Submarine slope failure offshore Uruguay - first results

New geophysical acquired during cruise M78 with RV “Meteor” in 2009 reveal a large-scale slope failure complex. Positioned between 1800 and 3300 m water depth, the slope failure affected an area of at least 1200 km2. The failure is hosted in contouritic deposits. The morphology of the up 70 m high headwalls is underlain by a deeper reflector which we interpret as detachment. Listric faults positioned upslope these headwalls root in this detachment and are precursor of future failure at this location. The detachment correlates with a regional BSR mapped by Uruguayan colleagues. Cores recovered from 3 transects across the failure complex confirm that the acoustic transparent units are debrites. Sedimentological evidence in accordance with hydro-acoustic data indicate that debrites deposited downslope this failure complex are recent features on the slope

New hydroacoustic and core data reveal sediment transport patterns off Uruguay

Submarine landslides cause slope instabilities and might damage sea-floor infrastructure or even generate tsunami waves. Therefore it is of major importance to understand all processes related to gravity-driven mass wasting and slope stability at continental margins. New swath bathymetry and parametric echo-sounding data from the Uruguay shelf and slope north-east of the Rio de la Plata were collected during METEOR Cruise M78/3. These data are investigated in order to understand mass wasting and sedimentary transport processes at the margin off Uruguay. Large amounts of silty suspension freight are delivered from the Rio de la Plata estuary. These sediments are potentially unstable, leading to numerous mass transport units in the working area. Prominent features identified in the study include slide deposits, channels and several prominent escarpment structures. The situation is complicated by intensive slope parallel sediment transport due to strong contour currents. Our data indicate interaction between gravity-driven downslope transport and alongslope sediment transport. Contourite deposits in the headwall areas of mass wasting events suggest widespread weak layers at those deposits. The up to 70m-high headwalls, are focusing contour currents resulting in small alongslope channels. Future work will concentrate on the reconstruction of the geological/sedimentological history of the study area in order assess slope stability and sediment transport in greater detail

Verkehrswende in der Sackgasse? – Erkenntnisse im Lichte der öffentlichen Finanzkontrolle

Die Bereitstellung öffentlicher Verkehrsinfrastrukturen gestaltet sich in Deutschland in vielerlei Hinsicht als defizitär. Planung, Errichtung, Finanzierung und Betrieb entsprechender Einrichtungen kämpfen mit zahlreichen Herausforderungen wie zeitliche Verzögerungen und nennenswerten Kostensteigerungen. Derartige Zielabweichungen treten indes nicht nur bei Großprojekten wie Stuttgart 21, Berlin Brandenburg International oder der Leverkusener Autobahnbrücke (A 1) auf, sondern auch nahezu jede Umgehungsstraße und kommunale Brücke sind hiervon betroffen. Diese investitionswirtschaftlichen Probleme weisen auf politische, institutionelle und verfahrensseitige Steuerungsdefizite hin, die der vorliegende Beitrag aus Sicht der öffentlichen Finanzkontrolle beleuchten will. Durch eine systematische Auswertung von Jahresberichten unterschiedlicher Rechnungshöfe sollen funktionale, technische, rechtliche, ökonomische, städtebauliche und nicht zuletzt gestalterische Schwachstellen herausarbeiten werden. Dieser Datensatz dient ebenfalls dazu, bislang weder systematisierte denn empirisch evaluierte Lerneffekte der deutschen Bauverwaltung herauszuarbeiten. Durch eine Auswertung der Stellungnahmen der angemahnten Behörden lässt sich ermitteln, wie bauausführende Stellen auf die Anmahnungen reagieren und welche konzeptionellen, institutionellen und personellen Konsequenzen diese für kommende Vorhaben ziehen wollen. Hieraus leiten sich Erkenntnisse ab, inwieweit die bestehenden institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen die infrastrukturelle Umsetzung der Verkehrswende behindern

Krise als Normalzustand? Anpassungsstrategien und organisationsbezogene Abwehrroutinen bauausführender Stellen im Lichte der öffentlichen Finanzkontrolle

Die Rechnungshöfe von Bund und Bundesländern prüfen regelmäßig die Haushalts- und Wirtschaftsführung, die bestimmungsgemäße Verwendung öffentlicher Mittel der jeweiligen Gebietskörperschaft sowie die staatliche Betätigung bei Unternehmen in der Rechtsform des privaten Rechts mit dem Ziel einer möglichst lückenlosen Kontrolle beim Einsatz öffentlicher Gelder. Ausgehend von diesem Prüfauftrag untersucht der vorliegende Beitrag, wie mittelverausgabende Stellen im Bereich öffentlicher Investitionen auf die Untersuchungen der Rechnungshöfe reagieren. Anhand des Auskunftsverhaltens der bauausführenden Behörden lassen sich einerseits Rückschlüsse darüber ziehen, inwieweit die angemahnten Stellen die Kritik der Rechnungshöfe teilen, andererseits in welcher Form Veränderungen eingeleitet werden sollen. Die hier sichtbar werdenden Reaktionsmuster liefern also empirisch abgesicherte Anhaltspunkte über organisationales Lernen in einem Teilbereich der öffentlichen Verwaltung, zugleich werden Bereiche erkennbar, in denen organisationsbezogene Abwehrroutinen den Reformen in Strukturen, Ressourcen, Anreizsystemen und Abläufen entgegenstehen. Diese Ergebnisse münden in der Erkenntnis, dass die allseits konstatierten Termin- und Kostenüberschreitungen in staatlichen Bauvorhaben durch die öffentliche Finanzkontrolle nicht behoben werden können. Vielmehr signalisieren die bauausführenden Stellen eine partielle Reformbereitschaft, bei der inkrementelle Anpassungen innerhalb bestehender Aufbau- und Ablaufstrukturen erfolgen, ohne die „Tiefenstruktur“ anzutasten

Boulevard of broken dreams: public audit, mobility infrastructure deficits and the limits of correction in Germany

AbstractBackgroundTraffic and transport infrastructure is a vital prerequisite for social and economic development as well as the socio-spatial integration of countries and regions’ societal strata. It sets the course for the future of mobility and transport-related social and economic development and is thus inherently political. Deficiencies in traffic infrastructure provision, such as delays in project deployment and exceeding costs, increase the potential for public discontent. It is the mission of public audits to identify, diminish and remedy infrastructure deployment problems—and to encourage best practice models and policy learning. Despite their importance, shortcomings that audit offices identify as well as the reactions and follow-up measures of the addressees to official problem statements remain vastly under-researched. As the transport area is one of the core emitters of CO2and at the heart of many transition policies to tackle climate change, lack of knowledge regarding transformative change opportunities in the mobility sector is detrimental to the success of these adaptations. One major policy issue in this respect are reform strategies regarding transport and traffic infrastructure planning and project implementation. Our systematic analysis of public audit reports in Germany on traffic and transport infrastructure project deployment contributes to a better understanding of this issue.ResultsWe detect patterns of compliance and resistance to audit office assessments by the executing administrations in traffic infrastructure project deployment. While we witness at least the partial compliance and announcement of corrections in 51% of the cases, in about 19% of the cases, the responsible authorities acknowledge the audit’s critique (partially), but do not signal concrete willingness for further corrections. In more than 20% of the identified audit statements, the audit’s assessments are even rejected without corrections to the further projects’ execution.ConclusionWe analyze the extents and limits of organizational learning and institutional adaptation of public control strategies in mobility and transport-related infrastructure provision. Our contribution discusses possible reasons for sustainable transport and traffic infrastructure development deficits as well as shortcomings in infrastructure planning and project deployment. We thus try to open new avenues for debate on improved sustainable infrastructure policy and planning.</jats:sec

Submarine mass wasting and associated tsunami risk offshore western Thailand, Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean

2-D seismic data from the top and the western slope of Mergui Ridge in water depths between 300 and 2200 m off the Thai west coast have been investigated in order to identify mass transport deposits (MTDs) and evaluate the tsunamigenic potential of submarine landslides in this outer shelf area. Based on our newly collected data, 17 mass transport deposits have been identified. Minimum volumes of individual MTDs range between 0.3 km3 and 14 km3. Landslide deposits have been identified in three different settings: (i) stacked MTDs within disturbed and faulted basin sediments at the transition of the East Andaman Basin to the Mergui Ridge; (ii) MTDs within a pile of drift sediments at the basin-ridge transition; and (iii) MTDs near the edge of/on top of Mergui Ridge in relatively shallow water depths ( 1000 m) and/or comprise small volumes suggesting a small tsunami potential. Moreover, the recurrence rates of failure events seem to be low. Some MTDs with tsunami potential, however, have been identified on top of Mergui Ridge. Mass-wasting events that may occur in the future at similar locations may trigger tsunamis if they comprise sufficient volumes. Landslide tsunamis, emerging from slope failures in the working area and affecting western Thailand coastal areas therefore cannot be excluded, though the probability is very small compared to the probability of earthquake-triggered tsunamis, arising from the Sunda Trench

Содовые подземные воды юга-востока Западной Сибири: определение и распространение

Дается определение понятия "содовые воды", приводятся условия локализации подземных содовых вод на юго-востоке Западной Сибири и некоторые их химические особенности. Definition of the term "soda water", the conditions of localization of underground soda waters on the South-East of Western Siberia and some of their chemical features are given