Storm surge versus turbidite origin of the Coniacian to Santonian sediments in the eastern part of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin

A flyschoid facies occurs in the Bezno Formation (Coniacian up to Santonian) of the eastern marginal part of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. According toJerzykiewicz (1970, 1971) this facies is of deep water, turbidite origin. He based his interpretation on the study of sedimentary structures. New palaeogeographic reconstruction of lithofacies relations, investigation of deep drillings and detailed sedimentological analysis, however, allowed new results concerning the sedimentary environments and depositional mechanism of this facies. According to the new model presented here, this flyschoid facies was deposited in a shallow marine environment. Clayey sedimentation was the natural response to normal environmental conditions, whereas sandstone intercalations reflect anomalous conditions during heavy storms. During these events, sands were transported basinwards up to distances of 25 km, with normal bottom currents, as well as turbidity currents, acted as transporting mechanisms. This flyschoid facies corresponds to other examples of clayey sequences with sandy storm layers.

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Zusammenfassung Die Bezno Schichtenfolge (Coniac bis Santon) enthält im östlichen Randteil des Böhmischen Kreidebeckens sogenannte flyschoide Fazies. NachJerzykiewicz (1970, 1971) entstand sie im tiefen Wasser wie echte Turbidite. Die paläogeographische Rekonstruktion von Faziesbeziehungen, ausführliche Bearbeitung der Schichtenfolge in Bohrungen, und vollständige Beckenanalyse ermöglichten eine Neudeutung von Transportmechanismen und Ablagerungsmilieu. Es werden Beweise für Flachwassersedimentation erbracht. Das Sedimentationsgebiet entsprach einem Bereich der Tonablagerung, der von Zeit zu Zeit während anomaler Bedingungen — seltenen, sehr schweren Sturmfluten durch Sandzufuhr gestört wurde. Während dieser Sturmfluten wurde Sand ins Becken geschüttet bis zu einer Entfernung von 25 km von der Küste. Die Funktion von Traktionströmen wird diskutiert im Verhältnis zum Einfluß von Trübeströmen. Die beschriebene flyschoide Fazies entspricht Schichtfolgen mit sandigen Sturmflutlagen.

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Résumé Dans la partie marginale du Bassin Crétacée de Bohême, la formation de Bezno (Coniacien à Santonien) est caractérisée par le développement du faciès flyschoide. Ce faciès a été étudié parJerzykiewicz (1970, 1971), qui a proposé son origine dans un bassin profond, sous l'activité de courants de turbidité. L'étude détaillée de la succession des couches dans les forages profonds, de nouvelles données sédimentologiques ainsi que la reconstruction paléogéographique ont amené l'auteur à établir un nouveau modèle de mécanisme de transport dans les milieux de sédimentation. Selon ce modèle le faciès flyschoid se déposerait dans la mer épicontinentale peu profonde. Les argiles marquent les conditions normales de ce milieu sédimentaire; les grès reflètent des conditions hydrodynamiques anomales au cours de tempêtes rares et très fortes. Durant ces tempêtes les sables côtiers ont été redéposés dans des fonds plus profonds jusqu' à une distance de 25 km. La fonction des courants de traction est discutée en rapport avec l'influence des courants de turbidité entant qu' agents de transport. Le faciès étudié est comparable avec les séquences des argiles à intercalations de grès.

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Grain‐scale pressure variations and chemical equilibrium in high‐grade metamorphic rocks

In the classical view of metamorphic microstructures, fast viscous relaxation (and so constant pressure) is assumed, with diffusion being the limiting factor in equilibration. This contribution is focused on the only other possible scenario – fast diffusion and slow viscous relaxation – and brings an alternative interpretation of microstructures typical of high‐grade metamorphic rocks. In contrast to the pressure vessel mechanical model applied to pressure variation associated with coesite inclusions in various host minerals, a multi‐anvil mechanical model is proposed in which strong single crystals and weak grain boundaries can maintain pressure variation at geological time‐scales in a polycrystalline material. In such a mechanical context, exsolution lamellae in feldspar are used to show that feldspar can sustain large differential stresses (>10 kbar) at geological time‐scales. Furthermore, it is argued that the existence of grain‐scale pressure gradients combined with diffusional equilibrium may explain chemical zoning preserved in reaction rims. Assuming zero net flux across the microstructure, an equilibrium thermodynamic method is introduced for inferring pressure variation corresponding to the chemical zoning. This new barometric method is applied to plagioclase rims around kyanite in felsic granulite (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic), yielding a grain‐scale pressure variation of 8 kbar. In this approach, kinetic factors are not invoked to account for mineral composition zoning preserved in rocks metamorphosed at high grade.     

Comment on some relations between the shape of streamlines and frontal interface in the proximity of a cyclonic vortex

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein einfaches Modell des zykolnalen Wirbels vorgeschlagen und die Beziehung zwischen seiner Intensität, der Form der Stromlinien und der Deformation der frontalen Grenzoberfläche in seiner Nähe diskutiert. Die Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, die Kriterien der sogenannten dynamischen Klassifikation der aus den meteorologischen Satelliten photographierten Bewölkung zu finden.     

Impoverishment of recent floodplain forest mollusc fauna in the lower Ohře River (Czech Republic) as a result of prehistoric human impact

Analyses of fossil mollusc successions have rarely been used to study the development of floodplain forests during the Holocene. The Oh?e River, located in a prehistorically settled chernozem area in the Czech Republic, is partly situated in Cretaceous marlstones, yielding sediments suitable for fossilization directly in floodplain deposits. We analysed five fossil mollusc successions situated in the lower stretch of the Oh?e River and compared the results with recent mollusc assemblages studied along the entire 256 km of the river. Fossil samples were composed mostly of open‐country species throughout the Holocene or the whole preserved succession. Only some samples also contained woodland assemblages, but these were always greatly impoverished, with a very low frequency of strictly woodland species. Although the natural‐looking appearance of the present‐day floodplain forests of the lower river stretch has resulted in its being declared a nature reserve, modern floodplain forest mollusc assemblages there are also impoverished. This reduction in the distribution of strictly woodland species compared with modern assemblages in the upper stretch of the river seems to be the result of an ancient human settlement and continuous disturbances of the floodplain forest development since the Neolithic. Thus, fully developed floodplain forest assemblages occur recently only in the upper non‐impacted stretch of the river. Based on the studied fossil successions we can conclude that the lower Oh?e River floodplain was probably a mosaic of open and disturbed forest habitats throughout the Holocene. This area is part of a central European landscape island, where forests probably never fully developed and open patches from the early Holocene continually developed into an agricultural landscape.     

Magnetic properties of natural Mn-oxides

Summary The paper is devoted to the study of the magnetic properties, of the volume magnetic susceptibility in a weak magnetic field, of the specific magnetic susceptibility in a strong magnetic field, of natural remanent magnetization and its stability in A.C. fields, and of the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility of natural Mn-oxides. Samples of pyrolusite, polianite, manganite, hausmannite, psilomelan and wad from different localities all over the world were studied; the measured values are statistically treated so that the given values are valid in general. Hausmannite displayed typical values of the magnetic susceptibility, different from the values of the other Mn-oxides. In general, many natural Mn-oxides contain heterogeneous admixtures of Fe-oxides, which are responsible for their ferromagnetic properties. A high degree of magnetic hardness, predetermining the minerals for palaeomagnetic research, was proved with many of the natural Mn-oxides.     

An iodine mass-balance for Lake Constance, Germany: Insights into iodine speciation changes and fluxes

Lake Constance is one of Europe’s largest oligotrophic lakes and provides a water source for more than 4.5 million people in Germany and Switzerland. We present here a 12 month study on iodine concentrations, speciation and fluxes to and from the lake to gain a quantitative understanding of the limnic iodine cycle. Monthly water samples were obtained from all major tributaries (14) and the outflow to construct a mass-balance model. Sediment traps were also deployed in the lake for two years at two different stations. Total soluble iodine (TSI) in aqueous samples were analysed by ICP-MS and speciation (iodide, iodate and soluble organically bound iodine, SOI) by ion chromatography-ICP-MS. Iodine concentrations in the Alpine tributaries (1-2 μg l⁻¹) decreased over the summer months due to increasing proportions of snow and glacial melt water from the Alps, while iodine levels in the lowland rivers (∼2-10 μg l⁻¹) increased over the summer. Deposition of TSI to the catchment (16,340 kg I yr⁻¹) was similar to the TSI out-flux by rivers (16,000 kg I yr⁻¹). By also including the particulate riverine iodine flux out of the catchment (∼12,350 kg I yr⁻¹) it is shown that the catchment is a net source of iodine, with the highest particulate fluxes coming from the Alpine rivers. The total TSI flux to the lake was 16,770 kg I yr⁻¹, the largest proportion coming from the Alpenrhein (43%), followed by the Schussen (8%) and Bregenzer Ach (7.7%). Overall the mass-balance for TSI in the lake was negative, with more iodine flowing out of the lake than in (−2050 kg I yr⁻¹; 12% of TSI in-flux). To maintain mass-balance, 8.8 μg I m⁻² d⁻¹ from the Obersee and 23 μg I m⁻² d⁻¹ from the Untersee must be released from the sediments into the water column. Thus, in comparison with the total iodine flux to the sediments measured by the sediment traps (4762-8075 kg I yr⁻¹), up to 39% of the deposited iodine may be mobilised back into the lake. SOI was the dominant iodine fraction entering the lake, with a total flux of 10,290 kg I yr⁻¹ (64% of TSI input), followed by iodate (3120 kg I yr⁻¹) and iodide (2760 kg I yr⁻¹). Net formation of SOI from iodide and iodate was also noted within the lake, with an estimated production of 6560 kg I yr⁻¹, suggesting a strong role for biology in iodine cycling. In conclusion, organically bound iodine was the dominant iodine species in aqueous and solid phases in Lake Constance, despite low DOC concentrations (<2 mg l⁻¹), and thus is expected to play an important role in iodine cycling in most freshwater environments.     

The SHARE European Earthquake Catalogue (SHEEC) 1000–1899

In the frame of the European Commission project “Seismic Hazard Harmonization in Europe” (SHARE), aiming at harmonizing seismic hazard at a European scale, the compilation of a homogeneous, European parametric earthquake catalogue was planned. The goal was to be achieved by considering the most updated historical dataset and assessing homogenous magnitudes, with support from several institutions. This paper describes the SHARE European Earthquake Catalogue (SHEEC), which covers the time window 1000–1899. It strongly relies on the experience of the European Commission project “Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology” (NERIES), a module of which was dedicated to create the European “Archive of Historical Earthquake Data” (AHEAD) and to establish methodologies to homogenously derive earthquake parameters from macroseismic data. AHEAD has supplied the final earthquake list, obtained after sorting duplications out and eliminating many fake events; in addition, it supplied the most updated historical dataset. Macroseismic data points (MDPs) provided by AHEAD have been processed with updated, repeatable procedures, regionally calibrated against a set of recent, instrumental earthquakes, to obtain earthquake parameters. From the same data, a set of epicentral intensity-to-magnitude relations has been derived, with the aim of providing another set of homogeneous Mw estimates. Then, a strategy focussed on maximizing the homogeneity of the final epicentral location and Mw, has been adopted. Special care has been devoted also to supply location and Mw uncertainty. The paper focuses on the procedure adopted for the compilation of SHEEC and briefly comments on the achieved results.     

Trends in the characteristics of the annual and semiannual variations observed in the radio wave absorption in the lower ionosphere

The continuous increase in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is expected to cool higher levels of the atmosphere. There is some direct and indirect experimental evidence of long-term trends in temperature and other parameters in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Here we look for long-term trends in the annual and semiannual variations of the radio wave absorption in the lower ionosphere, which corresponds to the MLT region heights. Data from central and southeastern Europe are used. A consistent tendency to a positive trend in the amplitude of the semiannual wave appears to be observed. The reality of a similar tendency in the amplitude of the annual wave is questionable in the sense that the trend in the amplitude of the annual wave is probably induced by the trend in the yearly average values of absorption. The phases of both the annual and semiannual waves display a forward tendency, i.e. shift to an earlier time in the year. A tentative interpretation of these results in terms of changes of the seasonal variation of temperature and wind at MLT heights does not contradict the trends observed in those parameters.