Der Steingrund bei Helgoland

Zusammenfassung Der Steingrund, eine Bank in etwa 9 m Tiefe, 5–6 sm nordostwärts von Helgoland, wurde 1953 von Atair mit modernen Methoden vermessen, nachdem sich die Notwendigkeit herausgestellt hatte, die letzte vorhergehende Vermessung (1908) zu überholen. Die Form des Grundes wurde in fast der gleichen Gestalt bestätigt, und auch die geographische Lage wurde mit derjenigen von 1908 in Übereinstimmung befunden.

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The Steingrund near the Island of Heligoland

Summary The Steingrund, a bank at a depth of about 9 m, located at a distance of about 5–6 sm northeast from the Island of Heligoland was surveyed for the first time in 1908. As a verification proved to be necessary, another survey was undertaken with modern methods on board the surveying cutter Atair in 1953. According to this survey the form of the Steingrund as well as its geographical position were found to correspond almost completely with the 1908 records.

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Le Steingrund au voisinage de l'île d'Heligoland

Résumé Le Steingrund, un banc en 9 mètres de profondeur, situé à une distance de 5–6 milles marins environ au nord-est de l'île d'Heligoland fut relevé dernièrement en 1908. Comme il se montra nécessaire d'en vérifier les résultats, on effectua un autre relèvement avec des méthodes modernes à bord de la chaloupe hydrographique Atair en 1953. On trouva que la forme actuelle du Steingrund se confond prèsque complètement avec celle que l'on avait constatée en 1908 et que sa position géographique correspond également avec celle déterminée en 1908.

     

Dispersal events of Triassic-Jurassic boundary faunas,and paleoenvironment of Tibetan Himalaya

End-Triassic ammonoid and bivalve faunas of the Germig area, Tibetan Himalaya, lived in a tropical, shallow-water environment during the Triassic-Jurassic boundary interval. High stratigraphic resolution based on ammonite-biochrons allows to tracing the place of origin of several faunal elements. The bivalves Aguilerella and Ctenostreon occurred first in the Tibetan Himalaya and migrated from there to the eastern South Pacific, exhibiting a pantropic dispersal pattern. This dispersal route is supported by the distribution pattern of the ammonites Choristoceras, Discamphiceras, Pleuroacanthites, and Psiloceras calliphyllum. A few taxa, which went extinct everywhere else by the end of the Triassic, survived in the Tibetan Himalaya into early Early Jurassic times. They include the ammonites Choristoceras and Eopsiloceras, and the bivalves Newaagia, Terquemia, Persia, Ryderia guangdongensis, and Cultriopsis angusta. This suggests that the Tibetan Himalaya may have played a refugia role in the course of the end-Triassic mass extinction.     

Ozone abundance on Mars from infrared heterodyne spectra: I. Acquisition, retrieval, and anticorrelation with water vapor

Observations of ozone on Mars were made using the Goddard Space Flight Center's Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer and Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind and Composition at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. Ozone is an important observable tracer of martian photochemistry. Infrared heterodyne spectroscopy with spectral resolution ?¹⁰⁶ is the only technique that directly measures ozone in the martian atmosphere from the surface of the Earth. Ozone column abundances down to the martian surface were acquired in seven data sets taken between 1988 and 2003 at various orbital positions (LS=40°, 74°, 102°, 115°, 202°, 208°, 291°). Ozone abundances are compared with those retrieved using ultraviolet techniques, showing good agreement. Odd hydrogen (HO_X) chemistry predicts anticorrelation of ozone and water vapor abundances. Retrieved ozone abundances consistently show anticorrelation with corresponding water vapor abundances, providing strong confirmation of odd hydrogen activity. Deviation from strict anticorrelation between the observed total column densities of ozone and water vapor suggests that constituent vertical distribution is an additional, significant factor.     

Ozone abundance on Mars from infrared heterodyne spectra: II. Validating photochemical models

Ozone is an important observable tracer of martian photochemistry, including odd hydrogen (HO_x) species important to the chemistry and stability of the martian atmosphere. Infrared heterodyne spectroscopy with spectral resolution ?¹⁰⁶ provides the only ground-based direct access to ozone absorption features in the martian atmosphere. Ozone abundances were measured with the Goddard Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer and the Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind and Composition at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. Retrieved total ozone column abundances from various latitudes and orbital positions (LS=40°, 74°, 102°, 115°, 202°, 208°, 291°) are compared to those predicted by the first three-dimensional gas phase photochemical model of the martian atmosphere [Lefèvre, F., Lebonnois, S., Montmessin, F., Forget, F., 2004. J. Geophys. Res. 109, doi:10.1029/2004JE002268. E07004]. Observed and modeled ozone abundances show good agreement at all latitudes at perihelion orbital positions (LS=202°, 208°, 291°). Observed low-latitude ozone abundances are significantly higher than those predicted by the model at aphelion orbital positions (LS=40°, 74°, 115°). Heterogeneous loss of odd hydrogen onto water ice cloud particles would explain the discrepancy, as clouds are observed at low latitudes around aphelion on Mars.     

The Eclipsing Binary bx Andromedae and its Orbital Period Behaviour

The orbital period variations of the eclipsing binary BX And are examined analysing its (O–C) diagram 1) with the standard method, in which the minima times are fitted by the quadratic ephemeris combined with an assumed light-time effect, and 2) with the first continuous method. The results from the use of the two methods are, as was expected, different.     

A tectono-stratigraphic record of an extensional basin: the Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation of east-central Iran

The Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation consists of siliciclastic strata which are widespread and superbly exposed across the Tabas and Lut blocks of east-central Iran. The formation records the geodynamic history of central Iran during the Early Jurassic in the aftermath of the main Cimmerian event (near the Triassic–Jurassic boundary) through its sedimentary facies and stratigraphic architecture and allows palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. We measured and studied three well-exposed outcrop sections and identified lithofacies and facies associations (fluvial plain, delta plain, delta front, prodelta, and shallow-marine siliciclastic shelf). The integration of all geological, stratigraphic, and sedimentological data shows a west-to-east continental-to-marine gradient within the Ab-Haji Formation. Based on thickness variations, lateral facies changes, palaeocurrent patterns, and changes in the nature of the basal contact of the Ab-Haji Formation on the Tabas and Lut blocks, we locate the fault-bounded Yazd Block in the west and the Shotori Swell at the eastern edge of the Tabas Block as provenance regions. The pattern of thickness variations, rapid east–west facies changes, and provenance is best explained by a tectonic model invoking large tilted fault blocks in an extensional basin. The basal unit shows distinct increase in grain size at the base of the Ab-Haji Formation, similar to the Shemshak Group of the Alborz Mountains (the base of the Alasht Formation) and the non-marine time-equivalent succession of the Binalud Mountains of northeastern Iran. This grain size pattern may have been caused by rapid source area uplift due to slab break-off of the subducted Iran plate in the course of the Cimmerian collision in east-central Iran.     

On the determination of a set of material constants for a high‐cycle accumulation model for non‐cohesive soils

The paper discusses the determination of a set of constants for the high‐cycle accumulation model (HCA) proposed by the authors. The HCA model predicts permanent strains or excess pore water pressures in non‐cohesive soils due to a cyclic loading with a large number of cycles and with small to intermediate strain amplitudes. The laboratory tests necessary for the determination of the material constants and their analysis are explained in detail in this paper. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

J.H. Hagedoorn – inventing the Hapa: A review of a geophysicist's 'other' work and how it inspired others

This paper describes J.G. Hagedoorn's work on 'ultimate sailing'– the combination of a manned kite and a water kite called a Hapa, constituting a minimal sailing system – and the way others have taken up his challenge to sail while suspended from a kite. Hagedoorn's goal has not been entirely achieved, but 'near' and partial solutions have been reached. Kite-Hapa-sailing continues to pose a 'Holy Grail' type challenge to many kite-sailors.     

Tectonic stages along a traverse cross cutting the Rhodopian zone (Greece)

In a cross section along the Rhodopian zone from the Greece/Bulgarian border through the postalpine basins in the Xanthi area to Thasos island detailed structural mapping and collection of field data enable us to determine a sequence of tectonic stages that affected this area. This allows us to propose a model of continental collision.During the early Eocene, NE-SW directed movements produced a southwest facing pile of crystalline nappes with internal deformation comprising NW and NE trending isoclinal folds and a NE-SW trending stretching lineation. After a short time interval, nappe movements started again under brittle deformation conditions and produced composite thrust sheets, WNW- and NNE trending chevron folds and thick cataclasite. Late erogenic uplift and extension caused the formation of NW- and NE trending normal faults. These faults bounded the Oligocene flysch- and molasse basins and provided pathways for voluminous magmatic suites. This tectonic process was interrupted at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary by a late orogenic compression reflected in NW open folds and dissolution cleavages. Subsequently, differential uplift and subsidence associated with NW- and NE trending normal faults has continued up to the present time. From the early Pliocene new fragmentation and thinning of the crust reflected in WNW listric faults and NNE transfer faults has affected the southern parts of the Rhodopian zone.Nappe forming movements are the result of a progressive collisional process involving a Kimmerian microcontinent lying between the Eurasia and Apulia continents. In the final stages of this collision, uderplating processes led to regional uplift and extension. Additional extensional movements were related to the formation of the Aegean back arc basin caused by the Late Cenozoic Hellenic subduction zone.

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Zusammenfassung Durch Gefügedatensammlung und strukturelle Kartierung in einer Geotraverse durch die Rhodopische-Zone von der griechisch-bulgarischen Grenze, die sich über das postalpine Becken der Xanthi-Gegend bis zur Insel Thassos hinzieht, wurde sowohl die Zeitabfolge der tektonischen Ereignisse definiert als auch ein Kontinental-Kollisionsmodel aufgestellt.Während dem unteren Eozän haben NE-SW streichende Bewegungen einen südwestlich vergenten kristallinen Deckenstappel gebildet, der von NW- und NE streichenden Isoklinalfalten und einer SW streichenden Strekkungslineation innendeformiert wurde. Nach einer kurzen Zeitspanne haben Deckenbewegungen unter Bruchbedingungen wiederbegonnen. Dadurch wurden zusammengesetztes Deckenstappel, WNW and NNE streichende Knickfalten und mächtige Kataklasite gebildet. Postorogenetisches Aufsteigen des Gebirges wird von NW- und NE streichenden Abschiebungen gekennzeichnet. Diese Verwerfungen begrenzen Oligozäne Flysch- und Molassebecken und stellen Aufstiegswege von magmatischen Produkten dar, die stellenweise die Erdoberfläche erreichten. An der Grenze Oligozän-Miozän zeigt eine postorogene Kompression NW gerichtete geöffneteFalten und eine begleitende Lösungsschieferung. Nach dieser kurzen Unterbrechung setzt sich das Aufsteigen des Gebirges bis heute fort bei gleichzeitigen NW- und NE gerichteten Abschiebungen. Seit dem unteren Pliozän wird eine Zerspaltung und Ausdünnung der Kruste sowohl durch WNW gerichtete-listrische-Abschiebungen als auch durch NNE gerichtete »Transfer«-Verwerfungen hervorgerufen.Deckenbewegungen sind das Ergebnis eines kontinuierlichen Kollisionsprozesses, der einen Kimmerischen Mikrokontinent miteinbezieht, welcher zwischen dem Eurasischen- und dem Apulischen Kontinent lag. In den letzten Stadien der Kollision führte Plattenverdickung zu einem Aufsteigen des Gebirges, das von regionaler Ausdehnung begleitet wird. Eine weitere Ausdehnung bezieht sich auf die Bildung des Ägäischen »black arc basin« das durch die rezente Hellenische Subduktionszone hervorgerufen wurde.

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Résumé Dans une géotraverse de la zone du Rhodope, depuis la frontière gréco-bulgare, à travers les bassins post-alpins de la région de Xanthi et jusqu'à l'île de Thasos, on a effectué une cartographie structurale de détail et diverses observations de terrain. Cette investigation a permis de définir la succession des événements tectoniques et de proposer un modèle de collision continentale.Pendant l'Eocène inférieur, des mouvements de direction NE-SW ont engendré un empilement de nappes cristallines à vergence SW dont les structures de déformation interne comprennent des plis isoclinaux de directions NW et NE ainsi qu'une linéation d'étirement NE-SW. Après une courte pause, le mouvement des nappes a repris dans des conditions de déformation cassante, avec production de lames charriées composites, de plis en chevrons orientés WNW et NNE et de zones cataclasitiques épaisses. Un soulèvement orogénique tardif accompagné d'une extension crustale a ensuite engendré des failles normales de directions NW et NE. Ces failles ont délimité les bassins oligocènes de flysch et de molasse et ont ouvert la voie à de volumineuses venues magmatiques qui, par endroits, ont atteint la surface. Ces processus tectoniques ont été interrompus à la limite Oligocène-Miocène parune compression tardi-orogénique responsable de plis ouverts orientés NW et d'une schistosité de dissolution. Par la suite, des mouvements de soulèvement et de subsidence différentiels se sont poursuivis jusqu'aujourd'hui. A partir du début du Pliocène, les parties méridionales de la zone du Rhodope ont été le siège de nouveaux processus de fragmentation et d'amincissement de la croûte, qui se sont traduits par des failles listriques WNW et par des décrochements.La genèse des nappes résulte d'un processus progressif de collision impliquant un microcontinent kimmérien compris entre les continents eurasien et apulien. Lors des stades finals de cette collision, des phénomènes d' «underplating» ont provoqué un soulèvement de l'ensemble accompagné d'une extension à l'échelle régionale. Des mouvements d'extension ultérieurs sont en relation avec la formation du bassin d'arrière-arc égéen engendré par la zone de subduction hellénique au Cénozoïque supérieur.

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