Industry in the transition of Czech society and economy

This paper deals with some aspects of transition of Czech industry from a totalitarian socialist system with centrally planned economy to restored democratic parliamentary system with a market economy. The development and changes of employment rates in industry, foreign trade, industrial production and prices are analyzed as an illustration of this transition process.     

Boron isotopic variations in tourmaline from metacarbonates and associated calc-silicate rocks from the Bohemian Massif: Constraints on boron recycling in the Variscan orogen

Various metacarbonate and associated calc-silicate rocks form minor but genetically significant components of the lithological units in the Bohemian Massif of the Variscan orogen in Central Europe.These rocks vary in terms of their lithostratigraphy,chemical composition and mineral assemblage(dolomite/calcite ratio,silicate abundance).Tourmaline is present in five paragenetic settings within the metacarbonate and calc-silicate units.TypeⅠcomprises individual,euhedral,prismatic grains and grain aggregates in a carbonate-dominant(calcite±dolomite)matrix poor in silicates.TypeⅡis characterized by euhedral to subhedral grains and coarse-to fine-grained aggregates in silicate-rich layers/nests within metacarbonate bodies whereas typeⅢoccurs as prismatic grains and aggregates at the contact zones between carbonate and associated silicate host rocks.TypeⅣis in veins crosscutting metacarbonate bodies,and typeⅣtourmaline occurs at the exocontacts of elbaite-subtype granitic pegmatite.Tourmaline from the different settings shows distinctive compositional features.Typical for typeⅠare Mg-rich compositions,with fluor-uvite>dravite>>magnesio-lucchesiite.Tourmalines from typeⅡsilicate-rich layers/nests are highly variable,corresponding to oxy-schorl,magnesio-foitite,Al-rich dravite and fluor-uvite.Typical for typeⅢtourmalines are Ca,Ti-bearing oxy-dravite compositions.The typeⅣveins feature dravite and fluor-uvite tourmaline compositions whereas typeⅤtourmaline is Li,F-rich dravite.Tourmaline is the only Bbearing phase in paragenetic typesⅠ-Ⅳ,where it is characterised by two principal ranges of B-isotope composition(δ^11B=-13‰to-9‰and-18‰to-14‰).These ranges correspond to regionally different units of the Moldanubian Zone.Thus,the Svratka Unit(Moldanubian Zone s.l.)contains only isotopically lighter tourmaline(δ^11B=-18‰to-14‰),whereas metacarbonates in the Poli?ka unit(Teplá-Barrandian Zone)and Olesnice unit(Moravicum of the Moravo-Silesian Zone)has exclusively isotopically heavier tourmaline(δ^11B=-9‰to-13‰).Tourmalines from metacarbonates in the Variegated Unit cover both ranges of isotope composition.The isotopically light end of the B isotope range may indicate the presence of continental evaporites within individual investigated areas.On the other hand,variations in the range of~8δ-units is consistent with the reported shift in B isotopic composition of metasedimentary rocks of the Bohemian Massif due to the prograde metamorphism from very-low grade to eclogite facies.In contrast to the metacarbonate-hosted settings,tourmaline of paragenetic type V from the exocontact of granitic pegmatites displays a significantly heavier range ofδ^11B(as low as-7.7‰to-0.6‰),which is attributed to partitioning of 10 B to cogenetic axinite and/or different B-signature of the source pegmatite containing tourmaline with heavyδ^11B signature.     

Indoor radon concentrations in relation to geology in Slovenia

For this study 330 instantaneous indoor radon concentrations were selected from the database assembled during the Slovenian National Radon Programme. A relationship was found between indoor radon concentrations, rock type, tectonic faults and age of buildings. Indoor radon concentrations were elevated in buildings that were older than 50 years and in those with a fault under foundations. When these data were eliminated, elevated indoor radon levels were found only in buildings built on limestone. Our conclusions were confirmed by using the machine learning methods: clustering and multiple regression.     

Metal speciation and attenuation in stream waters and sediments contaminated by landfill leachate

The degree of metal contamination (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd) has been investigated in the vicinity of an old unmonitored municipal landfill in Prague, Czech Republic, where the leachate is directly drained into a surface stream. The water chemistry was coupled with investigation of the stream sediment (aqua regia extract, sequential extraction, voltammetry of microparticles) and newly formed products (SEM/EDS, XRD). The MINTEQA2 speciation-solubility calculation showed that the metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni) are mainly present as carbonate complexes in leachate-polluted surface waters. These waters were oversaturated with respect to Fe(III) oxyhydroxides, calcite (CaCO₃) and other carbonate phases. Three metal attenuation mechanisms were identified in leachate-polluted surface waters: (i) spontaneous precipitation of metal-bearing calcite exhibiting significant concentrations of trace elements (Fe, Mn, Mg, Sr, Ba, Pb, Zn, Ni); (ii) binding to Fe(III) oxyhydroxides (mainly goethite, FeOOH) (Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni); and (iii) preferential bonding to sediment organic matter (Cu). These processes act as the key scavenging mechanisms and significantly decrease the metal concentrations in leachate-polluted water within 200 m from the direct leachate outflow into the stream. Under the near-neutral conditions governing the sediment/water interface in the landfill environment, metals are strongly bound in the stream sediment and remain relatively immobile.     

Timing of the Northern Prince Gustav Ice Stream retreat and the deglaciation of northern James Ross Island,Antarctic Peninsula during the last glacial–interglacial transition

The Northern Prince Gustav Ice Stream located in Prince Gustav Channel, drained the northeastern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. Here we present a chronology of its retreat based on in situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be from erratic boulders at Cape Lachman, northern James Ross Island. Schmidt hammer testing was adopted to assess the weathering state of erratic boulders in order to better interpret excess cosmogenic ¹⁰Be from cumulative periods of pre-exposure or earlier release from the glacier. The weighted mean exposure age of five boulders based on Schmidt hammer data is 12.9 ± 1.2 ka representing the beginning of the deglaciation of lower-lying areas (< 60 m a.s.l.) of the northern James Ross Island, when Northern Prince Gustav Ice Stream split from the remaining James Ross Island ice cover. This age represents the minimum age of the transition from grounded ice stream to floating ice shelf in the middle continental shelf areas of the northern Prince Gustav Channel. The remaining ice cover located at higher elevations of northern James Ross Island retreated during the early Holocene due to gradual decay of terrestrial ice and increase of equilibrium line altitude. Schmidt hammer R-values are inversely correlated with ¹⁰Be exposure ages and could be used as a proxy for exposure history of individual granite boulders in this region and favour the hypothesis of earlier release of boulders with excessive ¹⁰Be concentrations from glacier directly at this site. These data provide evidences for an earlier deglaciation of northern James Ross Island when compared with other recently presented cosmogenic nuclide based deglaciation chronologies, but this timing coincides with rapid increase of atmospheric temperature in this marginal part of Antarctica.     

Post-war changes of the land-use structure in Bohemia and Moravia: Case study Sudetenland

This article focuses on post-1945 land-use development in the Sudetenland region. The wider historical and political consequences are discussed in the beginning as well as the methodical tools used in long-term land-use research in the Czech Republic so far. The important cleavage between borderland and inland is shown in regard to the different land use and land exploitation. Different parts of the borderland are examined in closer detail and the dissimilarity between areas in the western frontier and Northern Bohemia is explained, including the iron curtain effect.