Seismic wave velocities in the sedimentary cover of Poland: Borehole data compilation

A knowledge of seismic wave velocities in the sedimentary cover is of great importance for interpreting reflection and refraction seismic data, deep seismic soundings and regional and global seismic tomography. This is particularly true for regions characterized by significant thicknesses and a complex sedimentary cover structure. This paper presents the results of an analysis of seismic P-wave velocities in the sedimentary cover of Poland, a complex area of juxtaposition of major tectonic units: the Precambrian East European Craton, the Palaeozoic Platform of Central and Western Europe, and the Alpine orogen represented by the Carpathian Mountains. Based on vertical seismic profiling data from 1188 boreholes, the dependence of velocity versus depth was determined for regional geological units and for successions from the Tertiary and Quaternary to the Cambrian. The data have been approximated by polynomials, and velocity-depth formulas are given down to 6000 m depth. The velocities in the sedimentary cover have been compared with those from other areas in Europe.     

Implications of geomorphological research for recent and prehistoric avalanches and related hazards at Huascaran,Peru

Detailed research of superficial deposits below the northern peak of Huascaran (Cordillera Blanca) provides new information on the limits of a paleo-avalanche originating from this mountain. Geomorphological mapping of the sediments identified glacial deposits, deposits from historical rock-debris avalanches and huge boulders from a paleo-avalanche. Schmidt Hammer rock-hardness tests were used to distinguish between the several generations of rock-debris avalanches, but largely failed to distinguish between the much older moraine and the paleo-avalanche sediments. Thus, only the field geomorphological mapping proved to be reliable for identifying the limits of the paleo-avalanche. The limits identified as granite boulders deposited over volcanic rocks were found to extend 30 m further up the opposite valley slope than previously had been mapped. This larger extent implies a greater volume and/or greater mobility for the prehistoric event.     

Transport in fracture processes: Fragmentation and slip

We present a new development in the asymmetric continuum theory with the shear oscillations (twist motions) and independent spin; these motions (displacement velocities and spin) can be shifted in phase to describe the independent rebound processes. Our approach provides an extension of the asymmetric continuum theory by including the microfragmentation processes with a double transport which may appear in an advanced fracture process under very high load. The related nonlinear equations, leading to soliton solutions, are derived.     

Characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in some Polish wastewater treatment plants

The aim of this study was to characterize both the viable airborne bacteria and fungi collected in different types of wastewater treatment plants in Poland. Bacterial and fungal aerosols in five different wastewater treatment plants in Poland were studied, including the pioneering antibiotic resistance testing of airborne bacteria. Concentration level was measured using the six-stage Andersen impactor. After incubation, bioaerosol particles captured on nutrient media on Petri dishes were quantitatively evaluated and qualitatively identified. It was found that the concentration levels of both airborne bacteria and fungi ranged from 10² to 10³ colony-forming units/m³, in all stages of the wastewater treatment plants. The patterns of size distributions of airborne bacteria and fungi were very similar, showing dominant peaks typically in the size range between 3.3 and 4.7 μm. The majority fraction of small bacterial and fungal particles (less than 4.7 μm) in the studied areas indicates that the bioaerosol is relatively fresh, and mostly of local origin. The Gram-positive cocci and nonsporing Gram-positive rods were the dominating forms in the studied wastewater treatment plants environment. The existing differences in the concentration levels between sampling sites enabled identification of the main bioaerosol sources. The highest concentration of bacterial aerosol appeared in sections, where activated sludge post-processing and mechanical purifying are conducted. The most frequently occurring species in the sampled bacterial aerosol were Gram-positive cocci and nonsporing Gram-positive rods. Multi-antibiotic resistance testing showed that among the isolated airborne bacteria, the most antibiotic-resistant features were present among Bacillus species (especially Bacillus mycoides).     

The urban heat island in the city of Poznań as derived from Landsat 5 TM

Deforestation is expanding and accelerating into the remaining areas of undisturbed forest, and the quality of the remaining forests is declining today. Assessing the climatic impacts of deforestation can help to rectify this alarming situation. In this paper, how historical deforestation may affect global climate through interactive ocean and surface albedo is examined using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC). Control and anomaly integrations are performed for 1000 years. In the anomaly case, cropland is significantly expanded since AD 1700. The response of climate in deforested areas is not uniform between the regions. In the background of a global cooling of 0.08 °C occurring with cooler surface air above 0.4 °C across 30° N to 75° N from March to September, the surface albedo increase has a global cooling effect in response to global-scale replacement of forests by cropland, especially over northern mid-high latitudes. The northern mid-latitude (30° N–60° N) suffers a prominent cooling in June, suggesting that this area is most sensitive to cropland expansion through surface albedo. Most regions show a consistent trend between the overall cooling in response to historical deforestation and its resulting cooling due to surface albedo anomaly. Furthermore, the effect of the interactive ocean on shaping the climate response to deforestation is greater than that of prescribed SSTs in most years with a maximum spread of 0.05 °C. This difference is more prominent after year 1800 than that before due to the more marked deforestation. These findings show the importance of the land cover change and the land surface albedo, stressing the necessity to analyze other biogeophysical processes of deforestation using interactive ocean.     

Disentangling Turbulent Gas Diffusion from Non-diffusive Transport in the Boundary Layer

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - An analysis based on the law of linear momentum conservation demonstrates unequivocally that the mass fraction is the scalar whose gradient determines gas diffusion,...     

Newly identified historical tornadoes in the Czech Republic from 16th to the 20th centuries

Tornadoes have occurred in the territory of the Czech Republic throughout history. Although their frequency and intensity are not as high as in the USA, they can cause severe damage as well. That is why a systematic effort to document individual occurrences of this dangerous meteorological phenomenon as far as possible back into the past began in the 1990s. The aim of this investigation is to extend the first European catalogue of tornadoes originally published by Wegener [Wegener A., 1917. Wind-und Wasserhosen in Europe], by the addition of these cases from the Czech Republic.This paper adds further to Setvák, Šálek and Munzar [Setvák M., Šálek M., Munzar J., 2003. Tornadoes within the Czech Republic—from medieval chronicles to the internet society. Atmos. Res. 67–68, 589–605], who reported the earliest documented tornado in the land of the Czech Republic which occurred in AD 1119 in Prague. In so doing, it presents recently discovered tornado cases from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, found in a variety of historical sources since the last ECSS conference held in Prague in 2002. In particular we will focus on the case from Jablonec nad Nisou (northern Bohemia) in 1925, which was probably the first case in the Czech Republic with accompanying photographic documentation of damage caused by a tornado.     

Physics of basic motions in asymmetric continuum

We consider the advantages of a formalism based on concept of the asymmetric continuum and we present some equivalence theorems relating it to the asymmetric elasticity and to micropolar and micromorphic theories as founded by Nowacki, Cosserats and Eringen. We consider the basic processes in an asymmetric continuum which could be reduced to the point basic motions/deformations. The co-action of spin and shear motions is assumed to play the main role in fracturing process, while the constitutive relation between the antisymmetric stresses and rotations replaces the friction constitutive law.