Verfärbung von Steinsalz durch Röntgenstrahlen

Zusammenfassung Die Analyse der Verfärbungserscheinungen bei Bestrahlung von Steinsalz mit Röntgenstrahlen führt auf die Entstehung einer uneinheitlichen, optisch nicht trennbarenF-Bande mit einem ausgeprägten Absorptionsmaximum bei 465 m. Die unter den Bedingungen: unbehandeltes Kristallmaterial, Zimmertemperatur, schwaches diffuses Licht, durchgeführte Bestrahlung ergibt stabileF-,. metastabileF ^*- und instabileF-Zentren, die alle derF-Bande angehören. DieF ^*-Zentren sind während der Einstrahlung stabil, während sich dieF -Zentren proportional ihrer Anzahl umwandeln.Für die Umwandlung derF ^*-Zentren nach Aufhören der Einstrahlung nehmen wir den Übergang inF ₂-Zentren, die früher schon bei optischer Erregung durch Einstrahlung in die Hauptbande gefunden wurden, an. Die Entstehung dieser Zentren bei Erregung wird durch die Erweiterung des absteigenden Astes derF-Bande nach längeren Wellenlängen hin angezeigt.DieF-Zentren gehen während und nach der Bestrahlung inF ₃-Zentren über, die durch das Auftreten einer Nebenbande mit einem Absorptionsmaximum bei etwa 720 m gekennzeichnet ist. Dieser Vorgang wird besonders deutlich durch das Ansteigen derF ₃-Bande trotz Aufhörens der Einstrahlung. Die bei derF-Bande gefundene Aufteilung in unterschiedlich stabile Zentren ist auch auf die anderen Banden anzuwenden.Die hier entwickelten Vorstellungen über die Bildung und Umbildung der verschiedenen Zentrenarten stehen in Übereinstimmung mit den gemessenen Anklingungs- und Abklingungskurven.     

Das Hoch-Tief-Umwandlungsverhalten mikrokristalliner Quarze

The optical and x-ray investigation of 51 microcrystalline quartz samples show that they are built up of fibrous chalcedony (agates) or finest crystalline, isometric grained quartz (flints, cherts, jasper or Chrysoprase). These samples were examined by standardized d.t.a. — methods in order to get their inversion characteristics.

1. A third of the samples conteins low-temperature cristobalite in addition to quartz (in two samples even as main component); the high-low inversion of this mineral lies between 80 and 245° C according to its defect character. In five samples of jasper low- tridymite is occurring as minor component.
2. In contrary to macrocrystalline quartz crystals microcrystalline quartzes generally show no sharp inversion point. The inversion takes place over an interval of nearly 50° C, to be seen in the d.t.a. curve as a broad, only slightly endothermic effect with hardly visible peak or several small minima. In the curves of 15 samples no inversion could be detected. This broad inversion peak is caused by different defect characters of the crystals or even of parts of the crystals which invert at different temperatures (Flörke, 1955).
3. There is no dependance of t _i on the size of crystallites at least for crystals with diameter greater than 0.05 μ. The temperature of the most prominent inversion minimum allows a division of the microcrystalline quartz crystals analogous the macrocrystalline classification into samples with t _i below and above 570° C. The lowest (518±2° C) and the highest t _i (578,7+0,3° C) were measured at different parts of the same sample of a Chrysoprase.
4. The intensity of the brown and red coloured parts of agate and jasper grows with increasing Fe₂O₃-content, but there is no connection between t _i and chemical composition.
5. As in macrocrystalline quartzes of caverns and veins there are also some t _i -differences between the marginal and the central parts of agates or jaspers. The explanation lies in the mechanism of formation: higher t _i in the margin (e.g. in one globular jasper) points to a formation by silification, whereas higher t _i in the center indicates a formation by the filling up of cavities and veins.
6. The variation in t _i of microcrystalline quartzes and the comparison of these t _i ? with those of associated low-temperature cristobalite shows a connection between temperatures of formation and inversion: samples with low t _i (i.e. with a great number of defects) should be formed at low temperatures, that is by sedimentary or diagenetic processes, and samples with t _i above 570° C (i.e. nearly without defects in the structure) should have crystallized out of hydrothermal solutions. The weak inversion peaks below 570° which in d.t.a. curves often appear besides a main peak at 570° C represent the small amount of diagenetically formed microcrystalline quartz with a large degree of defect character.

     

Canopy dieback in the upper montane rain forests of Sri Lanka

In 1978 a patch of dying upper montane rain forest had been observed on the slope of Thotupolakanda above Horton Plains. Patches in the upper montane rain forests of Sri Lanka were also recorded in 1980/81. All these sites were on windswept western slopes and ridges with stunted tree growth and shallow soil. From 1971 to 1983 Sri Lanka experienced some exceptionally dry years. The severe droughts of 1976 might have cause or “triggered” that dieback. After heavy rains between 1983 and 1986, these forests showed signs of recovery. Some trees had survived and sprouted again. Tree saplings were found, but regeneration was very low and further impeded by serious frost in February 1986. The influence of drought and frost clearly indicates the vulnerability of the stunted upper montane rain forest in the highest and wind-exposed regions of Sri Lanka.     

Gaps in cubic closest packing: from MgO via spinel to the pharmacosiderite crystal structure type

Numerous ordered defect structures are known that are related to the sodium chloride (or MgO) structure type, thus they are basically cubic closest packed (ccp) arrangements with vacancies. For example the NbO type is an MgO type in which one quarter each of the anions and the cations are missing compared to the ccp in such a way that both anions and cations are in square-planar coordination. In spinel, Al₂MgO₄, one half of the octahedrally coordinated cations are missing compared with the MgO type and only one eighth of the tetrahedrally coordinated sites within the ccp are occupied. What these cases have in common is that all these derivatives are rather dense. This is different in pharmacosiderite, K[Fe₄(OH)₄As₃O₁₂]. 6 to 7H₂O, where one half of the anion positions, three quarters of the octahedral sites and five eighth of the tetrahedral sites remain vacant, compared to the spinel type. Pharmacosiderite is a wide open porous structure with zeolitic properties. We are illustrating these relationships using a Bärnighausen symmetry tree and by tables relating the various structure types to each other.     

Predatory Promesostoma species (Plathelminthes, Rhabdocoela) in the Wadden Sea

Laboratory experiments were performed on the food ecology of four congeneric species of free-living plathelminths, Promesostoma caligulatum, P. marmoratum, P. rostratum, and P. meixneri, all inhabiting an intertidal sandflat near the island of Sylt (North Sea). Their prey spectrum is within the microcrustaceans: P. caligulatum preferred ostracods, while the other three species favoured copepods, with species-specific differences for copepod species and size classes. Daily consumption of prey species varied with the size of both the predator and the prey. On average, P. marmoratum consumed 0.76 Harpacticus flexus per day while this rate decreased to 0.06 in P. meixneri, the smallest predator. When these Promesostoma species were fed with Tachidius discipes, a smaller prey species, their predation rates were about 25% higher. While the larger predators preferred the larger harpacticoids as prey, the small P. meixneri preferred small cyclopoids over larger harpacticoids. In terms of biomass, P. marmoratum's mean consumption of T. discipes per day was about half the predator's own weight. This average varied with prey density and temperature. A comparison of these consumption rates with the field densities of the predators and their prey shows that the plathelminth predators may consume as much as 10% per day of their copepod prey populations, thus strongly influencing these prey populations on these sandflats. The predation pressure of P. caligulatum on ostracods was about 1% per day of the prey population. Since ostracods usually have fewer generations per year, the total effect on the population dynamics may be similar to that on copepods. Therefore, nocturnal swimming of copepods in the water column may be interpreted as an attempt to escape plathelminth predators.     

Impact of precipitation seasonality changes on isotopic signals in polar ice cores: a multi-model analysis

For Central Greenland, water isotope analysis indicates a temperature difference of about 10°C since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, borehole thermometry and gas diffusion thermometry indicate that LGM surface temperatures were about 20°C colder than today. Two general circulation model studies have shown that changes in the seasonal precipitation timing in Central Greenland might have caused a warm bias in the LGM water isotope proxy temperatures, and that this bias could explain the difference in the estimated paleotemperatures. Here we present an analysis of a number of atmospheric general circulation model simulations mostly done within the framework of the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project. The models suggest that the seasonal cycle of precipitation and surface mass balance over Central Greenland at the LGM might have been very different from today. This supports the idea that the accuracy of the water isotope thermometry at the LGM in Greenland might be compromised as a result of a modified surface mass balance seasonality. However, the models disagree on the amplitude and sign of the bias. For Central East Antarctica, a strong seasonality effect on the LGM isotopic signal is not simulated by any of the analyzed models. For the mid-Holocene (6 kyr BP) the models suggest relatively weak isotope paleothermometry biases linked to changes in the surface mass balance seasonality over both ice sheets.     

A Correction on Coastal Heads for Groundwater Flow Models

We introduce a simple correction to coastal heads for constant‐density groundwater flow models that contain a coastal boundary, based on previous analytical solutions for interface flow. The results demonstrate that accurate discharge to the sea in confined aquifers can be obtained by direct application of Darcy's law (for constant‐density flow) if the coastal heads are corrected to ((α + 1)/α)h_s ? B/2α, in which h_s is the mean sea level above the aquifer base, B is the aquifer thickness, and α is the density factor. For unconfined aquifers, the coastal head should be assigned the value . The accuracy of using these corrections is demonstrated by consistency between constant‐density Darcy's solution and variable‐density flow numerical simulations. The errors introduced by adopting two previous approaches (i.e., no correction and using the equivalent fresh water head at the middle position of the aquifer to represent the hydraulic head at the coastal boundary) are evaluated. Sensitivity analysis shows that errors in discharge to the sea could be larger than 100% for typical coastal aquifer parameter ranges. The location of observation wells relative to the toe is a key factor controlling the estimation error, as it determines the relative aquifer length of constant‐density flow relative to variable‐density flow. The coastal head correction method introduced in this study facilitates the rapid and accurate estimation of the fresh water flux from a given hydraulic head measurement and allows for an improved representation of the coastal boundary condition in regional constant‐density groundwater flow models.     

A review of the NEMURO and NEMURO.FISH models and their application to marine ecosystem investigations

The evolution of the North Pacific Ecosystem Model for Understanding Regional Oceanography (NEMURO) family of models to study marine ecosystems is reviewed. Applications throughout the North Pacific have shown the models to be robust and to be able to reproduce 1D, 2D and 3D components of nutrient, carbon cycle and biogeochemical cycles as well as aspects of the lower trophic levels ecosystem (phyto- and zooplankton). NEMURO For Including Saury and Herring, an extension that includes higher trophic levels, can be run uncoupled or coupled to NEMURO. In the uncoupled mode, the growth and weight of an individual fish is computed using plankton densities simulated by NEMURO but with no feedback between fish consumption and plankton mortality. In the coupled mode, the feeding, growth and weight of a representative fish are computed, and prey removals due to feeding by fish appear as mortality terms on the prey. The NEMURO family of models continues to evolve, including effects of the microbial loop and iron limitation at lower trophic levels, and full life cycle, multi-species and multi-generational simulations at higher trophic levels. We outline perspectives for future end-to-end modeling efforts that can be used to study marine ecosystems in response to global environmental change.     

Spatial Periodic Boundary Condition for MODFLOW

Small‐scale hyporheic zone (HZ) models often use a spatial periodic boundary (SPB) pair to simulate an infinite repetition of bedforms. SPB's are common features of commercially available multiphysics modeling packages. MODFLOW's lack of this boundary type has precluded it from being effectively utilized in this area of HZ research. We present a method to implement the SPB in MODFLOW by development of the appropriate block‐centered finite‐difference expressions. The implementation is analogous to MODFLOW's general head boundary package. The difference is that the terms on the right hand side of the solution equations must be updated with each iteration. Consequently, models that implement the SPB converge best with solvers that perform both inner and outer iterations. The correct functioning of the SPB condition in MODFLOW is verified by two examples. This boundary condition allows users to build HZ‐bedform models in MODFLOW, facilitating further research using related codes such as MT3DMS and PHT3D.