35 km southwest of Salzburg. A detailed sedimentary and structural study of the area was carried out for a better understanding of the local Late Jurassic evolution. The Grubhörndl and Schwarzenbergklamm breccias are chaotic, coarse-grained and locally sourced breccias with mountain-sized and hotel-sized clasts, respectively. Both breccias belong to one single body of breccias, the Grubhörndl breccia representing its more proximal and the Schwarzenbergklamm breccia its more distal part, respectively. Breccia deposition occurred during the time of deposition of the Ruhpolding Radiolarite since the Schwarzenbergklamm breccia is underlain and overlain by these radiolarites. Formation of the breccias was related to a major, presumably north-south trending normal fault scarp. It was accompanied and post-dated by west-directed gravitational sliding of the Upper Triassic limestone (“Oberrhätkalk”), which was extended by about 6% on top of a glide plane in underlying marls. The breccia and slide-related structures are sealed and blanketed by Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments. The normal fault scarp, along which the breccia formed, was probably part of a pull-apart basin associated with strike slip movements. On a regional scale, however, we consider this Late Jurassic strike-slip activity in the western part of the Northern Calcareous Alps to be synchronous with gravitational emplacement of “exotic” slides and breccias (Hallstatt mélange), triggered by Late Jurassic shortening in the eastern part of the Northern Calcareous Alps. Hence, two competing processes affected one and the same continental margin.     

A map-view restoration of the Alpine-Carpathian-Dinaridic system for the Early Miocene

A map-view palinspastic restoration of tectonic units in the Alps, Carpathians and Dinarides reveals the plate tectonic configuration before the onset of Miocene to recent deformations. Estimates of shortening and extension from the entire orogenic system allow for a semi-quantitative restoration of translations and rotations of tectonic units during the last 20 Ma. Our restoration yielded the following results: (1) The Balaton Fault and its eastern extension along the northern margin of the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone align with the Periadriatic Fault, a geometry that allows for the eastward lateral extrusion of the Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian (ALCAPA) Mega-Unit. The Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone accommodated simultaneous strike-perpendicular shortening and strike-slip movements, concomitant with strike-parallel extension. (2) The Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone is also the locus of a former plate boundary transforming opposed subduction polarities between Alps (including Western Carpathians) and Dinarides. (3) The ALCAPA Mega-Unit was affected by 290 km extension and fits into an area W of present-day Budapest in its restored position, while the Tisza-Dacia Mega-Unit was affected by up to 180 km extension during its emplacement into the Carpathian embayment. (4) The external Dinarides experienced Neogene shortening of over 200 km in the south, contemporaneous with dextral wrench movements in the internal Dinarides and the easterly adjacent Carpatho-Balkan orogen. (5) N–S convergence between the European and Adriatic plates amounts to some 200 km at a longitude of 14° E, in line with post-20 Ma subduction of Adriatic lithosphere underneath the Eastern Alps, corroborating the discussion of results based on high-resolution teleseismic tomography.The displacement of the Adriatic Plate indenter led to a change in subduction polarity along a transect through the easternmost Alps and to substantial Neogene shortening in the eastern Southern Alps and external Dinarides. While we confirm that slab-pull and rollback of oceanic lithosphere subducted beneath the Carpathians triggered back-arc extension in the Pannonian Basin and much of the concomitant folding and thrusting in the Carpathians, we propose that the rotational displacement of this indenter provided a second important driving force for the severe Neogene modifications of the Alpine-Carpathian-Dinaridic orogenic system.     

Interannual variability of air temperature inversions in ice-free area of northern James Ross Island,Antarctica

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Air temperature inversions are common features in Antarctica, especially in the interior where they are observed nearly year-round. Large temporal variability...     

Troposphere delays from space geodetic techniques, water vapor radiometers, and numerical weather models over a series of continuous VLBI campaigns

Continuous, very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) campaigns over 2 weeks have been carried out repeatedly, i.e., CONT02 in October 2002, CONT05 in September 2005, CONT08 in August 2008, and CONT11 in September 2011, to demonstrate the highest accuracy the current VLBI was capable at that time. In this study, we have compared zenith total delays (ZTD) and troposphere gradients as consistently estimated from the observations of VLBI, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) at VLBI sites participating in the CONT campaigns. We analyzed the CONT campaigns using the state-of-the-art software following common processing strategies as closely as possible. In parallel, ZTD and gradients were derived from numerical weather models, i.e., from the global European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis fields, the High Resolution Limited Area Model (European sites), the Japan Meteorological Agency-Operational Meso-Analysis Field (MANAL, over Japan), and the Cloud Resolving Storm Simulator (Tsukuba, Japan). Finally, zenith wet delays were estimated from the observations of water vapor radiometers (WVR) at sites where the WVR observables are available during the CONT sessions. The best ZTD agreement, interpreted as the smallest standard deviation, was found between GNSS and VLBI techniques to be about 5–6 mm at most of the co-located sites and CONT campaigns. We did not detect any significant improvement in the ZTD agreement between various techniques over time, except for DORIS and MANAL. On the other hand, the agreement and thus the accuracy of the troposphere parameters mainly depend on the amount of humidity in the atmosphere.     

Non‐metallurgical Slags in the Masonry of Obřany Castle in the Czech Republic: Evidence for the Local Production of Hydraulic Lime in the 14th Century?

Two types of compositionally heterogeneous slags have been found in the wall masonry of the Gothic Castle ruin Obřany. The bright phase is composed of quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, and porous glass, while the dark one also contains feldspars, hercynite, magnetite, clinopyroxenes, and a suite of accessory phases. The bright slags have a similar chemical composition as the mortar from the castle masonry or local sandstones, based on rare earth elements (REE) and other trace element abundances. In contrast, the dark slags are characterized by elevated contents of Al₂O₃ (15.4–18.6 wt.%) and Fe₂O₃^tot (4.1–10.0 wt.%), and consequently resemble the local clay. The investigated slags are not related to iron metallurgy in terms of their composition and texture. They probably originated in a medieval lime kiln through heat sintering of the inner lining during the burning process under relatively high temperatures (1080–1500°C). Simultaneously, the finding of relics of clinker‐like material together with products of its hydration in the hydraulic mortar from the wall masonry infers the production of hydraulic lime or Roman cement during the construction of the castle in the 14^th century. The Obřany Castle appears to represent one of the first applications of hydraulic binders in Moravia.     

Interpretation of Magnetic Anomalies and Estimation of Depth of Magnetic Crust in Slovakia

The magnetic map of Slovakia used in the paper was compiled as part of a project titled Atlas of Geophysical maps and profiles in 2001. The residual magnetic data were analyzed to produce Curie point estimates. To remove distortion of magnetic anomalies caused by the Earth’s magnetic field, reduction to pole transformation was applied to the magnetic anomalies using the magnetization angle of the induced magnetization. Anomalies reduced to the pole tend to be better correlated with tectonic structures. We applied a 3-km upward continuation to the residually compiled magnetic anomalies in order to remove effects of topography. The depth of magnetic dipoles was calculated by an azimuthally averaged power spectrum method for the entire area. Such estimates can be indicative of temperatures in the crust, since magnetic minerals lose their spontaneous magnetization according to Curie temperature of the dominant magnetic minerals in the rocks. The computed Curie point depths in the Slovakia region vary between 15.2 km and 20.9 km. Heat flow higher than 100 mWm⁻² occurs at the central volcanics and eastern part of Slovakia, where the Curie point depths values are shallow. The correlation between Curie point depths, heat flow and crust depth was investigated for two E-W cross sections. Heat flow and Curie point depth values are correlated with each other however, these values could not be correlated with crust depth. The Curie point isotherm, which separates magnetic and non-magnetic parts of the crust, is represented in two cross sections.     

Georelief Transfiguration in Areas Affected by Open‐cast Mining

Open‐cast mining activity causes the largest georelief transfigurations all over the world. Large localities in north‐west Bohemia (the Czech Republic) are affected. In this area, we focus on a very significant case: the royal town Most, which has been turned into a lake. The main aim of this article is the reconstruction of the original georelief in different time periods together with analysis showing the process of landscape devastation. The workflow and analysis is based on precise elevation data obtained from aerial photographs and old maps. The georelief development is reconstructed using the digitized contour lines contained in Derived state‐map 1:5,000 (SMO5) from the years 1953, 1972, and 1980; maps of the 3^rd Military Survey (year 1936); and digital surface models (DSM) extracted, using the pixel correlation method, from aerial images (year 1953 and 2008). The most important results of the analysis are digital terrain models showing the evolution of the landscape which may be used for many purposes in landscape development analysis, historical applications, visualization or landscape reclamation.