Sources and pathways of natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbons into the natural dump Arkona Basin (southern Baltic Sea)

 Surface sediments, suspended particulate matter and fluffy-layer material, collected in the Arkona Basin and the Pomeranian Bay during 1995–1997, as well as air particulate matter, collected on the island of Rügen during August 1995, were analysed for total organic carbon content, saturated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The resulting concentrations and distributions of these compounds and molecular PAH ratios are discussed in terms of matrix, origin of the organic matter and seasonal variations. The data show that the Oder river can be identified as a major source for PAH transported into the southern part of the Arkona Basin. A strong atmospheric input of PAH is noted for the central and northern part of the basin. In general, anthropogenic and bacterially degraded hydrocarbons bound to organic carbon-rich and small particles are mainly deposited in the basin center, whereas their natural counterparts accumulate mainly on the basin flanks covered by coarser grained sediments. Received: 2 March 1999 · Accepted: 8 June 1999     

Isotopic composition of nitrate in five German rivers discharging into the North Sea

We determined concentrations and isotopic composition of nitrate in five German rivers (Rhine, Elbe, Weser, Ems, and Eider) that discharge into the North Sea. Samples were obtained on a biweekly to monthly basis and chemical and isotopic analyses were conducted for the period January 2006 to March 2007 at sampling stations situated before estuarine mixing with North Sea water. We observed maximum nitrate loads in winter and fall, when both discharge and concentration of nitrate are highest. Mean annual isotope values in nitrate ranged from 8.2‰ to 11.3‰ for and 0.4‰ to 2.2‰ for . The ranges of isotope values suggest that nitrate in these rivers derives from soil nitrification, sewage, and/or manure. These and published data on other rivers in northern Europe and northern America reveal a correlation between agricultural land use (>60% in the catchment areas of rivers examined) and values. The rivers Rhine, Elbe, Weser and Ems show similar seasonal patterns of the isotopic fractionation of nitrate with increasing values and simultaneously decreasing concentrations during summer months, indicating that assimilation of nitrate is the main fractionation process of riverine nitrate. Isotopic signals in winter are more depleted than the mean summer isotope values, attributed to less microbial activity and assimilative processes. Load weighted nitrate δ¹⁵N of the riverine input to the German Bight Coastal Water mass before estuarine mixing and processing is between 8‰ and 12‰. The high δ¹⁵N value of river nitrate is matched by high δ¹⁵N of nitrate in surface sediments in the German Bight.     

Air Pollution Transport in an Alpine Valley: Results From Airborne and Ground-Based Observations

An observational dataset from a wintertime field campaign in the Inn Valley, Austria, is analysed in order to study mechanisms of air pollution transport in an Alpine valley. The results illustrate three types of mechanisms: transport by a density current, back-and-forth transport by valley winds, and transport by slope winds. The first type is associated with an air mass difference along the valley. Cooler air located in the lower part of the valley behaves like a density current and produces the advection of pollutants by upvalley winds. In the second type, strong horizontal gradients in pollution concentrations exist close to ground. Multiple wind reversals result in a back-and-forth transport of pollutants by weak valley winds. In the third type, upslope winds during daytime decrease low-level pollution concentrations and cause the formation of elevated pollution layers.     

Sediment mobility in the Pomeranian Bight (Baltic Sea): a case study based on sidescan-sonar images and hydrodynamic modelling

Sidescan-sonar surveys were performed on a 2×4 km area of seafloor in the southern Baltic Sea (Pomeranian Bight) in 1996 and 1998. Overlapping sub-areas of the individual surveys showing characteristic details were processed into geographically referenced mosaics. Sediment types were identified from echo characteristics and by comparison with granulometric data. The sea bottom covered by the mosaics consists predominantly of sand, with subordinate lag sediments with stones and small ripple fields consisting of coarse sand to fine gravel. A comparison of the two mosaics did not reveal any significant changes of the sea bottom over the 2-year period. Characteristic sedimentary features remained almost unchanged over this period on detailed sonar images of smaller sub-areas. Substantial transport of sandy sediments can thus be excluded in the course of the observation period. Grid files of advective velocity components and orbital velocity of wave motion of a three-dimensional hydrodynamical model for the period from September 1996 to October 1997 were used to estimate the current regime in the study area for the interval between the two sidescan surveys. Comparing critical velocities for the dominant sediment types with the results of the numerical bottom current simulations and the observations from sidescan images, it is apparent that strong current events during the modelled time interval were still too weak to resuspend and transport sand of any grain size, even though maximum current velocities of 30 cm/s at the seafloor were modelled. Only a few patches of newly accumulated (acoustically soft) material (mud, fluff and/or soft plant remnants), with a horizontal extension of about 10 m at a terrain step feature, were recognised in the 1998 mosaic. Our results imply that sand deposits in the southern Baltic Sea can remain stationary over time periods of several years, and that the transport of organic material, nutrients and associated pollutants to depositional areas in deeper water is predominantly accomplished by the movement of material finer than sand. A significant portion of this fine material is evidently transported in the bottom boundary layer under conditions of moderate hydrodynamical forcing.     

Variability in upwelling intensity and nutrient regime in the coastal upwelling system offshore Namibia: results from sediment archives

The coastal upwelling system offshore Namibia is ideally suited to address a focal question of the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research Programme: what are the mechanisms that drive long-term changes in ecosystems? Considerable interannual variability in climatic forcing is indicated by long time series of meteorological and remote sensing observation; these accompany considerable interannual to interdecadal changes in the upwelling intensity over the last 100 years, as well as a centennial trend. On longer time scales, the only archives available are sediment records spanning the late Holocene. To decipher the sediment record, we mapped surface-sediment patterns of proxies for physical (sea surface temperature/SST from alkenone unsaturation indexes) and nutrient (δ¹⁵N on bulk sedimentary N) variables. Their present-day surface-sediment patterns outline the coastal upwelling cells and filaments and associated high productivity area. Analysed in an array of dated sediment cores, the spatial patterns of SST suggest long-term (>100 years) variability in the location and intensity of individual upwelling cells. The patterns of δ¹⁵N outline an area of intense denitrification near the coast, and advection of water with low-oxygen concentrations in the undercurrent from the North. δ¹⁵N exhibits considerable downcore variability, in particular over the last 50 years. The variability appears to be governed by differences in extent of denitrification and thus of the shelf oxygen balance, which appears to have deteriorated in the last 50 years. Together, the data suggest that SST and denitrification conditions have remained in the narrow bounds outlined by today’s patterns in surface sediments, but that spatially small variability in upwelling intensity and make-up of upwelling feed waters induced considerable changes in the lower trophic levels of the coastal upwelling ecosystem over the last 6,000 years. Attempts to correlate proxy records from sediments with observational time series and regional climate reconstructions were not successful, possibly because annual to interannual environmental signals are erased in the process of sediment formation.     

Pressure drag and effective roughness length with neutral stratification

A two-dimensional numerical mesoscale model is used to determine the pressure drag of sinoidal mountains and valleys in a neutral atmosphere. In the first part, pressure distributions and flow patterns for isolated obstacles are considered. For large aspect ratios, the pressure drag exerted by valleys becomes small compared to that of mountains. In the second part, interactions between several obstacles are investigated. For mountains, the drag on downstream obstacles is reduced considerably by the first obstacle when the obstacles are close together. For valleys there is a slight increase of the average drag exerted by each obstacle. In the limit for a large number of obstacles, average drag exerted by one mountain is equal to average drag for one valley. For smaller aspect ratios, this average drag can be entered into the resistence law from the Rossby number similarity theory to yield an effective roughness length.     

A Comparison Between Modelled and Measured Mixing-Layer Height Over Munich

An attempt is made to correlate the mixing heights, derived from ceilometer and Sodar measurements, to those simulated by different atmospheric boundary-layer parameterization schemes. The comparison is performed at two sites (one suburban and one rural) close to Munich, Germany for two spring and two winter days. It is found that, under convective conditions, the mixing height determined, by both Sodar and ceilometer, corresponds to the middle or the top of the entrainment zone, respectively, as calculated from the eddy-viscosity profiles. Under stable conditions, the measured mixing height is related to the height where eddy viscosities attain their minimum values (Sodar) or to the height of residual mechanical turbulence (ceilometer). During a foehn case with weak turbulence, the measured mixing height from both Sodar and ceilometer is better inferred by considering the eddy-viscosity profiles during daytime and the height of the low-level jet during nighttime.     

Development of Emission Models and Improvement of Emission Data for Germany

Measurements and model developments with the objective to improve the quality and resolution of estimations of anthropogenic emissions are described. Measurement results on a chassis dynamometer were used to determine VOC profiles for exhaust gas emissions of passenger cars for different vehicle and fuel types and different driving modes. Further measurements resulted in emission factors and VOC profiles for lignite burning in residential stoves. Using remote sensing techniques benzene emission factors of gas stations and the efficiency of gasoline vapour recovery systems were measured.To improve the quality and the spatial and temporal resolution of emission data, emission models were improved or modified. This was done by elaborating and applying new methods for important emission source categories (e.g., solvent use, road traffic, small combustion) as well as including new data sources in the calculation routines (e.g. emission statements, land use data, import/export indices of solvents). Simultaneously considerable progress was made improving temporal and spatial allocation functions and VOC profiles. With these improvements a large number of anthropogenic emission data sets for 14 different grid projections in Germany and Europe have been generated. An emission scenario for Germany for 2010 suggests that considering air quality directives from the EU and Germany which are in force or in pipeline, German emissions of VOC and NO_x will decrease, but still exceed the national emission ceilings of the EU-NEC directive.