Buildings in GI: How to deal with building models in the GIS domain

Digital building information is important during a building's lifecycle, it is needed from first design until demolition. The two domains that mainly contribute are AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) during design, construction, and operation, and GIS as a supporting discipline for analysis and further integration of the building's environment. However, there is a challenge in information exchange between the two domains, resulting in the remodeling of digital building information in GIS. In this article, we identify three major data sources from the AEC domain and show transformation processes to enable the integration of such models into the geographical environment in the form of one transition model. Furthermore, we show that this model can either be used directly or exported in the form of de facto standards that allow for further analysis.     

Automated placement of supplementary contour lines

Supplementary contour lines are placed between regular contour lines to visualize small but important forms that regular contour lines are unable to show. On topographic maps, typical forms are hillcrests, depressions, saddles, terraces, banks, and levees. No automated method for the selection of supplementary contour lines has been described so far. We document cartographic design principles for the selection of supplementary contour lines for topographic maps, and present an automated method for their placement. Results of the automated method are similar to manually placed supplementary contour lines. Our method helps map authors to create contour line maps that more effectively illustrate relevant small details in maps showing terrain elevation or other scalar fields.     

Methane in the southern North Sea: Sources, spatial distribution and budgets

Measurements of methane (CH₄) so far have always shown supersaturation in the entire North Sea relative to the atmospheric partial pressure and the distribution of surface CH₄ reveals a distinct increase towards the shore. Since North Sea sediments presumably are an insignificant source for CH₄ the coastal contribution via rivers and tidal flats gains in importance.In this work, CH₄ data from the River Weser, the back barrier tidal flats of Spiekeroog Island (NW Germany), and the German Bight are presented. Results from the River Weser are compared to other rivers draining into the German Bight. Measurements in the tidal flat area of Spiekeroog Island highlight this ecosystem as an additional contributor to the overall CH₄ budget of the southern North Sea. A tidally driven CH₄ pattern is observed for the water column with maximum values during low tide. Tidal flat sediments turn out to be the dominating source because pore waters discharged during low tide are highly enriched in CH₄. In contrast, the freshwater contribution to the tidal flats by small coastal tributaries has almost no impact on water column CH₄ concentrations. The CH₄ level seems to be disturbed irregularly by wind forcing due to elevated degassing and prevention of advective flow when tidal flats remain covered by water.Based on our data, two model calculations were used to estimate the impact of tidal flats on the CH₄ budget in the German Bight. Our results demonstrate that the back barrier tidal flats of the east Frisian Wadden Sea contribute CH₄ in an order of magnitude between the Wash estuary and River Elbe and thus have to be considered in budget calculations.     

Late‐stage deformation in a collisional orogen (Western Alps): nappe refolding,back‐thrusting or normal faulting?

ABSTRACT Nappe refolding, back-thrusting and normal faulting frequently cause severe late-stage overprinting of the architecture of an orogen. A combined investigation of nappe stack polarity, kinematics of shearing and metamorphic gradients in the Western Alps develops criteria for distinguishing between these three modes of late-stage deformation. This distinction is a prerequisite for any retro-deformation necessary for understanding the main tectonic and metamorphic evolution of collisional orogens. In the case of the Western Alps overprint was by mega-scale nappe refolding in the Oligocene. This implies exhumation of the HP-rocks prior to postnappe folding, i.e. during nappe stacking and by foreland-directed ascent within a subduction channel.     

Environmental changes in the northern Altai during the last millennium documented in Lake Teletskoye pollen record

A high-resolution pollen record from Lake Teletskoye documents the climate-related vegetation history of the northern Altai Mountain region during the last millennium. Siberian pine taiga with Scots pine, fir, spruce, and birch dominated the vegetation between ca. AD 1050 and 1100. The climate was similar to modern. In the beginning of the 12th century, birch and shrub alder increased. Lowered pollen concentrations and simultaneous peaks in herbs (especially Artemisia and Poaceae), ferns, and charcoal fragments point to colder and more arid climate conditions than before, with frequent fire events. Around AD 1200, regional climate became warmer and more humid than present, as revealed by an increase of Siberian pine and decreases of dry herb taxa and charcoal contents. Climatic conditions were rather stable until ca. AD 1410. An increase of Artemisia pollen may reflect slightly drier climate conditions between AD 1410 and 1560. Increases in Alnus, Betula, Artemisia, and Chenopodiaceae pollen and in charcoal particle contents may reflect further deterioration of climate conditions between AD 1560 and 1810, consistent with the Little Ice Age. After AD 1850 the vegetation gradually approached the modern one, in conjunction with ongoing climate warming.     

Single zircon ages for felsic to intermediate rocks from the Pietersburg and Giyani greenstone belts and bordering granitoid orthogneisses, northern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Previous models for the temporal evolution of greenstone belts and surrounding granitoid gneisses in the northern Kaapvaal Craton can be revised on the basis of new single zircon ages, obtained by conventional U---Pb dating and Pb---Pb evaporation. In the Pietersburg greenstone belt, zircons from a metaquartz porphyry of the Ysterberg Formation yielded an age of 2949.7±0.2 Ma, while a granite intruding the greenstones, and deformed together with them, has an age of 2853 + 19/−18 Ma. These data show felsic volcanism in this belt to have been coeval with felsic volcanism in the Murchison belt farther east, and the date of 2853 Ma provides an older age limit for deformation in the region. In contrast, a meta-andesite of the Giyani greenstone belt has a zircon age of 3203.3±0.2 Ma, while a younger and cross-cutting feldspar porphyry has an emplacement age of 2874.1±0.2 Ma. The meta-andesite is intercalated with various mafic and ultramafic rocks and, therefore, the age of 3.2 Ga appears plausible for the bulk of the Giyani greenstones.Granitoid gneisses surrounding the Pietersburg and Giyani belts vary in composition from tonalite to granite and texturally from well-layered to homogeneous but strongly foliated. These rocks yielded zircon ages between 2811 and 3283 Ma. The pre-3.2 Ga gneisses are polydeformed and may have constituted a basement to the Giyani greenstone sequence, while the younger gneisses are intrusive into the older gneiss assemblage and/or into the greenstones. The Giyani and Pietersburg belts probably define two separate crustal entities that were originally close together but were later displaced by strike-slip movement.     

Identification of groundwater recharge sources and processes in a heterogeneous alluvial aquifer: results from multi‐level monitoring of hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes in a riverside agricultural area in Korea

We evaluated sources and pathways of groundwater recharge for a heterogeneous alluvial aquifer beneath an agricultural field, based on multi‐level monitoring of hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes of a riverside groundwater system at Buyeo, Korea. Two distinct groundwater zones were identified with depth: (1) a shallow oxic groundwater zone, characterized by elevated concentrations of NO₃^? and (2) a deeper (>10–14 m from the ground surface) sub‐oxic groundwater zone with high concentrations of dissolved Fe, silica, and HCO₃^?, but little nitrate. The change of redox zones occurred at a depth where the aquifer sediments change from an upper sandy stratum to a silty stratum with mud caps. The δ¹⁸O and δ²H values of groundwater were also different between the two zones. Hydrochemical and δ¹⁸O? δ²H data of oxic groundwater are similar to those of soil water. This illustrates that recharge of oxic groundwater mainly occurs through direct infiltration of rain and irrigation water in the sandy soil area where vegetable cropping with abundant fertilizer use is predominant. Oxic groundwater is therefore severely contaminated by agrochemical pollutants such as nitrate. In contrast, deeper sub‐oxic groundwater contains only small amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO) and NO₃^?. The ³H contents and elevated silica concentrations in sub‐oxic groundwater indicate a somewhat longer mean residence time of groundwater within this part of the aquifer. Sub‐oxic groundwater was also characterized by higher δ¹⁸O and δ²H values and lower d‐excess values, indicating significant evaporation during recharge. We suggest that recharge of sub‐oxic groundwater occurs in the areas of paddy rice fields where standing irrigation and rain water are affected by strong evaporation, and that reducing conditions develop during subsequent sub‐surface infiltration. This study illustrates the existence of two groundwater bodies with different recharge processes within an alluvial aquifer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.