European Plain Research Articles

Characteristics of spring Mongolian cyclones in the recent 70 years: Background circulations and weather influences

AbstractBased on the fifth‐generation reanalysis (ERA5) data of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), spring Mongolian cyclones were examined from 1950 to 2023. Then, based on the feature parameters of activity path information, machine learning method (k‐means) is used to classify the trajectories of spring Mongolian cyclone. Subsequently, the atmospheric circulation configurations of the three categories of Mongolian cyclones and their influence on the weather in China verify the reasonability of the classification method. Specifically: (1) eastward moving type, affecting Inner Mongolia and Northeast China (Clus‐1). The circulation background of the Clus‐1 cyclone displays a broad negative geopotential height anomaly centre over East Asia; (2) northeastward moving type, affecting northeast part of Northeast China (Clus‐2). The circulation background of the Clus‐2 cyclones shows a “positive–negative–positive” distribution of circulation anomalies in the European Plain, Lake Baikal and the Sea of Japan; (3) southeastward moving type, this type can move to the south of China (Clus‐3). The circulation background of the Clus‐3 cyclones is opposite to that of the Clus‐2 cyclones. The three categories of Mongolian cyclones will cause dust weather and strong winds in different regions of China, mainly affecting Inner Mongolia and Northeast China.

Reconstructing parameters of the Holocene paleofloods in alluvial lowland river valleys – An example from the Bug valley (East Poland)

One of the ways to improve the accuracy of hydrological forecasts is to extend the data strings with the parameters of the maximum flows in the river from the period preceding their instrumental recording. The reconstruction of such parameters is difficult in the case of alluvial river valleys, mainly due to the difficulties in determining the shape of the channel cross-section. The article proposes a method for reconstructing extreme Holocene paleo-flow in the case of large alluvial rivers in the European Plain. It is based on identifying specific features of the geological structure of the valley, as well as elements of its bottom morphology, which can act as high water marks (HWM). The research was carried out in the section of the Bug valley, a large lowland river flowing through Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland.In the valley reach under analysis, the cross-section of the high water channel is determined by: the surface of the resistant to erosion sub-alluvial bedrock protrusion built of glacial till, and traces of flood erosion on the Pleistocene terraces, including traces of dune washouts. The age of the paleo-flow was determined by means of the C14 dating of sediments filling the flood erosion troughs. Due to the limited number of tests, the reconstructed maximum flow values are subject to uncertainty. Yet, even quite uncertain the reconstructed paleofloods may result in a significant improvement in the estimates of high quantiles using the flood frequency analysis, or at least allow to prepare for the floods not recorded by the monitoring system. In consequence, increasing the number of measurement points, and thus improving the correctness of the determination of paleo channels cross-sections, may contribute to a significant reduction in the uncertainty of the obtained paleo-flow values.

How Wood Quality Can Be Shaped: Results of 70 Years of Experience

This experiment was conducted in the pine woods of central Europe at a research area established in 1951. The experimental area of 1.35 ha was set up in a 14-year-old pine tree stand, which was divided into lots, and the pruning procedure took place in different variants. Some lots constituted control lots without pruned trees. The trees were pruned in four variants, reducing the living tree crown by 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3 of its length. The study’s main aim was to determine the influence of pruning forest trees on the tree tissue. Moreover, the study attempted to answer whether pruning was a significant procedure for wood valorisation, and if yes, then which variant was the optimal one for Scots pine growing on the European plain. The results indicated a significant impact of pruning young pine tree stands on the properties of wood tissue, which differed regarding the adopted pruning variant. Significant differences in the width of annual rings, the size of the particular areas of the annual rings (latewood or earlywood), and the wood density depending on the pruning variant were observed. Furthermore, the results indicated that pruning induced numerous processes, which optimised the physiological and mechanical functions of the tree trunks. The outcome of this optimisation was, among others, the diversification of the vascular and strengthening area of the annual ring as well as the wood density, which was a reaction to reducing a part of the assimilation apparatus. From the technical wood value viewpoint, the optimal pruning variant for pine was between 1/3 to 1/2 of the living crown.

Eemian landscape response to climatic shifts and evidence for northerly Neanderthal occupation at a palaeolake margin in northern Germany

AbstractThe prevailing view suggests that the Eemian interglacial on the European Plain was characterized by largely negligible geomorphic activity beyond the coastal areas. However, systematic geomorphological studies are sparse. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of Eemian to Early Weichselian landscape evolution in the vicinity of a small fingerlake on the northern margin of the Salzwedel Palaeolake in Lower Saxony (Germany). We apply a combination of seismics, sediment coring, pollen analysis and luminescence dating on a complex sequence of colluvial, paludal and lacustrine sediments. Results suggest two pronounced phases of geomorphic activity, directly before the onset and at the end of the Eemian period, with an intermediate period of pronounced landscape stability. The dynamic phases were largely driven by incomplete vegetation cover, but likely accentuated by fluvial incision in the neighbouring Elbe Valley. Furthermore, we discovered Neanderthal occupation at the lakeshore during Eemian pollen zone (PZ) E IV, which is chronologically in line with other known Eemian sites of central Europe. Our highly‐resolved spatio‐temporal data substantially contribute to the understanding of climate‐induced geomorphic processes throughout and directly after the last interglacial period. It helps unraveling the landscape dynamics between the coastal areas to the north and the loess belt to the south.

Cremation Burials of Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers on the European Plain

Cremation burials of Stone Age hunter-gatherers were found at 21 sites across the European Plain (including southern Scandinavia). In total, there are 54 graves and deposits containing bones of at least 89 individuals. Sites with Mesolithic cremations are unevenly spread over the European Plain and there are some regions where this type of burial was more common, such as the Seine Valley and the Low Countries, southern Scandinavia or north-eastern Poland. In all of these regions, the oldest burials are dated to the Early Mesolithic, which indicates a parallel and independent origin of this custom. Moreover, each region or even cemetery has its own features of the cremation rite. In both the Western European Plain and southern Scandinavia, most burials are dated to the Middle Mesolithic and there are only a few examples linked to the Late Mesolithic. North-eastern Poland, including the Dudka cemetery, is probably the only region where cremation was practised on a wider scale in the Late Mesolithic and para-Neolithic. The share of cremations among all burial types differs between regions and cemeteries. It was probably a dominant practice in the Middle Mesolithic in the Netherlands. In other cases, cremation probably involved a large part of the local hunter-gatherer society, for instance at the Dudka cemetery in Masuria or in the Middle Mesolithic of Vedbæk Fiord (Zealand), whereas at the cemeteries in Skateholm it amounted to only a few percent, suggesting that it was practised in the case of the deceased of particular status or in unusual circumstances only.

Finding a rare gem: Identification of a wild biological unit with high potential for European perch larviculture

Potential for aquaculture can differ among allopatric wild populations of a species of interest. This makes relevant to seek best candidates for fish farming at the intraspecific level. Here, we compare the aquaculture potential among allopatric population groups of the European perch, a species of interest for fish farming. More specifically, we aim at finding population groups with the best performance in larviculture through an integrative approach that allows considering geographic differentiation in domestication processes. A multi-function/trait assessment was performed on three genetically differentiated groups of European perch populations: (i) Danube, (ii) Eastern Europe, and (iii) European Plain. A geographic differentiation was highlighted for six important traits for perch larviculture: survival rate, swim bladder inflation rate, deformity rate, length at hatching, mean of interindividual distances, and change in activity following a stress event. Along with fish farmer-advice-based weighting of the traits, the calculation of an aquaculture potential score allowed identifying the populations from the Danube region as the most interesting to potentially overcome current bottlenecks in European perch larviculture.

Late Glacial environment and human settlement of the Central Western Carpathians: A case study of the Nowa Biała 1 open-air site (Podhale Region, southern Poland)

Nowa Biała 1 is a unique site of the Federmesser culture in the area of Carpathian Mountains, and also one of the few Final Palaeolithic sites known from this territory. From taxonomic point of view the artefacts represent the Federmesser culture as an element of Arch-backed points technocomplex (APT) – well known from the European Plain and practically quite unknown from the mountains till now. Hunters’ camp, with the dwelling structure and workshop, was situated on a terrace of the Białka River close to its gorge, and in the proximity of a rocky hill (the Obłazowa Rock) – which itself was a great observation spot. The cultural layer found in the site was connected with an initial soil, the presence of which was observed within the aeolian loess-like deposits. Thie age of pedogenic processes (based on OSL dating) was undoubtedly younger than 14.7 ka and older than 11 ka. Radiocarbon dating suggests the Late Allerød age of the site. The present paper contains the results of fieldwork as well as geological and palaeobotanical analyses, provided data on the natural environment at the time when prehistoric hunters settled and also in the preceding period.According to study results, in the Late Glacial, during the time of this settlement in the vicinity of the Białka River gorge the patches of coniferous forests grew, in the valley habitats – alder and willow, and mires formed in the wetlands, rocky hills were covered with open plant communities with steppe and tundra elements. Variability of surrounding environs resulted in diversity of animal species and allowed Final Palaeolithic people to explore differentiated geoecosystems. Access to water and possibility of fishing was provided by the proximity of the river.

Особенности послойной изменчивости интегральных физико-химических пара- метров снежного покрова в среднетаежной зоне на северо-востоке Европейской равнины

Особенности послойной изменчивости интегральных физико-химических пара- метров снежного покрова в среднетаежной зоне на северо-востоке Европейской равнины

Climate induced human demographic and cultural change in northern Europe during the mid-Holocene

The transition from hunter-gatherer-fisher groups to agrarian societies is arguably the most significant change in human prehistory. In the European plain there is evidence for fully developed agrarian societies by 7,500 cal. yr BP, yet a well-established agrarian society does not appear in the north until 6,000 cal. yr BP for unknown reasons. Here we show a sudden increase in summer temperature at 6,000 cal. yr BP in northern Europe using a well-dated, high resolution record of sea surface temperature (SST) from the Baltic Sea. This temperature rise resulted in hypoxic conditions across the entire Baltic sea as revealed by multiple sedimentary records and supported by marine ecosystem modeling. Comparison with summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites indicate that this temperature rise coincided with both the introduction of farming, and a dramatic population increase. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the boundary of farming rapidly extended north at 6,000 cal. yr BP because terrestrial conditions in a previously marginal region improved.

Hydro-hygrophilous vegetation diversity and distribution patterns in riverine wetlands in an agricultural landscape: a case study from the Oglio River (Po Plain, Northern Italy)

In the European plains, up to eighty percent of riverine wetlands have been lost due to alteration of hydrological regime and catchment exploitation. This condition is expected to be further negatively exacerbated by climate change. To better understand the observed change in distribution patterns of hydro-hygrophilous vegetation in temperate and Mediterranean floodplains, a vegetation survey was conducted within the lower Oglio River reach in Northern Italy. This river is a mid-size, altered and nutrient-rich left tributary of the Po River. During the 2008 growing season, a total of 60 marginal aquatic habitats were investigated. Overall, 37 vegetation communities were detected, showing a clear predominance of hygrophilous herbaceous plant communities both in terms of representativeness (55.1%) and diversity (54.1%) with respect to woody (22.9% and 10.8%, respectively), and obligate aquatic vegetation (22.0% and 35.1%, respectively). Our main findings were (1) the widespread presence of highly opportunistic, non-native and invasive hygrophilous plant communities (largely dominated by Amorpha fruticosa, Phragmites australis s.l., Amaranthus spp., Bidens spp., and Cyperus spp.), and (2) the limited distribution of hydrophyte vegetation usually dominated by pleustophytes (e.g., Spirodela polyrhiza and Lemna spp.). The present study confirms the dominance of secondary plant communities characterized by the widespread presence of alien species in lowland over-exploited riverscapes, coupled with a low local representativeness of native willow (Salix alba, S. cinerea) communities and anchored macrophyte (batrachid, ceratophyllid, elodeid, myriophyllid) meadows. Total vegetation diversity is consistent with previous studies in similar ecological contexts; on the other hand, at the site scale, the diversity values were extremely low. This is especially true for the aquatic vegetation, and can be related to the high water turbidity and chlorophyll-a concentrations that prevent the establishment and colonization of submerged and rooted hydrophytes. Consequently, we stress the need for metabolic and biogeochemical indicators to assess the actual trophic status of lowland wetlands in order to clarify their potential to be restored.

The Role of Meteorological Factor in Long-Term Variability of the River Streamflow of the Territory of North of the Russian (East European) Plain

As is well-known, the river stream-flow as the main source of water resources, is formed and changed under the influence of climate conditions and physiographic characteristics of watershed basins. Snow storage, liquid precipitation in the period of snow-melt flood, degree of moisture of the area, etc. are the main hydro-climatic factors determining the amount of the annual river flow. On the territory under consideration, in this case the region of the North of the Russian Plain is selected as which, flow fluctuations are well-defined as a result of changes in space and time of the main forming it factors and, mainly, the meteorological factor. In this regard, the main objective of the work is to find the connection between rainfall and river flow, as well as to identify patterns of spatial and temporal changes of river flow and precipitation. During the study, the authors identified the dependencies between precipitation and the layer of the run-off in hydrological seasons. In particular, the closest connection was established between precipitation and the flow of summer-autumn period, where the correlation coefficient (r) for posts of Soyana - Soyana, Mudyug - Patrakeevskaya is r = 0,7 – 0,8, reaching r = 0,9 (Codina - Codino). Comparison of precipitation of the winter-spring period and the spring run-off did not reveal very close connection, except the site location of Sysola - Pervomajskij (the basin of the Northern Dvina), where r = 0,86. It is determined that during a year there are two maxima and two minima in the distribution of precipitation, while in the overland runoff they do not fully coincide with precipitation in time. Synchronous increase of share of precipitation and runoff was observed from May to July and in October, except August (precipitation) and April (run-off), where these periods did not coincide. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p256

Non-Orthogonal Option Pricing

This paper introduces an option pricing algorithm based on non-orthogonal series expansion methods. More precisely, Gabor frame decomposition is used to split the risk neutral option pricing formula into the sum of two inner products that can be evaluated efficiently by means of Parseval's theorem on complex Fourier series. The first inner product is hereby based on the stochastic process that is assumed to drive the underlying asset and the second one depends on the type of options contract to be priced. We consider European style plain vanilla call and put options as well as binary options.

Lateglacial/early Holocene fluvial reactions of the Jeetzel river (Elbe valley, northern Germany) to abrupt climatic and environmental changes

Mechanisms of climatic control on river system development are still only partially known. Palaeohydrological investigations from river valleys often lack a precise chronological control of climatic processes and fluvial dynamics, which is why their specific forces remain unclear. In this multidisciplinary case study from the middle Elbe river valley (northern Germany) multiple dating of sites (palynostratigraphy, radiocarbon- and OSL-dating) and high-resolution analyses of environmental and climatological proxies (pollen, plant macro-remains and ostracods) reveal a continuous record of the environmental and fluvial history from the Lateglacial to the early Holocene. Biostratigraphical correlation to northwest European key sites shows that river system development was partially out of phase with the main climatic shifts. The transition from a braided to an incised channel system predated the main phase of Lateglacial warming (∼14.6 ka BP), and the meandering river did not change its drainage pattern during the cooling of the Younger-Dryas period. Environmental reconstructions suggest that river dynamics were largely affected by vegetation cover, as a vegetation cover consisting of herbs, dwarf-shrubs and a few larger shrubs seems to have developed before the onset of the main Lateglacial warming, and pine forests appear to have persisted in the river valley during the Younger Dryas. In addition, two phases of high fluvial activity and new channel incision during the middle part of the Younger Dryas and during the Boreal were correlated with changes from dry towards wet climatic conditions, as indicated by evident lake level rises. Lateglacial human occupation in the river valley, which is shown by numerous Palaeolithic sites, forming one of the largest settlement areas of that period known in the European Plain, is assigned to the specific fluvial and environmental conditions of the early Allerød.

The spatial organization of winter bird communities in the East European and West Siberian plains

The main trends in the territorial changes in winter bird communities and the environmental factors determining them were analyzed based on long-term counts in the East European and West Siberian plains. These trends are reduced to a decline in the winter avian complexes (in the number of species and individuals) in the north- and eastward directions and with a decrease in the degree of sheltering and feed reserves in the habitats associated with reduction in afforestation. The specific regional features of winter East European avian complexes are the larger number of species and individuals in the nemoral forest, forest-steppe, and steppe landscapes, and inland water bodies as compared with the West Siberian avian complexes, as well as an increased influence of the degree of development and agricultural transformation of landscapes.

Correspondence of vegetation boundaries to redox barriers in a Northern European moraine plain

Abstract Little attention has been devoted to the investigation of the formation and functioning of ecotones at the interfaces between the upland and riparian zones. The margins of riparian mires act as redox geochemical barriers. Such biogeochemical hot spots retain elements that have leached from upland soils, favouring the growth of mesomorphic plants in hydromorphic soils. This paper aims to clarify the correspondence of vegetation borders to horizontal redox barriers of a Northern European moraine plain in Estonia. 24 random transects were surveyed on the moraine plain, sampled across sharp soil moisture boundaries as proxies of redox barriers. The shifts in vegetation perpendicular to the boundaries were investigated. Curves of Euclidean distance were computed by moving a 20 m split-window along transects. The curves showed peaks of high dissimilarity a few metres below the redox barriers in the sites of natural soil moisture. In artificially drained sites, the relict redox barriers poorly corresponded to the vegetation borders. We conclude that in the studied moraine plain, the vegetation boundaries between riparian mires and uplands correspond to the redox barriers. The same can be set as a hypothesis for Northern European moraine plains. Related ecotones can be observed on the footslopes, revealing redox barrier in the landscape and related hot spots in cultural landscapes. In field margins, the redox barriers and corresponding ecotones occur below cultivation terraces. The ecotones may represent functional boundaries for delineating wetlands. Man-made drainage removes soil redox barriers and corresponding vegetation boundaries, making the landscape uniform and therefore vulnerable to disturbances. As a management implication, footslope ecotones should be preserved in their natural condition.

THE EFFECT OF A DRY AND A WET SUMMER ON THE THERMAL AND SALINITY STRUCTURE OF THE MIDDLE AND UPPER REACHES OF THE KEISKAMMA ESTUARY, CISKEI

SUMMARY Changes in the thermal and salinity structure were recorded in the Keiskamma estuary during a dry (1979–80) and a wet (1980–81) summer respectively. In the dry summer the estuary was homogeneous with respect to salinity and temperature, whereas in the wet summer it was markedly heterogeneous. These highly variable conditions are discussed in relation to those found in American, European and Australian coastal plain estuaries.

Short Reviews

THE part of Central Asia formerly known vaguely as Russian Turkestan and now comprising several autonomous republics of the Soviet Union is little known and is treated mainly in books which lack recent information. For the main part, it is an area of vast and somewhat arid plains extending southward from Siberia and eastward from the European plain, but it comprises also the mountainous little explored area in which lie much of the Pamirs and allied ranges. Formerly it was a land of sparse population and nomadic tribes, but all that is changing. Soviet influence has begun to develop its resources on a large scale. Irrigation, where possible, has led to agriculture, and the cotton output, not to say its manufacture, is already considerable. Public works, roads, railways and schools have been built, and even in the remoter mountain areas Russian influence is spreading. The author of this small but informative volume gives a clear record of the land and its progress, although his physical introduction is somewhat brief. There are simple but adequate maps and many references to authorities.