Conservation and rural change in Valcea County

Valcea is one of Romania's Wallachian counties with landscapes which grade from the Carpathians through the Subcarpathians and Piedmont zone towards the plain. Agriculture plays a major role in the economy but there is also a long-established tourist industry and the industrial base (established through the processing of local raw materials: agricultural commodities, timber and salt) has been enlarged and diversified under communism. The tourist industry has also expanded with reference to the mineral waters. But agriculture still plays an important role. Environmental pressures on sensitive Carpathian ecosystems have increased over the years and under the transition conservation measures should include national park designations to provide a buffer for clusters of nature reserves. The paper discusses the nature of the environmental problems and the significance of national and ‘natural’ parks for the development of tourism in the area, with particular reference to Buila-Vanturarita area of the Capatina Mountains. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Three Dimensional Plate Kinematics in Romania

Since 1996 the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 461``Strong Earthquakes: A Challenge for Geosciences andCivil Engineering' is funded by the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) asa German contribution to the UN initiative``International Decade of Disaster Reduction' (IDNDR).A central project of this CRC is the subproject B1``Three Dimensional Plate Kinematics in Romania', whichis installed to detect borders of the geotectonicplates in Romania, to quantify their three-dimensionalmovement rates and to determine in detail thedeformation of each geotectonic unit in the VranceaRegion as a contribution to the research of thetectonic cause of the intermediate depth earthquakesin this region. These aims shall be accomplished byrepeated GPS-measurements in a network which has beeninstalled in 1997 and measured until now in 1997 and1998. This network is consisting of 26 stations,covering an area of 250 km × 380 km with the Vranceaarea as the centre. The geodetic frame is given by sixstations of the CEGRN (Central European GeodynamicRegional Network) of the CEI-initiative CERGOP, forwhich coordinates and velocities in a global tectonicscenario are available. The paper gives informationabout the tectonic background, the geodetic network,the GPS-measurements and the achieved accuracies andfirst results of deformation analyses. It is shownthat until now no significant deformations could bedetected. But the extension of the GPS network andremeasurements with time intervals of two years willallow statements about the recent crustal movementswithin the lifetime of the CRC 461.     

The health state of the Romanian population during the transition period

The paper attempts to make an assessment of the health state of the Romanian population during the transition period; the evolution of the health indicators, analyzed in the European context, shows the precarious health state of the Romanian population, in comparison both to Western countries and to the countries which are crossing a transition phase themselves. The values of the health indicators by region also show inequalities of health, the north-western and south-eastern areas of the country having to face serious problems. The reduction of living standard, the low quality health services, together with other factors associated with lifestyle seem to be responsible for the deterioration of the health state of the Romanian population. The introduction of adequate health and social policies in the following period could bring about an improvement of the situation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A study of the pollution of the Aries River (Romania) using capillary electrophoresis as analytical technique

 This paper examines two issues, the extensive pollution occurring in the Aries River, NW Romania, as a result of unchecked discharge of mining effluents into the river system, and the suitability of capillary electrophoresis (CE) as an analytical method for investigations into water chemistry. The results confirm the first objective by providing details on the pollution of the Aries River and its geochemical system and demonstrate the usefulness of CE. In its upper reaches, the river system is characterized by high contents of SO₄ ^2– as a direct result of acid mine effluents and the oxidation of sulphide minerals on mine dumps as well as inflows from settling ponds. Although continuous dilution by natural branch waters and natural water-rock interaction reduces the pollution to some extend, the total level of SO₄ ^2– remains above European averages. The waters of the Aries River, by comparison, contain contents of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ up to 100 times higher than those of unpolluted river water. Received: 1 November 1999 · Accepted: 3 April 2000     

3-D upper crustal tomographic structure across the Vrancea seismic zone, Romania

The VRANCEA99 and VRANCEA2001 seismic refraction experiments are part of a multidisciplinary project to study the Eastern Carpathians in Romania. The objectives of these studies are intended to disclose a more detailed picture of the crustal and upper mantle structures above the seismically active Vrancea region. In this paper we provide additional constraints for the upper crustal structures of the area. The 1999 campaign consisted of a 320-km-long N–S profile and a 70-km-long E–W profile. The intersecting 2001 profile extended in E–W direction from the Hungarian border to the Black Sea. In order to enhance the model resolution, first arrival data from local crustal earthquakes were also included.This configuration allowed for the first time to derive a 3-D velocity model for the upper crust of the Romanian Carpathian Orogen, within a 115×235 km wide region, centred over the Vrancea seismic zone. The 3-D model reveals lateral velocity variations, which were not visible on the in-line interpretations. It allows us to distinguish between foreland platform areas, foreland basins and the Carpathian Orogen. Clear velocity differences between the foreland basins south and southeast of the Eastern Carpathians and the Focsani Basin further north indicate different pre-Miocene sedimentary compositions and geological evolutions of these foreland platforms. The involved Moesian and Scythian platforms are separated by the Trotus Fault system, which is observed as a velocity discontinuity. An upper crustal high-velocity zone, above the northern Vrancea seismic zone, could also be identified. This high-velocity zone is explained by a Middle Pliocene to Pleistocene E–W oriented out-of-sequence thrust of the crystalline basement, below the decollement of the flysch nappes.     

Solution lakes on gypsum evaporites: Lake Inva^rtita (Nucs¸oara), Romania

The distribution of solution lakes on gypsum evaporites isconsidered. Details are given of Lake Inva^rtita (Nucs¸oara), aRomanian lake of this type, in the Arges¸ district.