Upper lithospheric seismic velocity structure across the Pripyat Trough and the Ukrainian Shield along the EUROBRIDGE'97 profile

We present new results on the structure resulting from Palaeoproterozoic terrane accretion and later formation of one of the aulacogens in the East European Platform. Seismic data has been acquired along the 530-km-long, N–S-striking EUROBRIDGE'97 traverse across Sarmatia, a major crustal segment of the East European Craton. The profile extends across the Ukrainian Shield from the Devonian Pripyat Trough, across the Palaeoproterozoic Volyn Block and the Korosten Pluton, into the Archaean Podolian Block. Seismic waves from chemical explosions at 18 shot points at approximately 30-km intervals were recorded in two deployments by 120 mobile three-component seismographs at 3–4 km nominal station spacing. The data has been interpreted by use of two-dimensional tomographic travel time inversion and ray trace modelling. The high data quality allows modelling of the P- and S-wave velocity structure along the profile. There are pronounced differences in seismic velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle between the three main tectonic provinces traversed by the profile: (i) the Pripyat Trough is a ca. 4-km-deep sedimentary basin, fully located in the Osnitsk–Mikashevichi Igneous Belt in the northern part of the profile. The velocity structure is typical for a Precambrian craton, but is underlain by a ca. 5-km-thick lowest crustal layer of high velocity. The development of the Pripyat Trough appears to have only affected the upper crust without noticeable thinning of the whole crust; this may be explained by a rheologically strong lithosphere at the time of formation of the trough. (ii) Very high seismic velocity and Vp/Vs ratio characterise the Volyn Block and Korosten Pluton to a depth of 15 km and probably also the lowest crust. The values are consistent with an intrusive body of mafic composition in the upper crust that formed from bimodal melts derived from the mantle and the lower crust. (iii) The Podolian Block is close to a typical cratonic velocity structure, although it is characterised by relatively low seismic velocity and Vp/Vs ratio. A pronounced SW-dipping mantle reflector from Moho to at least 70 km depth may represent the Proterozoic suture between Sarmatia and Volgo–Uralia, the structure from terrane accretion, or a later shear zone in the upper mantle. The sub-Moho P-wave seismic velocity is high everywhere along the profile, with the exception of the area above the dipping reflector. This velocity change further supports a plate tectonic origin of the dipping mantle reflector. The profile demonstrates that structure from Palaeoproterozoic plate tectonic processes are still identifiable in the lithosphere, even where younger metamorphic equilibration of the crust has taken place.     

Designed for failure: A critique of the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union has neither lived up to its aim of enhancing the sustainability of fish stocks nor that of improving the economic competitiveness of the fishing industry. This paper discusses the failure of the CFP from a biological, economical, legal and political perspective.     

Integrated management of marine biodiversity in Europe: Perspectives from ICZM and the evolving EU Maritime Policy framework

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is high on the international agenda for nature conservation. Marine and coastal ecosystems account for an important share of the biological diversity on Earth. As a consequence many international conventions, European legislation and national laws refer to marine biodiversity. The protection of marine biodiversity is a complex legal issue as it requires consideration of geographic (between land and sea), political (between conservation and exploitation), and economic (between fisheries, tourism, intellectual property and many other sectors) factors. Like Matryoshka dolls, marine biodiversity is a heterogeneous notion difficult to address as one discrete area in the development of policy agendas or juridical frameworks. In the past decade, the EU has been very active in Promoting Integrated Coastal Zone Management and in developing a framework for an Integrated Maritime Policy. This article reviews the status of marine biodiversity in the policy and legal initiatives of the European Union, a challenging issue to both the objectives of conservation and to the concept of integration.     

Two distinct Miocene age ranges of basaltic rocks from the Rhön and Heldburg areas (Germany) based on Ar/Ar step heating data

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data are determined for Cenozoic basaltic rocks from the Thuringian Rhön and Heldburg Gangschar (area also referred to as Grabfeld), integral parts of the Central European Volcanic Province. Applying the incremental heating technique on groundmass and plagioclase separates provided data which considerably specify our knowledge on the eruption ages in these volcanic fields and narrow down the duration of volcanic activity compared to earlier studies. All data but one outlier range between 20 and 14 Ma, being thus similar to those of the neighbouring Vogelsberg volcanic complex. The spectrum of ages is clearly divided into two distinct subsets: the Rhön ages are between 20 and 18 Ma, those of the Heldburg Gangschar are between 16 and 14 Ma. Thus, the present data clearly indicate a striking regional and temporal division of the Thuringian Miocene volcanism. The composition of the volcanic rocks in the two volcanic fields is remarkably diverse, ranging from tholeiitic basalts over alkali basalts and basanites to nephelinites. However, radiometric ages do not correlate with geochemical or petrological characteristics of the volcanics within each volcanic field, indicating that the different magma types erupted broadly contemporaneously.The outlier in age (29 Ma) is from a volcanic dyke of the NE Rhön area close to the NW end of the Thuringian Forest. However, more data are required to approve the significance of this age value, in particular since the rock showed isotopic age disturbance.     

Post-socialist identity,territoriality and European integration: Serbia’s return to Europe after Milošević

This article explores the spatiality of post-Miloevi Serbian identity in the context of European integration. The fall of the Miloevi regime has prompted Serbias political rehabilitation in Europe, paralleled by its pursuit of European integration. The article posits that European integration of post-socialist newcomers is a two-sided spatial process. It includes a rediscovery and reassertion of the European identity as a form of symbolic spatial repositioning in Europe and a transformation of state territoriality as European integration relaxes the states absolute control over territory. The article shows that a symbolic Europeanisation of Serbian identity, underpinned by contested meanings of Europe, has not led to substantial transformation of state territoriality. Furthermore, European integration has been used as a justification for the pursuit of deeply territorial national politics, hindering the transition from modern to post-modern state territoriality.     

The EU Directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues: the results of a second survey on the provision and uptake of facilities in North Sea ports

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the results of a survey of the availability and uptake of port reception facilities within the North Sea area. The evaluation is based primarily on original survey data from the autumn of 2002 which followed on from a similar survey conducted in the summer of 2000. The EU Directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste etc. (Directive 2000/59/EC) was due to enter into force in December 2002, and required all EU ports to provide reception facilities to meet the needs of the vessels normally calling in at them. This paper examines the readiness of North Sea ports to meet that requirement and also considers the actual uptake levels of facilities, where ports were able to provide such information.     

Lacustrine oxygen isotope record of 20th-century climate change in central EuropeL evaluation of climatic controls on oxygen isotopes in precipitation

We report oxygen isotope data from a 108-yr (1885–1993) sequence with annual laminae of bio-induced authigenic calcite in a frozen core from Baldeggersee, a small lake in Central Switzerland. These isotope results provide proxy data on the isotopic composition of past precipitation in the Baldeggersee catchment region and are quantitatively compared with instrumental climate data (i.e. mean annual air temperature and atmospheric circulation pattern indices) to evaluate climatic controls on oxygen isotopes in precipitation.Monitoring the isotope hydrology of Baldeggersee demonstrates that the oxygen isotopic composition of the lake water is controlled by the isotopic composition of local atmospheric precipitation (¹⁸O_p) and that the isotopic signal of precipitation is preserved, albeit damped, in the lake calcite oxygen isotope record (¹⁸O_c). Comparison of the calcite oxygen isotope proxy for ¹⁸O_p in the catchment with historical mean annual air temperature measurements from Bern, Switzerland confirms that authigenic calcite reliably records past annual air temperature in the region. This ¹⁸O_c/temperature relationship is calculated to be 0.39/°C for the period 1900–1960, based on an isotope mass-balance model for Baldeggersee. An exception is a 0.8 anomalous negative shift in calcite ¹⁸O values since the 1960s. Possible explanations for this recent ¹⁸O_c shift, as it is not related to mean annual air temperature, include changes in ¹⁸O_p due to synoptic circulation patterns. In particular, the 0.8 negative shift coincides with a trend towards a more dominant North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. This circulation pattern would tend to bring more isotopically more negative winter precipitation to the region and could account for the 0.8 offset in ¹⁸O_c data.     

Relics of an early-Panafrican metabasite–metarhyolite formation in the Brno Massif, Moravia, Czech Republic

The Brno Massif in Moravia, Czech Republic, is an important exposure of Precambrian basement in central Europe. It includes large volumes of Cadomian granitoids and a narrow fault-bounded zone with metagabbros, metadiorites, and metabasalts. This so-called Central Basic Belt also contains some metarhyolites; one of these was dated by means of the zircon evaporation method at 725 ±15 Ma. Chemical and isotope data show that the dated rock represents a mantle-derived magma which is cosanguinous with surrounding MORB-type metabasites. The data suggest that the Brno Massif hosts the oldest metabasite complex currently known in central Europe. Its formation apparently coincides with the main period of ocean-floor spreading and island-arc formation in the Panafrican orogens. This lends further support to the theory that the Brno Massif is a Gondwana-derived element. Received: 9 December 1999 / Accepted: 9 February 2000