Preliminary results of fractal analysis of the poligonal survey from cave : case study of Małołączniak Area (Tatra Mts.)

Traverses (polygons) from two caves have been tested: Wielka Śnieżna Cave System (2858 vectors) and Śnieżna Studnia cave (742). The box counting technique was applied to evaluate the fractal analysis of spatial orientation of traverses. The polygonal survey of Wielka Śnieżna Cave, Śnieżna Studnia and both caves merged together have a fractal geometry. It may be concluded that these caves are close to the full recognition of passages forming by a hydrological system and they could have close relation with geological structures. The usual explanation of fractal dimension D higher than 1 indicates that caves with such dimension fill more space than those with ideal dimension of 1.00 (for example a straight line), and the geological constraints limit the dimension to be lower than 2 (Verbovsek 2007). It may suggest that systems can be developped into more complicated passages in future. The fact that both caves merged together also have showed fractal geometry indicates that they are belonging to the same hydrological system. It was noticed that D-value of merged caves is slightly larger than individual cave. It can be explained by “occupying” more space in rock mass

An attempt to dendroclimatic reconstruction of winter temperature based on multispecies tree-rings widths and extreme years chronologies (example of Upper Silesia, Southern Poland)

This study aims at investigating pre-instrumental tree-ring based winter thermal conditions from Upper Silesia, southern Poland. The Scots pine, pedunculate oak and sessile oak ring widths and the extreme index were used to reconstruct winter mean temperature back to A.D. 1770. The climate response analysis showed that the pine is the most sensitive to February (0.36) and March (0.41) temperature, the oaks were found to be sensitive to the previous December (0.27) and January (0.23) temperature. It was found out that the combination of temperature sensitive species and an additional extreme index in regression can improve the reconstruction, with an emphasis on more reliable reconstruction of extreme values. The elimination of variance reduction and precise reconstruction of actual values of temperature is possible by scaling. The obtained calibration/verification results suggest that, through the application of the long-term composite chronologies a detailed study of the climate variability in Upper Silesia in past centuries can be provided

Ground-motion prediction equation and site effect characterization for the central area of the Main Syncline, Upper Silesia Coal Basin, Poland

The aim of the study was to find the best model of ground-motion prediction equation (GMPE) forecasting peak ground acceleration (PGA) caused by induced seismicity. The maximum values of PGA on the surface are a major seismic threat for the infrastructure, especially in the highly urbanized areas, such is the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Area. The forecasting equations were estimated based on the values of PGA, epicenter distances and mining tremor energy registered by 14 surface seismometer stations located in the central area of the Main Syncline of the Upper Silesia Coal Basin. Data were collected within the period from January 2010 to December 2016, and the total number of seismic events used in the calculations was 15 541. The final model predicted the PGA values and amplification coefficients representing the characteristics of the site effects under seismometer stations

Application of Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves to S-Phase Wave Anisotropy Estimation

The Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) is an increasingly used technique for recognition of a shallow geological structure and estimation of geotechnical parameters, e.g., S-wave velocity, layer density, layer thickness, shear modulus, estimated P-wave velocity, and estimated Poisson ratio. MASW surveys were carried out in two limestone quarries in the southern part of Poland. The experimental areas are characterised by a simple geological structure: consolidated Triassic limestone. Measurement profiles were arranged as a shapely six-pointed star. For each survey line, 12 geophones with 2-meter (Deposit 1) and 3-meter (Deposit 2) spacing were applied. The research allowed to compare P- and S-wave velocity changes with the main crack systems in the studied rock masses

Application of DOI index to analysis of selected examples of resistivity imaging models in Quaternary sediments

Interpretation of resistivity cross sections may be in many cases unreliable due to the presence of artifacts left by the inversion process. One way to avoid erroneous conclusions about geological structure is creation of Depth of Investigation (DOI) index maps, which describe durability of prepared model with respect to variable parameters of inversion. To assess the usefulness of this interpretation methodology in resistivity imaging method over quaternary sediments, it has been used to one synthetic data set and three investigation sites. Two of the study areas were placed in the Upper Silesian Industrial District region: Bytom-Karb, Chorzów-Chorzów Stary; and one in the Southern Pomeranian Lake District across Pilawa River Valley. Basing on the available geological information the results show high utility of DOI index in analysis of received resistivity models, on which areas poorly constrained by data has been designated

Application of passive seismic to shallow geological structures in urban areas

To study the shallow geological structure the Refraction Microtremor (ReMi) method was applied. This technique uses seismic noise analysis where a source of this small vibrations is the human activity e.g.: traffic, production, factories. The surveys were carried out in selected urban areas in the region of the Upper Silesian Industrial District: Sosnowiec-Pogon , Chorzow-Chorzow Stary and Bytom-Karb. Each area is characterized by the presence of nearby roads with a very high traffic. The results of passive seismic (ReMi) were confronted with data obtained using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) and resistivity imaging (RI). Seismic surveys were performed by apparatus PASI with 24 channels using geophones of 4.5Hz. The results showed that passive seismic can be satisfactorily used in such urban conditions. The shallow geological structure interpreted by seismic methods have been well-correlated with resistivity studies

Case Studies of Seismic Energy Release Ahead of Underground Coal Mining Before Strong Tremors

We would like to test the concept that induced seismicity prior to relatively large mining tremor (ML[2.5, E[106J) can be inferred from the cumulative Benioff strain release (BSR) as power law time-to-failure before the strong event. This study presents the application of accelerating BSR prior to a large earthquake, widely used in natural seismicity, for analysis of this phenomenon in induced seismicity. The Benioff strain release is quantified as accelerated releases of cumulative (square root sum) of seismic energy in the time series. During the study, five sequences were extracted from the seismic catalogues from two Polish hard coal mines: exhausted Bobrek Mine (data form the ISEPOS Platform) and from a mine belonging to the Polish Mining Group. Next, a search radius was used to select precursory events and to indicate the type of processes occurring in the coal seam and its vicinity. The fitted power law of cumulative Benioff strain release showed changes of m-parameter. If the value of m was lower than 1.0, the process was regarded as an accelerating-like and if m was higher than 1.0—as a quiescence-like. The investigation of m-parameter vs. the search radius showed the general behaviour of the rock mass in the studied areas and allowed to evaluate the relationship between the critical radius and magnitude of the target event. The obtained scaling relation log(Rc) * 0.35 ML is similar to these reported by other authors who analysed natural seismicity which might suggest that the scaling relation works in a wide range of magnitudes

Ion-selective electrodes and optodes as tools for trace analysis of ions in environmentally and biologically important samples.

Over the past decade, analytical chemists have been faced with a significant task to develop techniques and methodologies that are fully applicable to real-time sample analysis while significantly lowering per-sample and per-measurement costs. Such advancements are expected to make a great impact in many different fields ranging from environmental analysis to the health, security, and manufacturing industries. Ion selective electrodes (ISEs) are a class of chemical sensors that in recent years went through a renaissance and showed excellent potential as tools for routine environmental monitoring and clinical analysis. They are cheap to manufacture, show excellent selectivity and sensitivity, are easily miniaturised and can be connected to simple communication devices. However, due to several limitations such as presence of transmembrane ion fluxes or plasticiser exudation, their full potential has not yet been utilised. This calls for improvements in materials and methodologies used for the preparation of ISEs. Herein, significant improvements in lower detection limits of carbonate ISEs were achieved by conditioning the electrodes in the ionophore solution thus minimising/eliminating membrane ion fluxes. In addition, it was demonstrated that selectivity of ISEs can be enhanced by replacing traditional plasticisers with alternative materials such as ionic liquids (ILs). To further utilise the potential of ILs in ion sensing, 1,2,3-triazole based IL was covalently attached to the polymer backbone yielding a one component ISE. The inherent presence of iodide in the polymeric membrane reduced the need for conditioning thus allowing for direct determination of iodide in human urine samples. Similar approaches were undertaken to develop self-plasticised aluminium optical sensors in which an initially water-soluble fluorophore was copolymerised with methacrylate-based monomer. This prevented its diffusion from the membrane into the aqueous phase. Low detection limit, high selectivity and the possibility of miniaturisation makes them potential candidates for developing aluminium sensors for clinical analysis. This research demonstrates that by improving sensing methodologies as well as using novel materials for the preparation of ISEs and optical sensors, functional devices with excellent robustness, durability and reproducibility can be produced thus indicating yet unexplored avenues for further developments in sensing