The Geological Survey of Austria (German: Geologische Bundesanstalt, GBA) in Vienna is a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and is the central point for information and advice in the field of earth sciences for the Republic of Austria. The most important product of the GBA is a range of geological maps. These appear in various scales both as map series and as regional maps. They form the basis for responses to questions in many areas of business (waste disposal, water supply, transport routes, raw materials, …) and also for research. The GBA is located in the district of Landstraße in Vienna.
The oil-oil, and oil-source rock correlation is widely used to interpret the origin, maturity, and depositional setting of the source rock via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry methods. The results obtained from the extract show that the organic matter was derived from the terrestrial to marine mixed origin. This indicates that the crude oil and extract are thermally mature in terms of early to peak hydrocarbon. Our interpretations reveal that the terrestrial to marine organic matter was deposited under a reducing transitional geological setting with low to moderate salinity and insignificant biodegradation. In addition, the parental material of the source rock (shale) has a calcareous chemical composition. The results of this study prove that values such as m/z = 191 and m/z = 217 strongly support the oil and the source rocks that are genetically related to each other in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. Finally, the studied strata are considerably an important source of petroleum generation in the Indus Basin of Pakistan.
Heating and Cooling constitute a major part of society’s final energy use and a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The world society ought to mitigate climate change through decarbonisation, which must include the transition to low-temperature, sustainable and renewable heating and cooling technologies. Shallow Geothermal Energy is one of the most energy efficient and least greenhouse gas emitting available alternatives to provide space heating and cooling. The decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector may have to comprise both individual systems and shared electrified heating and cooling systems from renewable sources of energy, where economies of scale and synergies between different types of consumers can be exploited. To this end, the focus of this paper is on the integration of shallow geothermal energy technologies into district heating and cooling systems. A key contribution of this work is the illustration of a number of practical case studies, highlighting the potential of existing shallow geothermal systems for DHC networks, which, as front runners in adopting such technologies, serve as paradigms for future development. Follows a discussion providing an outlook over the next 25 years. All in all, the future of utilizing shallow geothermal energy for district heating and cooling seems to be promising to play a pivotal role in sustainable urban development and decarbonizing the heating and cooling sector.
The Alps have perhaps the most comprehensive chronology of Holocene glacier variations in the world. Cosmogenic nuclide data have shown that in the first centuries of the Holocene, glacier frontal positions were significantly larger than Late Holocene extents. The continued cold climate from the end of the Younger Dryas on into the Early Holocene promoted periglacial activity. Rock glaciers rapidly moved into the newly ice-free terrain and exhibited sporadic activity throughout the Holocene, with rejuvenation during the neoglacial (the last ~4.2 ka). The lack of preserved moraines between ~10.2 and 5.2 ka provides evidence of a long-lasting glacier retreat period punctuated by a number of minor advances that probably did not exceed mid-20th century ice levels. As large glaciers did not approach nor exceed their Late Holocene frontal extents during the Mid-Holocene, precise insight into the timing of these advances is only possible from the subfossil wood record. Based on the radiocarbon- and tree-ring-dated wood material, several Holocene Thermal Maximum Phases (~10.2–4.2 ka) characterised by glacier minima with smaller-than-present (CE 2000–2020) glacier extent have been recognised. From ~4.2 ka—and especially from 3.6 ka—the frequency and magnitude of glacier advances increased markedly. Notable maxima occurred at 3.5, 2.8–2.6, 2.1, 1.4 and 1.15 ka. The ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA), 0.74–0.14 ka (CE 1260–1860)—characterised by several maxima with similar extent—is exceptionally well understood in the Alps. Prominent lateral moraines, which are a widespread feature of the high Alpine landscape and are often referred to as ‘LIA moraines’, were actually incrementally built during the neoglacial. Strong paraglacial activity linked with ongoing glacier wastage as a result of climate warming currently endangers the preservation of some of these Late Holocene landforms and the information they contain.
We present XRF-based element data and magnetic susceptibility measurements of a 60-m-long core of Upper Miocene deposits of Lake Pannon from the Vienna Basin (Austria). The deposits formed during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum, which was a global warming event during the Late Miocene. Statistically significant cyclicities occur in all records centering around -22 m, -12 m, -10 m, -7.2 m and -1.5 m. The modulation of the -12-m-cycle is strikingly similar to that of the precession band between 10.45 and 10.34 Ma and is used herein as hypothetical tie point for tuning. Consequently, the -22-m-cycle is interpreted as an expression of the obliquity cycle. This hypothetical correlation lacks a tie point by absolute dating but is supported by the resulting sedimentation rate of 0.53 m/kyr, which is well in the range of published data. Moreover, the expected phase relations between the assumed precession and obliquity signals fit excellently with the observed paleoenvironmental data. Obliquity is reflected by changes in sediment input and lake level oscillations. Obliquity maxima coincided with increased input of coarser sediment and enhanced lake bottom oxygenation, whereas pelitic sedimentation and lake bottom anoxia prevailed during obliquity minima. Precession is reflected by shifts in precipitation. Maxima in lake productivity, indicated by phytoplankton blooms and a high abundance of ostracods, occurred during precession minima. The striking cyclicity in the Ca/Ti and Rb/Sr ratios suggests a periodic interplay of two source areas. Increased runoff from the Calcareous Alps, drained via the Paleo-Liesing river, occurred during precession minima, whereas siliciclastic input from the Rhenodanubian Flysch Unit via the Paleo-Wien river prevailed during precession maxima. The maximum of freshwater influx occurred during an obliquity maximum coinciding with a precession minimum, which agrees with model data and other geological records in the Circum-Mediterranean region. The shortest cycle potentially represents the Hallstatt cycle, which was already detected in other records of Lake Pannon and is a further anchor to link sub-Milankovitch cycles with astronomical cycles in Lake Pannon deposits.
