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....     

High-frequency X-ray variability as a mass estimator of stellar and supermassive black holes

There is increasing evidence that supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are scaled-up versions of Galactic black holes. We show that the amplitude of high-frequency X-ray variability in the hard spectral state is inversely proportional to the black hole mass over eight orders of magnitude. We have analysed all available hard-state data from RXTE of seven Galactic black holes. Their power density spectra change dramatically from observation to observation, except for the high-frequency (≳10 Hz) tail, which seems to have a universal shape, roughly represented by a power law of index −2. The amplitude of the tail,   C _M   (extrapolated to 1 Hz), remains approximately constant for a given source, regardless of the luminosity, unlike the break or quasi-periodic oscillation frequencies, which are usually strongly correlated with luminosity. Comparison with a moderate-luminosity sample of AGN shows that the amplitude of the tail is a simple function of black hole mass,   C _M = C / M   , where   C ≈ 1.25 M_⊙ Hz⁻¹  . This makes   C _M   a robust estimator of the black hole mass which is easy to apply to low- to moderate-luminosity supermassive black holes. The high-frequency tail with its universal shape is an invariant feature of a black hole and, possibly, an imprint of the last stable orbit.     

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.     

“Cretaceous black flysch” in the Pieniny Klippen Belt, West Carpathians: a case of geological misinterpretation

This is a critical assessment of the paper by Oszczypko et al. (2004: Cretaceous Research 25, 89–113), in which they tried to prove a mid-Cretaceous age for the Szlachtowa (“black flysch”) and Opaleniec Formations, in the Pieniny Klippen Belt, West Carpathians, both of which had previously been shown to be of Jurassic age. We argue that the mid-Cretaceous age assignment is a misinterpretation, primarily resulting from their field samples having been collected from some Cretaceous lithostratigraphic units, tectonically associated with the Jurassic formations, and/or from tectonic contact-breccias involving Jurassic and Cretaceous strata. In addition, we suggest that they have overlooked a number of significant palaeontological papers, published since 1962, which record the presence of in situ ammonites, aptychi, belemnites, thin-shelled bivalves (Bositra), gryphaeids, foraminifera, and ostracod assemblages, all indicating a Jurassic (mainly Aalenian), and not a Cretaceous, age for the Szlachtowa Formation, and also the in situ Jurassic (Bajocian) ammonites and thin-shelled bivalves (Bositra), Bositra-microfacies, and age-diagnostic foraminiferal assemblages of the Opaleniec Formation.Our presentation here of recently published dinocyst data from well-preserved assemblages further supports the Jurassic ages for the Szlachtowa (“black flysch”) and Opaleniec Formations.     

Rapid ground deformation corresponding to a mining-induced seismic event followed by a massive collapse

Natural Hazards - On 17 April 2015, the Wujek/?l?sk underground coal mine in Poland was struck by a strong induced tremor of magnitude M4.0. The event was followed by a massive rock burst...     

Mineral constituents in common chanterelles and soils collected from a high mountain and lowland sites in Poland

This paper reported the results of the determination of Ag, Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sr and Zn in Common Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) Fr. and surface soil layer (0-10 cm) underneath the fruiting bodies. Mushrooms and soils were collected from a lowland site in the Hel Peninsula (Baltic Sea coast) and a high mountain site in the Tatra Mountains. The trace elements were determined using validated method and inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Common Chanterelles that emerged at sites poor in mineral nutrients podzols of the Hel Peninsula forests efficiently bioconcentrated several essential trace elements (K, P, Co, Cu, Mn, Na, Zn), while the abundance of those elements in carpophores was around half less compared to specimens from Zakopane region and which emerged in soils much richer in minerals. Common Chanterelles collected at two spatially distant background areas in Poland were only weakly contaminated with metals such as Ag, Cd, Hg and Pb. The maximum tolerable Cd and Pb contents of certain cultivated mushrooms are regulated in the European Union by law and these hazardous metals in C. cibarius were far below tolerance limits set.     

Angular Distributions of Discrete Mesoscale Mapping Functions

The paper presents the results of analyses of numerical experiments concerning GPS signal propagation delays in the atmosphere and the discrete mapping functions defined on their basis. The delays were determined using data from the mesoscale non-hydrostatic weather model operated in the Centre of Applied Geomatics, Military University of Technology. A special attention was paid to investigating angular characteristics of GPS slant delays for low angles of elevation. The investigation proved that the temporal and spatial variability of the slant delays depends to a large extent on current weather conditions.     

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%).