Schallweicher und schallharter Boden im Bereich des Stoller Grundes (Kieler Bucht) in Beziehung zur Geologie

Summary Comparisons between three series of echo soundings taken by the survey- and research ships Meteor and Gauss across the shoals of the Stoller Grund and the Gabels Flach in 1934 and 1951 confirm that from the nature of the recorded echo qualitative conclusions in respect to the thickness of soft sedimentary layers can be drawn.

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Fonds amortissant et non-amortissant le son aux alentours du Stoller Grand et du Gabeis Flach (Kieler Bucht) — discutés par rapport à la géologie

Résumé Trois séries de sondages par écho qui furent effectués par dessus les bancs de sables du Stoller Grund et du Gabels Flach (Kieler Bucht) en 1934 et 1951 au bord du Meteor et du Gauss, navires hydrographiques et explorateurs, sont comparées entre elles. Ces comparaisons confirment qu'il est possible de déduire qualitativement de la nature des enregistrements l'épaisseur des couches de sédiments moux.

     

In Memoriam

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Extrema in Sunspot Cycle Linked to Sun's Motion

Partitions of 178.8-year intervals between instances of retrograde motion in the Sun's oscillation about the center of mass of the solar system seem to provide synchronization points for the timing of minima and maxima in the 11-year sunspot cycle. In the investigated period 1632–1990, the statistical significance of the relationship goes beyond the level P=0.001. The extrapolation of the observed pattern points to sunspot maxima around 2000.6 and 2011.8. If a further connection with long-range variations in sunspot intensity proves reliable, four to five weak sunspot cycles (R0) are to be expected after cycle 23 with medium strength (R100).     

Ein submariner RÜcken im Arktischen Mittelmeer

Summary American and Soviet-Russian researches within the range of the so called pole of relative inaccessibility in the polar region are the subject of the foregoing concise report which leads up to the statement that the American explorers were the first to discover the Polar Ridge. Proceeding from the Polar Ridge as such, the existence of which is not in dispute, and considering the cartographic representations by the Russian explorers, it may be convenient to remember here Harris' hypothesis of a possible existence of the so called Harris-Land and to propose to call the recently newly discovered polar ridge—in contrast to the Russian explorers—Harris Ridge instead of Lomonosov Range.

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Une dorsale sousmarine polaire

Résumé Les recherches des savants américains et des explorateurs soviétiques dans le voisinage du »pÔle d'inaccessibilité relative« de la Région Polaire font l'object de ce rapport concis qui a conduit l'auteur à constater que les savants américains furent les premiers à découvrir la Dorsale Polaire. La Dorsale Polaire en soi, dont l'existence n'est pas contestée, et l'étude des représentations cartographiques des explorateurs soviétiques donnent lieu à rappeler ici l'hypothèse de Harris par rapport à la présence eventuelle de la Terre dite Harris. Il convient donc de proposer ici d'appeler cette dorsale sousmarine polaire découverte récemment — contrairement à l'habitude des savants russes—Dorsale Harris au lieu de Chaine Lomonosoff.

     

Experimental evidence of a unique flow rule of non-cohesive soils under high-cyclic loading

The presented results of cyclic triaxial tests on sand demonstrate that the cumulative effects due to small cycles obey a kind of flow rule. It mainly depends on the average stress ratio about which the cycles are performed. This so-called “cyclic flow rule” is unique and can be well approximated by flow rules for monotonic loading. Amongst others it is shown that the cyclic flow rule is only moderately influenced by the average mean pressure, by the strain loop (span, shape, polarization), the void ratio, the loading frequency, the static preloading and the grain size distribution curve. A slight increase of the compactive portion of the flow rule with increasing residual strain (due to the previous cycles) was observed. These experimental findings prove that the cyclic flow rule is an essential and indispensable concept in explicit (N-type) accumulation models.     

Diffraction effects between foundations due to incident rayleigh waves

The dynamic behaviour of a finite number of rigid, adjacent foundations on the surface of a linear-elastic, isotropic and homogeneous halfspace due to a far-field excitation of the Rayleigh type is the subject of the present work. The dynamic behaviour of this system differs from that of a single foundation subjected to the same excitation due to the existence of the natural coupling between adjacent foundations caused by the wave propagation through the underlying soil. For the determination of the diffraction forces acting on the foundations an analytical procedure is followed. The stresses at the interfaces between the foundations and subsoil are approximated by series expansions of orthogonal polynomials. It is interesting to notice that, apart from the loads appearing in the direction of incidence, additional loads perpendicular to the given incidence direction act on the foundations due to scattered waves. Their intensity depends on the excitation frequency and the distance between the foundations. The method followed here can be applied for the determination of the dynamic loads acting on fixed foundations in the case of a seismic excitation of relatively long duration.     

Liapunov instability of the hypoplastic model for soils

The hypoplastic constitutive model is known for its numerous application to the problems of soil mechanics and also for its excessive ratcheting. The paper shows that this deficiency can be interpreted as Liapunov instability in dynamic case. This is demonstrated with a simple one-dimensional swinger. Infinitesimally small as well as finite oscillations are analytically examined and the variability of stiffness upon a single cycle is considered. Several methods to circumvent the problem of ratcheting are discussed: implementation of ‘elastic’ range by means of so-called intergranular strain, usage of overlay modelling with parallel coupling of hypoplastic materials as originally proposed by Valanis in his endochronic theory and a special coupling of hypoplastic models based on comparison of partial stiffnesses.     

Photometric Evolution of the Orbital Light Curves of the Slow Nova V723 Cas

UBVRI photoelectric and CCD photometry of the slow nova V723 Cas obtained in the years 1995–2003 is presented. The evolution of light curves in 1-year intervals, folded with the orbital period 0.69326 days, shows an increase of the amplitude of the wave-like variations from 0.07 to 1.3 mag during the years 1997–2003. The fact that the shape and amplitude of the orbital light curves does not depend on wavelength is most probably related to the geometry of eclipses combined with the distribution of circumstellar matter in the system.     

Strain accumulation in sand due to cyclic loading: Drained cyclic tests with triaxial extension

This paper presents results of numerous drained cyclic tests with triaxial extension. The influence of the strain amplitude, the average stress and the number of load cycles on the accumulation rate was studied. A simple cyclic flow rule was observed. Most findings confirm a previous study with cyclic triaxial compression tests. The test results serve as the basis of an explicit accumulation model.     

Improved Determination of Ethane (C2H6) Abundance in Titan's Stratosphere

Ethane spectral lines were observed in emission from Titan in August 1993, October 1995, and September 1996, at a spectral resolution of λ/Δλ≈10⁶, at wavelength 11.7−11.9 μm using the Goddard Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The ethane mole fraction is determined to be (8.8±2.2)×10⁻⁶ (68.3% confidence limits, “1σ”), averaging the retrievals from each observing run obtained using the “recommended” thermal profile of R. V. Yelle, D. Strobel, E. Lellouch, and D. Gautier (1997, in Huygens: Science, Payload, and Mission (J.-P. Lebreton, Ed.), pp. 243-256, European Space Agency SP-1177).