Recombination rates of small ions and their attachment to aerosol particles

It could be shown by measurements of the air conductivity and using a mean profile for the ionization rate that experimental and theoretical values of the recombination rate of small ions based on a three body recombination process (Thomson) are in very good agreement up to 20 km altitude. The divergency of the experimental and theoretical curves above 20 km can be interpreted by assuming that there exists in this altitude region a crossover from the three body recombination to a two body recombination process. The value of the recombination coefficient is about 4·10^–7 cm³ s^–1 in 25 km altitude, compared with 1.4·10^–6 cm³ s^–1 at ground level. Furtheron it was possible for the first time to get some experimental data of attachment coefficients up to 13 km from simultaneous measurements of the air conductivity and Aitken nuclei concentration. These values are in good agreement with those obtained by theoretical considerations.     

Natural shock behavior of almandite in metamorphic rocks from the ries crater,Germany

An extensive study of a big number of gneiss specimens with various shock features from the suevite allowed unravelling of the shock behavior of almandite garnets.Almandites in shocked metamorphic rocks show with increasing dynamic pressures strong irregular fracturing. differently oriented sets of planar fractures or elements, brown turbidity and nucleation of minute crystals of an unknown phase in solid garnets. At higher peak pressures garnet was found to break down to (1) orthopyroxene + spinel + glass, and to (2) spinel + glass due to fast shock-melting.Extensive quantitative electron microprobe studies of almandite garnets and their breakdown products were carried out. The breakdown products within the original grain boundaries of the garnets consist of an alumina-rich orthopyroxene (with up to 10 wt. % Al₂O₃), hercynite to pleonaste spinels and a silica and calcium-rich glass matrix. The chemical zonation of magnesium and manganese of the former garnets is inherited in the composition of the newly formed orthopyroxenes.Petrographic evidence and chemical composition suggest a fast breakdown of the almandite garnets after passing of shock waves at rapidly falling pressures and very high post-shock temperatures within the ejected gneissic rock material.     

MELIMEX,an experimental heavy metal pollution study: Effects of increased heavy metal load on uptake of glucose by natural planctonic communities

Glucose uptake in lake water samples has been determined with short-time¹⁴C-experiments at different additions of the single heavy metals Cu⁺⁺, Zn⁺⁺, Cd⁺⁺, Pb⁺⁺, Hg⁺⁺ and at different additions of a combination of all metals. The degree of a metal induced inhibition of glucose uptake varied from lake to lake and from season to season, whereby the addition of legally tolerated concentrations of 10 μg Cu/l and 200 μg Zn/l inhibited glucose uptake in most samples significantly, as well as the simultaneous addition of all metals. The legally tolerated limit of 1 μg Hg/l inhibited glucose uptake in Lake Lucerne samples almost completely, showed however no effect in samples of Lake Baldegg. The equimolar toxicity sequence of heavy metals for heterotrophic microorganisms has been determined as: Hg>Cu>Cd>(Zn. Pb). Glucose uptake of plankton sampled from metal polluted limno-corrals was less inhibited than that of the control plankton, when heavy metals were added to the samples singly or in combination. It is assumed that this effect is due to the natural selection of more resistant plankton species.     

Geomorphological models as a tool for environmental studies

Relief is understood as a fundamental component of the environmental system. The structure of geomorphodynamic processes and of the relief sphere as the main energy transformation surface is a determining factor for environmental conditions of both sites and areas. Modelling is the instrument of the applied and systems analytic approach to geomorphology. Geomorphological tools are appropriate means of determining, structuring, assessing and predicting the geoecological potential of the environment. This is demonstrated by quantitative and multivariate models to describe spatial patterns of the environment (fluvial network analysis) and to evaluate and present environmentally relevant geomorphological disposition (slope stability analysis).     

P travel-times from Nevada Test Site explosions and the determination of average global P travel-times

An analysis of P travel-times from the Nevada Test Site is carried out using data from 23 explosions between 1966 and 1976. Results show a scatter of travel times which may partly arise in the lower mantle. P travel-times over the distance range 25–100° are 2.0–2.5 s faster than the Jeffreys-Bullen travel times.     

Experimental investigation of the metamorphism of siliceous dolomites

For the reaction: 1 diopside+3 dolomite ?2 forsterite+4 calcite+2 CO₂ (14) the following P _total?T-brackets have been determined experimentally in the presence of a gasphase consisting of 90 mole%CO₂ and 10 mole%H₂O∶1 kb, 544°±20° C; 3kb, 638°±15° C; 5kb, 708°±10° C; 10kb, 861°±10° C. The determination was carried out with well defined synthetic minerals in the starting mixture. The MgCO₃-contents of the magnesian calcites formed by the reaction in equilibrium with dolomite agree very well with the calcite-dolomite miscibility gap, which can be recalculated from the activities and the activity coefficients of MgCO₃ as given by Gordon and Greenwood (1970). The equilibrium constant K _14b was calculated with respect to the reference pressure P ₀=1 bar using the experimentally determined \(P_{total} TX_{CO_2 }\) brackets, the activities of MgCO₃ and CaCO₃ (Gordon and Greenwood 1970; Skippen 1974) and the fugacities of CO₂ Holloway (1977) considering the correction of Flowers (1979). Results are plotted as function of the absolute reciprocal temperature in Fig. 1. For the temperature range of 530° to 750° C the following linear expression can be given for the natural logarithm of K_14b: (g) $$[ln K_{14b} ]_T^P = - \frac{{18064.43}}{{T\left( {^\circ K} \right)}} + 38.58 + \frac{{0.308(P - 1 bar)}}{{T\left( {^\circ K} \right)}}$$ where P is the total pressure in bars and T the temperature in degrees Kelvin. Combining Equation (g) with the activities of MgCO₃ and CaCO₃ gives the equilibrium fugacity \(f_{CO_2 }\) : (i) $$[ln f_{CO_2 } ]_T^P = - \frac{{11635.44}}{{T\left( {^\circ K} \right)}} + 21.09 + \frac{{0.154(P - 1 bar)}}{{T\left( {^\circ K} \right)}}$$ Equation (i) and the fugacities of CO₂ permit to calculate the equilibrium data in terms of \(P_{CO_2 }\) and T (see Fig. 3) or P _total, T and \(X_{CO_2 }\) (see Fig. 5). Combining the \(P_{total} TX_{CO_2 }\) equilibrium data of the above reaction with those of the previously investigated reaction (Metz 1976): 1 tremolite+11 dolomite ?8 forsterite+13 calcite+9 CO₂+1 H₂O yields the stability conditions of the four-mineral assemblage: diopside+calcian dolomite+forsterite +magnesian calcite and the stability conditions of the five-mineral assemblage: tremolite+calcian dolomite+forsterite +magnesian calcite+diopside both shown in Fig. 6. Since these assemblages are by no means rare in metamorphic siliceous dolomites (Trommsdorff 1972; Suzuki 1977; Puhan 1979) the data of Fig. 6 can be used to determine the pressure of metamorphism and to estimate the composition of the CO₂-H₂O fluid provided the temperature of the metamorphic event was determined using the calcite-dolomite geothermometer.