ALBERT

Description: Along with specimens of manganese oxides and basalt, rocks containing more than 30 percent iron by weight and consisting mainly of poorly crystallized goethite have been dredged from the flanks of a seamount located on the East Pacific Rise. The Fe-Mn ratio varies widely among the various oxide rocks deposited at this locality and at another seamount in the same area. The deposit was probably formed by fractional precipitation of iron and manganese which had been introduced locally into the bottom water by hydrothermal solutions of volcanic origin, and by leaching from deep-sea basaltic lavas.

Description: Aufbau und Ausdehnung der Schwermineral-Anreicherungen (Ilmenit, Granat, Amphibol) am Strand südlich Skagens wurden in langen Schürfgräben untersucht. Die Seifenlagen ziehen durchgehend vom Kliff-Fuß bis zur mittleren Meereshöhe hin und liegen meist diskordant auf der alten Strandschichtung. Ihre strandparallele Ausdehnung beträgt bis zu 100 m. Aufgebaut werden sie aus dünnen Schwermineral-Lamellen, die in kleinerem Umfang überall in den Strandablagerungen zu finden sind und hier das Gefüge nachzeichnen (Rippeln, Strandwallschichtung, Schichtstörungen). Die Seifenbildung geht in einem Gebiet mit verstärktem Küstenabtrag vor sich (Lee-Erosion südlich der Hafenmolen von Skagen). Dieses deutet darauf hin, daß die Schwerminerale bei Aufarbeitung bereits vorhandener Sedimente infolge ihres unterschiedlichen hydraulischen Verhaltens Zurückbleiben und schließlich angereichert werden. Die Korngrößenverteilung der Minerale in verschiedenen Sedimentproben zeigen, daß mit steigender Schwermineral-Anreicherung eine Kornverfeinerung und Zunahme der spezifisch schwersten Minerale (opake Erzminerale und Zirkon) auftritt. In ähnlicher Weise werden die Sortierungswerte besser. Die Aufbereitung des Sedimentes wird, in Anlehnung an v. ENGELHARDT (1939), mit einem doppelten Sortierungsvorgang durch die Wasserbewegung am Strand erklärt. Beim Absinken des Sandes nach dem Brecherschwall tritt eine Vorsortierung ein, die den Abtransport der leichteren und größeren Minerale im Sog begünstigt. Verbindungen zu Vorstellungen der Aufbereitungstechnik (Rundherdverfahren) und Hydrodynamik ('laminare Unterschicht') werden hergestellt. Die Dünensande Skagens sind infolge ihres hohen Schwermineralgehaltes und günstiger Äquivalentgrößen der einzelnen Minerale besonders bedeutsam für die Seifenbildung am Strand.

Description: The present volume gives the observed physical and chemical data obtained by R.V. "Meteor" in the Indian Ocean during cruise 1964/65. The tables are based on the computations made by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) in Washington. In addition to the normally communicated data, the tables contain four chemical parameters: alkalinity, ammonia, fluoride, and calcium.

Description: The present paper gathers the results of a morphological study on 149 specimens of Rhinolophus hipposideros, and of ecological investigations on additional material, incl. some 5,000 banded individuals of the same species.\nBrief description of the reproductive organs of both sexes is given. The reproductive organs of the sexually mature (adult) and the sexually immature grown-up (subadult) individuals are illustrated and comments are made on their changes during the year.\nIn adult males, the spermatogenesis commences in spring, after the change from winter torpidity to active life, and culminates towards the end of July and in August. During the winter months (December to April), the seminiferous epithelium of the tubules of testes is resting. On the contrary, the interstitial cells of Leydig are conspicuously developed in the period from October to April (or May). The tubules of the epididymides of adult males are never entirely free of spermatozoa but they contain the lowest numbers of the latter at the period of intensive spermatogenesis. Towards the end of August and in September, the tubules of the cauda epididymidis begin to be filled with greater numbers of spermatozoa, being overcrowded with them in the period from October till April. Apart from the ampullar glands, the seminal vesicles, the prostate and the bulbourethral or Cowper\xe2\x80\x99s glands, the males of R.h. possess a conspicuously developed accessory sexual gland, discovered, in Rhinolophus, by ROBIN (1881b) and termed the glandula urethralis. This gland is the greatest element of the male genital tract, being at the peak of its secretory activity in October and November. The staining properties of the secretion of this gland indicate that the urethral gland takes an important part in the origin of the female vaginal plug.\nMost of the adult females were found to copulate already in autumn, from late September till November. Ovulation takes place in April, still before the dissipation of the vaginal plug. Pregnancy lasts for about 2\xc2\xbd months; lactation, for 4 to 5 weeks. The main information on the course of estrous cycle was obtained by histological examinations of vaginal epithelium. The following is the succession of the individual phases of the estrous cycle of reproducing female R.h. in Czechoslovakia: proestrus, late August and early September; estrus, late September till early April; pregnancy, late April till first days of July; lactation, July and early August.\nThe life of R.h. can be divided into three main periods, viz., the juvenile, subadult and adult period. The juvenile period lasts about two and a half months, from July till September. The pelage of individuals younger than some 14 months of age is grey, that of older ones being greyish brown to brown in colour. The male R.h. attain sexual maturity at an approximative age of one year and are first capable of fertilizing at the age of about 15 months, in the second autumn of their life. While the first signs of estrus appear in female R.h. already at the age of 4 months, most of them attain sexual maturity only towards the end of the second year of their life. A small percentage of females (15%, according to banding results) reproduce already at the end of the first year of their life.\nAlthough the uterus of one pregnant female R.h. was found to contain two embryos, our results indicate that the litter size equals one. The greatest longevity of R.h. in Czechoslovakia, determined by banding, is 10\xc2\xbd years for males and 9\xc2\xbd years for females. A certain percentage of adult females (6.7% of the material examined) do not reproduce. Sex ratio among the juveniles is 1 : 1 while males predominate among the subadults and, especially, adults; however, a question arises of the extent in which the sample obtained corresponds to the actual relations in the population.\nThe paper is concluded by a discussion. The main problems arising from the study are discussed, viz., the possible hormonal regulation of the male sexual activity, the estrous condition of females, especially during hibernation (the so-called \xe2\x80\x9csubestrus\xe2\x80\x9d), and the time of attaining sexual maturity.