Photographic photometry for stellar statistics with Tautenburg Schmidt telescope

Photometric properties of deep Tautenburg Schmidt plates in the UBV system over the whole field and over a wide range of stellar magnitudes are discussed. Different reduction models based on the calibration curve alone and with additional terms containing colour and plate coordinates are considered. With the filter-emulsion combinations used the Johnson UBV system can be reproduced quite well by the Tautenburg telescope. The accuracy of photometric data can be improved if geometrical terms are taken into account. For deep plates with a significant effect of background nebulosity a supplementary term is to be included in the reduction model. The polynomial coefficients vary in dependence on spectral bands and individual properties of each plate.     

Quantum string theory in curved space-times

A general method to quantize strings in curved space-times is exposed. It treats the space-time metric exactly and the string excitations small as compared with the energy scale of the geometry. The method is applied to cosmological (de Sitter) and black-hole (Schwarzschild) geometries. The critical dimension decreases in one for de Sitter and stays unaltered for black-holes as compared with flat space-time values. Bogoliubov transformations in the context of string theory are derived and the Bogoliubov coefficients describing elastic and inelastic scattering and excitation of modes are computed explicitely. The string-black-hole cross section is derived and a pair mode creation phenomena is found. The quantization and scattering of strings in shockwave geometries (ultrarelativistic boosted black-holes or Aichelburg-Sexl space time) is found to be exactly solvable.     

The quasar population density as a result of the formation rate and the evolutionary pathes II. Adaption to the observation

The continuity equation of CAVALIERE et al. (1971) generalized to age-dependent luminosity evolution (BOLLER and LIEBSCHER 1989) is used to calculate quasar luminosity functions. For some combinations of source functions S(L, t) and evolutionary pathes M(L) we discuss the resulting N — m relations and the amount of the X-ray background and compare them with actual results of observation. We can exclude certain models, (S(L, t), M(L)). We cannot yet decide what the actual source function and the actual evolutionary path are.     

Hydrodynamics of salt marsh creek systems: Implications for marsh morphological development and material exchange

Integrated ebb-aligned drainage systems are a feature of tide-dominated marshes, and are generally regarded as major conduits for material exchange. In north Norfolk, highly unsteady creek flows exhibit well-developed velocity and stress transients which result from the discontinuous nature of the tidal prism and the interaction of shallow water tidal inputs with hydraulically rough vegetated surfaces. Marsh morphological development is governed by a form-process feedback, in the sense that the marsh surface acts as a topographic threshold separating the depositional regime of below-marsh tides from the erosional (ebb-dominated) regime of over-marsh tides. Vertical marsh growth results in increasing intermittency of creek sediment transport. Furthermore, velocity transients are associated with large discharges which must be allowed for in material flux computations. Creek flux measurements are not in themselves sufficient to estimate total material budgets, since a large proportion of tidal exchange may take place via the marsh edge. Such studies should focus instead on direct measurement of marsh surface processes. These findings have relevance beyond this back-barrier setting to marshes of different geometry, occupying a broad range of the tidal energy spectrum.     

Prehistoric soil and water detention structures (gabarbands) at Phang,Sindh Kohistan,Pakistan: An adaptation to environmental change?

Five gabarbands (dams), components of integrated soil and water conservation systems, were investigated in the arid region of Sindh Kohistan. The dams are associated with two prehistoric Kot Dijian settlements, Phang and Kohtrash (3200–2800 B. C.). The dams were constructed with relatively permeable materials. Three of the dams, South, East, and North, close off water gaps and a strike valley, respectively, to form a detention basin. The West Dam, located on Phang Nai, upstream of the detention basin removed the coarser sediment fraction from the flows. Spring Dam, located in a water gap to the north of the detention basin, acted as a low-head weir to distribute flow from a perennial spring onto the floodplain of Baran Nai, where double-cropping was probably practiced. Faulting eliminated the spring, which had probably supported the Kohtrash site, and led to construction of the detection basin for the purposes of subsurface storage of detained flows. Association of both modern and prehistoric sites with springs suggests that there has not been appreciable climate change in Sindh Kohistan in the last 5000 years. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Strain analysis of a seismically imaged mass‐transport complex,offshore Uruguay

Strain style, magnitude and distribution within mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) are important for understanding the process evolution of submarine mass flows and for estimating their runout distances. Structural restoration and quantification of strain in gravitationally driven passive margins have been shown to approximately balance between updip extensional and downdip contractional domains; such an exercise has not yet been attempted for MTCs. We here interpret and structurally restore a shallowly buried (c. 1,500 mbsf) and well‐imaged MTC, offshore Uruguay using a high‐resolution (12.5 m vertical and 15 × 12.5 m horizontal resolution) three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey. This allows us to characterise and quantify vertical and lateral strain distribution within the deposit. Detailed seismic mapping and attribute analysis shows that the MTC is characterised by a complicated array of kinematic indicators, which vary spatially in style and concentration. Seismic‐attribute extractions reveal several previously undocumented fabrics preserved in the MTC, including internal shearing in the form of sub‐orthogonal shear zones, and fold‐thrust systems within the basal shear zone beneath rafted‐blocks. These features suggest multiple transport directions and phases of flow during emplacement. The MTC is characterised by a broadly tripartite strain distribution, with extensional (e.g. normal faults), translational and contractional (e.g. folds and thrusts) domains, along with a radial frontally emergent zone. We also show how strain is preferentially concentrated around intra‐MTC rafted‐blocks due to their kinematic interactions with the underlying basal shear zone. Overall, and even when volume loss within the frontally emergent zone is included, a strain difference between extension (1.6–1.9 km) and contraction (6.7–7.3 km) is calculated. We attribute this to a combination of distributed, sub‐seismic, ‘cryptic’ strain, likely related to de‐watering, grain‐scale deformation and related changes in bulk sediment volume. This work has implications for assessing MTCs strain distribution and provides a practical approach for evaluating structural interpretations within such deposits.     

Network analysis to inform invasive species spread among lakes

Often facilitated by human-mediated pathways,aquatic invasive species are a threat to the health and biodiversity of global ecosystems.We present a novel approach incorporating survey data of watercraft movement in a social network analysis to reconstruct potential pathways of aquatic invasive species spread between lakes.As an example,we use the green alga Nitellopsis obtusa,also known as starry stonewort,an aquatic invasive species affecting the Great Lakes region in the United States and Canada.The movement of algal fragments via human-mediated pathways(i.e.,watercraft)has been hypothesized as the primary driver of starry stonewort invasion.We used survey data collected at boat ramps during the 2013 and 2014 openwater seasons to describe the flow of watercraft from Lake Koronis,where N.obtusa was first detected in Minnesota,to other lakes in the state.Our results suggest that the risk of N.obtusa expansion is not highly constrained by geographic proximity and management efforts should consider highly connected lakes.Estimating human movement via network analysis may help to explain past and future routes of aquatic invasive species infestation between lakes and can improve evidence-based prevention and control efforts.     

Network analysis to inform invasive species spread among lakes

Often facilitated by human-mediated pathways,aquatic invasive species are a threat to the health and biodiversity of global ecosystems.We present a novel approach incorporating survey data of watercraft movement in a social network analysis to reconstruct potential pathways of aquatic invasive species spread between lakes.As an example,we use the green alga Nitellopsis obtusa,also known as starry stonewort,an aquatic invasive species affecting the Great Lakes region in the United States and Canada.The movement of algal fragments via human-mediated pathways(i.e.,watercraft)has been hypothesized as the primary driver of starry stonewort invasion.We used survey data collected at boat ramps during the 2013 and 2014 openwater seasons to describe the flow of watercraft from Lake Koronis,where N.obtusa was first detected in Minnesota,to other lakes in the state.Our results suggest that the risk of N.obtusa expansion is not highly constrained by geographic proximity and management efforts should consider highly connected lakes.Estimating human movement via network analysis may help to explain past and future routes of aquatic invasive species infestation between lakes and can improve evidence-based prevention and control efforts.