Proposal for a national classification of forest sites in Germany according to ecotope groups

Die nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg in Deutschland flächenhaft einsetzende Standortserkundung entwickelte sich in den westdeutschen Ländern der alten Bundesrepublik - der Länderhoheit der Forstverwaltung entsprechend - mit länderspezifischen Verfahren. Zwar besteht seit 1953 ein länderübergreifender Arbeitskreis Standortskartierung. Dieser Arbeitskreis verfolgte aber nur das Ziel, die Anspracheverfahren bundesweit abzustimmen; die Verfahren in den Grundzügen abzustimmen - ob mit Schwergewicht auf dem Standort oder der Vegetation oder auf gleichrangiger Kombination - und eine Vereinheitlichung der Klassifikation verfolgte er nicht. Dokumentiert ist diese Arbeitsweise in dem Buch Forstliche Standortsaufnahme, das zwischen 1958 und 1996 in 5 Auflagen erschienen ist. Aus dem Abschnitt „Die Verfahren der einzelnen Bundesländer“ sind die Unterschiede zwischen den Ländern ersichtlich. In den ostdeutschen, der ehemaligen DDR angehörigen Ländern entstand schon früh ein einheitliches Verfahren mit nur wenigen, nicht ganz überwundenen Unterschieden zwischen Tiefland sowie Hügel- und Bergland. Es unterscheidet sich aber von den Verfahren der westdeutschen Länder. Nur in der Standortsbeschreibung und Bodensystematik gab es bis Ende der fünfziger Jahre Zusammenarbeit. Mit der Zunahme bundesweiter und EU-weiter Auswertungen, z.B. jüngst bei der Bodenzustandserhebung, wird der Ruf nach einer bundesweit vergleichbaren Standortsbasis immer lauter. Da andererseits die Erkundung nach den länderspezifischen Verfahren weit fortgeschritten oder gar abgeschlossen ist, bleibt nur die Suche nach einer bundesweiten Rahmenklassifikation, in die alle Länderklassifikationen einfügbar sind. Als Einheiten einer solchen Rahmenklassifikation bieten sich Waldökotopgruppen an. In einer Waldökotopgruppe werden Standorte (Standortsformen usw.) vereinigt, die sich in ihrer Wirksamkeit für die Waldvegetation gleichen oder stark ähneln und die - auf der Standortsseite - aus der gleichen Kombination von ökologischer Nährkraft-, Feuchte-, Substrat- und Klimastufe bestehen. Die Stufenkombination sollte weitgehend natürliche Eigenschaften widerspiegeln; in die Nährkraftstufe könnten aber - zumindest vorerst - auch anthropogen leicht abgewandelte Eigenschaften eingehen.Site survey in Germany became widespread after the Second World War. The West German states of the former Federal Republic developed state-specific procedures – in accordance with the sovereignty of each forest administration. A national working group for site mapping was founded in 1953. However, this working group only pursued the goal of co-ordinating the determination procedures. It was not authorized to fundamentally revise the procedures - whether focussed on the site, the vegetation, or on an equally important combination of both. Hence at national level, no unified framework of classification exists. The procedures of the individual states of the Federal Republic are documented in the manual of forest site survey, which appeared in 5 editions between 1958 and 1996. At least in East Germany, a uniform procedure had already been developed, implicating only a few not completely resolved differences between lowlands, hills and mountainous landscape. Its procedures differ however from those used in West Germany. With respect to description of forest site and soil systematics only, co-operation took place until the end of the 1950’s. With the increasing importance of national and European evaluations, e.g. in recent times the inventory of soil condition, the calls for a comparable basis of survey at federal level became ever louder. Research and development on the state-specific procedures is advanced or partly complete, only the search for a national framework of classification remains. As a final step, all regional classifications should be integrated in this framework. Ecotope groups recommend themselves as objective units for such a framework of classification. Ecotope groups are equally effective for research on forest vegetation, reflecting the same combination of trophotope, hygrotope and climatope. The groups should mostly reflect natural characteristics

Ökologischer Landbau und Bioprodukte: Der Ökolandbau in Recht und Praxis

Das Werk gibt eine detaillierte Übersicht – vor allem aus praktischer Sicht – über die Rechts- und Praxisprobleme des ökologischen Landbaus. Die Grundprinzipien des ökologischen Landbaus und die Entstehungsgeschichte der EG-Öko-Verordnung werden beleuchtet. Im Mittelpunkt der Darstellung steht die ausführliche Erläuterung der gesetzlichen Anforderungen an die Herstellung, Verarbeitung und Vermarktung der Agrarerzeugnisse und Lebensmittel, die mit einem Hinweis auf den ökologischen Landbau auf den Markt kommen. Inhalt: - Einführung in die Regeln für den ökologischen Landbau - Entstehung der ÖkoV - Verordnung (EWG) Nr. 2092/91 des Rates über den ökologischen Landbau und die entsprechende Kennzeichnung der landwirtschaftlichen Erzeugnisse und Lebensmittel vom 24. 6. 1991 (Erläuterung der einzelnen Artikel) - Praxis der ökologischen Erzeugung, Verarbeitung, Vermarktung und Etikettierung - Anforderungen der Verbände im ökologischen Landbau - Geschichtlicher Abriss der Agrarwirtschaft - Anhan

Vorrichtung zur lösbaren Verbindung eines Drahtes und Verfahren zum Ausbringen des Gerätes in ein Gewässer mit der Vorrichtung

Die Erfindung betrifft eine Vorrichtung zur lösbaren Verbindung eines Drahtes, insbesondere eines Tiefseedrahtes (1), mit einem Gerät, insbesondere Tiefseegerät (9), wobei eine Auslöseeinheit (11) zwischen dem Draht (1) und dem Gerät (9) vorgesehen ist, die zum bedarfsweisen Lösen der Verbindung des Drahts (1) mit dem Gerät (9) unter Wasser ausgebildet ist. Erfindungsgemäß sind zumindest ein erster und ein zweiter Transponder (4, 8) vorgesehen, die zwischen dem Draht (1) und der Auslöseeinheit (11) angeordnet sind, wobei der Draht (1) über eine Verbindung mit der Auslöseeinheit (11) verbunden ist und die Verbindung eine definierte Länge aufweist. Des Weiteren betrifft die Erfindung ein Verfahren zum Ausbringen des Gerätes (9) in ein Gewässer, insbesondere in Meerwasser, vorzugsweise in die Tiefsee, mit dieser Vorrichtung

Monitoring submarine fault deformation using direct-path ranging

The seafloor stores crucial information on sub-seafloor processes, including stress, elastic strain, and earthquakes. This information may be extracted through the nascent scientific field of seafloor geodesy. The GeoSEA (Geodetic Earthquake Observatory on the SEAfloor) array uses acoustic signals for direct-path ranging and relative positioning at mm-scale resolution for a period of up to 3.5 years. The transponders also include high-precision pressure sensors to monitor vertical movements and dual-axis inclinometers in order to measure their altitude as well as any change in submarine fault zones and characterizing their behavior (locked or aseismically creeping). A further component of the network is GeoSURF, a self-steering autonomous surface vehicle (Wave Glider), which monitors system health and is able to upload the seafloor data to the sea surface and to transfer it via satellite. Seafloor transponders are currently installed across a dextral strike-slip fault to measure the instability of the eastern flank of Mt Etna in Sicily, along the North Anatolian Fault offshore Istanbul to measure the strain build-up along the fault in a seismic gap. In addition, three arrays are currently deployed on the marine forearc and outer rise of the South American subduction system around 21°S. This segment of the Nazca-South American plate boundary has last ruptured in an earthquake in 1877 and was identified as a seismic gap prior to the 2014 Iquique earthquake (Mw 8.1). The southern portion of the segment remains unbroken by a recent earthquake. The first 12 month of all geodetic installations were analyzed and we discuss baselines with precision less 5 mm for ranges up to 2000 m of distance and compare them to synthetics baselines. The North Anatolian across-fault baseline changes remains within the resolution and preclude fault-displacement rates larger a few millimeters-per-year, which suggests a locked fault zone

Basin inversion: reactivated rift structures in the central Ligurian Sea revealed using ocean bottom seismometers

The Alpine orogen and the Apennine system are part of the complex tectonic setting in the Mediterranean Sea caused by the convergence between Africa and Eurasia. Between 30 Ma and 15 Ma, the Apennines-Calabrian-Maghrebides subduction retreated in a southeast direction pulling Corsica and Sardinia away from the Eurasian landmass, opening the Ligurian Sea. In this extensional setting, the Ligurian Sea was formed as a back-arc basin. The northern margin of the Ligurian Basin shows notable seismicity at the Alpine front, including frequent magnitude 4 events. Seismicity decreases offshore towards the basin center and Corsica, revealing a diffuse distribution of low-magnitude earthquakes. Within the framework of the AlpArray research initiative, a long-term amphibious seismological experiment was conducted in the Ligurian Sea to investigate the lithospheric structure and the seismicity in the Ligurian Basin. The passive seismic network consisted of 29 broad-band ocean bottom stations from Germany and France next to permanent and temporary broad-band land stations. The ocean bottom stations were in operation between June 2017 and February 2018. Two clusters consisting of 18 earthquakes occurred between ∼ 10 km to ∼ 16 km depth below the sea surface, within the lower crust and uppermost mantle, in the centre of the basin. Thrust faulting focal mechanisms indicate compression and tectonic inversion of the Ligurian Basin, which is an abandoned Oligocene–Miocene rift basin. The basin inversion is suggested to be related to the Africa–Europe plate convergence. The locations and focal mechanisms of seismicity suggest reactivation of pre-existing rifting-related structures. Slightly different striking directions of presumed rifting-related faults in the basin center compared to faults further east and hence away from the rift basin may reflect the counter-clockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block. Mantle refractions Pn and Sn have apparent velocities of 8.2 km/s and 4.7 km/s. The low Vp-Vs-ratio of 1.72 indicates a more brittle behavior of the mantle material. This supports the hypothesis of strengthening of crust and uppermost mantle during the Oligocene–Miocene rifting-related extension and thinning of continental crust. This project is part of the DFG Priority Program “Mountain Building Processes in Four Dimensions (4DMB)”. This research has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant nos. TH_2440/1-1, KO_2961/6-1, and LA_2970/4-1) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant no. ANR-15-CE31- 0015)

Ligurian Ocean Bottom Seismology and Tectonics Research (LOBSTER)

The LOBSTER project constitutes the offshore component of the DFG Priority Program “Mountain Building Processes in Four Dimensions” (SPP 2017, 4DMB) and aimed to expand the densely spaced AlpArray broadband seismic network to the offshore domain in the Ligurian Sea. The LOBSTER program encompassed research cruises on the French RV Pourquoi Pas? in 2017 to deploy a long-term ocean bottom seismology network that was recovered using the German RV Maria S. Merian in 2018 (Fig. 1). The LOBSTER long-term seismic network consisted of 7 French (from IPGP) and 22 German (from the DEPAS pool and from GEOMAR) stations. During the second cruise an active seismic experiment was conducted to complement the passive seismology study. The refraction seismic data acquisition was conducted along two wide-angle profiles: P01 runs from the Gulf of Lion to Corsica and P02 trends parallel to the center of the Ligurian Basin in a NE-SW direction. Both profiles were analyzed using a travel time tomography (Dannowski et al., 2020 and in prep). The combined data set in addition to high-resolution bathymetry data shed light on today’s active deformation of the Ligurian Sea (Thorwart et al., 2021). In addition, the 3-D crustal and upper mantle structure of the Ligurian Basin was inferred from surface wave tomography (Wolf et al., 2021). The main technical aim of the LOBSTER project is to provide consistent data that can be smoothly integrated with the onshore seismology data. Key features in the data pre-processing are the correct timing, determining of the orientation of the horizontal seismometer components, and the searchability and availability of the data based on FAIR data standards. LOBSTER studied the Ligurian Sea at the transition from the western Alpine orogen to the Apennine system. This complex geodynamic setting is manifested in pronounced variations in crustal thickness. Topographic gradients in the area are the largest for the entire Alpine-Mediterranean domain, rising from -2500 m in the Ligurian basin to > +3000 m in the Alpine-Apennine orogen over a distance of less than 100 km. The Ligurian Basin is a back-arc basin opened by the south-eastward trench retreat of the Apennines-Calabria-Maghrebides subduction zone, which also triggered the opening of the adjacent western Mediterranean basins. The recent deformation in the Ligurian Sea results from compression along its northern margin (0.3 - 1.5 mm/year shortening), but no significant convergence is evident from GPS data, and rates of deformation are very low. The LOBSTER data set offers a better understanding of the complex geodynamic setting of the Ligurian Sea, which is characterized by pronounced variations in crustal thickness. Based on the LOBSTER data the following conclusions were documented: - Extension in the Ligurian Basin led to stretched and very thin continental crust or exhumed, partially serpentinised mantle. - Continental crustal thinning from north to south is related to the increase of extension with increasing distance from the rotation pole of the anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block. - Seafloor spreading and formation of mantle-derived oceanic crust was not initiated during the extension of the Ligurian Basin. - The Ligurian Sea is currently closing while Africa and Eurasia are converging. Part of the stresses are taken up in the basin center through re-activation of extension-related faults. Data analysis is still ongoing and further results are expected from local earthquake tomography in the area of the Alps-Ligurian Junction conducted with the data from the long-term ocean bottom seismometer deployment

Towards common file formats and data standards for seafloor geodesy - Community Whitepaper for UNAVCO’s “Future Directions for Seafloor Geodesy” Committee, September 2020 (revision of July 13, 2021)

Seafloor geodesy experiments have been expanding considerably in recent years. More and more research teamsaround the globe are conducting projects to monitor the tectonic or volcanic deformation of the seafloor. Theseexperiments are commonly based on limited-duration experiments, but increasingly, permanent observatories arealso being installed. This dynamic development is very encouraging for the establishment of a strong community which arguably willlead to the emergence of a worldwide scientific and technical synergy. However, data andknowledge transferbetween the different groups working on similar topics are still limited at the present time. This can be partlyexplained by the fact that the instruments, infrastructure, and processing software developed are custom-made andthus various file formats are used, although the fundamental observables are most of the time identical. One wayto overcome this limitation is to set up exchange standards in the form of standardized file formats. These fileswould gather and store all the physical quantities observed and will prove useful for the processing simplificationand, in the end, the extraction of the geodetic signal sought. Furthermore, uniformized formats would allow muchmore easily the comparison of software and processing methods between research groups, whether during tests oroperational measurement campaigns. Standardized data will eventually provide a base for the activities of potentialfuture national or international observation services. They would also make it possible to envisage the datadissemination similar to geodetic data recorded on land