Comparison of three mathematical models for the estimation of 10-day drain discharge

Summary This paper presents an the evaluation of three mathematical models for the estimation of 10-day drain discharge using weather, pedological and phenological parameters. One model uses modified Palmer’s procedure for the calculation of water balance components and the second two use empirical multiple linear regression. The models have been applied to data of an amelioration experimental field in central Croatia (south-western part of the Pannonian Lowland), where a set of average 10-day air temperature and relative humidity data, average wind speed, cumulative precipitation and drain discharge amounts, insolation and soil moisture data and vegetation indices have been collected. The experiment has been performed during the period 1990–1992. The models have been tested by comparing estimated and observed 10-day drain discharge amounts. All models mainly give acceptable cumulative results although their accuracy depends on the season.     

Variable resolution on quasi-uniform grids: linear advection experiments

Summary A couple of different techniques for implementing the variable resolution within numerical models of the atmosphere that use quasi-uniform grids are estimated and compared based on their merit in the simple linear advection experiments. These techniques are: grid stretching, Schmidt transforming and grid overlapping. The quasi-uniform grids are: a conformal cubic and an octagonal grid. The techniques for the variable resolution are evaluated from the perspective of their effects on numerical solution and the practicality of their application. Our analysis suggests that the grid stretching is for now the most optimal choice. However, a special form of grid overlapping is presented that has potential to become a viable alternative in the future.     

Hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Does the science support the Plan to Reduce,Mitigate, and Control Hypoxia?

We update and reevaluate the scientific information on the distribution, history, and causes of continental shelf hypoxia that supports the 2001 Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force 2001), incorporating data, publications, and research results produced since the 1999 integrated assessment. The metric of mid-summer hypoxic area on the LouisianaTexas shelf is an adequate and suitable measure for continued efforts to reduce nutrients loads from the Mississippi River and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico as outlined in the Action Plan. More frequent measurements of simple metrics (e.g., area and volume) from late spring through late summer would ensure that the metric is representative of the system in any given year and useful in a public discourse of conditions and causes. The long-term data on hypoxia, sources of nutrients, associated biological parameters, and paleoindicators continue to verify and strengthen the relationship between the nitratenitrogen load of the Mississippi River, the extent of hypoxia, and changes in the coastal ecosystem (eutrophication and worsening hypoxia). Multiple lines of evidence, some of them representing independent data sources, are consistent with the big picture pattern of increased eutrophication as a result of long-term nutrient increases that result in excess carbon production and accumulation and, ultimately, bottom water hypoxia. The additional findings arising since 1999 strengthen the science supporting the Action Plan that focuses on reducing nutrient loads, primarily nitrogen, through multiple actions to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico.     

Spectral analysis of the “Koshava” wind

Summary “Koshava” is a gusty wind of changeable intensity, blowing from a south-easterly direction, over Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is caused by the interaction between the synoptic circulation and the orography of the Carpathian and the Balkan mountains. This paper analyzes wind data measured at the Belgrade-Observatory during the longest period of consecutive days of “Koshava” which occurred from 14 January to 13 February 1972. Mean hourly wind speed data has been examined using spectral analysis. The power spectra are calculated using autocorrelation spectral analysis, the multi-taper method and wavelet transform. The maximum of which is about 122 h (5 days) corresponds to the time span of synoptic processes.     

A Method to Determine the Solar Synodic Rotation Rate and the Height of Tracers

The dependence of the measured apparent synodic solar rotation rate on the height of the chosen tracer is studied. A significant error occurs if the rotation rate is determined by tracing the apparent position of an object above the photospheric level projected on the solar disc. The centre-to-limb variation of this error can be used to determine simultaneously the height of the object and the true synodic rotation rate. The apparent (projected) heliographic coordinates are presented as a function of the height of the traced object and the coordinates of its footpoint. The relations obtained provide an explicit expression for the apparent rotation rate as a function of the observed heliographic coordinates of the tracer, enabling an analytic least-squares fit expression to determine simultaneously the real synodic rotation rate and the height of the tracer.     

Seismic Zoning of Croatia

The territory of Croatia and neighboring regions is divided into 17 seismic source zones, considering available seismological and geological data. On this basis, seismic hazard elements (seismicity rate, maximum magnitude, b-value, probabilities of exceedance and return periods for a predefined set of magnitudes) are computed using the maximum likelihood method appropriate for treating data-sets with variable completeness thresholds. The values of long term expected peak horizontal acceleration obtained by using a combination of the deterministic and the probabilistic procedure are the highest in the Dubrovnik zone, while the Zagreb zone has the highest earthquake hazard in the continental part of the country. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cenozoic erosion and the preglacial uplift of the Svalbard–Barents Sea region

The creation of the huge fans observed in the western Barents Sea margin can only be explained by assuming extremely high glacial erosion rates in the Barents Sea area. Glacial processes capable of producing such high erosion rates have been proposed, but require the largest part of the preglacial Barents Sea to be subaerial. To investigate the validity of these proposals we have attempted to reconstruct the western preglacial Barents Sea. Our approach was to combine erosion maps based on prepublished data into a single mean valued erosion map covering the whole western Barents Sea and consequently use it together with a simple Airy isostatic model to obtain a first rough estimate of the preglacial topography and bathymetry of the western Barents Sea margin. The mean valued erosion map presented herein is in good volumetric agreement with the sediments deposited in the western Barents Sea margin areas, and as a direct consequence of the averaging procedures employed in its construction we can safely assume that it is the most reliable erosion map based on the available information. By comparing the preglacial sequences with the glacial sequences in the fans we have concluded that 1/2 to 2/3 of the total Cenozoic erosion was glacial in origin and therefore a rough reconstruction of the preglacial relief of the western Barents Sea could be obtained. The results show a subaerial preglacial Barents Sea. Thus, during interglacials and interstadials the area may have been partly glaciated and intensively eroded up to 1 mm/y, while during relatively brief periods of peak glaciation with grounded ice extending to the shelf edge, sediments have been evacuated and deposited at the margins at high rates. The interplay between erosion and uplift represents a typical chicken and egg problem; initial uplift is followed by intensive glacial erosion, compensated by isostatic uplift, which in turn leads to the maintenance of an elevated, and glaciated, terrain. The information we have on the initial tectonic uplift suggests that the most likely mechanism to cause an uplift of the dimensions and magnitude of the one observed in the Barents Sea is a thermal mechanism.     

Geochemical approach to magmatic evolution of Mt. Erciyes stratovolcano Central Anatolia, Turkey

Erciyes stratovolcano, culminating at 3917 m, is located in the Cappadocian region of central Anatolia. During its evolution, this Quaternary volcano produced pyroclastic deposits and lava flows. The great majority of these products are calc-alkaline in character and they constitute Kocdag and Erciyes sequences by repeated activities. Alkaline activity is mainly observed in the first stages of Kocdag and approximately first-middle stages of Erciyes sequences. Generally, Kocdag and Erciyes stages terminate by pyroclastic activities. The composition of lavas ranges from basalt to rhyolite (48.4–70.5 wt.% SiO₂). Calc-alkaline rocks are represented mostly by andesites and dacites. Some compositional differences between alkaline basaltic, basaltic and andesitic rocks were found; while the composition of dacites remain unchanged. All these volcanics are generally enriched in LIL and HFS elements relative to the orogenic values except Rb, Ba, Nb depleted alkaline basalt. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic composition of the volcanics range between 0.703344–0.703964, 0.512920–0.512780 for alkaline basalts and change between 0.704322–0.705088, 0.512731–0.512630 for alkaline basaltic rocks whereas calc-alkaline rocks have relatively high Sr and Nd isotopic ratios (0.703434–0.705468, 0.512942–0.512600). Low Rb, Ba, Nb content with high Zr/Nb, low Ba/Nb, La/Yb ratio and low Sr isotopic composition suggest an depleted source component, while high Ba, Rb, Nb content with high La/Yb, Ba/Nb, low Zr/Nb and low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios indicate an OIB-like mantle source for the generation of Erciyes alkaline magma. These elemental and ratio variations also indicate that the different mantle sources have undergone different degree of partial melting episodes. The depletion in Ba, Rb, Nb content may be explained by the removal of these elements from the source by slab-derived fluids which were released from pre-collisional subduction, modified the asthenospheric mantle. The chemically different mantle sources interacted with crustal materials to produce calc-alkaline magma. The Ba/Nb increase of calc-alkaline samples indicates the increasing input of crustal components to Erciyes volcanics. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions and elevated LIL and HFS element content imply that calc-alkaline magma may be derived from mixing of an OIB-like mantle melts with a subduction-modified asthenospheric mantle and involvement of crustal materials in intraplate environments.     

Early tertiary deltaic sedimentation around Kalka and Nahan, Punjab Himalaya, India

During the Early Tertiary epoch a basin of deposition covered almost all the present Himalayan foot hill zone. Large quantities of detrital sediments were transported from the northern source area to the depositional basin. The rivers carrying the sediment load formed large delta complexes. In the area studied at least two such delta complexes, one around Kalka and the other around Nahan, were formed; of these the one around Kalka contains the greatest volume of sediments.

The recognition of the deltas is based on: (a) greater abundance of stream deposits than deposits of other environments; (b) lithologic criteria, particularly sedimentary structures, repetitive lithologic associations; (c) the general coarsening-upward nature of the sediments; (d) strong unimodal current direction; (e) the typical lenticular lithogenetic model, common in recent deltas.

The rocks of the Nahan Group are divisible into three formations at Kalka and two formations at Nahan where central formation did not develop. Himalayan tectonism has largely controlled both delta formation and stratigraphy.

The differential rates of sedimentation greatly influenced the rates of subsidence within the Nahan basin. The sediments of the Nahan Group are roughly bounded between two major phases of Himalayan uplift, namely Eocene and middle Miocene tectonic movements. The effects of intermittent tectonic pulses are well depicted in rocks of the Nahan Group. The intensity of the tectonism that controlled both the source-area rise and basin subsidence during deposition of the Nahan Group of sediments was nonuniform, both in vertical and lateral directions. Because of a generally higher rate of deposition compared to the rate of subsidence, the rocks of the Nahan group represent a normal regressive basin-filling sedimentation, forming thick detrital deposits due to progradation of younger deltas beyond the distal end of older deltas.     

Total mercury content in some marine fish from the Indian Ocean

Total mercury was estimated in liver, gonads and muscle of some of the marine fishes from the Indian Ocean. The highest mercury concentration was observed in the muscle of sharks while the total mercury concentration was practically non-detectable in the liver and gonads. The range of all the values was 0.09–0.21 ppm (wet weight basis) and is quite low to reflect any possible mercury contamination.