Bacterial decay of the autumnal phytoplankton in Lake Constance (Bodensee)

The breakdown of autumnal phytoplankton was studied in Lake Constance by combining chemical seston analyses, bacterial counts and scanning electron microscopy. High algal biomass was associated with low numbers of free-living bacteria. The degradation of algae occurred in two phases: First, dissolved material was released leading to growth of free-living bacteria. Thereafter, bacteria attached to the decaying particles and decomposed them until highly refractory material was left behind. Attached bacteria always comprised less than 25% of total bacteria. Dead organic seston exceeded microbial biomass by a factor of 4–10. Pheopigments increased in senescent and dying algal cells relative to chlorophyll. Therefore, pheopigment fractions were used as a relative index of algal decay.     

Second round of evaluations of proposed earthquake precursors

This review summarizes the result of the second round of nominations for the IASPEI Preliminary List of Significant Precursors. Currently this List contains five cases of precursors: (1) foreshocks, (2) preshocks, (3) seismic quiescence before major aftershocks, (4) radon decrease in ground water, and (5) ground water level increase. A list of four cases that could not be accepted nor rejected by the panels reviewing them contains three on crustal deformations and one on seismic quiescence. In the second round 10 nominations were evaluated, nine new ones and one which had been considered previously. Two were accepted for the List, two were placed in the category of undecided cases. To date, a total of 40 nominations have been evaluated by IASPEI. For 37 of these the nominations, the mail reviews, the panel opinions, and, where supplied, the author's reply were published. This evaluation process remains active throughout the International Decade for Natural Hazards Reduction. Additional nominations are invited.The IASPEI Sub-commission on Earthquake Prediction does not guarantee that precursors accepted for the List can be used for earthquake prediction, nor does rejection of a nomination mean that the particular method could never become useful for prediction. However, the List, as well as the interchanges between authors and reviewers, allow us to gauge the state-of-the-art in earthquake prediction research. It is clear that we do not have an earthquake prediction capability, because the manner in which to use the few precursors on the List for predictions is not known. It also appears that many of the results thought to be conclusive by the authors, may not command the respect of the seismological research community at large. A more quantitative approach to data analysis, the use of rigorous statistical techniques, and high quality, long-term data sets are needed to make progress in earthquake prediction research.     

Local stability and estimation of uncertainty for solutions to inverse problems

 We present a method for studying local stability of a solution to an inverse problem and evaluate the uncertainty in determining true values of particular observables. The investigation is done under the assumption that only the Gaussian part of fluctuations about the local minimum of the cost (likelihood) function is essential. Our approach is based on the spectral analysis of the Hessian operator associated with the cost function at its extremal point, and we put forward an effective iterative algorithm suitable for numerical implementation in the case of a computationally large problem. Received: 16 May 2001 / Accepted: 22 October 2001     

Precise two chronometer dating of Pleistocene travertine: The Th/U and Raex/Ra(0) approach

In order to determine the geochemical evolution of a freshwater limestone cave system located in central Switzerland (Hell Grottoes at Baar/Zug,) young postglacial tufaceous limestone and travertine precipitates were investigated using the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U ingrowth system. Additional analyses of further radionuclides within the ²³⁸U decay chain, i.e. ²²⁶Ra and ²¹⁰Pb, showed that the Th/U chronometer started with insignificant inherited ²³⁰Th over the entire formation period of the travertine setting (i.e. ²³⁰Th(0)=0). A contribution from detrital impurities with ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U in secular equilibrium could be precisely subtracted by applying isochron dating of cogenetic phases and recently formed travertine. The resulting precise ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U formation ages were found to be consistent with the geological stratigraphy and were furthermore used to demonstrate the applicability of the next geologically important chronometer in the ²³⁸U-decay series, based on decay of excess ²²⁶Ra normalized to the initial, i.e.²²⁶Ra_ex/²²⁶Ra(0). This system is suitable for dating phases younger than 7000 yr when the correction of a detritus component increasingly limits the precision of the ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U chronometer. Analytical solutions of the coupled ²³⁴U/²³⁰Th/²²⁶Ra radionuclide system predicted that the ²²⁶Ra_ex/²²⁶Ra(0) chronometer is independent of the actual ²³⁰Th activity build up from decay of ²³⁴U, if the systems starts with zero inherited ²³⁰Th(0). The data set confirmed this hypothesis and showed furthermore that the initially incorporated ²²⁶Ra excess must have remained almost uniform in all limestone over a period of at least 7000 yr, i.e. 4–5 half-lives of ²²⁶Ra. This is concluded because (i) the ²²⁶Ra_ex/²²⁶Ra(0) ages agreed well with those derived from ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U, (ii) all data plot within uncertainty on the ²²⁶Ra_ex/²²⁶Ra(0) decay curve and (iii) the atomic Ba/Ca ratio was found to be constant in the travertine material independent of the sample ages. Provided that such boundary conditions hold, ²²⁶Ra_ex/²²⁶Ra(0) should be applicable to materials which are suitable for ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating in sedimentology and oceanography, i.e. travertine, corals, phosphorites, etc., and should strongly support ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U for samples that have been formed a few thousand years ago.     

Geological control of shallow gas and pockmarks in the Norwegian Channel; high resolution shallow subbottom profiling of small scale features

High resolution bathymetric and fine-scale parametric subbottom profiling along a line to the SW of Stavanger, Norway near the NE flank of the Norwegian Channel, show pockmarks clustered over neotectonic shallow fold structures in Quaternary sediments. Detailed profiles of the pockmarks indicate that they are collapsed gas seeps, rather than being collapse structures that followed doming and breaching with a more dramatic gas burst. The gentle folding and weak structures along the margin of a Mesozoic through Cenozoic sedimentary basin are probably due to differential uplift generating light compressional strain.     

Supply regimes in fisheries

Supply in fisheries is traditionally known for its backward bending nature, owing to externalities in production. Such a supply regime, however, exist only for pure open access fisheries. Since most fisheries worldwide are neither pure open access, nor optimally managed, rather between the extremes, the traditional understanding of supply regimes in fisheries needs modification. This paper identifies through a case study of the East Baltic cod fishery supply regimes in fisheries, taking alternative fisheries management schemes and mesh size limitations into account. An age-structured Beverton–Holt based bio-economic supply model with mesh sizes is developed. It is found that in the presence of realistic management schemes, the supply curves are close to vertical in the relevant range. Also, the supply curve under open access with mesh size limitations is almost vertical in the relevant range, owing to constant recruitment. The implications are that the effects on supply following from e.g. trade liberalisation and reductions of subsidies are small in several and probably most fisheries worldwide.     

Das Problem des alpinen Wildflysch

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die neue Periode des Vesuvs

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Das Erdöl in Südbayern,geologische Stellung und Aussichten

Ohne Zusammenfassung