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The Arctic is considered as a focal region in the ongoing climate change debate. The currently observed and predicted climate warming is particularly pronounced in the high northern latitudes. Rising temperatures in the Arctic cause progressive deepening and duration of permafrost thawing during the arctic summer, creating an ‘active layer’ with high bioavailability of nutrients and labile carbon for microbial consumption. The microbial mineralization of permafrost carbon creates large amounts of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, which can be released to the atmosphere, creating a positive feedback to global warming. However, to date, the microbial communities that drive the overall carbon cycle and specifically methane production in the Arctic are poorly constrained. To assess how these microbial communities will respond to the predicted climate changes, such as an increase in atmospheric and soil temperatures causing increased bioavailability of organic carbon, it is necessary to investigate the current status of this environment, but also how these microbial communities reacted to climate changes in the past. This PhD thesis investigated three records from two different study sites in the Russian Arctic, including permafrost, lake shore and lake deposits from Siberia and Chukotka. A combined stratigraphic approach of microbial and molecular organic geochemical techniques were used to identify and quantify characteristic microbial gene and lipid biomarkers. Based on this data it was possible to characterize and identify the climate response of microbial communities involved in past carbon cycling during the Middle Pleistocene and the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. It is shown that previous warmer periods were associated with an expansion of bacterial and archaeal communities throughout the Russian Arctic, similar to present day conditions. Different from this situation, past glacial and stadial periods experienced a substantial decrease in the abundance of Bacteria and Archaea. This trend can also be confirmed for the community of methanogenic archaea that were highly abundant and diverse during warm and particularly wet conditions. For the terrestrial permafrost, a direct effect of the temperature on the microbial communities is likely. In contrast, it is suggested that the temperature rise in scope of the glacial-interglacial climate variations led to an increase of the primary production in the Arctic lake setting, as can be seen in the corresponding biogenic silica distribution. The availability of this algae-derived carbon is suggested to be a driver for the observed pattern in the microbial abundance. This work demonstrates the effect of climate changes on the community composition of methanogenic archae. Methanosarcina-related species were abundant throughout the Russian Arctic and were able to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In contrast, members of Methanocellales and Methanomicrobiales were not able to adapt to past climate changes. This PhD thesis provides first evidence that past climatic warming led to an increased abundance of microbial communities in the Arctic, closely linked to the cycling of carbon and methane production. With the predicted climate warming, it may, therefore, be anticipated that extensive amounts of microbial communities will develop. Increasing temperatures in the Arctic will affect the temperature sensitive parts of the current microbiological communities, possibly leading to a suppression of cold adapted species and the prevalence of methanogenic archaea that tolerate or adapt to increasing temperatures. These changes in the composition of methanogenic archaea will likely increase the methane production potential of high latitude terrestrial regions, changing the Arctic from a carbon sink to a source.
Lamprophyre sind porphyrische, aus Mantelschmelzen gebildete Gesteine, die meist in Form von Gängen auftreten. Sie zeichnen sich durch auffällige und charakteristische texturelle, chemische und mineralogische Eigenschaften aus. Als ehemalige Mantelschmelzen liefern sie Information sowohl über Bedingungen der Schmelzbildung im Mantel als auch über geodynamische Prozesse, die zu metasomatischer Veränderung des Mantels geführt haben. Im Saxothuringikum Mitteleuropas, am Nordrand des Böhmischen Massivs, gibt es zahlreiche Lamprophyrvorkommen, die hier zur Charakterisierung der Mantelentwicklung während der variszischen Orogenese dienen. Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit den mineralogischen, geochemischen und isotopischen (Sr-Nd-Pb) Signaturen von spätvariszischen kalkalkalischen Lamprophyren, von postvariszischen ultramafischen Lamprophyren, von Alkalibasalten der Lausitz und, zum Vergleich, von prävariszischen Gabbros. Darüberhinaus nutzt die Arbeit Lithium-Isotopensignaturen kombiniert mit Sr-Nd-Pb–Isotopendaten spätvariszischer kalkalkalischer Lamprophyre aus drei variszischen Domänen (Erzgebirge, Lausitz, Sudeten) zur Erkundung der lokalen Mantelüberprägungen während der variszischen Orogenese.
Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) are important nutrients for microbes. However, most LMWOAs do not exist freely in the environment but are bound to macromolecular organic matter, e.g. kerogen, lignite and coal. During burial and geological maturation of sedimentary macromolecular organic matter biological and abiological processes promote the liberation of LMWOAs into the surrounding sediment. Through this process, microbes in sedimentary subsurface environments are supplied with essential nutrients. To estimate the feedstock potential of buried macromolecular organic matter to many environments it is important to determine the amount of LMWOAs that are bound to such a matrix. However, high-pressure and high temperature are a key feature of deep subsurface environments, and these physical parameters have a profound influence on chemical reaction kinetics. Therefore it is essential for the estimation of the feedstock potential to generate high-pressure and high temperature for the liberation of LMWOAs to recreate true in-situ conditions. This work presents a newly developed, inexpensive incubation system for biological and geological samples. It allows the application of high-pressure and high temperature as well as a subsampling of the liquid phase without loss of pressure, thereby not disturbing the on-going processes. When simulating the liberation of LMWOAs from sedimentary organic matter, the newly developed incubation system produces more realistic results than other extraction systems like Soxhlet. The extraction products remain in the extraction medium throughout the extraction, influencing the chemical conditions of the extraction medium. Sub-bituminous coal samples from New Zealand as well as lignite samples from Germany were extracted at elevated temperature (90˚C) and pressure (5 MPa). The main LMWOAs released from these low rank coals were formate, acetate and oxalate. Extraction efficiency was increased by two to four times for formate, acetate and oxalate in comparison to existing extraction methods without pressurisation and with demineralised water. This shows the importance of pressure for the simulation of true in-situ conditions and suggests that the amount of bioavailable LMWOAs is higher than previously thought. With the increase in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the enhanced recovery of oil and gas (EOR/EGR), more and more CO2 becomes injected into the underground. However, the effects of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide on sedimentary organic matter are rarely investigated. As the incuabtion system allows the manipulation of the composition and partial pressure of dissolved gasses, the effect of highly gas-enriched (CO2, CO2/SO2, CO2/NO2; to simulate flue gas conditions) waters on the extraction yield of LMWOAs from macromolecular organic matter was evaluated. For sub-bituminous coal the concentrations of all LMWAOs decreased upon the addition of gas, irrespective of its composition, whereas for lignite formate always and acetate mostly increased, while oxalate decreased. This suggests an positive effect on the nutrient supply for the subsurface microbiota of lignite layers, as formate and acetate are the most common LMWOAs used for microbial metabolism. In terrestrial mud volcanoes (TMVs), sedimentary material is rapidly ascending from great depth to the surface. Therefore LMWOAs that were produced from buried macromolecular organic matter at depth are also brought up to the surface, and fuel heterotrophic microbial ecosystems at the surface. TMVs represent geochemically and microbiologically diverse habitats, which are supplied with organic substrates and electron acceptors from deep-seated hydrocarbon-generating systems and intersected shallow aquifers, respectively. The main electron donor in TMVs in Azerbaijan is sulphate, and microbial sulphate reduction leads to the production of a wide range of reduced sulphur species that are key players in several biological processes. In our study we estimated the effect of LMWOAs on the sulphur metabolising activity of microorganims in TMVs from Azerbaijan. The addition of a mixture of volatile fatty acids containing acetate and other LMWOAs showed significant positive response to the sulphate reduction rate (SRR) of samples of several mud volcanoes. Further investigations on the temperature dependency of the SRR and the characterisation of thermophilic sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) showed a connection between the deep hot subsurface and the surface.
Antarctic glacier forfields are extreme environments and pioneer sites for ecological succession. The Antarctic continent shows microbial community development as a natural laboratory because of its special environment, geographic isolation and little anthropogenic influence. Increasing temperatures due to global warming lead to enhanced deglaciation processes in cold-affected habitats and new terrain is becoming exposed to soil formation and accessible for microbial colonisation. This study aims to understand the structure and development of glacier forefield bacterial communities, especially how soil parameters impact the microorganisms and how those are adapted to the extreme conditions of the habitat. To this effect, a combination of cultivation experiments, molecular, geophysical and geochemical analysis was applied to examine two glacier forfields of the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica. Culture-independent molecular tools such as terminal restriction length polymorphism (T-RFLP), clone libraries and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to determine bacterial diversity and distribution. Cultivation of yet unknown species was carried out to get insights in the physiology and adaptation of the microorganisms. Adaptation strategies of the microorganisms were studied by determining changes of the cell membrane phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) inventory of an isolated bacterium in response to temperature and pH fluctuations and by measuring enzyme activity at low temperature in environmental soil samples. The two studied glacier forefields are extreme habitats characterised by low temperatures, low water availability and small oligotrophic nutrient pools and represent sites of different bacterial succession in relation to soil parameters. The investigated sites showed microbial succession at an early step of soil formation near the ice tongue in comparison to closely located but rather older and more developed soil from the forefield. At the early step the succession is influenced by a deglaciation-dependent areal shift of soil parameters followed by a variable and prevalently depth-related distribution of the soil parameters that is driven by the extreme Antarctic conditions. The dominant taxa in the glacier forefields are Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria and Chloroflexi. The connection of soil characteristics with bacterial community structure showed that soil parameter and soil formation along the glacier forefield influence the distribution of certain phyla. In the early step of succession the relative undifferentiated bacterial diversity reflects the undifferentiated soil development and has a high potential to shift according to past and present environmental conditions. With progressing development environmental constraints such as water or carbon limitation have a greater influence. Adapting the culturing conditions to the cold and oligotrophic environment, the number of culturable heterotrophic bacteria reached up to 108 colony forming units per gram soil and 148 isolates were obtained. Two new psychrotolerant bacteria, Herbaspirillum psychrotolerans PB1T and Chryseobacterium frigidisoli PB4T, were characterised in detail and described as novel species in the family of Oxalobacteraceae and Flavobacteriaceae, respectively. The isolates are able to grow at low temperatures tolerating temperature fluctuations and they are not specialised to a certain substrate, therefore they are well-adapted to the cold and oligotrophic environment. The adaptation strategies of the microorganisms were analysed in environmental samples and cultures focussing on extracellular enzyme activity at low temperature and PLFA analyses. Extracellular phosphatases (pH 11 and pH 6.5), β-glucosidase, invertase and urease activity were detected in the glacier forefield soils at low temperature (14°C) catalysing the conversion of various compounds providing necessary substrates and may further play a role in the soil formation and total carbon turnover of the habitat. The PLFA analysis of the newly isolated species C. frigidisoli showed that the cold-adapted strain develops different strategies to maintain the cell membrane function under changing environmental conditions by altering the PLFA inventory at different temperatures and pH values. A newly discovered fatty acid, which was not found in any other microorganism so far, significantly increased at decreasing temperature and low pH and thus plays an important role in the adaption of C. frigidisoli. This work gives insights into the diversity, distribution and adaptation mechanisms of microbial communities in oligotrophic cold-affected soils and shows that Antarctic glacier forefields are suitable model systems to study bacterial colonisation in connection to soil formation.
In sedimentary basins, rock thermal conductivity can vary both laterally and vertically, thus altering the basin’s thermal structure locally and regionally. Knowledge of the thermal conductivity of geological formations and its spatial variations is essential, not only for quantifying basin evolution and hydrocarbon maturation processes, but also for understanding geothermal conditions in a geological setting. In conjunction with the temperature gradient, thermal conductivity represents the basic input parameter for the determination of the heat-flow density; which, in turn, is applied as a major input parameter in thermal modeling at different scales. Drill-core samples, which are necessary to determine thermal properties by laboratory measurements, are rarely available and often limited to previously explored reservoir formations. Thus, thermal conductivities of Mesozoic rocks in the North German Basin (NGB) are largely unknown. In contrast, geophysical borehole measurements are often available for the entire drilled sequence. Therefore, prediction equations to determine thermal conductivity based on well-log data are desirable. In this study rock thermal conductivity was investigated on different scales by (1) providing thermal-conductivity measurements on Mesozoic rocks, (2) evaluating and improving commonly applied mixing models which were used to estimate matrix and pore-filled rock thermal conductivities, and (3) developing new well-log based equations to predict thermal conductivity in boreholes without core control. Laboratory measurements are performed on sedimentary rock of major geothermal reservoirs in the Northeast German Basin (NEGB) (Aalenian, Rhaethian-Liassic, Stuttgart Fm., and Middle Buntsandstein). Samples are obtained from eight deep geothermal wells that approach depths of up to 2,500 m. Bulk thermal conductivities of Mesozoic sandstones range between 2.1 and 3.9 W/(m∙K), while matrix thermal conductivity ranges between 3.4 and 7.4 W/(m∙K). Local heat flow for the Stralsund location averages 76 mW/m², which is in good agreement to values reported previously for the NEGB. For the first time, in-situ bulk thermal conductivity is indirectly calculated for entire borehole profiles in the NEGB using the determined surface heat flow and measured temperature data. Average bulk thermal conductivity, derived for geological formations within the Mesozoic section, ranges between 1.5 and 3.1 W/(m∙K). The measurement of both dry- and water-saturated thermal conductivities allow further evaluation of different two-component mixing models which are often applied in geothermal calculations (e.g., arithmetic mean, geometric mean, harmonic mean, Hashin-Shtrikman mean, and effective-medium theory mean). It is found that the geometric-mean model shows the best correlation between calculated and measured bulk thermal conductivity. However, by applying new model-dependent correction, equations the quality of fit could be significantly improved and the error diffusion of each model reduced. The ‘corrected’ geometric mean provides the most satisfying results and constitutes a universally applicable model for sedimentary rocks. Furthermore, lithotype-specific and model-independent conversion equations are developed permitting a calculation of water-saturated thermal conductivity from dry-measured thermal conductivity and porosity within an error range of 5 to 10%. The limited availability of core samples and the expensive core-based laboratory measurements make it worthwhile to use petrophysical well logs to determine thermal conductivity for sedimentary rocks. The approach followed in this study is based on the detailed analyses of the relationships between thermal conductivity of rock-forming minerals, which are most abundant in sedimentary rocks, and the properties measured by standard logging tools. By using multivariate statistics separately for clastic, carbonate and evaporite rocks, the findings from these analyses allow the development of prediction equations from large artificial data sets that predict matrix thermal conductivity within an error of 4 to 11%. These equations are validated successfully on a comprehensive subsurface data set from the NGB. In comparison to the application of earlier published approaches formation-dependent developed for certain areas, the new developed equations show a significant error reduction of up to 50%. These results are used to infer rock thermal conductivity for entire borehole profiles. By inversion of corrected in-situ thermal-conductivity profiles, temperature profiles are calculated and compared to measured high-precision temperature logs. The resulting uncertainty in temperature prediction averages < 5%, which reveals the excellent temperature prediction capabilities using the presented approach. In conclusion, data and methods are provided to achieve a much more detailed parameterization of thermal models.
Metabolically active microbial communities are present in a wide range of subsurface environments. Techniques like enumeration of microbial cells, activity measurements with radiotracer assays and the analysis of porewater constituents are currently being used to explore the subsurface biosphere, alongside with molecular biological analyses. However, many of these techniques reach their detection limits due to low microbial activity and abundance. Direct measurements of microbial turnover not just face issues of insufficient sensitivity, they only provide information about a single specific process but in sediments many different process can occur simultaneously. Therefore, the development of a new technique to measure total microbial activity would be a major improvement. A new tritium-based hydrogenase-enzyme assay appeared to be a promising tool to quantify total living biomass, even in low activity subsurface environments. In this PhD project total microbial biomass and microbial activity was quantified in different subsurface sediments using established techniques (cell enumeration and pore water geochemistry) as well as a new tritium-based hydrogenase enzyme assay. By using a large database of our own cell enumeration data from equatorial Pacific and north Pacific sediments and published data it was shown that the global geographic distribution of subseafloor sedimentary microbes varies between sites by 5 to 6 orders of magnitude and correlates with the sedimentation rate and distance from land. Based on these correlations, global subseafloor biomass was estimated to be 4.1 petagram-C and ~0.6 % of Earth's total living biomass, which is significantly lower than previous estimates. Despite the massive reduction in biomass the subseafloor biosphere is still an important player in global biogeochemical cycles. To understand the relationship between microbial activity, abundance and organic matter flux into the sediment an expedition to the equatorial Pacific upwelling area and the north Pacific Gyre was carried out. Oxygen respiration rates in subseafloor sediments from the north Pacific Gyre, which are deposited at sedimentation rates of 1 mm per 1000 years, showed that microbial communities could survive for millions of years without fresh supply of organic carbon. Contrary to the north Pacific Gyre oxygen was completely depleted within the upper few millimeters to centimeters in sediments of the equatorial upwelling region due to a higher supply of organic matter and higher metabolic activity. So occurrence and variability of electron acceptors over depth and sites make the subsurface a complex environment for the quantification of total microbial activity. Recent studies showed that electron acceptor processes, which were previously thought to thermodynamically exclude each other can occur simultaneously. So in many cases a simple measure of the total microbial activity would be a better and more robust solution than assays for several specific processes, for example sulfate reduction rates or methanogenesis. Enzyme or molecular assays provide a more general approach as they target key metabolic compounds. Since hydrogenase enzymes are ubiquitous in microbes, the recently developed tritium-based hydrogenase radiotracer assay is applied to quantify hydrogenase enzyme activity as a parameter of total living cell activity. Hydrogenase enzyme activity was measured in sediments from different locations (Lake Van, Barents Sea, Equatorial Pacific and Gulf of Mexico). In sediment samples that contained nitrate, we found the lowest cell specific enzyme activity around 10^(-5) nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1). With decreasing energy yield of the electron acceptor used, cell-specific hydrogenase activity increased and maximum values of up to 1 nmol H_(2) cell^(-1) d^(-1) were found in samples with methane concentrations of >10 ppm. Although hydrogenase activity cannot be converted directly into a turnover rate of a specific process, cell-specific activity factors can be used to identify specific metabolism and to quantify the metabolically active microbial population. In another study on sediments from the Nankai Trough microbial abundance and hydrogenase activity data show that both the habitat and the activity of subseafloor sedimentary microbial communities have been impacted by seismic activities. An increase in hydrogenase activity near the fault zone revealed that the microbial community was supplied with hydrogen as an energy source and that the microbes were specialized to hydrogen metabolism.
In soils and sediments there is a strong coupling between local biogeochemical processes and the distribution of water, electron acceptors, acids and nutrients. Both sides are closely related and affect each other from small scale to larger scales. Soil structures such as aggregates, roots, layers or macropores enhance the patchiness of these distributions. At the same time it is difficult to access the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of these parameter. Noninvasive imaging techniques with high spatial and temporal resolution overcome these limitations. And new non-invasive techniques are needed to study the dynamic interaction of plant roots with the surrounding soil, but also the complex physical and chemical processes in structured soils. In this study we developed an efficient non-destructive in-situ method to determine biogeochemical parameters relevant to plant roots growing in soil. This is a quantitative fluorescence imaging method suitable for visualizing the spatial and temporal pH changes around roots. We adapted the fluorescence imaging set-up and coupled it with neutron radiography to study simultaneously root growth, oxygen depletion by respiration activity and root water uptake. The combined set up was subsequently applied to a structured soil system to map the patchy structure of oxic and anoxic zones induced by a chemical oxygen consumption reaction for spatially varying water contents. Moreover, results from a similar fluorescence imaging technique for nitrate detection were complemented by a numerical modeling study where we used imaging data, aiming to simulate biodegradation under anaerobic, nitrate reducing conditions.
Large areas in the humid tropics are currently undergoing land-use change. The decrease of tropical rainforest, which is felled for land clearing and timber production, is countered by increasing areas of tree plantations and secondary forests. These changes are known to affect the regional water cycle as a result of plant-specific water demand and by influencing key soil properties which determine hydrological flow paths. One of these key properties sensitive to land-use change is the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) as it governs vertical percolation of water within the soil profile. Low values of Ks in a certain soil depth can form an impeding layer and lead to perched water tables and the development of predominantly lateral flow paths such as overland flow. These processes can induce nutrient redistribution, erosion and soil degradation and thus affect ecosystem services and human livelihoods. Due to its sensitivity to land-use change, Ks is commonly used to assess the associated changes in hydrological flow paths. The objective of this dissertation was to assess the effect of land-use change on hydrological flow paths by analysing Ks as indicator variable. Sources of Ks variability, their implications for Ks monitoring and the relationship between Ks and near-surface hydrological flow paths in the context of land-use change were studied. The research area was located in central Panama, a country widely experiencing the abovementioned changes in land use. Ks is dependent on both static, soil-inherent properties such as particle size and clay mineralogy and dynamic, land use-dependent properties such as organic carbon content. By conducting a pair of studies with one of these influences held constant in each, the importance of static and dynamic properties for Ks was assessed. Applying a space-for-time approach to sample Ks under secondary forests of different age classes on comparable soils, a recovery of Ks from the former pasture use was shown to require more than eight years. The process was limited to the 0−6 cm sampling depth and showed large variability among replicates. A wavelet analysis of a Ks transect crossing different soil map units under comparable land cover, old-growth tropical rainforest, showed large small-scale variability, which was attributed to biotic influences, as well as a possible but non-conclusive influence of soil types. The two results highlight the importance of dynamic, land use-dependent influences on Ks. Monitoring studies can help to quantify land use-induced change of Ks, but there is a variety of sampling designs which differ in efficiency of estimating mean Ks. A comparative study of four designs and their suitability for Ks monitoring is used to give recommendations about designing a Ks monitoring scheme. Quantifying changes in spatial means of Ks for small catchments with a rotational stratified sampling design did not prove to be more efficient than Simple Random Sampling. The lack of large-scale spatial structure prevented benefits of stratification, and large small-scale variability resulting from local biotic processes and artificial effects of destructive sampling caused a lack of temporal consistency in the re-sampling of locations, which is part of the rotational design. The relationship between Ks and near-surface hydrological flow paths is of critical importance when assessing the consequences of land-use change in the humid tropics. The last part of this dissertation aimed at disclosing spatial relationships between Ks and overland flow as influenced by different land cover types. The effects of Ks on overland-flow generation were spatially variable, different between planar plots and incised flowlines and strongly influenced by land-cover characteristics. A simple comparison of Ks values and rainfall intensities was insufficient to describe the observed pattern of overland flow. Likewise, event flow in the stream was apparently not directly related to overland flow response patterns within the catchments. The study emphasises the importance of combining pedological, hydrological, meteorological and botanical measurements to comprehensively understand the land use-driven change in hydrological flow paths. In summary, Ks proved to be a suitable parameter for assessing the influence of land-use change on soils and hydrological processes. The results illustrated the importance of land cover and spatial variability of Ks for decisions on sampling designs and for interpreting overland-flow generation. As relationships between Ks and overland flow were shown to be complex and dependent on land cover, an interdisciplinary approach is required to comprehensively understand the effects of land-use change on soils and near-surface hydrological flow paths in the humid tropics.
Die Anpassung von Sektoren an veränderte klimatische Bedingungen erfordert ein Verständnis von regionalen Vulnerabilitäten. Vulnerabilität ist als Funktion von Sensitivität und Exposition, welche potentielle Auswirkungen des Klimawandels darstellen, und der Anpassungsfähigkeit von Systemen definiert. Vulnerabilitätsstudien, die diese Komponenten quantifizieren, sind zu einem wichtigen Werkzeug in der Klimawissenschaft geworden. Allerdings besteht von der wissenschaftlichen Perspektive aus gesehen Uneinigkeit darüber, wie diese Definition in Studien umgesetzt werden soll. Ausdiesem Konflikt ergeben sich viele Herausforderungen, vor allem bezüglich der Quantifizierung und Aggregierung der einzelnen Komponenten und deren angemessenen Komplexitätsniveaus. Die vorliegende Dissertation hat daher zum Ziel die Anwendbarkeit des Vulnerabilitätskonzepts voranzubringen, indem es in eine systematische Struktur übersetzt wird. Dies beinhaltet alle Komponenten und schlägt für jede Klimaauswirkung (z.B. Sturzfluten) eine Beschreibung des vulnerablen Systems vor (z.B. Siedlungen), welches direkt mit einer bestimmten Richtung eines relevanten klimatischen Stimulus in Verbindung gebracht wird (z.B. stärkere Auswirkungen bei Zunahme der Starkregentage). Bezüglich der herausfordernden Prozedur der Aggregierung werden zwei alternative Methoden, die einen sektorübergreifenden Überblick ermöglichen, vorgestellt und deren Vor- und Nachteile diskutiert. Anschließend wird die entwickelte Struktur einer Vulnerabilitätsstudie mittels eines indikatorbasierten und deduktiven Ansatzes beispielhaft für Gemeinden in Nordrhein-Westfalen in Deutschland angewandt. Eine Übertragbarkeit auf andere Regionen ist dennoch möglich. Die Quantifizierung für die Gemeinden stützt sich dabei auf Informationen aus der Literatur. Da für viele Sektoren keine geeigneten Indikatoren vorhanden waren, werden in dieser Arbeit neue Indikatoren entwickelt und angewandt, beispielsweise für den Forst- oder Gesundheitssektor. Allerdings stellen fehlende empirische Daten bezüglich relevanter Schwellenwerte eine Lücke dar, beispielsweise welche Stärke von Klimaänderungen eine signifikante Auswirkung hervorruft. Dies führt dazu, dass die Studie nur relative Aussagen zum Grad der Vulnerabilität jeder Gemeinde im Vergleich zum Rest des Bundeslandes machen kann. Um diese Lücke zu füllen, wird für den Forstsektor beispielhaft die heutige und zukünftige Sturmwurfgefahr von Wäldern berechnet. Zu diesem Zweck werden die Eigenschaften der Wälder mit empirischen Schadensdaten eines vergangenen Sturmereignisses in Verbindung gebracht. Der sich daraus ergebende Sensitivitätswert wird anschließend mit den Windverhältnissen verknüpft. Sektorübergreifende Vulnerabilitätsstudien erfordern beträchtliche Ressourcen, was oft deren Anwendbarkeit erschwert. In einem nächsten Schritt wird daher das Potential einer Vereinfachung der Komplexität anhand zweier sektoraler Beispiele untersucht. Um das Auftreten von Waldbränden vorherzusagen, stehen zahlreiche meteorologische Indices zur Verfügung, welche eine Spannbreite unterschiedlicher Komplexitäten aufweisen. Bezüglich der Anzahl monatlicher Waldbrände weist die relative Luftfeuchtigkeit für die meisten deutschen Bundesländer eine bessere Vorhersagekraft als komplexere Indices auf. Dies ist er Fall, obgleich sie selbst als Eingangsvariable für die komplexeren Indices verwendet wird. Mit Hilfe dieses einzelnen meteorologischen Faktors kann also die Waldbrandgefahr in deutschen Region ausreichend genau ausgedrückt werden, was die Ressourceneffizienz von Studien erhöht. Die Methodenkomplexität wird auf ähnliche Weise hinsichtlich der Anwendung des ökohydrologischen Modells SWIM für die Region Brandenburg untersucht. Die interannuellen Bodenwasserwerte, welche durch dieses Modell simuliert werden, können nur unzureichend durch ein einfacheres statistisches Modell, welches auf denselben Eingangsdaten aufbaut, abgebildet werden. Innerhalb eines Zeithorizonts von Jahrzehnten, kann der statistische Ansatz jedoch das Bodenwasser zufriedenstellend abbilden und zeigt eine Dominanz der Bodeneigenschaft Feldkapazität. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die Komplexität im Hinblick auf die Anzahl der Eingangsvariablen für langfristige Berechnungen reduziert werden kann. Allerdings sind die Aussagen durch fehlende beobachtete Bodenwasserwerte zur Validierung beschränkt. Die vorliegenden Studien zur Vulnerabilität und ihren Komponenten haben gezeigt, dass eine Anwendung noch immer wissenschaftlich herausfordernd ist. Folgt man der hier verwendeten Vulnerabilitätsdefinition, treten zahlreiche Probleme bei der Implementierung in regionalen Studien auf. Mit dieser Dissertation wurden Fortschritte bezüglich der aufgezeigten Lücken bisheriger Studien erzielt, indem eine systematische Struktur für die Beschreibung und Aggregierung von Vulnerabilitätskomponenten erarbeitet wurde. Hierfür wurden mehrere Ansätze diskutiert, die jedoch Vor- und Nachteile besitzen. Diese sollten vor der Anwendung von zukünftigen Studien daher ebenfalls sorgfältig abgewogen werden. Darüber hinaus hat sich gezeigt, dass ein Potential besteht einige Ansätze zu vereinfachen, jedoch sind hierfür weitere Untersuchungen nötig. Insgesamt konnte die Dissertation die Anwendung von Vulnerabilitätsstudien als Werkzeug zur Unterstützung von Anpassungsmaßnahmen stärken.
The potential increase in frequency and magnitude of extreme floods is currently discussed in terms of global warming and the intensification of the hydrological cycle. The profound knowledge of past natural variability of floods is of utmost importance in order to assess flood risk for the future. Since instrumental flood series cover only the last ~150 years, other approaches to reconstruct historical and pre-historical flood events are needed. Annually laminated (varved) lake sediments are meaningful natural geoarchives because they provide continuous records of environmental changes > 10000 years down to a seasonal resolution. Since lake basins additionally act as natural sediment traps, the riverine sediment supply, which is preserved as detrital event layers in the lake sediments, can be used as a proxy for extreme discharge events. Within my thesis I examined a ~ 8.50 m long sedimentary record from the pre-Alpine Lake Mondsee (Northeast European Alps), which covered the last 7000 years. This sediment record consists of calcite varves and intercalated detrital layers, which range in thickness from 0.05 to 32 mm. Detrital layer deposition was analysed by a combined method of microfacies analysis via thin sections, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), μX-ray fluorescence (μXRF) scanning and magnetic susceptibility. This approach allows characterizing individual detrital event layers and assigning a corresponding input mechanism and catchment. Based on varve counting and controlled by 14C age dates, the main goals of this thesis are (i) to identify seasonal runoff processes, which lead to significant sediment supply from the catchment into the lake basin and (ii) to investigate flood frequency under changing climate boundary conditions. This thesis follows a line of different time slices, presenting an integrative approach linking instrumental and historical flood data from Lake Mondsee in order to evaluate the flood record inferred from Lake Mondsee sediments. The investigation of eleven short cores covering the last 100 years reveals the abundance of 12 detrital layers. Therein, two types of detrital layers are distinguished by grain size, geochemical composition and distribution pattern within the lake basin. Detrital layers, which are enriched in siliciclastic and dolomitic material, reveal sediment supply from the Flysch sediments and Northern Calcareous Alps into the lake basin. These layers are thicker in the northern lake basin (0.1-3.9 mm) and thinner in the southern lake basin (0.05-1.6 mm). Detrital layers, which are enriched in dolomitic components forming graded detrital layers (turbidites), indicate the provenance from the Northern Calcareous Alps. These layers are generally thicker (0.65-32 mm) and are solely recorded within the southern lake basin. In comparison with instrumental data, thicker graded layers result from local debris flow events in summer, whereas thin layers are deposited during regional flood events in spring/summer. Extreme summer floods as reported from flood layer deposition are principally caused by cyclonic activity from the Mediterranean Sea, e.g. July 1954, July 1997 and August 2002. During the last two millennia, Lake Mondsee sediments reveal two significant flood intervals with decadal-scale flood episodes, during the Dark Ages Cold Period (DACP) and the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) into the Little Ice Age (LIA) suggesting a linkage of transition to climate cooling and summer flood recurrences in the Northeastern Alps. In contrast, intermediate or decreased flood episodes appeared during the MWP and the LIA. This indicates a non-straightforward relationship between temperature and flood recurrence, suggesting higher cyclonic activity during climate transition in the Northeast Alps. The 7000-year flood chronology reveals 47 debris flows and 269 floods, with increased flood activity shifting around 3500 and 1500 varve yr BP (varve yr BP = varve years before present, before present = AD 1950). This significant increase in flood activity shows a coincidence with millennial-scale climate cooling that is reported from main Alpine glacier advances and lower tree lines in the European Alps since about 3300 cal. yr BP (calibrated years before present). Despite relatively low flood occurrence prior to 1500 varve yr BP, floods at Lake Mondsee could have also influenced human life in early Neolithic lake dwellings (5750-4750 cal. yr BP). While the first lake dwellings were constructed on wetlands, the later lake dwellings were built on piles in the water suggesting an early flood risk adaptation of humans and/or a general change of the Late Neolithic Culture of lake-dwellers because of socio-economic reasons. However, a direct relationship between the final abandonment of the lake dwellings and higher flood frequencies is not evidenced.
The study of outcrop modeling is located at the interface between two fields of expertise, Sedimentology and Computing Geoscience, which respectively investigates and simulates geological heterogeneity observed in the sedimentary record. During the last past years, modeling tools and techniques were constantly improved. In parallel, the study of Phanerozoic carbonate deposits emphasized the common occurrence of a random facies distribution along single depositional domain. Although both fields of expertise are intrinsically linked during outcrop simulation, their respective advances have not been combined in literature to enhance carbonate modeling studies. The present study re-examines the modeling strategy adapted to the simulation of shallow-water carbonate systems, based on a close relationship between field sedimentology and modeling capabilities. In the present study, the evaluation of three commonly used algorithms Truncated Gaussian Simulation (TGSim), Sequential Indicator Simulation (SISim), and Indicator Kriging (IK), were performed for the first time using visual and quantitative comparisons on an ideally suited carbonate outcrop. The results show that the heterogeneity of carbonate rocks cannot be fully simulated using one single algorithm. The operating mode of each algorithm involves capabilities as well as drawbacks that are not capable to match all field observations carried out across the modeling area. Two end members in the spectrum of carbonate depositional settings, a low-angle Jurassic ramp (High Atlas, Morocco) and a Triassic isolated platform (Dolomites, Italy), were investigated to obtain a complete overview of the geological heterogeneity in shallow-water carbonate systems. Field sedimentology and statistical analysis performed on the type, morphology, distribution, and association of carbonate bodies and combined with palaeodepositional reconstructions, emphasize similar results. At the basin scale (x 1 km), facies association, composed of facies recording similar depositional conditions, displays linear and ordered transitions between depositional domains. Contrarily, at the bedding scale (x 0.1 km), individual lithofacies type shows a mosaic-like distribution consisting of an arrangement of spatially independent lithofacies bodies along the depositional profile. The increase of spatial disorder from the basin to bedding scale results from the influence of autocyclic factors on the transport and deposition of carbonate sediments. Scale-dependent types of carbonate heterogeneity are linked with the evaluation of algorithms in order to establish a modeling strategy that considers both the sedimentary characteristics of the outcrop and the modeling capabilities. A surface-based modeling approach was used to model depositional sequences. Facies associations were populated using TGSim to preserve ordered trends between depositional domains. At the lithofacies scale, a fully stochastic approach with SISim was applied to simulate a mosaic-like lithofacies distribution. This new workflow is designed to improve the simulation of carbonate rocks, based on the modeling of each scale of heterogeneity individually. Contrarily to simulation methods applied in literature, the present study considers that the use of one single simulation technique is unlikely to correctly model the natural patterns and variability of carbonate rocks. The implementation of different techniques customized for each level of the stratigraphic hierarchy provides the essential computing flexibility to model carbonate systems. Closer feedback between advances carried out in the field of Sedimentology and Computing Geoscience should be promoted during future outcrop simulations for the enhancement of 3-D geological models.
The evolution of most orogens typically records cogenetic shortening and extension. Pervasive normal faulting in an orogen, however, has been related to late syn- and post-collisional stages of mountain building with shortening focused along the peripheral sectors of the orogen. While extensional processes constitute an integral part of orogenic evolution, the spatiotemporal characteristics and the kinematic linkage of structures related to shortening and extension in the core regions of the orogen are often not well known. Related to the India-Eurasia collision, the Himalaya forms the southern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and constitutes the most prominent Cenozoic type example of a collisional orogen. While thrusting is presently observed along the foothills of the orogen, several generations of extensional structures have been detected in the internal, high-elevation regions, both oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the strike of the orogen. In the NW Indian Himalaya, earthquake focal mechanisms, seismites and ubiquitous normal faulting in Quaternary deposits, and regional GPS measurements reveal ongoing E-W extension. In contrast to other extensional structures observed in the Himalaya, this extension direction is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the NE-SW regional shortening direction. In this study, I took advantage of this obliquity between the trend of the orogen and structures related to E-W oriented extension in order to address the question of the driving forces of different extension directions. Thus, extension might be triggered triggered by processes within the Tibetan Plateau or originates from the curvature of the Himalayan orogen. In order to elaborate on this topic, I present new fault-kinematic data based on systematic measurements of approximately 2000 outcrop-scale brittle fault planes with displacements of up to several centimeters that cover a large area of the NW Indian Himalaya. This new data set together with field observations relevant for relative chronology allows me to distinguish six different deformation styles. One of the main results are that the overall strain pattern derived from this data reflects the regionally important contractional deformation pattern very well, but also reveals significant extensional deformation. In total, I was able to identify six deformation styles, most of which are temporally and spatially linked and represent protracted shortening, but also significant extensional directions. For example, this is the first data set where a succession of both, arc-normal and E-W extension have been documented in the Himalaya. My observations also furnish the basis for a detailed overview of the younger extensional deformation history in the NW Indian Himalaya. Field and remote-sensing based geomorphic analyses, and geochronologic 40Ar/39Ar data on synkinematic muscovites along normal faults help elucidate widespread E-W extension in the NW Indian Himalaya which must have started at approximately 14-16 Ma, if not earlier. In addition, I documented and mapped fault scarps in Quaternary sedimentary deposits using satellite imagery and field inspection. Furthermore, I made field observations of regional normal faults, compiled structures from geological maps and put them in a regional context. Finally, I documented seismites in lake sediments close to the currently most active normal fault in the study area in order to extend the (paleo) seismic record of this particular fault. Taken together, this data sets document that E-W extension is the dominant active deformation style in the internal parts of the orogen. In addition, the combined field, geomorphic and remote-sensing data sets prove that E-W extension occurs in a much more larger region toward the south and west than the seismicity data have suggested. In conclusion, the data presented here reveal the importance of extension in a region, which is still dominated by ongoing collision and shortening. The regional fault distribution and cross-cutting relationships suggest that extension parallel and perpendicular to the strike of the orogen are an integral part of the southward propagation of the active thrust front and the associated lateral growth of the Himalayan arc. In the light of a wide range of models proposed for extension in the Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau, I propose that E-W extension in the NW Indian Himalaya is transferred from the Tibetan Plateau due the inability of the Karakorum fault (KF) to adequately accommodate ongoing E-W extension on the Tibetan Plateau. Furthermore, in line with other observations from Tibet, the onset of E-W normal faulting in the NW Himalaya may also reflect the attainment of high topography in this region, which generated crustal stresses conducive to spatially extensive extension.
Climate is the principal driving force of hydrological extremes like floods and attributing generating mechanisms is an essential prerequisite for understanding past, present, and future flood variability. Successively enhanced radiative forcing under global warming enhances atmospheric water-holding capacity and is expected to increase the likelihood of strong floods. In addition, natural climate variability affects the frequency and magnitude of these events on annual to millennial time-scales. Particularly in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, correlations between meteorological variables and hydrological indices suggest significant effects of changing climate boundary conditions on floods. To date, however, understanding of flood responses to changing climate boundary conditions is limited due to the scarcity of hydrological data in space and time. Exploring paleoclimate archives like annually laminated (varved) lake sediments allows to fill this gap in knowledge offering precise dated time-series of flood variability for millennia. During river floods, detrital catchment material is eroded and transported in suspension by fluid turbulence into downstream lakes. In the water body the transport capacity of the inflowing turbidity current successively diminishes leading to the deposition of detrital layers on the lake floor. Intercalated into annual laminations these detrital layers can be dated down to seasonal resolution. Microfacies analyses and X-ray fluorescence scanning (µ-XRF) at 200 µm resolution were conducted on the varved Mid- to Late Holocene interval of two sediment profiles from pre-alpine Lake Ammersee (southern Germany) located in a proximal (AS10prox) and distal (AS10dist) position towards the main tributary River Ammer. To shed light on sediment distribution within the lake, particular emphasis was (1) the detection of intercalated detrital layers and their micro-sedimentological features, and (2) intra-basin correlation of these deposits. Detrital layers were dated down to the season by microscopic varve counting and determination of the microstratigraphic position within a varve. The resulting chronology is verified by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of 14 terrestrial plant macrofossils. Since ~5500 varve years before present (vyr BP), in total 1573 detrital layers were detected in either one or both of the investigated sediment profiles. Based on their microfacies, geochemistry, and proximal-distal deposition pattern, detrital layers were interpreted as River Ammer flood deposits. Calibration of the flood layer record using instrumental daily River Ammer runoff data from AD 1926 to 1999 proves the flood layer succession to represent a significant time-series of major River Ammer floods in spring and summer, the flood season in the Ammersee region. Flood layer frequency trends are in agreement with decadal variations of the East Atlantic-Western Russia (EA-WR) atmospheric pattern back to 200 yr BP (end of the used atmospheric data) and solar activity back to 5500 vyr BP. Enhanced flood frequency corresponds to the negative EA-WR phase and reduced solar activity. These common links point to a central role of varying large-scale atmospheric circulation over Europe for flood frequency in the Ammersee region and suggest that these atmospheric variations, in turn, are likely modified by solar variability during the past 5500 years. Furthermore, the flood layer record indicates three shifts in mean layer thickness and frequency of different manifestation in both sediment profiles at ~5500, ~2800, and ~500 vyr BP. Combining information from both sediment profiles enabled to interpret these shifts in terms of stepwise increases in mean flood intensity. Likely triggers of these shifts are gradual reduction of Northern Hemisphere orbital summer forcing and long-term solar activity minima. Hypothesized atmospheric response to this forcing is hemispheric cooling that enhances equator-to-pole temperature gradients and potential energy in the troposphere. This energy is transferred into stronger westerly cyclones, more extreme precipitation, and intensified floods at Lake Ammersee. Interpretation of flood layer frequency and thickness data in combination with reanalysis models and time-series analysis allowed to reconstruct the flood history and to decipher flood triggering climate mechanisms in the Ammersee region throughout the past 5500 years. Flood frequency and intensity are not stationary, but influenced by multi-causal climate forcing of large-scale atmospheric modes on time-scales from years to millennia. These results challenge future projections that propose an increase in floods when Earth warms based only on the assumption of an enhanced hydrological cycle.
Within a research project about future sustainable water management options in the Elbe River basin, quasi-natural discharge scenarios had to be provided. The semi-distributed eco-hydrological model SWIM was utilised for this task. According to scenario simulations driven by the stochastical climate model STAR, the region would get distinctly drier. However, this thesis focuses on the challenge of meeting the requirement of high model fidelity even for smaller sub-basins. Usually, the quality of the simulations is lower at inner points than at the outlet. Four research paper chapters and the discussion chapter deal with the reasons for local model deviations and the problem of optimal spatial calibration. Besides other assessments, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method is applied to show whether evapotranspiration or precipitation should be corrected to minimise runoff deviations, principal component analysis is used in an unusual way to evaluate local precipitation alterations by land cover changes, and remotely sensed surface temperatures allow for an independent view on the evapotranspiration landscape. The overall insight is that spatially explicit hydrological modelling of such a large river basin requires a lot of local knowledge. It probably needs more time to obtain such knowledge as is usually provided for hydrological modelling studies.
The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) is one of the largest climate systems on earth and impacts the livelihood of nearly 40% of the world’s population. Despite dedicated efforts, a comprehensive picture of monsoon variability has proved elusive largely due to the absence of long term high resolution records, spatial inhomogeneity of the monsoon precipitation, and the complex forcing mechanisms (solar insolation, internal teleconnections for e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation, tropical-midlatitude interactions). My work aims to improve the understanding of monsoon variability through generation of long term high resolution palaeoclimate data from climatically sensitive regions in the ISM and westerlies domain. To achieve this aim I have (i) identified proxies (sedimentological, geochemical, isotopic, and mineralogical) that are sensitive to environmental changes; (ii) used the identified proxies to generate long term palaeoclimate data from two climatically sensitive regions, one in NW Himalayas (transitional westerlies and ISM domain in the Spiti valley and one in the core monsoon zone (Lonar lake) in central India); (iii) undertaken a regional overview to generate “snapshots” of selected time slices; and (iv) interpreted the spatial precipitation anomalies in terms of those caused by modern teleconnections. This approach must be considered only as the first step towards identifying the past teleconnections as the boundary conditions in the past were significantly different from today and would have impacted the precipitation anomalies. As the Spiti valley is located in the in the active tectonic orogen of Himalayas, it was essential to understand the role of regional tectonics to make valid interpretations of catchment erosion and detrital influx into the lake. My approach of using integrated structural/morphometric and geomorphic signatures provided clear evidence for active tectonics in this area and demonstrated the suitability of these lacustrine sediments as palaleoseismic archives. The investigations on the lacustrine outcrops in Spiti valley also provided information on changes in seasonality of precipitation and occurrence of frequent and intense periods (ca. 6.8-6.1 cal ka BP) of detrital influx indicating extreme hydrological events in the past. Regional comparison for this time slice indicates a possible extended “break-monsoon like” mode for the monsoon that favors enhanced precipitation over the Tibetan plateau, Himalayas and their foothills. My studies on surface sediments from Lonar lake helped to identify environmentally sensitive proxies which could also be used to interpret palaeodata obtained from a ca. 10m long core raised from the lake in 2008. The core encompasses the entire Holocene and is the first well dated (by 14C) archive from the core monsoon zone of central India. My identification of authigenic evaporite gaylussite crystals within the core sediments provided evidence of exceptionally drier conditions during 4.7-3.9 and 2.0-0.5 cal ka BP. Additionally, isotopic investigations on these crystals provided information on eutrophication, stratification, and carbon cycling processes in the lake.
Climatic variations and human activity now and increasingly in the future cause land cover changes and introduce perturbations in the terrestrial carbon reservoirs in vegetation, soil and detritus. Optical remote sensing and in particular Imaging Spectroscopy has shown the potential to quantify land surface parameters over large areas, which is accomplished by taking advantage of the characteristic interactions of incident radiation and the physico-chemical properties of a material. The objective of this thesis is to quantify key soil parameters, including soil organic carbon, using field and Imaging Spectroscopy. Organic carbon, iron oxides and clay content are selected to be analyzed to provide indicators for ecosystem function in relation to land degradation, and additionally to facilitate a quantification of carbon inventories in semiarid soils. The semiarid Albany Thicket Biome in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is chosen as study site. It provides a regional example for a semiarid ecosystem that currently undergoes land changes due to unadapted management practices and furthermore has to face climate change induced land changes in the future. The thesis is divided in three methodical steps. Based on reflectance spectra measured in the field and chemically determined constituents of the upper topsoil, physically based models are developed to quantify soil organic carbon, iron oxides and clay content. Taking account of the benefits limitations of existing methods, the approach is based on the direct application of known diagnostic spectral features and their combination with multivariate statistical approaches. It benefits from the collinearity of several diagnostic features and a number of their properties to reduce signal disturbances by influences of other spectral features. In a following step, the acquired hyperspectral image data are prepared for an analysis of soil constituents. The data show a large spatial heterogeneity that is caused by the patchiness of the natural vegetation in the study area that is inherent to most semiarid landscapes. Spectral mixture analysis is performed and used to deconvolve non-homogenous pixels into their constituent components. For soil dominated pixels, the subpixel information is used to remove the spectral influence of vegetation and to approximate the pure spectral signature coming from the soil. This step is an integral part when working in natural non-agricultural areas where pure bare soil pixels are rare. It is identified as the largest benefit within the multi-stage methodology, providing the basis for a successful and unbiased prediction of soil constituents from hyperspectral imagery. With the proposed approach it is possible (1) to significantly increase the spatial extent of derived information of soil constituents to areas with about 40 % vegetation coverage and (2) to reduce the influence of materials such as vegetation on the quantification of soil constituents to a minimum. Subsequently, soil parameter quantities are predicted by the application of the feature-based soil prediction models to the maps of locally approximated soil signatures. Thematic maps showing the spatial distribution of the three considered soil parameters in October 2009 are produced for the Albany Thicket Biome of South Africa. The maps are evaluated for their potential to detect erosion affected areas as effects of land changes and to identify degradation hot spots in regard to support local restoration efforts. A regional validation, carried out using available ground truth sites, suggests remaining factors disturbing the correlation of spectral characteristics and chemical soil constituents. The approach is developed for semiarid areas in general and not adapted to specific conditions in the study area. All processing steps of the developed methodology are implemented in software modules, where crucial steps of the workflow are fully automated. The transferability of the methodology is shown for simulated data of the future EnMAP hyperspectral satellite. Soil parameters are successfully predicted from these data despite intense spectral mixing within the lower spatial resolution EnMAP pixels. This study shows an innovative approach to use Imaging Spectroscopy for mapping of key soil constituents, including soil organic carbon, for large areas in a non-agricultural ecosystem and under consideration of a partially vegetation coverage. It can contribute to a better assessment of soil constituents that describe ecosystem processes relevant to detect and monitor land changes. The maps further provide an assessment of the current carbon inventory in soils, valuable for carbon balances and carbon mitigation products.
Assuming that liquid iron alloy from the outer core interacts with the solid silicate-rich lower mantle the influence on the core-mantle reflected phase PcP is studied. If the core-mantle boundary is not a sharp discontinuity, this becomes apparent in the waveform and amplitude of PcP. Iron-silicate mixing would lead to regions of partial melting with higher density which in turn reduces the velocity of seismic waves. On the basis of the calculation and interpretation of short-period synthetic seismograms, using the reflectivity and Gauss Beam method, a model space is evaluated for these ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs). The aim of this thesis is to analyse the behaviour of PcP between 10° and 40° source distance for such models using different velocity and density configurations. Furthermore, the resolution limits of seismic data are discussed. The influence of the assumed layer thickness, dominant source frequency and ULVZ topography are analysed. The Gräfenberg and NORSAR arrays are then used to investigate PcP from deep earthquakes and nuclear explosions. The seismic resolution of an ULVZ is limited both for velocity and density contrasts and layer thicknesses. Even a very thin global core-mantle transition zone (CMTZ), rather than a discrete boundary and also with strong impedance contrasts, seems possible: If no precursor is observable but the PcP_model /PcP_smooth amplitude reduction amounts to more than 10%, a very thin ULVZ of 5 km with a first-order discontinuity may exist. Otherwise, if amplitude reductions of less than 10% are obtained, this could indicate either a moderate, thin ULVZ or a gradient mantle-side CMTZ. Synthetic computations reveal notable amplitude variations as function of the distance and the impedance contrasts. Thereby a primary density effect in the very steep-angle range and a pronounced velocity dependency in the wide-angle region can be predicted. In view of the modelled findings, there is evidence for a 10 to 13.5 km thick ULVZ 600 km south-eastern of Moscow with a NW-SE extension of about 450 km. Here a single specific assumption about the velocity and density anomaly is not possible. This is in agreement with the synthetic results in which several models create similar amplitude-waveform characteristics. For example, a ULVZ model with contrasts of -5% VP , -15% VS and +5% density explain the measured PcP amplitudes. Moreover, below SW Finland and NNW of the Caspian Sea a CMB topography can be assumed. The amplitude measurements indicate a wavelength of 200 km and a height of 1 km topography, previously also shown in the study by Kampfmann and Müller (1989). Better constraints might be provided by a joined analysis of seismological data, mineralogical experiments and geodynamic modelling.
Growing populations, continued economic development, and limited natural resources are critical factors affecting sustainable development. These factors are particularly pertinent in developing countries in which large parts of the population live at a subsistence level and options for sustainable development are limited. Therefore, addressing sustainable land use strategies in such contexts requires that decision makers have access to evidence-based impact assessment tools that can help in policy design and implementation. Ex-ante impact assessment is an emerging field poised at the science-policy interface and is used to assess the potential impacts of policy while also exploring trade-offs between economic, social and environmental sustainability targets. The objective of this study was to operationalise the impact assessment of land use scenarios in the context of developing countries that are characterised by limited data availability and quality. The Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA) was selected for this study because it allows for the integration of various sustainability dimensions, the handling of complexity, and the incorporation of local stakeholder perceptions. FoPIA, which was originally developed for the European context, was adapted to the conditions of developing countries, and its implementation was demonstrated in five selected case studies. In each case study, different land use options were assessed, including (i) alternative spatial planning policies aimed at the controlled expansion of rural-urban development in the Yogyakarta region (Indonesia), (ii) the expansion of soil and water conservation measures in the Oum Zessar watershed (Tunisia), (iii) the use of land conversion and the afforestation of agricultural areas to reduce soil erosion in Guyuan district (China), (iv) agricultural intensification and the potential for organic agriculture in Bijapur district (India), and (v) land division and privatisation in Narok district (Kenya). The FoPIA method was effectively adapted by dividing the assessment into three conceptual steps: (i) scenario development; (ii) specification of the sustainability context; and (iii) scenario impact assessment. A new methodological approach was developed for communicating alternative land use scenarios to local stakeholders and experts and for identifying recommendations for future land use strategies. Stakeholder and expert knowledge was used as the main sources of information for the impact assessment and was complemented by available quantitative data. Based on the findings from the five case studies, FoPIA was found to be suitable for implementing the impact assessment at case study level while ensuring a high level of transparency. FoPIA supports the identification of causal relationships underlying regional land use problems, facilitates communication among stakeholders and illustrates the effects of alternative decision options with respect to all three dimensions of sustainable development. Overall, FoPIA is an appropriate tool for performing preliminary assessments but cannot replace a comprehensive quantitative impact assessment, and FoPIA should, whenever possible, be accompanied by evidence from monitoring data or analytical tools. When using FoPIA for a policy oriented impact assessment, it is recommended that the process should follow an integrated, complementary approach that combines quantitative models, scenario techniques, and participatory methods.
The past climate in central Asia, and especially on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is of great importance for an understanding of global climate processes and for predicting the future climate. As a major influence on the climate in this region, the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) and its evolutionary history are of vital importance for accurate predictions. However, neither the evolutionary pattern of the summer monsoon nor the driving mechanisms behind it are yet clearly understood. For this research, I first synthesized previously published Late Glacial to Holocene climatic records from monsoonal central Asia in order to extract the general climate signals and the associated summer monsoon intensities. New climate and vegetation sequences were then established using improved quantitative methods, focusing on fossil pollen records recovered from Tibetan lakes and also incorporating new modern datasets. The pollen-vegetation and vegetation-climate relationships on the TP were also evaluated in order to achieve a better understanding of fossil pollen records. The synthesis of previously published moisture-related palaeoclimate records in monsoonal central Asia revealed generally different temporal patterns for the two monsoonal subsystems, i.e. the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). The ISM appears to have experienced maximum wet conditions during the early Holocene, while many records from the area affected by the EASM indicate relatively dry conditions at that time, particularly in north-central China where the maximum moisture levels occurred during the middle Holocene. A detailed consideration of possible driving factors affecting the summer monsoon, including summer solar insolation and sea surface temperatures, revealed that the ISM was primarily driven by variations in northern hemisphere solar insolation, and that the EASM may have been constrained by the ISM resulting in asynchronous patterns of evolution for these two subsystems. This hypothesis is further supported by modern monsoon indices estimated using the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data from the last 50 years, which indicate a significant negative correlation between the two summer monsoon subsystems. By analogy with the early Holocene, intensification of the ISM during coming decades could lead to increased aridification elsewhere as a result of the asynchronous nature of the monsoon subsystems, as can already be observed in the meteorological data from the last 15 years. A quantitative climate reconstruction using fossil pollen records was achieved through analysis of sediment core recovered from Lake Donggi Cona (in the north-eastern part of the TP) which has been dated back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). A new data-set of modern pollen collected from large lakes in arid to semi-arid regions of central Asia is also presented herein. The concept of "pollen source area" was introduced to modern climate calibration based on pollen from large lakes, and was applied to the fossil pollen sequence from Lake Donggi Cona. Extremely dry conditions were found to have dominated the LGM, and a subsequent gradually increasing trend in moisture during the Late Glacial period was terminated by an abrupt reversion to a dry phase that lasted for about 1000 years and coincided with the first Heinrich Event of the northern Atlantic region. Subsequent periods corresponding to the warm Bølling-Allerød period and the Younger Dryas cold event were followed by moist conditions during the early Holocene, with annual precipitation of up to about 400 mm. A slightly drier trend after 9 cal ka BP was then followed by a second wet phase during the middle Holocene that lasted until 4.5 cal ka BP. Relatively steady conditions with only slight fluctuations then dominated the late Holocene, resulting in the present climatic conditions. In order to investigate the relationship between vegetation and climate, temporal variations in the possible driving factors for vegetation change on the northern TP were examined using a high resolution late Holocene pollen record from Lake Kusai. Moving-window Redundancy Analyses (RDAs) were used to evaluate the correlations between pollen assemblages and individual sedimentary proxies. These analyses have revealed frequent fluctuations in the relative abundances of alpine steppe and alpine desert components, and in particular a decrease in the total vegetation cover at around 1500 cal a BP. The climate was found to have had an important influence on vegetation changes when conditions were relatively wet and stable. However, after the 1500 cal a BP threshold in vegetation cover was crossed the vegetation appears to have been affected more by extreme events such as dust storms or fluvial erosion than by the general climatic trends. In addition, pollen spectra over the last 600 years have been revealed by Procrustes analysis to be significantly different from those recovered from older samples, which is attributed to an increased human impact that resulted in unprecedented changes to the composition of the vegetation. Theoretical models that have been developed and widely applied to the European area (i.e. the Extended R-Value (ERV) model and the Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model) have been applied to the high alpine TP ecosystems in order to investigate the pollen-vegetation relationships, as well as for quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance. The modern pollen–vegetation relationships for four common pollen species on the TP have been investigated using Poaceae as the reference taxa. The ERV Submodel 2 yielded relatively high PPEs for the steppe and desert taxa (Artemisia Chenopodiaceae), and low PPEs for the Cyperaceae that are characteristic of the alpine Kobresia meadows. The plant abundances on the central and north-eastern TP were quantified by applying these PPEs to four post-Late Glacial fossil pollen sequences. The reconstructed vegetation assemblages for the four pollen sequences always yielded smaller compositional species turnovers than suggested by the pollen spectra, indicating that the strength of the previously-reported vegetation changes may therefore have been overestimated. In summary, the key findings of this thesis are that (a) the two ASM subsystems show asynchronous patterns during both the Holocene and modern time periods, (b) fossil pollen records from large lakes reflect regional signals for which the pollen source areas need to be taken into account, (c) climate is not always the main driver for vegetation change, and (d) previously reported vegetation changes on the TP may have been overestimated because they ignored inter-species variations in pollen productivity.
Tectonic and geological processes on Earth often result in structural anisotropy of the subsurface, which can be imaged by various geophysical methods. In order to achieve appropriate and realistic Earth models for interpretation, inversion algorithms have to allow for an anisotropic subsurface. Within the framework of this thesis, I analyzed a magnetotelluric (MT) data set taken from the Cape Fold Belt in South Africa. This data set exhibited strong indications for crustal anisotropy, e.g. MT phases out of the expected quadrant, which are beyond of fitting and interpreting with standard isotropic inversion algorithms. To overcome this obstacle, I have developed a two-dimensional inversion method for reconstructing anisotropic electrical conductivity distributions. The MT inverse problem represents in general a non-linear and ill-posed minimization problem with many degrees of freedom: In isotropic case, we have to assign an electrical conductivity value to each cell of a large grid to assimilate the Earth's subsurface, e.g. a grid with 100 x 50 cells results in 5000 unknown model parameters in an isotropic case; in contrast, we have the sixfold in an anisotropic scenario where the single value of electrical conductivity becomes a symmetric, real-valued tensor while the number of the data remains unchanged. In order to successfully invert for anisotropic conductivities and to overcome the non-uniqueness of the solution of the inverse problem it is necessary to use appropriate constraints on the class of allowed models. This becomes even more important as MT data is not equally sensitive to all anisotropic parameters. In this thesis, I have developed an algorithm through which the solution of the anisotropic inversion problem is calculated by minimization of a global penalty functional consisting of three entries: the data misfit, the model roughness constraint and the anisotropy constraint. For comparison, in an isotropic approach only the first two entries are minimized. The newly defined anisotropy term is measured by the sum of the square difference of the principal conductivity values of the model. The basic idea of this constraint is straightforward. If an isotropic model is already adequate to explain the data, there is no need to introduce electrical anisotropy at all. In order to ensure successful inversion, appropriate trade-off parameters, also known as regularization parameters, have to be chosen for the different model constraints. Synthetic tests show that using fixed trade-off parameters usually causes the inversion to end up by either a smooth model with large RMS error or a rough model with small RMS error. Using of a relaxation approach on the regularization parameters after each successful inversion iteration will result in smoother inversion model and a better convergence. This approach seems to be a sophisticated way for the selection of trade-off parameters. In general, the proposed inversion method is adequate for resolving the principal conductivities defined in horizontal plane. Once none of the principal directions of the anisotropic structure is coincided with the predefined strike direction, only the corresponding effective conductivities, which is the projection of the principal conductivities onto the model coordinate axes direction, can be resolved and the information about the rotation angles is lost. In the end the MT data from the Cape Fold Belt in South Africa has been analyzed. The MT data exhibits an area (> 10 km) where MT phases over 90 degrees occur. This part of data cannot be modeled by standard isotropic modeling procedures and hence can not be properly interpreted. The proposed inversion method, however, could not reproduce the anomalous large phases as desired because of losing the information about rotation angles. MT phases outside the first quadrant are usually obtained by different anisotropic anomalies with oblique anisotropy strike. In order to achieve this challenge, the algorithm needs further developments. However, forward modeling studies with the MT data have shown that surface highly conductive heterogeneity in combination with a mid-crustal electrically anisotropic zone are required to fit the data. According to known geological and tectonic information the mid-crustal zone is interpreted as a deep aquifer related to the fractured Table Mountain Group rocks in the Cape Fold Belt.