ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE In a densily populated industrialized country, waste disposal must be compatible with the requirements of the environment. This is one of the indispensable requirements to guarantee an effective protection of the environment. In the past years the waste disposal industry has been given increasing attention by the general public as well as the authorities. This confirms the necessity of adapting the quality of waste disposal to the technological standard of the production. While in the past, waste disposal performance was more or less evaluated in terms of short-term costs, there is at present a reorientation in the direction of a science-based waste disposal industry. These new tendencies are taking into account ecological factors as well as the long-term consequences - i.e., for decades and centuries to come - of waste disposal methods. In this light, particular attention is given to the depositing of residues whose utilization does not appear meaningful from an ecological point of view, or would require disproportionate ressources. It is an important concern of the Federal Authorities to encourage the rapid materialization of disposal solutions which can function as ultimate deposits, and which will therefore cause neither water pollution nor gaseous emissions. In view of this goal it is necessary to establish criteria and regulations for the wastes to be deposited as well as for the characteristics of the deposits. This field confronts science with an urgent but rewarding challenge and calls for close collaboration between many different specialized disciplines...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE The sedimentology of Chalk describes processes that caused the rhythmic vertical variation in grain size, structures and authigenic mineral concentrations in Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, subtropical, shallow marine, fine-grained, detrital bioclastic carbonates of northwest Europe. In particular, attention is paid to the sedimentology of the Tuffaceous Chalk of Maaslricht (The Netherlands), a coarsegrained variety of Chalk that resembles the Chalk (coccolithic mudstones) as well as modern shallow marine carbonate sands. Numerical models are presented that enable the simulation of the genesis of flint nodule layers, hardgrounds and complex wavy bedded sequences, such as the K/T boundary sequence of Stevns Klint (Denmark). The aim of this book is to show how depositional and early diagenetic features, which are observed in small-scale Chalk outcrops, can be used to reconstruct the large-scale dynamics of the northwest European continent during the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE Our planet is evolving and changing; its surface is capable of unleashing great violence as its crust is created and destroyed. Quite remarkably, it has been only recently that the fundamental elements of this evolution were fully appreciated, and only within the last decade have there been technologies capable of directly meastLring the global motions of the Earth's crust which are one of the most visible manifestations of these processes. Before the advent of space technologies, the nature of contemporary global plate motions went largely unobserved. These motions were understood from the geological records, and plate rates for million year averages were established_ Fortunately, the revolution in geophysics brought about by the general acceptance of plate tectonic theory has been paralleled by significant advances in space geodesy oceanography and geophysics. New space technologies have rapidly matured, yielding new insights and capabilities for more completely understanding the dynamical properties of the Earth, its oceans and atmosphere. Likewise, the evolving earth sciences capabilities from space are fostering new questions and goals made possible through the creative exploitation of satellite missions. A workshop entitled "The Interdisciplinary Role of Space Geodesy" was held in Erice, Italy, on the island of Sicily on July 23-29, 1988, to discuss the directions and challenges of space geodeys for the decades to come. This international gathering was made possible by the E. Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture int he framework of tis International School of Geodesy. The workshop was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of education, the Italian Ministry of Scientific and Technological Research, the Sicilian Regional Government, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. This volume is the result of the dedicated effort undertaken by an international group of scientists and administrators who have contemplated the challenge of the future of space-based earth science for the next decade. Recognizing the need for defining new milestones both in science and technology, they have developed a detailed report of what could be achieved and what challenges remain after twenty fertile years of space exploration...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE The suggestion to compile and publish this volume dealing with some geoscientific problems of the Central Andes came up during a conference on "Mobility of Active Continental Margins" held in Berlin, February 1986. At this international conference, organized by the Berlin Research Group "Mobility of Active Continental Margins", colleagues from Europe, Southern and Northern America reported on their current investigations in the Central Andes. The Central Andes claim a special position in the 7000 km long Andean mountain range. In Northern Chile, Southern Bolivia and Northwest Argentina the Central Andes show their largest width with more than 650 km and along a Geotraverse between the Pacific coast and the Chaco all typical Andean morphotectonic units are well developed. Here, the pre-Andean evolution is documented by outcropping of Paleozoic and pre-Cambrian rocks. The characteristic phenomena of the Andean cycle can be studied along the entire geotraverse. The migration of the tectonic and magmatic activity starting in Jurassic and being active t i l l Quaternary is clearly evidenced. Besides the Himalaya, the Central Andes show with 70-80 km and -400 mgal the largest crustal thickness known in mountain ranges. These and many other interesting and exciting geoscientific features encouraged a group of geoscientists from both West-Berlin universities (Freie UniversitAt and Technische UniversitAt) to focus their studies along a geotraverse through the Central Andes. The realization of these studies would not have been possible without the active assistance and close cooperation of our colleagues from the geoscientific institutions in Salta (Argentina), La Paz and Santa Cruz (Bolivia) and Antofagasta and Santiago (Chile). Concerning the German participation, this joint and interdisciplinary project is financially supported since 1982 as Reserach Group" Mobility of Active Continental Margins" by the German Research Society and by the West-Berlin universities as well. A number of colleagues from universities in West Germany take part in this project, too. The papers presented here deal with the period from Late Precambrian up to the youngest phenomena in Quaternary. The contributions cover the whole spectrum of geoscientific research, geology, paleontology, petrology, geochemistry, geophysics and geomorphology. In conclusion, the data published here may help to improve the picture of Andean structure and evolution. The detailed investigations carried out in the past years show, that the first simple plate tectonic models proposed in the beginning of the seventies have to improved and modified. Furthermore, the results can be seen as contribution to the international Lithospheric Project and as a useful data base for the construction of a Central Andean Transect...

Description / Table of Contents: The present study will provide an introduction into the biomechanics of trees and will give a critical survey of the phylogeny and the constructional principles of the tree habit. Since the trunk is considered the basic and crucial element of a tree, the analysis is largely restricted to a functional comparison of the stem anatomy of the various tree forms. It is based on the concept of constructional morphology, thus considering simultaneously the functional aspect and the ontogenetical and phylogenetical development of the various trunk types. The main questions to be answered in this study are; Why do trees exist? - Which are the constructional principles of tree trunks and when and in which group of plants do they appear? - How important are internal (phylogenetic) and external (functional, constructional) constraints? - What are the specific properties of the different constructional principles and does a correlation between trunk design and growth habit exist? - Is there a tendency in phylogeny to a better performance? The study does not (and cannot) intend to provide a detailed biophysical analysis of individual cases because experimental data on the mechanical properties of the structural elements of the different kinds of trees are still lacking. Instead, it will he the task to evaluate in a comprehensive and qualitative or semi-quantitative manner the available data of the morphology, anatomy and phylogeny of fossil and recent trees by using concepts of biomechanics and constructional morphology. Thus a somewhat holistic approach is used, which is becoming increasingly more acceptable today.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is the collection of the Lecture Notes of an International Summer School of Theoretical Geodesy held in Assisi (Italy) from May 23 to June 3 -1988.

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE During the last few years, evaporites have increasingly been regarded as sediments and not only as chemical precipitates. Especially the intensive study of the Zechstein facies has resulted in a vast amount of observations and interpretations which are of general significance, offering important information to all sedimentologists interested in carbonates and evaporites. It seems therefore useful to introduce the sedimentological approach in a basin where various chemical concepts have been developed. This is the aim of the present volume, and this approach will be recognized by the reader in most of the chapters. The idea of publishing a collection of papers on the Zechstein facies and related rocks found an enthusiastic response, although later some contributors were, for various reasons, unable to meet the deadline. However, the papers submitted cover all major fields and will certainly stimulate further research...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE The application of thermal analysis to earth science has a long history. This is evidenced by the extensive coverages by Mackenzie (1957, 1970), Langier-Kuzniarowa (1967), Schultze (1971), Liptay (t973), Smykatz- Kloss (1974), Todor (1976) and Heide (1982). The chief thermal method has been differential thermal analysis (DTA). Additionally, thermogravimetry (TG; Duval, 1963; Keattch, 1969; Earnest, 1988) and thermodilatometry (Schomburg & Strörr, 1984) have gained some importance. All these methods are still widely ltsed. But recently several new techniques have gained attention, such as thermomagnetometry, thermomechanical analysis and thermosonimetry. Improved equipment made possible the application of thermal methods to problems in thermodynamics and kinetics (e.g. by means of differential scanning calorimetry, DSC). This progress in the construction of new instruments as well as the combination of existing methods to enable simultaneous determinations (e.g. TG/DTA; TG/IR spectroscopy; DTA/mass spectrometry; DTA/microscopy; high-pressure DTA) have led to a resurgence in the use and application of thermal analysis in the earth sciences. Here the applications cover such diverse areas as the examination of individual minerals, mineral mixtures, rocks, soils, ceramics, cements, raw materials as well as their industrial evaluation, performance assessment and quality control. In the field of solid fossil fuels thermal determinations range from proximate analysis of inorganic constituents and the measurement of calorific values to the assessment of the environmental aspects of fly ashes and mineral residues. To support this tendency, the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis (ICTA) has recently founded a "Committee for Thermal Analysis in Geosciences". The aim of this committee shall be to discuss, improve and distribute the knowledge about the possibilities of solving geoscientific questions by means of thermal analytic methods...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE Turbidity currents have been comprehensively studied in the past although much remains unknown about both their flow characteristics and resultant sedimentary deposits. Much of this uncertainty arises from the catastrophic nature of their formation which makes them difficult to study in the environment, and has resulted in the majority of studies being experimental or theoretical. Experiments have shown that reversals in the flow of density currents can be associated with the generation of internal solitary waves. This is in contrast to the belief held by many workers that the reversal of a turbidity current simply generates an identical flow travelling in the opposite direction. This book arose from the need for a detailed experimental study to examine the effects and to consider the consequences of density current reversals from a variety of obstructions to their flow. The first part of this book comprises a detailed review of literature covering the fluid dynamics and sedimentology relevant to the experimental study (chapter one). Chapter two presents the results from the comprehensive experimental programme which are discussed and compared with appropiate theoretical hypotheses. This permits the synthesis of a model for the general features of flows that result from the incidence of density currents upon obstructions to the flow. The application of this model to both modern and ancient turbidite systems is then discussed in chapter three. This book is suitable for earth scientists with an interest in the dynamics of turbidity currents. In addition, workers from other fields such as applied maths, meteorology and engineering who have an interest in density currents and bores in practical situations may find it useful...

Description / Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION The study is essentially empirical, since it portrays and appraises two different water management systems, and relates them to one another. Yet the analysis has also been made with definite research aims in mind. Its focus has been narrowed down to the environmental assessment of urban water management systems in arid and semi-arid regions, especially with an eye to deal with information problems in the Developing World. The study addresses a set of very critical issues of global concern, and, thus, delineates a crucial topic for international research. The fact that a wide range of critical issues usually complicates and aggravates the given problem setting provides the comparative analysis with a special practical incentive to explore the opportunities for joint strategies and comprehensive solutions. However, the complexities involved between water management and the environment and the relative lack of a joint theory in that field pose certain difficulties to such an undertaking. In order to fully appreciate the underlying purpose of the study and the scope of its implications, the various facets of the problem setting and the essential ingredients of the general line of approach have first to be unravelled and expounded at some length. Above all, it needs to be shown how these facets combine to produce the complex, burning issues which in turn seem to, both in theory and practice, require correspondingly intricate, strategic approaches for their solutions...