A forecast of public water scarcity on Leu-Rotunda Plain,Romania, for the end of the 21st century

The article examines the risk of water shortages due to the climate change on Leu-Rotunda Plain, which is part of Oltenia Plain in Romania. The region has been exposed to several extreme climatic phenomena, mostly droughts, which has created several problems related to water quality and quantity. The authors defined climate change scenarios using two regional climate models. Water resources under climate change were estimated by a regional numerical groundwater model covering a deep aquifer. The water demand components were estimated for households, industries, services, and livestock, based on specific socio-economic assumptions. A non-probabilistic risk assessment, using simplified fuzzy sets mathematics, was used to estimate water supply, water demand, and the consequences of water shortages. The results of the study revealed significant vulnerability in the water supply, a limited territorial expansion of sewerage networks, an expected increase in households’ demand, an expected increase in industrial and services water demand, a relatively stable demand for water for livestock farming, and an important water shortage in the study area. The authors conclude by highlighting a set of actions to mitigate the risk of the potential crisis.     

Melt in the impact breccias from the Eyreville drill cores,Chesapeake Bay impact structure,USA

The center of the 35.3 Ma Chesapeake Bay impact structure (85 km diameter) was drilled during 2005/2006 in an ICDP–USGS drilling project. The Eyreville drill cores include polymict impact breccias and associated rocks (1397–1551 m depth). Tens of melt particles from these impactites were studied by optical and electron microscopy, electron microprobe, and microRaman spectroscopy, and classified into six groups: m1—clear or brownish melt, m2—brownish melt altered to phyllosilicates, m3—colorless silica melt, m4—melt with pyroxene and plagioclase crystallites, m5—dark brown melt, and m6—melt with globular texture. These melt types have partly overlapping major element abundances, and large compositional variations due to the presence of schlieren, poorly mixed melt phases, partly digested clasts, and variable crystallization and alteration. The different melt types also vary in their abundance with depth in the drill core. Based on the chemical data, mixing calculations were performed to determine possible precursors of these melt particles. The calculations suggest that most melt types formed mainly from the thick sedimentary section of the target sequence (mainly the Potomac Formation), but an additional crystalline basement (schist/gneiss) precursor is likely for the most abundant melt types m2 and m5. Sedimentary rocks with compositions similar to those of the melt particles are present among the Eyreville core samples. Therefore, sedimentary target rocks were the main precursor of the Eyreville melt particles. However, the composition of the melt particles is not only the result of the precursor composition but also the result of changes during melting and solidification, as well as postimpact alteration, which must also be considered. The variability of the melt particle compositions reflects the variety of target rocks and indicates that there was no uniform melt source. Original heterogeneities, resulting from melting of different target rocks, may be preserved in impactites of some large impact structures that formed in volatile‐rich targets, because no large melt body exists, in which homogenization would have taken place.     

Analysis of Croatian geomagnetic repeat station surveys in 2004 and 2007

Surveys of the geomagnetic declination, inclination and total field intensity were carried out at eight stations of the Croatian Geomagnetic Repeat Stations Network in 2004 and 2007. The total field time series at repeat stations and observatories were compared by use of the multi-linear regression and linear correlation coefficients. The surveys’ data were reduced to 2004.5 and 2007.5 epochs by a simple method proposed here, assuming the secular variations at the repeat station and observatory are equal or different, respectively. These reductions, obtained in reference to L’Aquila, Fürstenfeldbruck and Tihany observatories, and corresponding weighted as well as non-weighted averages, were compared. The preferred geomagnetic field elements as well as the corresponding annual changes between 2004.5 and 2007.5 epochs, were compared to the latest International Geomagnetic Reference Field. Additionally, the Croatian Geomagnetic Normal Reference Fields for 2004.5 and 2007.5 epochs were presented.     

Regional Geomagnetic Field Model for Croatia at 2009.5

Geomagnetic data of north, east, and vertical components at Croatian repeat stations and ground survey sites, as well as European geomagnetic observatories and repeat stations, were used to obtain a regional geomagnetic model over Croatia at 2009.5 epoch. Different models were derived, depending on input data, and three modelling techniques were used: Taylor Polynomial, Adjusted Spherical Harmonic Analysis, and Spherical Harmonic Analysis. It was derived that the most accurate model over Croatia was the one when only Croatian data were used, and by using the Adjusted Spherical Harmonic Analysis. Based on Croatian repeat stations’ data in the interval 2007.5–2010.5, and a global Enhanced Magnetic Model, it was possible to estimate the crustal field at those sites. It was also done by taking into account the empirical adjustment for long-term external field variations. The higher crustal field values were found at those stations which are on or close to the Adriatic anomaly.     

Determination of the Croatian geomagnetic observatory location

Ground survey within the Nature Park Lonjsko Polje, placed in the middle-northern Croatia was performed during the time interval 2007–2010 in order to find the best location for installing the geomagnetic observatory. The total magnetic field has been measured a few times using the Overhauser proton magnetometers. The horizontal and vertical gradients of the total field, and its temporal behaviour were investigated over the restricted region that we estimated as suitable for the observatory. The results obtained from thoroughly conducted measurements allowed us to find definitive positions for the instrument pillars. These results are in agreement with previously suggested location found based on combination of Comprehensive CM4 model prediction and measurements conducted from 2003 to 2005. This study contributes to the development of geomagnetism in Croatia and paves a way to install the first geomagnetic observatory in Croatia.     

Erratische Blöcke—erratische Folgerungen: ein unbekannter Brief von Leopold von Buch von 1818

At the beginning of the 19th century it was still not understood how erratic blocs were transported. Leopold von Buch's answer echoed Horace Bénedict de Saussure's flood theory from 1780. Von Buch's letter of 1818, published here, shows that he tried to support Saussure's theory to which he adhered to throughout his life with quantitative arguments. Even close contacts and several visits to Jean de Charpentier, the then director of the salt mines at Bex, who could demonstrate that the Rhône Glacier had once reached the Swiss Jura, and field trips with Louis Agassiz in the Neuchâtel area in 1837, failed to change von Buch's flood theory. His authority was one of the reasons why the Skandinavian iceshield was not generally thought to have extended into Northern Germany until 1875, when Otto Martin Torell located surfaces polished by ice near Berlin—an observation that provoked a sudden surge of affirmative publications. Erratic blocks were not the only topic on which von Buch was mistaken, but because of his many important contributions in other areas, including his shift from neptunism to plutonism or his observations concerning the uplift of Scandinavia, Alexander von Humboldt characterized him as "the greatest geognosist of our time".