Ground deformations (e.g., landslide and subsidence) have substantially risen recently around Penang Island, Malaysia. The development of hillslopes for rapid urbanisation and heavy rainfall has detrimental impacts on Penang Island soil layers. Modelling, simulation, and the development of susceptibility maps were past methods used to predict potential ground deformations of Penang Island. There is no published work on the Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique, where ground deformation of the region has been holistically studied. This work integrates the Persistent Scatterer InSAR (PS-InSAR) technique with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to monitor the deformation on the island and identify possible subsurface causes for the disturbance. Twenty-four descending Sentinel-1A datasets acquired between 14th July 2017 and 13th October 2018 were processed to monitor and map ground deformation areas with a focus on three selected regions- Batu Feringghi (BF), Paya Terubong (PT), and Tanjung Bungah (TB), where multiple landslides occurred between 2017 and 2018. InSAR results were later analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) tool and validated by the available Global Positioning System (GPS) analysis. InSAR analyses reveal the mean deformation values of -3.13 mm/yr, -2.76 mm/yr and -4.77 mm/yr for the BF, PT, and TB areas. GPR surveys were conducted with a 300/800 MHz dual-frequency antenna at the three selected study areas. Anomalies (wall cracks, road fissures, cavities, drains, and pipes) detected using GPR profiles correlated well with the permanent scatterer points calculated using the InSAR technique., Kazeem Olukunle Rauff and Ismail Ahmad Abir., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Rana Gruber iron oxide mining company in Norway has started to develop a new underground production level in order to continue operation in the Kvannevann mine. The planned change of mining system to sub-level caving (SLC) involves the removal of protective pillars below the former Kvannevann open-pit. Surface deformation on the hanging-wall and footwall sides of the deposit and caving of rock into the old pit is expected. When uncontrolled, this represents a threat to the underground mining operation below the open-pit. Trial removal of the protective pillar in the western part of the deposit has already caused fracturing of the rock mass on the hanging-wall side. Therefore, with the aim to monitor and control the rock mass deformation process in this area and ensure safe operation of the mine, a monitoring system based on periodic total station and GPS measurements in a three-tier control-measurement network has been developed and tested. In this paper the concept of this system, results of field work and recommendations for the system implementation is presented. The proposed concept has been used to implement a real system in the mine., Jan Blachowski, Steinar Ellefmo and Erik Ludvigsen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Hg(II) ions dissolved in aqueous solutions were adsorbed by montmorillonite (MMT). The Hg(II) ion-exchange was strongly limited by the competition with H+ ions: the maximal amounts of adsorbed Hg(II) and H+ ions were 0.21 mmol g-1 and 1.10 mmol g-1, respectively. MMTs saturated with Hg(II) (Hg-MMTs) were examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermal analysis. Hg(II) ions, such as Hg2+ and [Hg(OH)+], along with H+ ones were mostly adsorbed on permanent sites (75 % of cation exchange capacity (CEC)) and also on pH dependent surface sites (25 % of CEC). While heating, Hg-MMTs was loosing their mass up to 700 °C as a result of the MMT dehydration and dehydroxylation accompanied by release of adsorbed Hg(II)., Petr Praus, Marcela Motáková and Michal Ritz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the Earth crust is composed of 14 to 16 major independent segments - tectonic plates. These plates are in motion relative to one another. Not all the plate boundaries are exactly defined. The paper focuses on the behaviour of tectonic plates in the collision zones. Space geodesy techniques allow us to determine precise positions and velocities of the sites on the Earth surface. The global horizontal motions of the tectonic plates were derived from the coordinates and velocities of the stations defining the International Terrestrial Reference Frame - ITRF 2005 which is based on these techniques. The method described in (Kostelecký and Zeman, 2000) was employed. In the Mediterranean area, which is a contact area between the Eurasian, the Arabian and the African plate, also relative movements of the points located along the plate boundaries were computed. Further, a continuum mechanics approach was applied to detect surface deformations on the European continent and around collision zones between the tectonic plates all over the globe., Miluše Šnajdrová and Jan Kostelecký., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Moravia territory has been the subject of geokinematic investigation within scope of several realized research projects and repeated GPS campaigns since 1992. The monitoring has been concentrated on all the Moravia region as well as on particular areas of interest concerning the eventual possible geodynamic changes (Králický Sněžník Massif, Diendorf-Čebín Tectonic Zone (DCTZ) and others). At present time all the territory is covered by several tenths of permanent and epoch GNSS stations. Long observation time series at permanent stations alone are not sufficient for delivering the regional velocity field of sufficient density. On the other hand, epoch stations are more densely spread but periods of repeated observations are less frequent and often the data processing is not homogeneous. In the paper the preliminary kinematic model is briefly described which gives for the first time the general view of movement tendencies at the region of Moravia. On base of long-term monitoring it shows that the Southern Moravia region is more active then it was supposed., Lubomil Pospíšil, Otakar Švábenský and Josef Weigel., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The GRACE satellites have provided gravity field solutions with approximately monthly resolution since April 2002. The monthly solutions enable investigations of the annual, semi-annual and secular mass variations, which mainly occur in a thin layer of the Earth’s surface. By the end of the GRACE science mission in 2017, the time span has increased to 15 years, making the possibility of determining longer-period variations feasible. First attempts to determine multi-annual variations, i.e. periods of some years but less than 10, are presented in this study. A combination of 3 different PSD estimation methods has been used for identifying the regions of multi-annual mass variations. As a result, 8 different areas have been found with significant multi-annual mass variations. The source of multi-annual mass variations in most detected regions can be identified as related to the ENSO cycle. and Kiss Annamária, Földváry Lóránt.
UK-Slovenian collaborative research connected to EU COST-Action 625 began in 2003 and has involved interdisciplinary research into the current activity, structural architecture and landscape expression of the Ravne and Idrija strike-slip fault systems in NW Slovenia. The Ravne fault may be the best exposed actively propagating strike-slip fault system in Europe and through combined structural fieldwork, earthquake seismology and airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) surveys, a new understanding of the fault’s along-strike segmentation, three dimensional geometry and stepover zone kinematics has been gained. The Idrija Fault in contrast, is poorly exposed, but defines a regional lineament with an intensely brecciated fault core; it may have been responsible for the largest historical earthquake to have ever affected the region. High-resolution LiDAR images recently obtained for both fault systems allow for efficient focussed fieldwork and future work will be devoted to documenting the timing of previous earthquakes and the connectivity and displacement transfer between active faults at the NE corner of the Adria microplate., Dickson Cunningham, Andrej Gosar, Vanja Kastelic, Stephen Grebby and Kevin Tansey., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The aim of the paper is to present the results of measurements of 40K, 208Tl, 212Pb, 214Pb, 214Bi and 228Ac activity concentrations of selected rocks co llected from the contact zone of the Karkonosze massif with the Szklarska Poręba schist-belt. Activity concentrations were obtained using a gamma-ray spectrometry system. Determined activity concentrations of 40K and nuclides from 238U and 232Th series in measured samples were compared with average activity concentrations of these radionuclides in the continental crust and in the soil and with data concerning investigated area available in the selected literature. In all rock samples very high activity concentrations associated with decay of 232Th and 238U series were observed. These values twice exceed the average activity concentrations refer to continental crust and are distinctly higher than activity concentrations measured in typical rocks of the Izera block., Aleksandra Bieda and Grzegorz Lizurek., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The paper describes the results of Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI) study of Sambia peninsula. The idea of this work was to verify the hypothesis whether any terrain surface deformation that occur in Sambia area, could be interpreted as related to tectonic processes. Moreover, if any movements are detected what is their relationship to the 21 September 2004 earthquake? To answer these questions SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data from European satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 acquired from 1992 to 2001 were processed with interferometric techniques to archive independent data about terrain surface deformation. The obtained results - 4 sets of PS (Persistent Scatterers) points with calculated movement velocities (mm/yr) according to linear model were compared with published results of terrestrial measurements. The analysis of PS results confirms the occurrence of terrain deformations of tectonic origin of few mm/yr. The distribution of deformation velocities suggest its relationship to the recent activity occurring along two E-W trending seismoactive sub-zones located along Pregola river valley and possibly in the northern coast of Sambia Peninsula., Zbigniew Perski and Marek Mróz., and Obsahuje bibliografii