Modelling environmentally friendly fairways using Lagrangian trajectories: a case study for the Gulf of Finland,the Baltic Sea

We address possibilities of minimising environmental risks using statistical features of current-driven propagation of adverse impacts to the coast. The recently introduced method for finding the optimum locations of potentially dangerous activities (Soomere et al. in Proc Estonian Acad Sci 59:156–165, 2010) is expanded towards accounting for the spatial distributions of probabilities and times for reaching the coast for passively advecting particles released in different sea areas. These distributions are calculated using large sets of Lagrangian trajectories found from Eulerian velocity fields provided by the Rossby Centre Ocean Model with a horizontal resolution of 2 nautical miles for 1987–1991. The test area is the Gulf of Finland in the northeastern Baltic Sea. The potential gain using the optimum fairways from the Baltic Proper to the eastern part of the gulf is an up to 44% decrease in the probability of coastal pollution and a similar increase in the average time for reaching the coast. The optimum fairways are mostly located to the north of the gulf axis (by 2–8 km on average) and meander substantially in some sections. The robustness of this approach is quantified as the typical root mean square deviation (6–16 km) between the optimum fairways specified from different criteria. Drastic variations in the width of the ‘corridors’ for almost optimal fairways (2–30 km for the average width of 15 km) signifies that the sensitivity of the results with respect to small changes in the environmental criteria largely varies in different parts of the gulf.     

Computation of X-Ray Blazar Light Curves Using RHD Simulations

We present the results of a two-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulation of collisions of dense shells of matter moving within a uniform jet. The non-thermal synchrotron radiation produced by the relativistic electrons injected at shocks is computed following their temporal and spatial evolution. We test different parameterizations of the shock acceleration process and compute the corresponding X-ray light curves. A time lag between hard and soft X-ray radiation is found. The collision has an efficiency of few times 10^?3 in converting kinetic energy into radiation.     

Cluster strong lensing in the Millennium simulation: the effect of galaxies and structures along the line-of-sight

We use ray-tracing through the Millennium simulation to study how secondary matter structures along the line-of-sight and the stellar mass in galaxies affect strong cluster lensing, in particular the cross-section for giant arcs. Furthermore, we investigate the distribution of the cluster Einstein radii and the radial distribution of giant arcs. We find that additional structures along the line-of-sight increase the strong-lensing optical depth by  ∼10–25 per cent  , while strong-lensing cross-sections of individual clusters are frequently boosted by as much as  ∼50 per cent  . The enhancement is mainly due to structures that are not correlated with the lens. Cluster galaxies increase the strong-lensing optical depth by up to a factor of 2, while interloping galaxies are not significant. We conclude that these effects need to be taken into account for predictions of the giant arc abundance, but they are not large enough to fully account for the reported discrepancy between predicted and observed abundances.
Furthermore, we find that Einstein radii defined via the area enclosed by the critical curve are 10–30 per cent larger than those defined via radial surface mass density profiles. The contributions of radial and tangential arcs to the radial distribution of arcs can be clearly distinguished. The radial distribution of tangential arcs is very broad and extends out to several Einstein radii. Thus, individual arcs are not well suited for constraining Einstein radii.     

Orogenic structure of the Eastern Alps, Europe, from TRANSALP deep seismic reflection profiling

The TRANSALP Group, comprising of partner institutions from Italy, Austria and Germany, acquired data on a 340 km long deep seismic reflection line crossing the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice. Although the field work was split into four campaigns, between fall 1998 and summer 2001, the project gathered for the first time a continuous profile across the Alps using consistent field acquisition and data processing parameters. These sections span the orogen itself, at its broadest width, as well as the editor Fred Davey and the two adjacent basins. Vibroseis and explosion data, complementary in their depth penetration and resolution characteristics, were obtained along with wide-angle and teleseismic data. The profile shows a bi-vergent asymmetric structure of the crust beneath the Alpine axis which reaches a maximum thickness of 55 km, and 80–100 km long transcrustal ramps, the southward dipping ‘Sub-Tauern-Ramp’ and the northward-dipping ‘Sub-Dolomites-Ramp’. Strongly reflective patterns of these ramps can be traced towards the north to the Inn Valley and towards the south to the Valsugana thrust belt, both of which show enhanced seismicity in the brittle upper crust. The seismic sections do not reveal any direct evidence for the presence of the Periadriatic Fault system, the presumed equivalent to the Insubric Line in the Western Alps. According to our new evolutionary model, the Sub-Tauern-Ramp is linked at depth with remnants of the subducted Penninic Ocean. The ‘crocodile’-type model describes an upper/lower crustal decoupling and wedging of both the European and the Adriatic–African continents.     

Crustal Architecture of the Inverted Central Lapland Rift Along the HUKKA 2007 Profile

We have studied the lateral velocity variations along a partly buried inverted paleo–rift in Central Lapland, Northern Europe with a 2D wide-angle reflection and refraction experiment, HUKKA 2007. The experiment was designed to use seven chemical explosions from commercial and military sites as sources of seismic energy. The shots were recorded by 102 stations with an average spacing of 3.45 km. Two-dimensional crustal models of variations in P-wave velocity and Vp/Vs-ratio were calculated using the ray tracing forward modeling technique. The HUKKA 2007 experiment comprises a 455 km long profile that runs NNW–SSE parallel to the Kittilä Shear Zone, a major deformation zone hosting gold deposits in the area. The profile crosses Paleoproterozoic and reactivated Archean terranes of Central Lapland. The velocity model shows a significant difference in crustal velocity structure between the northern (distances 0–120 km) and southern parts of the profile. The difference in P-wave velocities and Vp/Vs ratio can be followed through the whole crust down to the Moho boundary indicating major tectonic boundaries. Upper crustal velocities seem to vary with the terranes/compositional differences mapped at the surface. The lower layer of the upper crust displays velocities of 6.0–6.1 km/s. Both Paleoproterozoic and Archean terranes are associated with high velocity bodies (6.30–6.35 km/s) at 100 and 200–350 km distances. The Central Lapland greenstone belt and Central Lapland Granitoid complex are associated with a 4 km-thick zone of unusually low velocities (<6.0 km/s) at distances between 120 and 220 km. We interpret the HUKKA 2007 profile to image an old, partly buried, inverted continental rift zone that has been closed and modified by younger tectonic events. It has structural features typical of rifts: inward dipping rift shoulders, undulating thickness of the middle crust, high velocity lower crust and a rather uniform crustal thickness of 48 km.     

Fission-track dating of the south-eastern Bohemian massif (Waldviertel,Austria): thermochronology and long-term erosion

Apatite fission-track thermochronology was applied to the outcropping Variscan basement of the south-eastern Bohemian massif in order to resolve its post-Variscan cooling and denudation history. Nineteen samples could be dated by the grain-population method. The ages range from 235 to 90 Ma (Middle Triassic to Middle Cretaceous). Neglecting some local variations, they show a decrease from the western edge of the Moravian Thaya window towards the west and the south. Fission-track length histograms mainly exhibit broad distributions with arithmetic means between 12.3 and 13.4 µm, and standard deviations between 1.5 and 2.0 µm. Thermochronological model calculations of the measured data demonstrate that the apatite fission-track memory of the samples reaches back until the begin of the Cretaceous, and for some samples even until the Permian. The regional fission-track cooling pattern is not related to the limitations and the internal structure of the Moravian Thaya window, which appears to be an elder—probably Late Carboniferous to Permian—tectonic feature. Also the Vitis fault does not delimit areas of different thermochronological behaviour. Therefore, significant vertical offset on that fault can be excluded for the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Thermochronological model calculations of fission-track ages and length data are consistent with the assumption of regional sedimentary reburial during the Late Cretaceous. The amount of reburial could have attained 1 km. The Cenozoic bulk denudation was in the order of 1 to 3 km.

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Zusammenfassung Die postvariszische Abkühlungs- und Denudationsgeschichte der südöstlichen Böhmischen Masse wurde mittels Apatit-Spaltspuranalyse untersucht. Neunzehn Proben wurden mit der Kornpopulationsmethode datiert. Die Spaltspuralter liegen zwischen 235 und 90 Ma (mittlere Trias bis mittlere Kreide). Abgesehen von kleinen lokalen Abweichungen, nehmen die Alter von der Westecke des Thayafensters in Richtung Süden und Westen ab. Nahezu alle Histogramme der Spurenlängen zeigen relativ breite Verteilungen mit arithmetischen Mittelwerten zwischen 12,3 und 13,4 µm, und mit Standardabweichungen zwischen 1,5 und 2,0 µm. Thermochronologische Modellberechnungen mit den gemessenen Daten zeigen, daß das Apatit-Spaltspurgedächtnis aller Proben mindestens bis zum Beginn der Kreide, für manche Proben sogar bis ins Perm zurückreicht. Die regionale Verteilung der Spaltspurdaten zeigt keine Übereinstimmung mit den Grenzen und dem inneren Bau des Thayafensters, welches eine offenbar ältere—wahrscheinlich oberkarbonische bis permische—tektonische Struktur darstellt. Auch an der Vitisstörung tritt keine sprunghafte Änderung des thermochronologischen Verhaltens der Gesteine auf. Daher kann ein bedeutender kretazischer oder känozoischer Vertikalversatz an dieser Störung ausgeschlossen werden. Thermochronologische Modellberechnungen der Apatit-Spaltspurdaten unterstützen die Annahme einer regionalen Wiederversenkung infolge oberkretazischer Sedimentbedeckung. Die Mächtigkeit der oberkretazischen Sedimente über dem Grundgebirge könnte bis ca. 1 km betragen haben. Der känozoische Gesamtabtrag lag zwischen 1 und 3 km.

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Saisonales Vorkommen von Arten der Saprolegniales und Leptomitales im Auesee und in der Fulda in Kassel (Hessen) unter Berücksichtigung fischpathogener Arten

Seasonal Occurrence of Species of Saprolegniales and Leptomitales in Lake Aue and the River Fulda in Kassel (Hesse) with Special Consideration of Fish Pathogenic Species In this study, we examined the occurrence of species of aquatic Oomycetes of Saprolegniales und Leptomitales in Lake Aue and the river Fulda in Kassel (Hesse, Germany) with special consideration of fish pathogenic species. We monthly collected water samples of both water bodies from July 2003 to June 2004. The baiting method was used to gain an insight into the specific seasonal occurrence of aquatic Oomycetes. Some species show a seasonal periodicity. Nine of 11 species of Saprolegniales isolated from the two water bodies, and Leptomitus lacteus (Roth) C. Agardh, one of the two species of Leptomitales, were already documented on fish according to references. Additionally, 7 of 10 species could according to references already be detected on fish species present in the two water bodies. Simultaneous measurements of limnological‐chemical parameters were done during the sampling of water for the isolation of aquatic Oomycetes. The results of some measurements, concerning the river Fulda, were additionally compared with the predetermined guideline values and limit values of water bodies of fish of the “Cyprinid region”.     

Gravity and height changes in the ocean-continent transition zone in western Colombia

Crustal studies in western Colombia, by deep seismic, gravity and geomagnetic surveys, during the last two decades have revealed an extremely anomalous crustal structure as compared to the South American Andes further south. Strong gravity gradients and differences in seismic velocities showed a transition from oceanic to continental character between the Western and Central Andes.

Measured gravity and height variations of opposite sign and lengths of 50 to 100 km on three east-west running profiles correlate surprisingly well with the typical positive Bouguer anomaly of the Western Andes which represents an isostatic instability. A gravity decrease of 0.5–1.0 mGal on two profiles and an increase on an intermediate one and corresponding ratios of gravity to apparent height variations of nearly −20 mGal/m are interpreted as consequences of deep-seated density variations. They may be related to collision tectonics and recent obduction processes between aseismic ridges riding on the Pacific Nazca plate and the continent.     

Natural occurrence of 4-methyl-phenanthrene in petroleums and recent marine sediments: A new sensitive method to identify and quantify isomers in a series of alkyl—PAH: High resolution spectrofluorimetry at 15 K in n-alkane (Shpolskii effect)

HPLC extracts of crude petroleums and of marine recent sediments, containing the monomethyl-phenanthrene series, are examined by high resolution spectrofluorimetry in n-hexane at 15 K (Shpolskii effect). Identification and relative quantification of each of the five isomers is obtained on six natural samples. The distribution of the monomethyl-phenanthrenes and the relative absence of 4-methyl-phenanthrene in petroleums compared to marine sediments may reflect steric inhibitions.