Nd & Hf concentrations and isotopic compositions in the Baltic Sea

Within a process study in the framework of the international GEOTRACES program and led by the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN) a two-week cruise on the R/V Oceania sailed in November 2011 to investigate the distribution of trace elements and their isotopes in the Baltic Sea. The scientific goals were particularly focused on compiling trace element budgets for the Baltic Sea including in- and outflow, as well as to investigate elemental behavior and isotopic fractionation associated with the redox gradients of the Baltic Sea water column and the permanently anoxic conditions within its deep basins (i.e. Gotland Deep, Landsort Deep). The Baltic Sea is a shallow, brackish inland sea with an average salinity of ~7 psu in the mixed layer. It is fed by the Bothnian Sea in the north, by the Finland Sea in the east, as well as by numerous rivers from Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and it is drained through the Danish Strait into the North Sea. In the opposite direction, a denser bottom water mass enters the Baltic Sea through deeper channels from the Danish Strait successively filling the deep basins northward. Below 130 m water depth, the water column is permanently anoxic. Here we present the first combined data set of Nd and Hf concentrations and isotopic compositions for the Baltic Sea. A total of 21 water samples (60L volume per sample) including two water column profiles from the deeper basins were filtered (0.45 μm) and Nd and Hf were extracted and analysed following the accepted GEOTRACES protocols. The distribution patterns of the two elements and their isotopic compositions are compared to hydrographic data and oxygen measurements and provide information on sources and mixing of water masses, as well as on exchange processes with the underlying sediments, which are influenced by the prevailing redox gradients

Late Quaternary Mediterranean Outflow Water: implications from radiogenic Nd, Sr, Pb isotopes and clay minerals

Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) is characterised by higher temperatures and salinities than other ambient water masses. MOW spreads at water depths between 500 and 1500 m into the eastern North Atlantic and has been a source of salinity for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. We used high-resolution Nd and Pb isotope records of past ambient seawater obtained from authigenic ferromanganese coatings of sediments in three gravity cores at 577, 1745 and 1974 m water depths in the Gulf of Cadiz and along the Portuguese margin complemented by a selection of surface sediments to reconstruct the extent and pathways of MOW over the past 23 000 years. In addition, radiogenic Nd, Pb and Sr isotope ratios obtained from total digestion of the residual clay fraction of the leached samples were used to evaluate any changes in the endmember compositions. The surface and downcore seawater Nd isotope data from all water depths exhibit only a very small variability close to the present day composition of MOW but do not reflect the present day Nd isotopic stratification of the water column as determined from a nearby open ocean hydrographic station, which is most likely the consequence of downslope sediment transport in the nepheloid boundary layer as well as the small variations in the Nd endmember compositions. In contrast, the seawater Pb isotope records show significant and systematic variations, which provide evidence for a significantly different pattern of the MOW pathways between 20 000 and 12 000 years ago compared with the subsequent period of time. A deeper situated MOW during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) raised during the early deglaciation with its shallowest position around Heinrich event H1, followed by a moderate deepening and the establishment of present-day MOW hydrography. The radiogenic isotope signatures of the residual clay fractions document a pulse of sediment input from the north during Heinrich event H1 around 14.8 ka, but other than that exhibit little varibility over time suggesting surprisingly constant sedimentary endmember compositions and mixing ratios since the LGM

International transmission and monetary policy cooperation

We use a version of the New Area-Wide Model (NAWM) developed at the ECB in order to quantify the gains from monetary policy cooperation. The model is calibrated in order to match a set of empirical moments. We then derive the cooperative and (open-loop) Nash monetary policies, assuming that the central banks’ objectives is to maximize the welfare of the households. Our results show that given the current degree of openness of the US and euro area economies, the gains from monetary policy coordination are small, amounting to 0.03 percent of steady-state consumption. Nevertheless, the gains appear to be sensitive to the degree of openness and further economic integration between the two regions could generate sizable gains from cooperation. For example, increasing the trade shares to 32 percent of GDP in both regions, the gains from cooperation rise to about 1 percent of steady-state consumption. By decomposing the sources of the gains from cooperation with respect to the various shocks, we show that mark-up shocks are the most important source for gains from international monetary policy cooperation. JEL Classification: E32, F41, F42DSGE, International Policy Coordination, New Area Wide Model, two-country model

Gewerbesteuer - ein Problem bei der Reform der Unternehmensbesteuerung

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DOC trail: soil organic matter quality and soil aggregate stability in organic and conventional soils

Conclusion Soil organic matter quality is affected by the agricultural systems of the DOC trial. System effects on the chemical composition, however, were smaller than those on the living organisms in soil and their functions. A close correlation was found between soil structure and microbial biomass indicating that microbes are playing an important role in soil structural stability

Intentions of the Framers of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution

The thesis examines the speeches and debates in the Australasian Federation Conference of 1890, and the Australasian Federal Conventions of 1891 and 1897-8 for the purpose of establishing what the framers of the Commonwealth Constitution understood to be the meaning and purpose of the individual sections of the Constitution upon which they were called upon either to support or oppose. The particular matters involved in the examination are the manner and form in which the principles of responsible government were incorporated into the constitution, and the relationship of these principles to the powers of the Senate; the crisis in the 1891 Convention in relation to the powers of the Senate over money bills; the significance of the difference in composition of the Convention of 1891 compared with that of 1897-8; the significance of the classification of the Constitution as an indissoluble federation under the Crown; the principles of responsible government and the provisions of s.57 in the context of the deadlock over Supply in 1975; the meaning and purpose of s.41 preserving the rights of voters qualified to vote in State elections for the lower Houses, and the misconceptions in relation thereto the position of aborigines under the Constitution; the meaning and purpose of the special laws power in the light of the 1967 Constitutional referendum, and its interpretation bU the High Court in the Hindmarsh Island Bridge case; the relationship of the intentions of the framers of the Constitution to the interpretation bu the High Court of the Financial Clauses of the Constitution, and the provisions of s.92; and the meaning and purpose of the external affairs power, and the corporations power as understood bu the framers of the Constitution

A case for the deaf community

Building blocks for a complete community education program