ALBERT

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Wenn Beschleunigung das Problem ist, dann ist Resonanz vielleicht die Lösung. Dies ist, auf die kürzestmögliche Formel gebracht, die Kernthese des neuen Buches von Hartmut Rosa, das als Gründungsdokument einer Soziologie des guten Lebens gelesen werden kann. An seinem Anfang steht die Behauptung, dass sich die Qualität eines menschlichen Lebens nicht in der Währung von Ressourcen, Optionen und Glücksmomenten angeben lässt. Stattdessen müssen wir unseren Blick auf die Beziehung zur Welt richten, die dieses Leben prägt und die dann, wenn sie intakt ist, Ausdruck stabiler Resonanzverhältnisse ist. Um dies zu begründen, präsentiert Rosa zunächst das ganze Spektrum der Formen, in denen wir eine Beziehung zur Welt herstellen, vom Atmen bis hin zu kulturell ausdifferenzierten Weltbildern. Dann wendet er sich den konkreten Erfahrungs- und Handlungssphären zu – etwa Familie und Politik, Arbeit und Sport, Religion und Kunst –, in denen wir spätmodernen Subjekte Resonanz zwar suchen, aber immer seltener finden. Das hat maßgeblich mit der Steigerungslogik der Moderne zu tun, die sowohl Ursache als auch Folge einer gestörten Weltbeziehung ist, und zwar auf individueller wie kollektiver Ebene. Denn auch die großen Krisentendenzen der Gegenwartsgesellschaft – Ökokrise, Demokratiekrise, Psychokrise – lassen sich resonanztheoretisch analysieren, wie Rosa in seiner Soziologie der Weltbeziehung zeigt. Als eine umfassende Rekonstruktion der Moderne in Begriffen ihrer historisch realisierten Resonanzverhältnisse wagt sie den Versuch, den Rahmen für eine erneuerte Kritische Theorie abzustecken. „Warum haben wir immer zu wenig Zeit? Der Beschleunigungskritiker Hartmut Rosa wurde bekannt, weil er wissenschaftlich beschreibt, was viele fühlen. Jetzt hat der Soziologe ein Gegenprogramm zum gehetzten Leben entwickelt“ (Spiegel). Platz 2 der SZ/NDR-Sachbücher des Monats April 2016

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Recent climate model simulations indicated that sulfate (SO4) formed from ship emissions may be one of the major contributors to the negative anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing. Due to increasingly stringent regulations on the maximum sulfur content of ship fuels this contribution is expected to decrease strongly in the future. Possibly, nitrate (NO3) formation will compensate for part of the reduction, but measurements indicate that it may be crucial to include coarse mode particle interactions with condensable trace gases in order to quantify this effect. However, none of the aerosol (sub)models previously used for such assessments accounted for the coarse mode particle effects. This provided the motivation to extend one of those submodels, namely MADE, in the present work. The new submodel, MADE3, is based on the second generation of MADE, called MADE-in. It includes nine lognormal modes to represent three size ranges with three types of aerosol particles each. The associated increase in complexity w.r.t. to MADE and MADE-in required a complete revision of the code and careful reexamination of the underlying physical assumptions, as only the fine modes had been considered in the gas–particle interactions in the predecessor submodels. The main new features of MADE3 are the ability of coarse mode particles to take up condensing vapors and to coagulate with fine mode particles, and the gas–particle partitioning of chlorine, which is mainly contained in sea spray (SS) particles. In order to test the algorithms used in the new submodel it was run in a box model setup and the results were compared to those obtained in an analogous setup with the much more detailed, particle-resolved aerosol model PartMC-MOSAIC. The comparison was performed for an idealized marine boundary layer test case and showed improved performance of MADE3 over MADE in the representation of coarse mode particles and total aerosol composition. Subsequently, MADE3 was implemented into the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC. Due to the new mode structure this required extensive adaptations to other submodels, specifically to the one used for cloud and precipitation processing of aerosol particles. EMAC does not track interstitial aerosol particles separately from those immersed in cloud droplets, ice crystals, or precipitation. Hence, a sophisticated scheme was devised and implemented for the assignment of the in-cloud or in-precipitation aerosol to one of four possible modes, instead of just one possible mode in the MADE case. The coupled model, EMAC with MADE3, was thoroughly evaluated by comparison of simulation output to station network measurements of near-surface aerosol component mass concentrations, to airborne measurements of vertical aerosol mass mixing ratio and number concentration profiles, to ground-based and airborne measurements of particle size distributions, and to station network and satellite measurements of aerosol optical depth. Satisfactory agreement with the observations was obtained and it was thus shown that MADE3 is ready for application within EMAC. The results from an identically designed simulation with the predecessor submodel MADE led to the conclusion that a fraction of the secondary aerosol species partitions to the coarse modes in MADE3 and is thus removed more quickly from the atmosphere. Furthermore, a new evaluation method was developed, which allows for comparison of model output to size-resolved electron microscopy measurements of particle composition. Both submodels, MADE3 and MADE, were finally used in EMAC simulations of the effect of ship emissions on the atmospheric aerosol. As in previous studies for year 2000 conditions, SO4 was found to be the dominant species in the fine modes in this context. In contrast to SO4, the major fraction of ship emissions-induced near-surface NO3 was found to partition to the coarse modes in the MADE3 simulations. A similar amount of fine mode NO3 as in the present and former MADE simulations was also formed. Hence, fine mode particle growth due to ship emissions was also similar, and was reduced in idealized simulations of a future low-sulfur fuel scenario. Particle volume concentration decreased by about 1 % due to ship emissions in the MADE3 simulations, but not in the MADE simulations. This finding was independent of the fuel sulfur content. In summary, the inclusion of coarse mode particle interactions and the gas–particle partitioning of chlorine could alter prior conclusions on the climate effect of ship emissions-induced aerosol perturbations, mainly due to the differences in NO3 formation. This climate effect will be re-quantified in a follow-up study by coupling the MADE3 aerosol to a two-moment cloud microphysics scheme. Further planned applications of the new submodel include the quantification of climate effects of aerosol perturbations via their influence on ice clouds as well as simulations with boundary conditions specific to measurement campaigns. Results from the latter may lead to further model improvements and can also provide guidance for the interpretation of measurement results.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: "In 2006, Chile teemed with protesters after finance minister Andres Velasco invested budget surpluses from the nation's historic copper boom in two Sovereign Wealth Funds. A year later, when prices plummeted and unemployment soared, Chile's government was able to stimulate recovery by drawing on the funds. State-owned investment vehicles that hold public funds in a wide range of assets, Sovereign Wealth Funds enable governments to access an unprecedented degree of wealth. Consequently, more countries are seeking to establish them. Looking at Chile, China, Australia, Singapore, and numerous other examples, including a comparative analysis of Britain and Norway's use of oil revenues, Angela Cummine tackles the key ethical questions surrounding their use, including: To whom does the wealth belong? How should the funds be managed, invested, and distributed? With sovereign funds--and media attention--continuing to grow, this is an invaluable look at a hotly debated economic issue."

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Part 1 - Gravimetry and gravity networks -- Quality assessment of the new gravity control in Poland - first estimate -- Estimability in Strapdown Airborne Vector Gravimetr -- A First Traceable Gravimetric Calibration Line in the Swiss Alps -- Airborne gravimetry for geoid and GOCE -- Testing airborne gravity data in the large-scale area of Italy and adjacent seas -- The effect of helium emissions by a superconducting gravimeter on the rubidium frequency standards of absolute gravimeters -- Part 2 - Global geopotential models and vertical datum unification -- Wavelet multi-resolution analysis of recent GOCE/GRACE GGMs -- Evaluation of GOCE-based Global Geopotential Models Versus EGM2008 and GPS/Levelling Data in Northwest of Turkey -- Precise modelling of the static gravity field from the GOCE data using the method of fundamental solutions -- Towards a Vertical Reference Frame for South America in view of the GGOS specifications Andrea Galudht Santacruz Jaramillo, Sílvio Rogério Correia De Freitas, Laura Sánchez -- Ellipsoidal effects in high accuracy quasigeoid computations: verification of the apparatus Otakar Nesvadba, Petr Holota -- Evaluation of GOCE/GRACE GGMs over Attica and Thessaloniki, Greece, and Wo determination for height system unification -- The DTU13 MSS (Mean Sea Surface) and MDT (Mean Dynamic Topography) from 20 years of satellite altimetry -- Part 3 - Local geoid/gravity modeling -- A new gravimetric geoid model for the area of Sudan using the least squares collocation and a GOCE-based GGM -- Establishment of the Gravity Database AFRGDB V1.0 for the African Geoid -- Quasi-geoid model in the State of São Paulo -- Accurate Approximation of Vertical Gravity Gradient within the Earth’s External Gravity Field -- New geoid of Greenland, A case study of terrain and ice effects, GOCE and use of local sea level data -- Egyptian Geoid using Best Estimated Response of the Earth's Crust due to Topographic Loads -- Part 4 - Mass movements in the Earth system -- An investigation on the closure of the water budget methods over Volta Basin using multi-satellite data -- Application of Independent Component Analysis in GRACE- derived Water Storage Changes Interpretation, A case study of the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas -- Mass variations in the Siberian permafrost region based on new GRACE results and auxiliary modeling -- Part 5 - Solid Earth Investigations -- Comparative study of the uniform and variable Moho density contrast in the Vening Meinesz-Moritz’s isostatic scheme for the gravimetric Moho recovery -- The New Method To Find The Anomalous Internal Structure Of Terrestrial Planets And Its Test On The Earth

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: This volume contains the proceedings of 24 peer-reviewed papers presented at the 3rd International Gravity Field Service (IGFS) General Assembly, which was organized by the International Gravity Field Service (IGFS), Commission 2 of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), and Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO), Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Assembly was successfully held in Shanghai, China from June 30th to July 6th, 2014 with over 130 participants from 25 countries. The focus of the Assembly is on methods for observing, estimating and interpreting the Earth gravity field as well as its applications, including 6 sessions: gravimetry and gravity networks, global geopotential models and vertical datum unification, local geoid/gravity modelling, satellite gravimetry, mass movements in the Earth system and solid Earth investigations

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Front matter -- Copyright -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Contributors -- 1. They've 'never had it so good': the rise and rise of the super-rich and wealth inequality -- 2. Reconsidering the super-rich: variations, structural conditions and urban consequences -- PART I WEALTH, SELF AND SOCIETY -- 3. Historical geographies of wealth: opportunities, institutions and accumulation, c. 1800-1930 -- 4. On plutonomy: economy, power and the wealthy few in the second Gilded Age -- 5. Interrogating the legitimacy of extreme wealth: a moral economic perspective

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: 6. Billionaire philanthropy: 'decaf capitalism' -- 7. Making money and making a self: the moral career of entrepreneurs -- 8. Taking up Caletrío's challenge: silence and the construction of wealth eliteness in Jamie Johnson's documentary film Born Rich -- 9. 'One time I'ma show you how to get rich!' Rap music, wealth and the rise of the hip-hop mogul -- 10. Biographies of illicit super-wealth -- PART II LIVING WEALTHY -- 11. Capital city? London's housing markets and the 'super-rich' -- 12. The residential spaces of the super-rich

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: 13. Reconfiguring places - wealth and the transformation of rural areas -- 14. Performing wealth and status: observing super-yachts and the super-rich in Monaco -- 15. Flights of indulgence (or how the very wealthy fly): the aeromobile patterns and practices of the super-rich -- 16. Looking at luxury: consuming luxury fashion in global cities -- 17. The luxury of nature: the environmental consequences of super-rich lives -- PART III WEALTH AND POWER -- 18. Attracting wealth: crafting immigration policy to attract the rich -- 19. Sovereign wealth and the nation-state

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: 20. Super-rich capitalism: managing and preserving private wealth management in the offshore world -- 21. Troubling tax havens: multi-jurisdictional arbitrage and corporate tax footprint reduction -- 22. No change there! Wealth and oil -- Index

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Fewer than 100 people own and control more wealth than 50 per cent of the world's population. The Handbook on Wealth and the Super-Rich is a unique examination of both the lives and lifestyles of the super-rich, as well as the processes that underpin super-wealth generation and its unequal distribution. Drawing on a multiplicity of international examples, leading experts from across the social sciences offer a landmark multidisciplinary contribution to emerging analyses of the global super-rich and their astonishing wealth. The book's 22 accessible and coherently organised chapters cover a ran

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: This lucid and comprehensive book explores the ways in which the State, the market and the citizen can collaborate to satisfy people's health care needs. It argues that health care is not a commodity like any other. It asks if its unique properties mean that there is a role for social regulation and political management. Apples and oranges can be left to the buyers and the sellers. Health care may require an input from the consensus, the experts, the insurers, the politicians and the bureaucrats as well. David Reisman makes a fresh contribution to the debate. He argues that the three policy is

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: This book is an introductory text to a range of numerical methods used today to simulate time-dependent processes in Earth science, physics, engineering, and many other fields. The physical problem of elastic wave propagation in 1D serves as a model system with which the various numerical methods are introduced and compared. The theoretical background is presented with substantial graphical material supporting the concepts. The results can be reproduced with the supplementary electronic material provided as python codes embedded in Jupyter notebooks. The book starts with a primer on the physics of elastic wave propagation, and a chapter on the fundamentals of parallel programming, computational grids, mesh generation, and hardware models. The core of the book is the presentation of numerical solutions of the wave equation with six different methods: 1) the finite-difference method; 2) the pseudospectral method (Fourier and Chebyshev); 3) the linear finite-element method; 4) the spectral-element method; 5) the finite-volume method; and 6) the discontinuous Galerkin method. Each chapter contains comprehension questions, theoretical, and programming exercises. The book closes with a discussion of domains of application and criteria for the choice of a specific numerical method, and the presentation of current challenges.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: "Over the last few years Asian governments have taken a stronger approach to the Arctic, culminating with permanent-observer status to the Arctic Council for China, India, Japan, Singapore and South-Korea in May 2013. This groundbreaking book brings together the latest research in emerging Asian interests for the Arctic region, and the implications thereof this change has for the future. This book covers Arctic shipping, fisheries and mineral extraction. It analyzes key Asian countries' policies, positions and activities. The book also demonstrates that there are common aspects which attract Asian countries to the Arctic, such as a concern for climate change, but there are also important national differences. From the Arctic Council to UNCLOS, Arctic governance mechanisms are thoroughly presented and analyzed"--

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: The power of technology? -- Risk and responsibility? -- The ethical anatomy of disasters? -- Remaking nature? -- Tinkering with humans? -- Information's wild frontiers? -- Whose knowledge, whose property? -- Reclaiming the future? -- The ethics of invention?

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: As the shale revolution continues in North America, unconventional resource markets are emerging on every continent. In the next eight to ten years, more than 100,000 wells and one- to two-million hydraulic fracturing stages could be executed, resulting in close to one trillion dollars in industry spending. This growth has prompted professionals experienced in conventional oil and gas exploitation and development to acquire practical knowledge of the unconventional realm. Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources: Exploitation and Development provides a comprehensive understanding of the latest advances in the exploitation and development of unconventional resources. With an emphasis on shale, this book: Addresses all aspects of the exploitation and development process, from data mining and accounting to drilling, completion, stimulation, production, and environmental issues. Offers in-depth coverage of sub-surface measurements (geological, geophysical, petrophysical, geochemical, and geomechanical) and their interpretation. Discusses the use of microseismic, fiber optic, and tracer reservoir monitoring technologies and JewelSuite™ reservoir modeling software. Presents the viewpoints of internationally respected experts and researchers from leading exploration and production (E&P) companies and academic institutions

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Dieser Band enthält Beiträge zur Geologie des Harzes und seines Umfeldes, die anlässlich des 5. Workshops Harzgeologie am Geowissenschaftlichen Zentrum der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen vorgestellt wurden. Der Band umfasst die Kurzfassungen der Vorträge und Poster und den Exkursionsführer zu dieser zweitägigen Veranstaltung.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Foreword -- part 1. Introduction -- Magnetic fields at largest universal strengths : overview -- Physics in very strong magnetic fields : an introduction -- part 2. Magnetic fields in stars -- Observations of strong magnetic fields in nondegenerate stars -- Magnetic field generation in stars -- Magnetic white dwarfs -- part 3. Neutron stars -- Neutron stars : thermal emitters -- Radio pulsars -- Neutron stars : cooling and transport -- Magnetic fields of neutron stars in X-ray binaries -- Magnetars : properties, origin, and evolution -- part 4. Accretion, winds, jets -- Accretion and outflows from magnetized stars -- Pulsar wind nebulae -- Disks and jets : gravity, rotation, and magnetic fields -- part 5. Physical processes -- gamma ray bursts as sources of strong magnetic fields -- Relativistic shocks, particle acceleration, and magnetization -- Relativistic magnetic reconnection and Its astrophysical applications

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: How relevant are the classic theories of agrarian change in the contemporary context? This volume explores this question by focusing upon the defining features of agrarian transformation in the 21st century: the financialization of food and agriculture, the blurring of rural and urban livelihoods through migration and other economic activities, forest transition, climate change, rural indebtedness, the co-evolution of social policy and moral economies, and changing property relations. Combined, the eleven contributions to

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Disrupted societies -- Frustration -- Disconnection -- Fragmentation -- Polarization -- Escalation -- Overcoming social division -- Public conflict resolution, civic fusion and mediative decision-making -- The purposes of public conflict resolution -- Definitions and characteristics of public conflict resolution -- Origin and developments -- Mediation as a response to public conflicts and critical moments -- The social and democratic dimension : public mediation is more than solving conflicts -- What we know and don't know about public conflict resolution -- Success and failure in public conflict resolution -- Contextual relevant conditions -- Process related conditions -- Conflict resolution dynamics -- Conflict resolution outcomes -- Outcomes of public conflict resolution -- Analysing conflict resolution cases -- Setting the stage: context, content and outcomes -- Let's get empirical : selecting cases and collecting data -- Brakes and accelerators to public conflict resolution -- Zooming out : the bigger picture of public conflict resolution -- Blind spots and guidelines -- Blind spots in public conflict resolution -- Keep on talking to your enemy -- Outlook: social phobias and scaling up -- References -- Annex

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: In a text written for a general audience with no special knowledge of economics or environmental science, a prominent economist makes the case for the United States to enact a carbon tax. While a policy to reduce emissions has costs, the work shows in simple and direct language that failing to act on climate change is more costly. Other possible ways to reduce emissions are reviewed and the argument made that a carbon tax is preferable to those alternatives. The text also explains how Congress should design and implement the tax and how Congress should ensure that the carbon tax revenue is returned to taxpayers. Common objections to a carbon tax are addressed, showing that either these come from a misunderstanding of the science of climate change and how a carbon tax works or they can be easily addressed in carbon tax legislation.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: "Algorithmic identity politics reinstate old forms of social segregation—in a digital world, identity politics is pattern discrimination. It is by recognizing patterns in input data that artificial intelligence algorithms create bias and practice racial exclusions thereby inscribing power relations into media. How can we filter information out of data without reinserting racist, sexist, and classist beliefs?" -- Website des Verlags

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: The starting point for this study is the observation that with increasing frequency, international legal norms directly address and engage individuals. For instance, individual rights under international law appear to arise from extradition treaties, treaties of friendship and establishment, double taxation agreements, transport treaties, intellectual property treaties, investment protection treaties, treaties on the legal status of foreigners, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On the side of duties, the criminal responsibility of individuals under international law has in recent decades been fleshed out by the work of the ad hoc criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court".

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Due to steadily improving experimental accuracy, relativistic concepts - based on Einstein’s theory of Special and General Relativity - are playing an increasingly important role in modern geodesy. This book offers an introduction to the emerging field of relativistic geodesy, and covers topics ranging from the description of clocks and test bodies, to time and frequency measurements, to current and future observations. Emphasis is placed on geodetically relevant definitions and fundamental methods in the context of Einstein’s theory (e.g. the role of observers, use of clocks, definition of reference systems and the geoid, use of relativistic approximation schemes). Further, the applications discussed range from chronometric and gradiometric determinations of the gravitational field, to the latest (satellite) experiments. The impact of choices made at a fundamental theoretical level on the interpretation of measurements and the planning of future experiments is also highlighted. Providing an up-to-the-minute status report on the respective topics discussed, the book will not only benefit experts, but will also serve as a guide for students with a background in either geodesy or gravitational physics who are interested in entering and exploring this emerging field

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Should the idea of economic man-the amoral and self-interested Homo economicus-determine how we expect people to respond to monetary rewards, punishments, and other incentives? Samuel Bowles answers with a resounding "no." Policies that follow from this paradigm, he shows, may "crowd out" ethical and generous motives and thus backfire. But incentives per se are not really the culprit. Bowles shows that crowding out occurs when the message conveyed by fines and rewards is that self-interest is expected, that the employer thinks the workforce is lazy, or that the citizen cannot otherwise be trusted to contribute to the public good. Using historical and recent case studies as well as behavioral experiments, Bowles shows how well-designed incentives can crowd in the civic motives on which good governance depends

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Widespread landscape changes are presently observed in the Arctic and are most likely to accelerate in the future, in particular in permafrost regions which are sensitive to climate warming. To assess current and future developments, it is crucial to understand past environmental dynamics in these landscapes. Causes and interactions of environmental variability can hardly be resolved by instrumental records covering modern time scales. However, long-term environmental variability is recorded in paleoenvironmental archives. Lake sediments are important archives that allow reconstruction of local limnogeological processes as well as past environmental changes driven directly or indirectly by climate dynamics. This study aims at reconstructing Late Quaternary permafrost and thermokarst dynamics in central-eastern Beringia, the terrestrial land mass connecting Eurasia and North America during glacial sea-level low stands. In order to investigate development, processes and influence of thermokarst dynamics, several sediment cores from extant lakes and drained lake basins were analyzed to answer the following research questions: 1. When did permafrost degradation and thermokarst lake development take place and what were enhancing and inhibiting environmental factors? 2. What are the dominant processes during thermokarst lake development and how are they reflected in proxy records? 3. How did, and still do, thermokarst dynamics contribute to the inventory and properties of organic matter in sediments and the carbon cycle? Methods applied in this study are based upon a multi-proxy approach combining sedimentological, geochemical, geochronological, and micropaleontological analyses, as well as analyses of stable isotopes and hydrochemistry of pore-water and ice. Modern field observations of water quality and basin morphometrics complete the environmental investigations. The investigated sediment cores reveal permafrost degradation and thermokarst dynamics on different time scales. The analysis of a sediment core from GG basin on the northern Seward Peninsula (Alaska) shows prevalent terrestrial accumulation of yedoma throughout the Early to Mid Wisconsin with intermediate wet conditions at around 44.5 to 41.5 ka BP. This first wetland development was terminated by the accumulation of a 1-meter-thick airfall tephra most likely originating from the South Killeak Maar eruption at 42 ka BP. A depositional hiatus between 22.5 and 0.23 ka BP may indicate thermokarst lake formation in the surrounding of the site which forms a yedoma upland till today. The thermokarst lake forming GG basin initiated 230 ± 30 cal a BP and drained in Spring 2005 AD. Four years after drainage the lake talik was still unfrozen below 268 cm depth. A permafrost core from Mama Rhonda basin on the northern Seward Peninsula preserved a full lacustrine record including several lake phases. The first lake generation developed at 11.8 cal ka BP during the Lateglacial-Early Holocene transition; its old basin (Grandma Rhonda) is still partially preserved at the southern margin of the study basin. Around 9.0 cal ka BP a shallow and more dynamic thermokarst lake developed with actively eroding shorelines and potentially intermediate shallow water or wetland phases (Mama Rhonda). Mama Rhonda lake drainage at 1.1 cal ka BP was followed by gradual accumulation of terrestrial peat and top-down refreezing of the lake talik. A significant lower organic carbon content was measured in Grandma Rhonda deposits (mean TOC of 2.5 wt%) than in Mama Rhonda deposits (mean TOC of 7.9 wt%) highlighting the impact of thermokarst dynamics on biogeochemical cycling in different lake generations by thawing and mobilization of organic carbon into the lake system. Proximal and distal sediment cores from Peatball Lake on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska revealed young thermokarst dynamics since about 1,400 years along a depositional gradient based on reconstructions from shoreline expansion rates and absolute dating results. After its initiation as a remnant pond of a previous drained lake basin, a rapidly deepening lake with increasing oxygenation of the water column is evident from laminated sediments, and higher Fe/Ti and Fe/S ratios in the sediment. The sediment record archived characterizing shifts in depositional regimes and sediment sources from upland deposits and re-deposited sediments from drained thaw lake basins depending on the gradually changing shoreline configuration. These changes are evident from alternating organic inputs into the lake system which highlights the potential for thermokarst lakes to recycle old carbon from degrading permafrost deposits of its catchment. The lake sediment record from Herschel Island in the Yukon (Canada) covers the full Holocene period. After its initiation as a thermokarst lake at 11.7 cal ka BP and intense thermokarst activity until 10.0 cal ka BP, the steady sedimentation was interrupted by a depositional hiatus at 1.6 cal ka BP which likely resulted from lake drainage or allochthonous slumping due to collapsing shore lines. The specific setting of the lake on a push moraine composed of marine deposits is reflected in the sedimentary record. Freshening of the maturing lake is indicated by decreasing electrical conductivity in pore-water. Alternation of marine to freshwater ostracods and foraminifera confirms decreasing salinity as well but also reflects episodical re-deposition of allochthonous marine sediments. Based on permafrost and lacustrine sediment records, this thesis shows examples of the Late Quaternary evolution of typical Arctic permafrost landscapes in central-eastern Beringia and the complex interaction of local disturbance processes, regional environmental dynamics and global climate patterns. This study confirms that thermokarst lakes are important agents of organic matter recycling in complex and continuously changing landscapes.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: The Anthropocene has become central to understanding the intimate connections between human life and the natural environment, but it has fractured our sense of time and possibility. What implications does that fracturing have for how we should think about politics in these new times? In this cutting-edge intervention, Duncan Kelly considers how this new geological era could shape our future by engaging with the recent past of our political thinking. If politics remains a short-term affair governed by electoral cycles, could an Anthropocenic sense of time, value and prosperity be built into it, altering long-established views about abundance, energy and growth? Is the Anthropocene so disruptive that it is no more than a harbinger of ecological doom, or can modern politics adapt by rethinking older debates about states, territories, and populations? Kelly rejects both pessimistic fatalism about humanity’s demise, and an optimistic fatalism that makes the Anthropocene into a problem too big for politics, best left to the market or technology to solve. His skilful defence of the potential for democratic politics to negotiate this challenge is an indispensable guide to the ideas that matter most to understanding this epochal transformation.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Arctic tundra ecosystems are experiencing warming twice the global average and Arctic vegetation is responding in complex and heterogeneous ways. Shifting productivity, growth, species composition, and phenology at local and regional scales have implications for ecosystem functioning as well as the global carbon and energy balance. Optical remote sensing is an effective tool for monitoring ecosystem functioning in this remote biome. However, limited field-based spectral characterization of the spatial and temporal heterogeneity limits the accuracy of quantitative optical remote sensing at landscape scales. To address this research gap and support current and future satellite missions, three central research questions were posed: • Does canopy-level spectral variability differ between dominant low Arctic vegetation communities and does this variability change between major phenological phases? • How does canopy-level vegetation colour images recorded with high and low spectral resolution devices relate to phenological changes in leaf-level photosynthetic pigment concentrations? • How does spatial aggregation of high spectral resolution data from the ground to satellite scale influence low Arctic tundra vegetation signatures and thereby what is the potential of upcoming hyperspectral spaceborne systems for low Arctic vegetation characterization? To answer these questions a unique and detailed database was assembled. Field-based canopy-level spectral reflectance measurements, nadir digital photographs, and photosynthetic pigment concentrations of dominant low Arctic vegetation communities were acquired at three major phenological phases representing early, peak and late season. Data were collected in 2015 and 2016 in the Toolik Lake Research Natural Area located in north central Alaska on the North Slope of the Brooks Range. In addition to field data an aerial AISA hyperspectral image was acquired in the late season of 2016. Simulations of broadband Sentinel-2 and hyperspectral Environmental and Mapping Analysis Program (EnMAP) satellite reflectance spectra from ground-based reflectance spectra as well as simulations of EnMAP imagery from aerial hyperspectral imagery were also obtained. Results showed that canopy-level spectral variability within and between vegetation communities differed by phenological phase. The late season was identified as the most discriminative for identifying many dominant vegetation communities using both ground-based and simulated hyperspectral reflectance spectra. This was due to an overall reduction in spectral variability and comparable or greater differences in spectral reflectance between vegetation communities in the visible near infrared spectrum. Red, green, and blue (RGB) indices extracted from nadir digital photographs and pigment-driven vegetation indices extracted from ground-based spectral measurements showed strong significant relationships. RGB indices also showed moderate relationships with chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment concentrations. The observed relationships with the broadband RGB channels of the digital camera indicate that vegetation colour strongly influences the response of pigment-driven spectral indices and digital cameras can track the seasonal development and degradation of photosynthetic pigments. Spatial aggregation of hyperspectral data from the ground to airborne, to simulated satel-lite scale was influenced by non-photosynthetic components as demonstrated by the distinct shift of the red edge to shorter wavelengths. Correspondence between spectral reflectance at the three scales was highest in the red spectrum and lowest in the near infra-red. By artificially mixing litter spectra at different proportions to ground-based spectra, correspondence with aerial and satellite spectra increased. Greater proportions of litter were required to achieve correspondence at the satellite scale. Overall this thesis found that integrating multiple temporal, spectral, and spatial data is necessary to monitor the complexity and heterogeneity of Arctic tundra ecosystems. The identification of spectrally similar vegetation communities can be optimized using non-peak season hyperspectral data leading to more detailed identification of vegetation communities. The results also highlight the power of vegetation colour to link ground-based and satellite data. Finally, a detailed characterization non-photosynthetic ecosystem components is crucial for accurate interpretation of vegetation signals at landscape scales.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Arctic warming has implications for the functioning of terrestrial Arctic ecosystems, global climate and socioeconomic systems of northern communities. A research gap exists in high spatial resolution monitoring and understanding of the seasonality of permafrost degradation, spring snowmelt and vegetation phenology. This thesis explores the diversity and utility of dense TerraSAR-X (TSX) X-Band time series for monitoring ice-rich riverbank erosion, snowmelt, and phenology of Arctic vegetation at long-term study sites in the central Lena Delta, Russia and on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Canada. In the thesis the following three research questions are addressed: • Is TSX time series capable of monitoring the dynamics of rapid permafrost degradation in ice-rich permafrost on an intra-seasonal scale and can these datasets in combination with climate data identify the climatic drivers of permafrost degradation? • Can multi-pass and multi-polarized TSX time series adequately monitor seasonal snow cover and snowmelt in small Arctic catchments and how does it perform compared to optical satellite data and field-based measurements? • Do TSX time series reflect the phenology of Arctic vegetation and how does the recorded signal compare to in-situ greenness data from RGB time-lapse camera data and vegetation height from field surveys? To answer the research questions three years of TSX backscatter data from 2013 to 2015 for the Lena Delta study site and from 2015 to 2017 for the Qikiqtaruk study site were used in quantitative and qualitative analysis complimentary with optical satellite data and in-situ time-lapse imagery. The dynamics of intra-seasonal ice-rich riverbank erosion in the central Lena Delta, Russia were quantified using TSX backscatter data at 2.4 m spatial resolution in HH polarization and validated with 0.5 m spatial resolution optical satellite data and field-based time-lapse camera data. Cliff top lines were automatically extracted from TSX intensity images using threshold-based segmentation and vectorization and combined in a geoinformation system with manually digitized cliff top lines from the optical satellite data and rates of erosion extracted from time-lapse cameras. The results suggest that the cliff top eroded at a constant rate throughout the entire erosional season. Linear mixed models confirmed that erosion was coupled with air temperature and precipitation at an annual scale, seasonal fluctuations did not influence 22-day erosion rates. The results highlight the potential of HH polarized X-Band backscatter data for high temporal resolution monitoring of rapid permafrost degradation. The distinct signature of wet snow in backscatter intensity images of TSX data was exploited to generate wet snow cover extent (SCE) maps on Qikiqtaruk at high temporal resolution. TSX SCE showed high similarity to Landsat 8-derived SCE when using cross-polarized VH data. Fractional snow cover (FSC) time series were extracted from TSX and optical SCE and compared to FSC estimations from in-situ time-lapse imagery. The TSX products showed strong agreement with the in-situ data and significantly improved the temporal resolution compared to the Landsat 8 time series. The final combined FSC time series revealed two topography-dependent snowmelt patterns that corresponded to in-situ measurements. Additionally TSX was able to detect snow patches longer in the season than Landsat 8, underlining the advantage of TSX for detection of old snow. The TSX-derived snow information provided valuable insights into snowmelt dynamics on Qikiqtaruk previously not available. The sensitivity of TSX to vegetation structure associated with phenological changes was explored on Qikiqtaruk. Backscatter and coherence time series were compared to greenness data extracted from in-situ digital time-lapse cameras and detailed vegetation parameters on 30 areas of interest. Supporting previous results, vegetation height corresponded to backscatter intensity in co-polarized HH/VV at an incidence angle of 31°. The dry, tall shrub dominated ecological class showed increasing backscatter with increasing greenness when using the cross polarized VH/HH channel at 32° incidence angle. This is likely driven by volume scattering of emerging and expanding leaves. Ecological classes with more prostrate vegetation and higher bare ground contributions showed decreasing backscatter trends over the growing season in the co-polarized VV/HH channels likely a result of surface drying instead of a vegetation structure signal. The results from shrub dominated areas are promising and provide a complementary data source for high temporal monitoring of vegetation phenology. Overall this thesis demonstrates that dense time series of TSX with optical remote sensing and in-situ time-lapse data are complementary and can be used to monitor rapid and seasonal processes in Arctic landscapes at high spatial and temporal resolution.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Abstract In Earth evolution, mountain belts are the loci of crustal growth, reworking and recycling. These crustal-scale processes are unravelled through microscale investigations of textures and mineral assemblages of metamorphic rocks. Multiple episodes of metamorphism, re-equilibration and deformation, however, generally produce a complex and tightly interwoven pattern of microstructures and assemblages. Over the last two decades, the combination of advanced computing and technological capabilities with new concepts has provided a vast array of novel petrological tools and high-resolution/high-sensitivity techniques for microanalysis and imaging. Such novel approaches are proving fundamental to untangling the enigma represented by metamorphism with an unprecedented level of detail and confidence. As a result, the first decade and a half of this century has already seen the tumultuous development of new research avenues in metamorphic petrology. This book aims to provide a timely overview of the state of the art of this field, of newly developed petrological techniques, future advancements and significant new case studies.

Beschreibung / Inhaltsverzeichnis: Abstract Understanding the sedimentary and geophysical archive of glaciated margins is a complex task that requires integration and analysis of disparate sedimentological and geophysical data. Their analysis is vital for understanding the dynamics of past ice sheets and how they interact with their neighbouring marine basins, on timescales that cannot be captured by observations of the cryosphere today. As resources, sediments deposited on the inner margins of glaciated shelves also exhibit resource potential where more sand-dominated systems occur, acting as reservoirs for both hydrocarbons and water. This book surveys the full gamut of glaciated margins, from deep time (Neoproterozoic, Ordovician and Carboniferous–Permian) to modern high-latitude margins in Canada and Antarctica. This collection of papers is the first attempt to deliberately do this, allowing not only the similarities and differences between modern and ancient glaciated margins to be explored, but also the wide spectrum of their mechanisms of investigation to be probed. Together, these papers offer a high-resolution, spatially and temporally diverse blueprint of the depositional processes, ice sheet dynamics, and basin architectures of the world's former glaciated margins; a vital resource in advancing understanding of our present and future marine-terminating ice sheet margins.