Influence of a method of evaluation of the curvature of flexible vegetation elements on vertical distributions of flow velocities

Methods of computing the deflections of flexible vegetation elements under the dynamic pressure of water were presented in the paper. Two methods, based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, were discussed, one designed for small deflections and the other, generalized one, also for larger deflections. The choice of the method for computations of deflections was discussed from the perspective of the computation of flow velocities above flexible vegetation. Computational results were compared with laboratory experiments and it was found that the simplified, computationally less expensive method may be used in many practical situations without deterioration of the results.     

Seismic event of January 22, 2010 near Bełchatów,Poland

The paper summarizes the findings about a seismic event on January 22, 2010, near Bełchatów, Poland, in terms of data, event location, magnitude and source parameters.     

The application of well logging and seismic modeling to assess the degree of gas saturation in Miocene strata (Carpathian Foredeep, Poland)

The presence of natural gas in the pore space of reservoir rocks results in a significant decrease in P-wave velocity. Even low gas saturation can generate seismic anomalies (DHI) and false image of gas accumulation of economic importance. This article presents an attempt to evaluate gas saturation from 2D seismic section in the Miocene sandstone strata in the south-eastern part of the Carpathian Foredeep. The ESTYMACJA program and the Biot-Gassmann model were used to study the dependence between elastic parameters and saturating fluids (water and gas) recorded in wells. Series of calculations was carried out using a method of fluid substitution for various gas saturation. The applicability of seismic data for evaluating gas saturation of reservoir beds was assessed with the use of 1D modelling (synthetic seismograms) and 2D modelling (theoretical seismic section) calculated for different gas saturation. The proposed methodology can be used to identify low and high gas-saturated zones and contour the reservoir.     

A novel approach to the quantitative interpretation of petrophysical parameters using nano-CT: example of Paleozoic carbonates

The main goal was the analysis of parameters describing the structure of the pore space of carbonate rocks, based on tomographic images. The results of CT images interpretation, made for 17 samples of Paleozoic carbonate rocks were shown. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of a pore system was performed. Objects were clustered according to the pore size. Within the clusters, the geometry parameters were analysed. The following dependences were obtained for carbonate rocks, also for individual clusters (due to the volume): (1) a linear relationship (on a bilogarithmic scale) between the specific surface and the Feret diameter and (2) a strong linear relationship between specific surface area and Feret diameter and average diameter of the objects calculated for the sphere. The results were then combined with available results from standard laboratory tests, including NMR and MICP.     

Dynamical evolution of Earth’s quasi-satellites: 2004 GU9 and 2006 FV35

We study the dynamical evolution of Asteroids (164207) 2004 GU₉ and 2006 FV₃₅, which are currently Earth quasi-satellites (QS). Our analysis is based on numerical computation of their orbits, and we also applied the theory of co-orbital motion developed in Wajer (Wajer, P. [2009]. Icarus 200, 147-153) to describe and analyze the objects’ dynamics. 2004 GU₉ stays as an Earth QS for about a 1000 years. In the present epoch it is in the middle of its stay in this regime. After leaving the QS orbit near 2600 this asteroid will move inside the Earth’s co-orbital region on a regular horseshoe (HS) orbit for a few 1000 years. Later, either HS-QS or HS-P transitions are possible, where P means “passing”. Although 2004 GU₉ moves primarily under the influence of the Sun and Earth, Venus plays a significant role in destabilizing the object’s orbit. Our analysis showed that the guiding center of 2006 FV₃₅ moves deep inside the averaged potential well, and since the asteroid’s argument of perihelion precesses at a rate of approximately , it prevents the QS state begin left for a long period of time; consequently the asteroid has occupied this state for about 10⁴ years and will stay in this orbit for about 800 more years. Near 2800 the asteroid’s close approach with Venus will cause it to exit the QS state, but probably it will still be moving inside the Earth’s co-orbital region and will experience transitions between HS, TP (tadpole) and P types of motion.     

Refined timing and kinematics for Baltica–Avalonia convergence based on the sedimentary record of a foreland basin

The Caledonian foreland basin of Poland onlaps the SW slope of the East European Craton and is elongated in a NW–SW direction along the margin of the Baltica palaeocontinent. The base of the synorogenic clastic wedge rises in age from Llandovery to Ludlow between NW and SE Poland, respectively. As the initial influx of orogen‐derived detritus can be unequivocally identified, this diachronism documents a southeastward migration of the basin depocentre, parallel to the present‐day Caledonian Deformation Front. Our best‐fit plate model shows an oblique collision of Baltica and Avalonia, the latter initially indenting the Baltica margin in the NW. Afterwards, Baltica was progressively underthrust beneath Avalonia towards the SE in response to the oblique soft‐mode closure of the Tornquist Ocean. The final deformation event within the Caledonian foreland took place in the earliest Devonian as a far‐field effect of sinistral orogen‐parallel displacements along the Iapetus suture.     

Influence of selected fluorescent dyes on small aquatic organisms

Rhodamine B and Rhodamine WT are fluorescent dyes commonly used as tracers in hydrological investigations. Since introducing intensely red substances into rivers raises understandable doubts of ecological nature, the authors aimed at examining the influence of these dyes on small water fauna using bioindication methods. Quantitative results, calculated with the use of Bliss-Weber probit statistical method, were achieved by means of standardized ecotoxicological tests containing ready-to-hatch resting forms of fairy shrimp (Thamnocephalus platyurus). Qualitative studies included observation of water flea crustacean (Daphnia magna) and horned planorbis snail (Planorbis corneus), both typically present in rivers and representative for temperate climate, as well as guppy fish (Poecilla reticulata), paramecium protozoan (Paramaecium caudatum) and the above-mentioned fairy shrimp. The investigation revealed that both dyes in concentrations used for hydrological purposes are low enough to exert almost no toxic impact on water fauna considered.     

The Tepla(?)/Saxothuringian suture in the Karkonosze–Izera massif, western Sudetes, central European Variscides

The southern and eastern Karkonosze-Izera massif (northern Bohemian Massif) exposes blueschist facies rocks and MORB-type magmatic complexes. During Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous times, these were overthrust within a nappe pile toward the NW onto the pre-Variscan Saxothuringian basement composed of the Izera-Kowary metagranitoids and their envelope. The lowermost nappe (or parautochthonous?) unit of the pile is the low-grade metamorphosed Jewt3d complex, comprising a Devonian to Early Carboniferous sedimentary succession of the Saxothuringian passive margin. This is tectonically overlain by the South Karkonosze complex, which represents Ordovician-Silurian volcano-sedimentary infill of the Saxothuringian basin, affected by Late Devonian HP metamorphism. The uppermost nappe is the Early Palaeozoic epidote-amphibolite grade Leszczyniec MORB-like complex, cropping out on the eastern margin of the Karkonosze-Izera massif. It probably represents a fragment of obducted Saxothuringian basin floor. The nappe pile was stacked beneath the overriding upper plate margin, now concealed below the Intra-Sudetic basin and hypothesized to represent a fragment of the Tepla-Barrandian terrane. The nappe stacking, triggered by buoyancy-controlled upward extrusion of the subducted continental slab, was the main mechanism for the exhumation of HP rocks. The final stages of the NW-ward nappe stacking were accompanied and followed by SE-directed Early Carboniferous extensional collapse. The lower plate of the suture zone was uplifted at that time and intruded by the ~330-Ma-old, nearly undeformed Karkonosze granite pluton. As a result of the collapse, the Tepla-Barrandian(?) upper plate was downthrown on shear zones and brittle faults and buried under several km-thick synorogenic Late Tournaisian(?) through Namurian and post-orogenic Late Carboniferous-Early Permian succession of the Intra-Sudetic basin. The south and east Karkonosze suture most probably is a fragment of the Tepla/Saxothuringian (Münchberg-Tepla) suture belt known from the western Bohemian Massif.     

Truncation errors of selected finite difference methods for two-dimensional advection-diffusion equation with mixed derivatives

The spread of a passive contaminant in an open-channel reach is considered with use of a two-dimensional advection-diffusion equation with the included off-diagonal dispersion coefficients. This paper presents the calculation of truncation errors, namely numerical diffusion and numerical dispersion for various finite difference schemes. The accuracy of the considered finite-difference approximations is analysed by deriving and studying the relevant modified partial differential equation.