ALBERT

Beschreibung: An estimate of average river particulate matter (RPM) composition was bàsed on analyses of more than 40 elements in the Amazon, Congo, Ganges, Magdalena, Mekong, Parana and Orinoco rivers, to which were added literature data for 13 other major world rivers, covering the whole spectrum of morphoclimatic features. Geographic variations of major elements in RPM are mostly linked to weathering types and to the balance between weathering rate and river transport. As a result of chemical erosion, Al, Fe and Ti are enriched in RPM with respect to the average parent rock, while Na, Ca, Mg and Sr are strongly depleted. These figures are directly related to the relative importance of dissolved and particulate transport in rivers; this has been computed for each of 40 elements. In order to study weathering on a global scale, the total observed elemental fluxes (dissolved + particulate) have been computed and compared to theoretical ones. The latter were derived from the elemental content in the average parent rock and the total quantity of weathered material, computed from the Al ratio in RPM and in parent rock. Observed and theoretical fluxes are balanced for the less mobilized elements (rare earths, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Mn, Rb, Si, Th, Ti, U and V) for which no enrichment relative to Al is noted in RPM, and for B, Ba, Ca, K, Mg, Na, Sr which are relatively depleted in RPM due to their high dissolved transport. Additional fluxes have been found for Br, Sb, Pb, Cu, Mo, Zn and are possible also for Ni and P. This is reflected by marked enrichments in RPM relative to Al for the poorly or moderately dissolved transports (Pb, Cu, Zn). Several hypotheses involving either the natural origin (volcanic dust, marine aerosols, geochemical fractionation) or the artificial origin (worldwide pollution) are discussed to explain these discrepancies, assuming river transport and weathering either to be in a steady state on a global scale or not. However, none of them can fully account for these additional fluxes. It is most likely that these excesses have multiple origins, anthropogenic or natural or both. The comparison between RPM and deep-sea clay compositions emphasizes the prime influence of river input on oceanic sedimentation of Si, Al, Fe, Ti, lanthanides, Sc, Rb, V, etc. A few elements such as Zn, Sb, occur in excess in RPM as compared to deep-sea clays; in order to balance this excess, a remobilization of these elements out of the sediment can be considered. Finally, the enrichment of Co, Cu, Mn and Ni in deep-sea clays compared to RPM is discussed and attributed to several sources and processes.

Beschreibung: Three arrays of ocean bottom seismographs have been deployed to study the seismicity at the northern end of the Juan de Fuca ridge system off western Canada. Nearly 100 events were located with estimated accuracies generally better than ±10 km, all lying on or near the en echalon ridge-transform fault plate boundaries as defined in this area by the magnetic anomalies, the seafloor morphology and by other geophysical data. The depths of 12 events were determined to lie between 2 and 6 km below the top of the crust. The seismograms exhibit clear P and S wave arrivals along with phases that involve P to S and sometimes S to P conversion probably at the base of the sediments beneath the instruments. The event magnitudes have been estimated from signal duration using four calibration events that were well recorded by a land station. The magnitude estimates permit the determination of rough magnitude-frequency of occurrence relations over the magnitude range of 1 to 3 that are in surprisingly good agreement with the recurrence relations for the area at larger magnitudes from 75 years of land station data. The mean P wave velocity in the uppermost mantle from the earthquake data recorded by the sea floor arrays is 7.6 km s-1 and the mean Vp/Vs ratio is 1.71 or a Poisson's ratio of 0.24.

Beschreibung: The structural setting of the Maltese Islands is governed by two rift systems of different ages and trends and the interference of both. Accompanying faults are exposed at many places along cliffs and belong to the most spectacular phenomena of rift faulting of the world. Malta is part of a wide shelf bridge that connects the Ragusa platform of southern Sicily and the Tripolitanian platform of northern Libya. The archipelago is underlain by a continental crust of African provenance. The older rift generation traversing the islands strikes about 50° to 70° to create a basin-and-range structure on western Malta, Comino and eastern Gozo. This micro-province is framed by two master faults at an average distance of 14 km. Crustal extension started during the Early Miocene, as observed by growth faulting and sedimentary dikes parallel to the future rift. A syndepositional uparching of about 200 m has preceded the physiographical rifting in post-Middle Miocene times. Discrete dip-slip faulting created an external wedge block, split by internal tilt blocks of antithetic character, both compensating an average 15% crustal spreading normal to the rift axis. Shoulder upwarping of approximately 120 m has evolved synchronously with the rifting. Structures of the first generation are crosscut by still active, second-generation rift faults, which on Malta strike about 120°, but on Gozo between 80° and 90°. These faults are associated with the Pantelleria rift, whose deep trough sets immediately south of the islands. Rifting was mainly originated during Late Miocene/Early Pliocene time to continue in parts up to the Present. A set of transform faults runs through the straits on both sides of Comino to form a complicated en echelon or Riedel shear structure on easternmost Gozo and westernmost Malta. Shoulder upwarping related to the Pantelleria rift has considerably tilted the block of Malta NNE-ward and caused the inundated river valleys of the natural harbour of Valletta. The superimposition of two rift structures of different trends has been caused principally by a rotation of the controlling stress regime about 10 m.y. ago. The active Afro—Eurasian collision front is located about 200 km north and northwest of the islands. A contemporary change of plate tectonic stresses is discussed to explain the intraplate rift pattern on Malta as foreland-specific reactions to plate tectonic processes.

Beschreibung: Menaquinones (vitamin K2) were the only isoprenoid quinones found in the Actinomycetes tested. Thermomonospora strains belonging to the species T. alba, T. curvata and T. fusca contained very complex mixtures of menaquinones with nine, ten and eleven isoprene units. Hexa- and octahydrogenated menaquinones with ten isoprene units constituted the major components in T. alba, whereas, octahydrogenated menaquinones with ten isoprene units predominated in T. curvata and T. fusca. Substantial amounts of hitherto undescribed hexa-, octa-, and decahydrogenated menaquinones with eleven isoprene units were also present in the three species. The representative of the taxon Thermomonospora (Actinobifida) chromogena examined differed in possessing major amounts of tetrahydrogenated menaquinones with only nine isoprene units; a pattern also found in Saccharomonospora viridis, Actinomadura flexuosa and Micromonospora halophytica subsp. halophytica. The chemotaxonomic data and supporting results of numerical taxonomic studies suggest that Actinobifida chromogena may have been wrongly classified in the genus Thermomonospora.

Beschreibung: The major tectonic elements of the Azores triple junction have been mapped using long-range side-scan sonar. The data enable the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis to be located with a precision of a few kilometres. Major faults and other tectonic and volcanic elements of the ridge maintain their regional trend of 010° to 020° past the triple junction area. There is no oblique spreading, and only minor transform offsets of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge occur here. The main effect of the triple junction or Azores hot spot is to diminish the amplitude of the median valley to 200 m or less. There is no axial high: a topographic high seen on several profiles is located to the east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge spreading axis and does not appear to have any fundamental significance. The third arm of the triple junction includes the Azores srreading centre which appears to have developed as a series of en echelon rifted basins (the Terceira Rift) extending from Formigas Trough at 36.8°N, 24.5°W to a point near 39.3°N, 28.8°W. There are indications that recent activity in the spreading centre may be concentrated in a series of ridges which flank the older rifted basins. Until recently the northwest end of the Terceira Rift was connected to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis either directly at an RRR junction, or via a transform fault. The triple junction has probably moved south during the last 6 Ma to a positin on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 38.7°N. Initiation of the Azores spreading centre may have occurred during the 36 Ma B.P. rearrangement of poles, with an RFF triple junction north from the East Azores fracture zone to the North Azores fracture zone and transferring a wedge of European plate to the African plate. The tectonic elements revealed by this study are in good agreement with inferred earthquake mechanisms and with the RM2 plate tectonic model of Minster and Jordan, but east-west motion between North America and Africa does not seem to be compatible with the other motions at the triple junction unless it is of very recent (2〉3 Ma) origin.

Beschreibung: Observations on undisturbed, individually isolated, Octopus vulgaris show that ventilation rate is strongly related to "arousal" or activation. Ventilation rate may be recorded visually by a screened observer or remotely, using carbon electrodes connected to a pen recorder via an impedance coupler to register the associated water movements in a small experimental chamber. The method allows a quantifiable behavioural characteristic to be measured objectively. It has been used to demonstrate that O. vulgaris responds to certain chemical stimuli in flowing sea water with a sharply increased ventilation rate. This result is taken to show distance chemoreception in this cephalopod.

Beschreibung: Several types of abyssal bedforms have been discovered during surveys with a deeply towed instrument package at water depths of 1.5–6 km in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Cores and current-meter records obtained at the same sites provide data for interpreting their dynamics. Wave and current ripples are best portrayed in bottom photographs, but medium-scale bedforms, including sand waves, mud waves and erosional furrows, are described by interpreting high-resolution side-looking sonar records. The largest examples affect surface-ship echograms, though their shape and structure can seldom be resolved without near-bottom observations. Wave ripples are common on the slopes of seamounts and ridges, while current ripples and sand waves occur beneath some fast thermohaline currents whose beds are shallower than the foraminiferal compensation depth. Depositional and erosional bedforms in cohesive sediment have been found beneath the deepest thermohaline currents; they may be restricted to areas where the flow is unusually steady in direction.

Beschreibung: The ammonium ion (NH 4) content in the mantles, fins, arms, haemolymph, and buoyancy fluid of 17 species belonging to nine families was determined. Great individual variation of ammonium concentration was found in the buoyancy fluid of Liocranchia reinhardti (Steenstrup, 1856), i.e. 38-1108 mM, and in the vacuolized tissues of Histioteuthis macrohista N Voss, 1969, i.e. 50-775 mM.

Beschreibung: Before making a critical evaluation of the crude oil and natural gas prospects for the years to the end of the century, it is necessary to review the geology and structure of the three German hydrocarbon-producing provinces. Furthermore, past exploration, production and reserves should be discussed. The three hydrocarbon-producing provinces are: the NW German Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin, which together make up about 41% of West German territory (Fig. 1). The NW German Basin contains a sedimentary sequence over 8,000 m thick ranging in age from Permian to Quaternary. Gas and oil, the two natural hydrocarbons, are generally confined to separate lower and higher stratigraphic levels respectively (Fig. 2). The NW German Basin is the most important prospective area in West Germany. It extends into the North Sea. The tectonic rift feature of the Upper Rhine Graben originated in the Eocene. The Tertiary fill is over 4,000 m thick. Oil is found mainly in Mesozoic, Eocene and Oligocene rocks; the Miocene and Pliocene reservoir rocks contain natural gas almost exclusively (Fig. 3). The Molasse Basin is part of the foredeep north of the Alpine and Carpathian mountain ranges. The basin is filled with Upper Eocene to Pliocene and Quaternary sediments which, near the Alpine nappes, reach a thickness of over 5,000m (Fig. 4). During this century there were peaks in annual oil-production in 1910, 1940 and 1968 (see Fig. 5). The 1910 peak was the result of drilling activity in the Wietze oilfield. During the period 1934–1945, government financial aid was made available for drilling exploration wells. The success of this collaboration is demonstrated by the oil output in 1940 of 1 × 106 t. After World War II, many different types of oil-bearing structure were found, particularly by reflection seismic techniques in conjunction with detailed stratigraphical and palaeogeographical investigations. The success achieved can be seen by the peak of 8 × 106 t oil production for 1968 (Fig. 5) and in the growth of oil reserves (Fig. 7). Intensive exploration also enabled many new gasfields to be developed, especially in the deeper horizons of the NW German Basin. In 1971, estimated gas reserves reached 360 × 109 m3 (Fig. 11), and annual gas production in 1979 was 20.7 × 109 m3 (731 Bcf) (Fig. 9). There is, no doubt, still scope for the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas in Germany, especially in the NW German Basin where the best prospects for the future lie. This is borne out by two recent offshore oil discoveries and also by the successful application of enhanced recovery methods in the oilfields. The chances of finding more gas at the lower stratigraphic levels are promising now that gas has been discovered in the deeper parts of the Permian basin. The results of massive-hydraulic-fracturing tests in low-permeability pay-horizons are also encouraging. The deeper parts of oil- and gas-producing basins contain interesting prospects and have yet to be tested by ultra-deep wells. Provided that the economic climate remains favourable, there should be no difficulty in finding and supplying German oil and gas in the future. Geologically and technically possible reserves should be converted into proven and/or probable reserves. German crude oil will be available for several years beyond the year 2000, and German natural gas for a far longer time. A production rate of 19 to 20 × 109 m3 of gas per annum is feasible over the next twenty years, and oil production will probably not sink below 3 × 106 t/a in this period.

Beschreibung: Broadband receiver functions developed from teleseismic P waveforms recorded on the midperiod passband of Regional Seismic Test Network station RSCP are inverted for vertical velocity structure beneath the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee. The detailed broadband receiver functions are obtained by stacking source‐equalized horizontal components of teleseismic P waveforms. The resulting receiver functions are most sensitive to the shear velocity structure near the station. A time domain inversion routine utilizes the radial receiver function to determine this structure assuming a crustal model parameterized by many thin, flat‐lying, homogeneous layers. Lateral changes in structure are identified by examining azimuthal variations in the vertical structure. The results reveal significant rapid lateral changes in the midcrustal structure beneath the station that are interpreted in relation to the origin of the East Continent Gravity High located northeast of RSCP. The results from events arriving from the northeast show a high‐velocity midcrustal layer not present in results from the southeast azimuth. This velocity structure can be shown to support the idea that this feature is part of a Keweenawan rift system. Another interesting feature of the derived velocity models is the indication that the crust‐mantle boundary beneath the Cumberland Plateau is a thick, probably laminated transition zone between the depths of 40 and 55 km, a result consistent with interpretations of early refraction work in the area.