Temperature paleogradient estimations in the central Bohemian basin

Summary The coalification data of 12 boreholes in the Central Bohemian Basin are used to evaluate the paleotemperature gradients for the Upper Carboniferous period of the basin's development. Two versions of the burial history considered are supposed to yield an upper and a lower estimate. According to the more probable lower version, the average values of the paleogradient suggest an increasing tendency from west to east in the interval of 45–53K/km. The current geothermal gradients vary in the range of 28–35K/km. By combining the present thermal conductivity and the paleogradients, we have tried to estimate the Upper Carboniferous heat flow. Its values range from 96mW/m ² to 117mW/m ² .The results obtained can be compared with the paleogradient estimates in the Saar-Nahe Basin (F. R. of Germany). This region, which is similar with respect to the time of origin and tectonic pattern to the Central Bohemian Basin, displays on the average a slightly higher Permo-Carboniferous geothermal gradient of 60K/km.     

Pressure induced phase transition in Pb<Subscript>6</Subscript>Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>S<Subscript>9</Subscript>

The crystal structure of Pb₆Bi₂S₉ is investigated at pressures between 0 and 5.6 GPa with X-ray diffraction on single-crystals. The pressure is applied using diamond anvil cells. Heyrovskyite (Bbmm, a = 13.719(4) Å, b = 31.393(9) Å, c = 4.1319(10) Å, Z = 4) is the stable phase of Pb₆Bi₂S₉ at ambient conditions and is built from distorted moduli of PbS-archetype structure with a low stereochemical activity of the Pb²⁺ and Bi³⁺ lone electron pairs. Heyrovskyite is stable until at least 3.9 GPa and a first-order phase transition occurs between 3.9 and 4.8 GPa. A single-crystal is retained after the reversible phase transition despite an anisotropic contraction of the unit cell and a volume decrease of 4.2%. The crystal structure of the high pressure phase, β-Pb₆Bi₂S₉, is solved in Pna2 ₁ (a = 25.302(7) Å, b = 30.819(9) Å, c = 4.0640(13) Å, Z = 8) from synchrotron data at 5.06 GPa. This structure consists of two types of moduli with SnS/TlI-archetype structure in which the Pb and Bi lone pairs are strongly expressed. The mechanism of the phase transition is described in detail and the results are compared to the closely related phase transition in Pb₃Bi₂S₆ (lillianite).     

Modification of the degree-day formula for diurnal meltwater generation and refreezing

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The standard degree-day, temperature-index approach to calculating snowmelt generation and refreezing (the SDD method) is convenient and popularly used but...     

Optimization of the shape of Gaussian beams

The applicability and accuracy of the Gaussian beam method depend on the proper choice of the shape of beams. Gaussian beams become inaccurate solutions of the elastodynamic equation if the velocity field changes considerably within the beam width. We present a procedure of determining the optimum initial shape of Gaussian beams based on minimizing the average squared widths of Gaussian beams and smoothing the distribution of the optimum parameters of Gaussian beams on the Hamiltonian hypersurface in the phase-space. The original method of smoothing represents an essential part of the algorithm, which is designed particularly for the optimization of the shape of Gaussian beams for Gaussian beam or packet migrations.     

Mass balance of mercury in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Basin is rich in mercury from natural and anthropogenic sources. During an extensive research from 2002–2005, measurements of different mercury forms were carried out in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian research vessel Urania as a part of the Med Oceanor and MERCYMS projects funded by the EU Framework programme. Further on, transport and fate of mercury forms was simulated in water and air compartments by two different models, and an approximate coupling of both models was performed. The new 3-dimensional model PCFLOW3D was completed with the first version of a biogeochemical module which deals with various mercury species in dissolved and particulate forms. Exchange with the bottom and the atmosphere, methylation, demethylation, reduction and oxidation were taken into account. Based on the integrated hydrodynamic-atmospheric model and results of field measurements the mass balance of total mercury in the Mediterranean Sea was determined in order to estimate main sources and sinks and simulate future trends of mercury contamination in the Mediterranean. The following terms were taken into account: sources of mercury from major rivers and from point sources, exchange with the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea, estimated natural sources from geotectonic active areas in the sea, exchange with bottom sediments, and evasion to and deposition from the atmosphere.     

Spatial variations and controls of acid mine drainage generation

Spatial variations of historical and ongoing pyrite oxidation rates were quantified near the Nanisivik Mine on Baffin Island in northern Canada. The variations observed depend mainly on the degree of water saturation, pH and temporal trends in mineral reactivity. Maximum oxidation rates were observed in an untreated tailings spill, while minimum oxidation rates were noted for tailings deposited under water. Spatial trends in oxidation rates were in the order of three orders of magnitude. Spatial trends were only possible to quantify by a combination of closed chambers (well-drained conditions) and micro sensors (water-covered conditions). Oxygen uptake rates in tailings at various ages (up to 7 years) indicate a decrease by more than a factor of 3 over time. Total oxygen uptake over 7 years was calculated and found to be in a fair agreement with the overall pyrite depletion evaluated as high-resolution mineral mass balance (by quantitative powder X-ray diffraction).     

GPU-Accelerated Simulation of Massive Spatial Data Based on the Modified Planar Rotator Model

Mathematical Geosciences - A novel Gibbs Markov random field for spatial data on Cartesian grids based on the modified planar rotator (MPR) model of statistical physics has been recently introduced...     

K-guarding of polyhedral terrain

Site visibility analysis is an important research topic with many applications in Geographical Information Systems. This paper introduces a new paradigm in terrain guarding, called k-guarding. K-guarding is a generalization of the classic guarding problem where, instead of only one guard, each surface patch is guarded by at least k guards. Afterwards, two optimization problems based on k-guarding are defined: an optimum k-guarding, and a constrained k-guarding. There are three heuristic approaches—k-greedy add, k-stingy drop, and k-reverse greedy—that are proposed as a solution to the above-mentioned optimization problems. The first two are known approaches adapted to k-guarding, while k-reverse greedy is a new, original heuristic. The heuristics are compared using actual topographic surfaces. It is shown that our approach (k-reverse greedy) gives on average the best near optimum solutions. The most surprising finding of the experiments is that the combination of heuristics introduced here yields even better results.