Towards a long-term monitoring of Central European water mite faunas (Acari: Hydrachnidia and Halacaridae) – considerations on the background of data from 1900 to 2000

The state of knowledge of the Central European water mite fauna and the research history are briefly surveyed. Several areas for which we are provided with rich data sets are of high value for the monitoring of faunistic trends on the background of local and global environmental change. The need for a database combining historical and actual faunistic information is stressed. It should facilitate the access to all data from former times, give a survey on actual activities by regular updates, and help for a better organization of future research activities. On the base of an update of the Limnofauna Europaea (K.O. Viets 1978, Gerecke in www.watermite.org) a first attempt is made to (1) recognize changes in the Central European fauna during the past 100 years; (2) emphasize species which may be endangered or have disappeared during the past 100 years. At the present state of knowledge, the degree of threat to water mite species in this area is best calculated from their preference for particular habitat types which are rare and in danger to disappear in cultivated landscapes. Our knowledge concerning neozoic water mites in the study area is discussed.     

Inviscid behaviour of fines-rich pyroclastic flows inferred from experiments on gas-particle mixtures

Experiments were carried out on granular flows generated by instantaneous release of gas-fluidised, bidisperse mixtures and propagating into a horizontal channel. The mixture consists of fine (< 100 μm) and coarse (> 100 μm) particles of same density, with corresponding grain size ratios of ∼ 2 to 9. Initial fluidisation of the mixture destroys the interparticle frictional contacts, and the flow behaviour then depends on the initial bed packing and on the timescale required to re-establish strong frictional contacts. At a fines mass fraction (α) below that of optimal packing (∼ 40%), the initial mixtures consist of a continuous network of coarse particles with fines in interstitial voids. Strong frictional contacts between the coarse particles are probably rapidly re-established and the flows steadily decelerate. Some internal friction reduction appears to occur as α and the grain size ratio increases, possibly due to particle rolling and the lower roughness of internal shear surfaces. Segregation only occurs at large grain size ratio due to dynamical sieving with fines concentrated at the flow base. In contrast, at α above that for optimal packing, the initial mixtures consist of coarse particles embedded in a matrix of fines. Flow velocities and run-outs are similar to that of the monodisperse fine end-member, thus showing that the coarse particles are transported passively within the matrix whatever their amount and grain size are. These flows propagate at constant height and velocity as inviscid fluid gravity currents, thus suggesting negligible interparticle friction. We have determined a Froude number of 2.61 ± 0.08 consistent with the dam-break model for fluid flows, and with no significant variation as a function of α, the grain size ratio, and the initial bed expansion. Very little segregation occurs, which suggests low intensity particle interactions during flow propagation and that active fluidisation is not taking place. Strong frictional contacts are only re-established in the final stages of emplacement and stop the flow motion. We infer that fines-rich (i.e. matrix-supported) pyroclastic flows propagate as inviscid fluid gravity currents for most of their emplacement, and this is consistent with some field data.     

Channel adjustments of the lower Trinity River,Texas, downstream of Livingston Dam

Channel cross‐sectional changes since construction of Livingston Dam and Lake Livingston in 1968 were studied in the lower Trinity River, Texas, to test theoretical models of channel adjustment, and to determine controls on the spatial extent of channel response. High and average flows were not significantly modified by the dam, but sediment transport is greatly reduced. The study is treated as an opportunistic experiment to examine the effects of a reduction in sediment supply when discharge regime is unchanged. Channel scour is evident for about 60 km downstream, and the general phenomena of incision, widening, coarsening of channel sediment and a decrease in channel slope are successfully predicted, in a qualitative sense, by standard models of channel response. However, there is no consistent channel response within this reach, as various qualitatively different combinations of increases, decreases or no change in width, depth, slope and roughness occur. These multiple modes of adjustment are predicted by the unstable hydraulic geometry model. Between about 60 km and the Trinity delta 175 km downstream of the dam, no morphological response to the dam is observed. Rather than a diminution of the dam's effects on fluvial processes, this is due to a fundamental change in controls of the fluvial system. The downstream end of the scour zone corresponds to the upstream extent of channel response to Holocene sea level rise. Beyond 60 km downstream, the Trinity River is characterized by extensive sediment storage and reduced conveyance capacity, so that even after dam construction sediment supply still exceeds transport capacity. The channel bed of much of this reach is near or below sea level, so that sea level rise and backwater effects from the estuary are more important controls on the fluvial system than upstream inputs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effective number of cycles of earthquake ground motion

The seismic response of any system that accumulates damage under cyclic loading is dependent not only on the maximum amplitude of the motion but also its duration. This is explicitly recognized in methods for estimating the liquefaction potential of soil deposits. Many researchers have proposed that the effective number of cycles of the ground motion is a more robust indicator of the destructive capacity of the shaking than the duration. However, as is the case with strong‐motion duration, there is no universally accepted approach to determining the effective number of cycles of motion, and the different methods that have been proposed can give widely varying results for a particular accelerogram. Definitions of the effective number of cycles of motion are reviewed, classified and compared. Measurements are found to differ particularly for accelerograms with broad‐banded frequency content, which contain a significant number of non‐zero crossing peaks. The key seismological parameters influencing the number of cycles of motion and associated equations for predicting this quantity for future earthquakes are identified. Correlations between cycle counts and different duration measures are explored and found to be rather poor in the absence of additional parameters. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formation of Paleoproterozoic eclogitic mantle, Slave Province (Canada): Insights from in-situ Hf and U–Pb isotopic analyses of mantle zircons

In-situ Hf isotope analyses and U–Pb dates were obtained by laser ablation-MC-ICP-MS for a zircon-bearing mantle eclogite xenolith from the diamondiferous Jericho kimberlite located within the Archean Slave Province (Nunavut), Canada. The U–Pb zircon results yield a wide range of ages (2.0 to 0.8 Ga) indicating a complex geological history. Of importance, one zircon yields a U–Pb upper intercept date of 1989 ± 67 Ma, providing a new minimum age constraint for zircon crystallization and eclogite formation. In contrast, Hf isotope systematics for the same zircons display an intriguing uniformity, and corresponding Hf depleted mantle model ages range between 2.1 ± 0.1 and 2.3 ± 0.1 Ga; the youngest Hf model age is within error to the oldest U–Pb date.

The Jericho eclogites have previously been interpreted as representing remnants of metamorphosed oceanic crust, and their formation related to Paleoproterozoic subduction regimes along the western margin of the Archean Slave craton during the Wopmay orogeny. Hf isotope compositions and U–Pb results for the Jericho zircons reported here are in good agreement with a Paleoproterozoic subduction model, suggesting that generation of oceanic crust and eclogite formation occurred between 2.0 and 2.1 Ga. The slightly older Hf depleted mantle model ages (2.1 to 2.3 Ga) may be reconciled with this model by invoking mixing between ‘crustal’-derived Hf from sediments and more radiogenic Hf associated with the oceanic crust during the 2 Ga subduction event. This results in intermediate Hf isotope compositions for the Jericho zircons that yield ‘fictitiously’ older Hf model ages.     

Entropy Analysis of Multiple Scale Causality and Qualitative Causal Shifts in Spatial Systems*

Spatial systems are typically characterized by multiple controlling factors and processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales (multiple scale causality [MSC]). An entropy decomposition‐based approach to MSC is presented here in two contexts. First, given maps or distributions of an observed phenomenon at two or more scales, the contribution at more local or global (relative to the primary scale of observation) controls to the observed entropy can be estimated. Second, a theoretical treatment of the entropy decomposition equations shows that as the range of scale is increased by broadening or narrowing resolutions or by incorporating more controls, the influence of larger or smaller‐scale influences not only changes, but may change qualitatively, e.g., in terms of having positive (entropy‐increasing) or negative (information‐increasing) effects. Such qualitative causal shifts have implications for efforts to use any single causal explanation across the molecular to planetary spatial and instantaneous to geological range of scales relevant to physical geography. The entropy decomposition method is illustrated with an application to soil landscapes in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas.     

The migration of fluid-filled grain boundaries in recrystallizing synthetic bischofite: first results of in-situ high-pressure, high-temperature deformation experiments in transmitted light

The effect of fluids on recrystallization behaviour is well known; however, the detailed microscale distribution of fluid in grain boundaries and the influence of fluid on grain boundary migration are still unresolved. In this study, in‐situ deformation experiments in transmitted light microscopy were undertaken, as this allows continuous and direct observation of the whole range of processes involved in fluid‐assisted grain boundary migration. A new see‐through deformation apparatus was developed to enable the control of fluid pressure. Bischofite containing small amounts of aqueous fluid was deformed at temperatures between 50 and 90 °C, over a range of fluid pressure from 0.5 to 1 MPa, and strain rates of 5 × 10^?6 to 1 × 10^?4 s^?1. The rates of grain boundary migration were measured at different temperatures and strain rates. Detailed observations during and after the deformation illustrate the evolution of migrating fluid‐filled grain boundaries and show that the incorporation of fluids from inclusions as well as their pinch‐off is dependent on the grain boundary velocity, the thickness of the grain boundary and the size and shape of the inclusions. Direct evidence is presented for the contraction of the grain boundary fluids into isolated inclusions after equilibrium conditions are attained.