Sedimentation from suspension and sediment accumulation rate in the River Vistula prodelta, Gulf of Gdańsk (Baltic Sea)**The project within which this paper was prepared was funded by the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, and the National Science Centre, grant No. 011/01/B/ST10/06529.

AbstractThe River Vistula is one of the largest suppliers of fresh water and terrigenous matter to the Baltic Sea. The impact of this river on the Baltic coastal system and the fate of the sediment delivered to the Gulf of Gdańsk are not well understood. Spatial transport patterns, as well as the settling, deposition and accumulation of the sediments were studied at the Vistula prodelta in different seasons from January 2012 to January 2013. The concentration of suspended matter in the water column was measured with optical methods, the sedimentation rate was determined with sediment traps, and the sediment accumulation rate was estimated using 210Pb dating. Our data shows that the annual supply of sediment to the sediment-water interface exceeds the annual rate of sediment accumulation in the outer Vistula prodelta by a factor of three. Sediment trapping during rough weather showed that significant sediment redeposition was taking place, even at depths of 55m. The dynamic sedimentary processes occurring in the Vistula prodelta mean that that more than two-thirds of the sediment mass can be remobilized and then redeposited in deeper parts of the Gdańsk Basin

Sedimentary environment, lithostratigraphy and dating of sediment sequences from Arctic lakes Revvatnet and Svartvatnet in Hornsund, Svalbard

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Transport and fate of terrigenous material delivered to the Gulf of Gdańsk by the Vistula river

Niniejsza dysertacja podejmuje problematykę transportu materiału terygenicznego dostarczanego przez Wisłę do Zatoki Gdańskiej i jego dalszego losu w środowisku morskim. Prace prowadzone na morzu i lądzie pozwoliły na poznanie zjawisk zachodzących na styku dwóch środowisk: rzecznego i morskiego. Pomiary CTD oraz zmętnienia wód Zatoki Gdańskiej umożliwiły prześledzenie hypopyknalnych przepływów wód brakicznych oraz transportu materiału terygenicznego dostarczanego przez Wisłę do jej prodelty. Kompleksowe badania laboratoryjne prób materiału zawieszonego i sedymentującego w wodzie rzecznej i morskiej oraz analizy prób osadów morskich pozwoliły na ustalenie stosunków ilościowych i jakościowych materiału wnoszonego przez Wisłę, a także materiału autochtonicznego dla środowiska Zatoki Gdańskiej. Koncentracje materii zawieszonej w powierzchniowej wodzie morskiej wykazały silną korelację z przepływem rzecznym oraz szybki spadek ich koncentracji wraz ze wzrostem odległości od ujścia. Badania δ 13C w połączeniu z danymi ilościowymi o tempie sedymentacji zawiesin w wodzie pozwoliły na określenie zasięgu transportu materiału osadowego wnoszonego przez Wisłę do Zatoki Gdańskiej. Porównując dane dotyczące średniej rocznej sedymentacji zawiesin z tempem akumulacji osadów obliczono, iż w skali roku dwie trzecie osadu deponowanego w rejonie prodelty Wisły ulega redepozycji i dalszemu transportowi do Głębi Gdańskiej.This doctoral thesis is a case study of transport and fate of terrigenous material supplied by the Vistula river to the Gulf of Gdansk. Work carried out on land and sea allowed to explore the phenomena occurring at the interface between the two environments: riverine and marine. CTD and turbidity measurements in the Gulf of Gdańsk made it possible to trace hypopycnal brackish water flow and transport of terrigenous material supplied by the Vistula river to its prodelta. Comprehensive laboratory analysis of suspended and settled material in riverine water, seawater and marine sediment allowed to establish quantitative and qualitative relations in material supplied by the Vistula river, as well as in material indigenous for the environment of the Gulf of Gdansk. Concentrations of suspended matter in surface seawater was correlated with the flow of the river and a rapid decrease in their concentration with increasing distance from the river mouth. Data on δ 13C in combination with quantitative data on the sedimentation rate of suspensions allowed to determine the range of transport of sedimentary material brought by the Vistula river to the Gulf of Gdansk. Comparing the data of average annual sedimentation from suspension with sediment accumulation rate was calculated that the annually two-thirds of the sediment deposited in the area of Vistula prodelta is redeposited and further transported to the Gdansk Deep

Problems of reserves inventorying and calculating the volume of extraction on the example of aggregates deposits

W niniejszym artykule przedstawione zostały zagadnienia praktycznej realizacji obowiązku ewidencjonowania zmian zasobów w eksploatowanych złożach kruszywa naturalnego o genezie głównie wodnolodowcowej i glacjalnej. W odniesieniu do powyższej procedury omówiono obliczanie wielkości wydobycia potrzebnego dla ustalenia opłaty eksploatacyjnej, a także opłaty podwyższonej za wydobycie nielegalne. Opisano funkcję, tło prawne oraz niektóre praktyczne aspekty sporządzania operatów ewidencyjnych zasobów, a także ich przydatność jako podstawy weryfikacji wielkości wydobycia, które posłużyło do naliczenia opłaty eksploatacyjnej. Omówiono proces transformacji wielkości zmian zasobów spowodowanych wydobyciem wynikających z obmiaru wyrobiska, do zmian zasobów obliczonych metodami użytymi w Dokumentacji Geologicznej i Projekcie Zagospodarowania Złoża. Odnosząc się do aktualnie obowiązujących przepisów i praktyki, przedstawiono krótkie charakterystyki przydatności metod obliczania zasobów geologicznych do bieżącego obliczania ubytku zasobów spowodowanych wydobyciem. Pod tym kątem opisano najczęściej używane metody: średniej arytmetycznej, wieloboków Bołdyriewa, trójkątów oraz przekrojów. Poruszono także zagadnienie możliwości użycia danych z operatu ewidencyjnego jako podstawy do naliczania opłaty eksploatacyjnej. Podstawowym wnioskiem jest uznanie, że wielkości zmian zasobów przedstawione w operacie ewidencyjnym ze względów formalnych i praktycznych nie powinny wprost stanowić podstawy do naliczenia opłaty eksploatacyjnej. Przedstawiono również sugestie alternatywnych rozwiązań obliczania wielkości wydobycia mogące służyć naliczeniu tej opłaty oraz opłaty podwyższonej za wydobycie nielegalne. Dla wykazania uniwersalności problemu dla różnych kopalin skrótowo przedstawiono omawiane zagadnienie w odniesieniu do innych kopalin: torfu wysokiego, kredy jeziornej i bursztynu.This article presents the issues of practical implementation of the obligation to record changes in resources in the exploited natural aggregate deposits, mainly of glaciofluvial and glacial origin. With reference to the above procedure, the calculation of the amount of extraction needed to establish the exploitation fee was discussed, as well as the increased fee for illegal exploitation. Function, legal background and some practical aspects of preparation an inventory of mineral deposit resources were described, as well as their usefulness as a basis for verification of the volume of extraction, which was used to calculate the exploitation fee. The process of transformation of the size of changes in resources caused by mining (resulting from the measurement of the excavation) to changes in resources calculated using the methods used in the Geological Documentation and the Deposit Development Project, was discussed. Referring to the current regulations and practice, short characteristics of the suitability of geological resources calculation methods for the current calculation of the loss of resources due to extraction are presented. From this point of view the most commonly used methods are described: arithmetic mean, Bołdyriev polygons, triangles and geological cross-sections. The issue of the possibility of using data from the inventory of mineral deposit resources as a basis for calculating the exploitation fee was also discussed. The basic conclusion is the recognition that the magnitudes of changes in resources presented in the inventory of mineral deposit resources for formal and practical reasons should not directly form the basis for calculating the exploitation fee. Alternative solutions for calculating the amount of extraction that may be used to charge this fee and a levy for illegal mining have also been proposed. In order to demonstrate the universality of the problem for various mineral deposits, this issue is briefly presented in relations to other deposits: high peat, lake chalk and amber

The ascension and intrusion processes of salt water into aquifers along the tectonic discontinuities in the Żarnowieckie Lake area

In this article, the authors want to pay attention to the intensity of the phenomenon of ascension of salt water from the Permo-Mesozoic formation in the geological structures of the Dębki - Żarnowiec trough. This is a unique area in Poland. The sediments (up to 320 m in thickness) of the deep Pleistocene trough, cross the Tertiary, Cretaceous and Jurassic deposits, and reach the Triassic layers in the deepest place. An additional aspect is the unquestionable presence of older structures and tectonic loosening, which conditioned the formation of such a large erosion structure. Younger tectonic (neotectonic) activity, both large-scale and resulting from isostatic movements, certainly uses the existing fault network, which in combination with the deeper layer of relatively well-permeable Pleistocene sediments is a system extremely conducive to ascension brines

Sedimentary environment, lithostratigraphy and dating of sediment sequences from Arctic lakes Revvatnet and Svartvatnet in Hornsund, Svalbard

The sedimentary environment, sediment characteristics and age-depth models of sediment sequences from Arctic lakes Revvatnet and Svartvatnet, located near the Polish Polar Station in Hornsund, southern Svalbard (77°N), were studied with a view to establishing a basis for paleolimnological climate and environmental reconstructions. The results indicate that catchment-to-lake hydroclimatic processes probably affect the transportation, distribution and accumulation of sediments in different parts of lakes Revvatnet and Svartvatnet. Locations with continuous and essentially stable sedimentary environments were found in both lakes between water depths of 9 and 26 m. We used several different dating techniques, including 137Cs, 210Pb, AMS 14C, and paleomagnetic dating, to provide accurate and secured sediment chronologies. Arecovered sequence from the northern basin of Revvatnet spans more than one thousand years long with laminated stratigraphy in the upper part of the sediment. Based on AMS 14C dates, it is possible to suppose that Revvatnet basin was not occupied by a valley glacier during the Little Ice Age. The dates were supported by 137Cs chronologies, but not confirmed with other independent dating methods that extent beyond the last 50 years. A sedimentary sequence from the northern basin of Svartvatnet provides a potential archive for the study of climate and environmental change for the last ca. 5000 years. Based on the stratigraphy and a Bayesian age-depth model of AMS14C and paleosecular variation (PSV) dates, the recovered sediment sections represent a continuous and stable sedimentation for the latter half of the Holocene

Picking Up the PiecesHarmonising and Collating Seabed Substrate Data for European Maritime Areas

The poor access to data on the marine environment is a handicap to government decision-making, a barrier to scientific understanding and an obstacle to economic growth. In this light, the European Commission initiated the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) in 2009 to assemble and disseminate hitherto dispersed marine data. In the ten years since then, EMODnet has become a key producer of publicly available, harmonised datasets covering broad areas. This paper describes the methodologies applied in EMODnet Geology project to produce fully populated GIS layers of seabed substrate distribution for the European marine areas. We describe steps involved in translating national seabed substrate data, conforming to various standards, into a uniform EMODnet substrate classification scheme (i.e., the Folk sediment classification). Rock and boulders form an additional substrate class. Seabed substrate data products at scales of 1:250,000 and 1:1 million, compiled using descriptions and analyses of seabed samples as well as interpreted acoustic images, cover about 20% and 65% of the European maritime areas, respectively. A simple confidence assessment, based on sample and acoustic coverage, is helpful in identifying data gaps. The harmonised seabed substrate maps are particularly useful in supraregional, transnational and pan-European marine spatial planning