A GIS-based WFD oriented typology of shallow micro-tidal soft bottom using wave exposure and turbidity mapping

Our GIS based project aims at producing a classification scheme to develop a typology of the bottom of the Bay of Gdansk in the southern Baltic. The typology was based on the abiotic factors which are used to define water body types by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Significance analysis of particular factors has shown that within the discussed area wave exposure seems to play the most important role. All other factors are to a greater or lesser degree correlated with these two. Taking into consideration the shallows and the varied coastline of the investigated area it was decided to make use of the SWAN numerical wave model to determine the influence of wave impact upon the bottom. The model was used to produce raster maps of orbital velocity near the bottom for each wind scenario. With the help of the GIS analysis the maps were turned into layers: the mean velocity and the maximum velocity at the bottom. To produce the layer of yearly amount of solar radiation a GIS model was built which main parameters were the layer of depth and three layers of turbidity for three seasons. The layers of the maximum orbital velocity and of the solar radiation at the bottom were then used in a classificatory procedure consisted in an iterative sequence of the three following steps: cluster formation, dendrogram analysis and classification using the maximum likelihood method. Ecological importance of the classification has been obtained by means of the aggregation of a part of classes based upon the statistics calculated for them within the GIS system with the help of the zonal function out of the following parameters: salinity, depth, mean and maximum orbital velocity at the bottom, temperature differences between warm and cold seasons, solar radiation, and type of sediments. The method proposed here makes it possible to produce high resolution thematic maps of the bottom even with incomplete data cover of the investigated area.     

Deep lithospheric structure beneath the Polish part of the East European Craton as a result of magnetotelluric surveys

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica - A fundamental tectonic boundary between the Precambrian East European Craton (EEC) and the younger Phanerozoic mountain belts of Europe runs through Poland....     

Tracing exhumation record in high-pressure micaschists: A new tectonometamorphic model of the evolution of the eastern part of the Fore Sudetic Block,Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt,NE Bohemian Massif,SW Poland

The Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt comprises a volcano-sedimentary succession exposed within a collision zone between the Saxothuringian and Brunovistulian crustal domains of the European Variscides. The studied rocks recorded two metamorphic episodes. The first episode, M₁, occurred at conditions of c. 485 ± 25 °C and 18 ± 1.8 kbar related to burial within a subduction zone. The subsequent episode, M₂, was linked to the final phases of exhumation to mid-crustal level, associated with pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions ranging from c. 520 ± 26 °C and 6 ± 0.6 kbar through 555 ± 28 °C and 7 kbar ± 0.7 to ~590 ± 30 °C and 3–4 ± 0.4 kbar. The documented deformation record is ascribed to three events, D₁ to D₃, interpreted as related to the burial and subsequent exhumation of the Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt. The D₁ event must have witnessed the subduction of the Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt rock succession whereas the D₂ event was associated with the exhumation and folding of the Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt in an E-W-directed shortening regime. A subsequent folding related to the D₂ event was initiated at HP conditions, however, the planar fabric produced during a late stage of the D₂ event, defined by a low-pressure mineral assemblage M₂, indicates that the D₂ final stage was synchronous with the onset of the M₂ episode. Consequently, the entire D₂ event seems to have been associated with the exhumation of the Kamieniec Metamorphic Belt to mid crustal level. The third deformation event D₃, synchronous with the M₂ episode, marked the last stage of the exhumation, and was linked to emplacement of granitoid veins and lenses. The latter resulted in heating and rheological weakening of the entire rock succession and in the formation of non-coaxial shear zones.     

Improvement of the geoid in local areas by satellite gradiometry

Summary Satellite gradiometry is studied as a means to improve the geoid in local areas from a limited data coverage. Least-squares collocation is used for this purpose because it allows to combine heterogeneous data in a consistent way and to estimate the integrated effect of the attenuated spectrum. In this way accuracy studies can be performed in a general and reliable manner. It is shown that only three second-order gradients contribute significantly to the estimation of the geoidal undulations and that it is sufficient to have gradiometer data in a 5°×5° area around the estimation point. The accuracy of the geoid determination is strongly dependent on the degree and order of the reference field used. An accuracy of about ±1 m can be achieved with a reference field of (12, 12). There is an optimal satellite altitude for each reference field and this altitude may be higher than 300 km for a field of low degree and order. The influence of measuring errors is discussed and it is shown that only gradiometer data with accuracies better than ±0.05 E will give a significant improvement of the geoid. Finally, some results on the combination of satellite gradiometry and terrestrial gravity measurements are given. The proposed method seems to be well suited for local geoid determinations down to the meter range. It is especially interesting for unsurveyed and difficult areas because no terrestrial measurements are necessary. Furthermore, it has the practical advantage that only a local data coverage is needed.     

Versuch der Geschlechtsbestimmung beim Wels,Silurus glanis L., mit Hilfe der Diskriminanzanalyse von Brustflossendaten

Width of the first ray of the pectoral fin has been measured in two places for 154 young and 89 adult wels. Statistical relationships between the above characters and fish length as well as its maturity and sex have been proved. Three models of discriminant function for identification of adult fish sex have been derived and verified. The accuracy of sex separation has been 89,5% in a standard sample of wels, and 90,6% in a routine sample, after an adjustment in the procedure.     

Ion Chromatography (IC) as a Method in Studies on the Odra River Pollution with F–, Cl–, NO3–, PO43–, SO42– Ions

The paper presents the ion chromatography (IC) – DIONEX DX-100 system – in the studies on the Odra River water pollution with some inorganic anions. The precision of analysis, detection and quantification limits of each anion have been presented in order to evaluate the method. Results obtained with IC are compared with those using other analytical methods: ICP-AES for SO42–, and the argentometric titration for Cl–. It has been found that the IC method can be applied in the investigation of the anion pollution of the Odra River water: concentrations of Cl–, NO3– and SO42– can be determined with sufficient accuracy, while F– concentration, on the account of common presence of carbonate anions, can only be roughly estimated. The results have been compared with maximum permitted levels (MPL) for Polish water quality classes.     

Effect of Time on Dynamic Shear Modulus of Selected Cohesive Soil of One Section of Express Way No. S2 in Warsaw

Several researches published comprehensive reports on dynamic soil properties of cohesive soils, in which many of them outlined, i.e., key factors affecting the dynamic shear modulus. For cohesive soils, the modulus at small strains (g < 10^t-3 %) is, first of all, a function of void ratio and effective confining stress. For clays, however, secondary time effects and clay mineralogy (fabric and structure) also appear to be important. The influence of confinement of laboratory-prepared as well as naturally deposited clays consists in an increase of shear modulus logarithmically as a function of time. In this paper, the effect of duration of the various confining pressures on dynamic shear modulus (G) of selected cohesive soils from Warsaw area was evaluated. Shear modulus was determined on the basis of resonant column tests, at low and high shearing strain amplitudes. It is shown that the calculated shear modulus is time-dependent; during approximately first 1000 minutes of consolidation, the moduli increased by almost 50%. Moreover, it is characterized by two phases: an initial one results from primary consolidation and a second one, which occurs after the end of primary consolidation, herein about 16-17 hours, and is called “long-term time effect”. This effect was found also for modulus at higher shearing strains (γ > 10³%, e.g., 3 × 10³%, 5 × 10³%, 8 × 10³%, 2 × 10³%).