Climate change and violent conflict in Europe over the last millennium

We investigate the relationship between a thousand-year history of violent conflict in Europe and various reconstructions of temperature and precipitation. We find that conflict was more intense during colder period, just like Zhang et al. (Clim Change 76:459–477, 2006) found for China. This relationship weakens in the industrialized era, and is not robust to the details of the climate reconstruction or to the sample period. As the correlation is negative and weakening, it appears that global warming would not lead to an increase in violent conflict in temperature climates.     

Multi-criteria spatialization of soil organic carbon sequestration potential from agricultural intensification in Senegal

On the eve of the 15th climate negotiations conference in Copenhagen, the pressure to assess all climate mitigation options is mounting. In this study, a bio-physic model and a socio-economic model were designed and coupled to assess the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural intensification in Senegal. The biophysical model is a multiple linear regression, calibrated and tested on a dataset of long-term agricultural trials established in West Africa. The socio-economic model integrates both financial and environmental costs related to considered practice changes. Both models are spatially explicit and the resulting spatial patterns were computed and displayed over Senegal with a geographic information system. The national potential from large-scale intensification was assessed at 0.65–0.83 MtC. With regards to local-scaled intensification as local projects, the most profitable areas were identified in agricultural expansion regions (especially Casamance), while the areas that meet the current financial additionality criteria of the Clean Development Mechanism were located in the northern part of the Peanut Basin. Using the current relevant mode of carbon valuation (Certified Emission Reductions), environmental benefits are small compared to financial benefits. This picture is radically changed if “avoided deforestation”, a likely consequence of agricultural intensification, is accounted for as the greenhouse gases sink capacity of projects increases by an average of a hundred-fold over Senegal.     

Predictive modelling of dump water impact on the surroundings of the lignite dump site Jänschwalde (Eastern Germany)

Open cast mining of lignite leads to dumps containing highly mineralised pore waters. To predict the impact of the dump waters on the undisturbed aquifers two steps are necessary. (1) The prediction of dump water quality at times when steady state flow conditions will be established. (2) The simulation of the dump ground water migration with a model that is able to handle the complexity of the homogeneous and heterogeneous interactions of the migration process.For the investigated site Jänschwalde, which is still dewatered, a chemical mass balance was performed. The predicted alkalinity potentials exceed acidity potentials for the dump as a whole. The distribution of these parameters show high alkalinity potentials for the northern part.In order to model the migration process the transport code PCGEOFIM^® [Anwenderdokumentaion, IBGW Leipzig, (in German)] was coupled with the geochemical equilibrium code PHREEQC [USGS, Water-Resources Investigations Report]. This was done to simulate redox reactions, mineral dissolution and precipitation, and cation exchange in the ground water zone. The model is verified by a column flow test. The results of the simulations show a small effect of the migrating dump waters on the quartenary aquifer with respect to acidity changes. This results from calcite buffering and cation exchange. The impact on the quartenary aquifer by sulphate is much higher.     

Formation of caldera periphery faults: an experimental study

Changing stresses in multi-stage caldera volcanoes were simulated in scaled analogue experiments aiming to reconstruct the mechanism(s) associated with caldera formation and the corresponding zones of structural weakness. We evaluate characteristic structures resulting from doming (chamber inflation), evacuation collapse (chamber deflation) and cyclic resurgence (inflation and deflation), and we analyse the consequential fault patterns and their statistical relationship to morphology and geometry. Doming results in radial fractures and subordinate concentric reverse faults which propagate divergently from the chamber upwards with increasing dilation. The structural dome so produced is characterised bysteepening in the periphery, whereas the broadening apex subsides. Pure evacuation causes the chamber roof to collapse along adjacent bell-shaped reverse faults. The distribution of concentric faults is influenced by the initial edifice morphology; steep and irregular initial flanks result in a tilted or chaotic caldera floor. The third set of experiments focused on the structural interaction of cyclic inflation and subsequent moderate deflation. Following doming, caldera subsidence produces concentric faults that characteristically crosscut radial cracks of the dome. The flanks of the edifice relax, resulting in discontinuous circumferential faults that outline a structural network of radial and concentric faults; the latter form locally uplifted and tiltedwedges (half-grabens) that grade into horst-and-graben structures. This superimposed fault pattern also extends inside the caldera. We suggest that major pressure deviations in magma chamber(s) are reflected in the fault arrangement dissecting the volcanoflanks and may be used as a first-order indication of the processes and mechanisms involved in caldera formation.     

Die Untersuchung von Sinkstoffen aus Bodenseezuflüssen

The suspended solids taken out of the affluents of Lake Constance have been isolated and the concentrations of C, N, P, Ni, Cr, Cd, Zn, Co, Fe and Mn within the material have been determined. The loads in every river were calculated by the relations between water discharge, concentration of suspended matter and concentration of the elements. Test showed, that the material from the Bregenzer Ach and the Neuer Rhein adsorb phosphate out of the water. The suspended solids of the other rivers give phosphate to the water.

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hier: Sinkstoffe=Schwebstoffe.     

Tectonic history of the hatay ophiolites (South Turkey) and their relation with the dead sea rift

The Kizildağ ophiolite massif lies in the Hatay region of S. Turkey. Some structural relationships in the area are examined and two geological sections through the ophiolite are presented.A sequence of structural events, dealing with the emplacement and post-emplacement history, is established. The significance of the events is discussed and it is suggested that the post-emplacement structural history was dominated by movements along the Dead Sea Rift.     

Doppleritization of xylitic coal in the light of petrographic and chemical investigations

The paper presents the results of petrographic and chemical investigations of xylitic coal, xylite and their ash. As is known, a xylitic coal has the function of a lithotype whereas xylites are inclusions brown coals only. All these xylites were arranged according to the increasing degree of doppleritization of xylem in the sequence: common xylite, poorly, moderately and intensely doppleritized varieties, dopplerite coal. The distinctive criteria were their differentiated physical properties, which are also reflected in the variable petrographic and chemical compositions. The petrographic differences result from the replacement of textinite by ulminite and gelinite, while the differentiation of the chemical constitution is due to the increasing carbon content and the increasing number of functional groups that determine the aromatic nature of the internal structure of the coal. Infrared absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and chemical analysis of ash have shown that the aromatization of coal and the resulting increase in the degree of order of the structural unit are due to the formation of organomineral compounds in the course of doppleritization. It appears from the investigations that the doppleritization of vegetable matter gives rise to gels that are a mixture of organo-mineral humic compounds. The process of humification leads to the formation of gel made up of humins. It follows then that there are two ways of initial coalification of plant material, both referred to as biochemical gelification.     

Electric charge separation in severe storms

This paper proposes a new model for thunderstorm electric field generation which directly utilizes the dynamic turbulent motion to separate the charges. Postulating a microphysical charge separation mechanism, such as is commonly accepted in most other theories, and which places a negative charge on the larger particles with a positive charge on the smaller ones, it is described how evaporation and cooling at the tops of small cumuli will release the positive charges as ions. These ions migrate to the surrounding cloud as the cooled parcel, with negatively charged particles in it, sinks down through the cloud. Since the sinking parcel contains mostly ice, it will be more buoyant than its surroundings when it reaches rising regions of water cloud, and hence should come to rest near the –10°C level. Thus the cloud will acquire an accumulation of negative charge at about this level before substantial hydrometeors begin falling out of it.     

Fission track ages on apatite of Bergell rocks from Central Alps and Bergell boulders in Oligocene sediments

Previous radiometric dating studies indicated that the Bergell region, in contrast to other regions of the Central Alps, experienced an early, rapid uplift, but with decreasing rate. Furthermore, there is also a geological record of the early uplift history of the Bergell granite by the existence of boulders which were derived from this granite and which occur in the Late Oligocene sediments of the Po plain.In this work the uplift history of the Bergell is studied in more detail by fission track dating of additional apatites from the Bergell region. Secondly, by determining apatite fission track ages the granitic boulders of the Po plain can be re-assigned to their original vertical position within the Bergell intrusive before erosion removed them in Late Oligocene time. A rather conservative estimate replaces them 6 km above the present morphology of the Bergell massif. Thus, the thickness of the Bergell granite must have been at least 8 km.Generally, fission track studies on boulders may become an important tool to study the vertical extent of mountain chains during the geological past.     

Pre-eruptive magma mixing in ash-flow deposits of the Tertiary Rum Igneous Centre,Scotland

The Northern Marginal Zone of the Rum Igneous Centre is a remnant of an early caldera and its infill. It is composed of intra-caldera breccias and various small-volume pyroclastic deposits, overlain by prominent rhyodacite ash-flow sheets of up to 100 m thickness. The ash-flows were fed from a feeder system near the caldera ring-fault, and intrusive rhyodacite can locally be seen grading into extrusive deposits. A variety of features suggest that the ash-flows were erupted from a magma chamber that contemporaneously hosted felsic and mafic magmas: (i) chilled basaltic inclusions in rhyodacite; (ii) formerly glassy basaltic to andesitic enclaves with fluid-fluid relationships; (iii) feldspars with thick reaction rims enclosed in the basaltic to andesitic inclusions, yet with cores chemically resembling those of the rhyodacite: (iv) trace element compositions of the rhyodacite and the mafic enclaves form a mixing line between the end-member rhyodacite and basalt compositions. Additionally, textural and chemical features in the rhyodacite feldspar phenocrysts are consistent with magma mixing; (v) feldspars with resorption embayments cutting through internal zonation of the crystals; (vi) complexly zoned crystals with sieve-textured zones that are overgrown with euhedral zones; (vii) oscillatory zonation of feldspar phenocrysts in the rhyodacite, showing sharp increases in anorthite (An 10%) followed by gradual decrease in An-content (An 4%). This evidence points to eruption of ash-flows from a felsic magma chamber that was periodically replenished by injection of mafic magma. Diffusional mixing between the two magmas was permitted by temperature and compositional differences, but was slow due to the contrast in viscosities and densities. The Fe–Ti–P-enriched basic magma that replenished the chamber was degassing on entering the lower temperature environment and soon equilibrated thermally, followed by chemical exchange between the two end-member magmas. This process formed hybrid andesite enclaves enriched in trace elements beyond that caused by simple mixing, implying trace element diffusion in addition to bulk mixing. Eruption was caused by replenishment with, and degassing of, the basic magma and the chamber partially evacuated while the process of hybridisation was underway. The erupted products record magma mixing by chamber replenishment, blending of two magmas and elemental exchange in the magma chamber, and also physical mingling in the eruptive conduit.