Johannes Kentmann (1518–1574), medical doctor in Saxony, friend of Conrad Gesner, described 11 mineral specimens from Hungary and altogether 30 from the Carpathians in the printed catalogue of his mineral collection (1565, Zürich). Some of the specimens were collected during his diplomatic legation to Hungary in 1550–51. This catalogue is the first record of scientific mineral collecting in Hungary.
Stable isotope parameters (δ 2 H, δ 18 O, d exc ) of event-based and monthly composite precipitation collected between 2003 and 2009 in the south-western sector of Lake Balaton displayed the normal seasonality typical for mid-latitude continental sites. Fluctuation in δ 2 H and δ 18 O values of monthly composite precipitation in the SW Balaton Region closely followed the monthly values reported from the surroundings, especially Zagreb (Croatia) situated ∼150 km southwest-ward. The amount-weighted annual mean isotope parameters of precipitation ranged from −8.30 to −7.25‰ for δ 18 O-ann, from −58.8 to −52.2‰ for δ 2 H-ann: and from 5.7 to 7.7‰ for d exc -ann depending on which observation site and 12-month subperiod is selected in the SW Balaton region between March 2008 and November 2009. The Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL) was determined using ordinary least squares-, reduced major axis-, and precipitation-weighted least squares regressions. A preliminary estimate for precipitation-weighted LMWL based on monthly composite data of the 2006–2009 period in the SW Balaton Region is δ 2 H = 7.35(±0.16) × δ 18 O + 2.14(±1.41) is practically identical with the LMWL determined with the same methodology for Zagreb in an overlapping period reinforcing the isotope hydrometeorological similarity between these regions. This linearized approximation of the δ 2 H–δ 18 O covariance can be used as a benchmark for modern precipitation in isotope hydro(geo)logical studies in the SW Balaton Region.
In 2006 the three Major Communities of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem, concerned over the Church's stability in the event of a major earthquake, requested a technical evaluation of its structure, inviting a research team from Florence University. The present article is an essay review of the book (G. Tucci, editor: Jerusalem. The Holy Sepulchre. Research and Investigations, 2007–2011 ), which published the main results of this research. Historical documents and images are reviewed, followed by engineering details of the seismic vulnerability analysis, embedded in a rich geological and geotechnical context. It is suggested that further studies in construction history, providing details on material and workmanship, and using the tool of archaeoseismology can reveal whether parts of the church, affected by destructive earthquakes, did ever collapse or not.
AbstractThe Budapest Tree-Ring Laboratory (BTRL) is a fully equipped dendrochronological laboratory, established in 2002 at the Department of Paleontology and currently hosted by the Department of Physical Geography, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary. The lab has the proper sampling equipment for field work, a sanding workshop to prepare tree-ring samples for measurement and measuring-stages with software for recording and analyzing tree-ring data. Throughout the first 20 years of activity the BTRL collected and analyzed ∼360 living and ∼470 relict samples (including historical and subfossil material) from more than 33 sites distributed mainly in Europe but including a few localities in Asia. The most represented genera are Quercus and Pinus, both among the living and the relic subsets. Open access publication of the essential ancillary scientific information of the stored material will make the sample archive of the BTRL an actual national research infrastructure.
AbstractA new series expansion-based method, the Combined Geoelectric Weighted Inversion (CGWI) procedure is presented and tested by using synthetic and in-field measured datasets. The method is an improved version of the Combined Geoelectric Inversion (CGI) robustified by involving Cauchy-Steiner weights in an Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares technique. The new procedure is compared to the Fourier series expansion-based 1.5D and the CGI methods as well as to the broadly applied RES2DINV inversion procedure. The field measurements are performed during stone exploration in an active quarry on the south-western slopes of the Mátra mountains, in northern Hungary. It is shown that the CGWI method gives stable and robust parameter estimation with acceptable accuracy. The comparison with other inversion methods is based on data distances, estimation errors and correlation parameters calculated on the base of the parameter correlation matrix.
A high-temperature pyrolysis/gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system was established at the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research in 2013. A dedicated field of application of the system is the simultaneous measurement of stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the cellulose of modern, relict and subfossil plant tissues and sediments. The measurement protocol was fine-tuned during the first year of operation and documented in detail in this report. To quantify the long-term reproducibility of the simultaneous measurement of stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon in cellulose, a 2σ range inferred from repeated measurements of a Quality Assurance standard can be recommended: 0.16 and 0.20‰, for δ 13 C and δ 18 O, respectively. An extensive set of samples with known pyrolysis-based δ 13 C data was analyzed in combustion mode and the paired results were used to assess the necessity of adjustment of the pyrolysis-based δ 13 C measurements. The variances of the two datasets were not significantly different; the slope (intercept) of the regression was indistinguishable from unity (zero), suggesting that probably owing to the relatively frequent cleaning of the pyrolysis furnace, pyrolysis-based δ 13 C data neither suffer from a variance bias nor require a specific adjustment.
AbstractWe tested several sample pre-treatment protocols for the study of oxygen isotope ratios in the phosphate phase of mammalian enamel of ten different fossil samples. We investigated the effect of different pre-treatment methods and the duration of the hydrogen fluoride treatment on enamel samples from skeletal phosphate with known δ18O values. The samples had been measured previously, so we could compare the ratios measured in our laboratory with the previous values to choose the best chemical preparation procedure. Four pre-soaking methods and two different time intervals of 2 mol dm−3 hydrogen fluoride treatment were compared during our experiments. In our experimental conditions, the distilled water wash and the 6 h of soaking in hydrogen fluoride gave the closest results to the expected δ-values. The steps of the tested preparation processes were repeated at least three times on each sample, so the reproducibility of the process could be also investigated.
AbstractStable hydrogen isotope compositions of metamorphic rocks and minerals can provide information on the origin of metamorphic fluids, which is especially important in systems that had experienced multiple metamorphic events. The Sopron orthogneiss-micaschist complex is a good target as it records signs of Variscan and Alpine metamorphic events as well as Variscan granitic magmatism. In this study tourmaline-bearing rocks (pegmatitic orthogneisses and kyanite-chlorite-muscovite schists) of the Sopron metamorphic complex were sampled and their tourmaline grains were analyzed for stable hydrogen isotope compositions (δ2H). The δ2H values (−23 ± 1‰, relative to V-SMOW) are in accordance with a fluid flux from devolatilization of subducted, seawater-containing rocks. Tourmaline-chlorite hydrogen isotope fractionations correspond to about 550 °C, indicating that δ2H values formed close to peak metamorphic temperatures are preserved without retrograde isotope exchange during cooling.
While three-dimensional measurement technology is spreading fast, its meaningful application to sedimentary geology still lacks content. Classical shape descriptors (such as axis ratios, circularity of projection) were not inherently three-dimensional, because no such technology existed. Recently a new class of three-dimensional descriptors, collectively referred to as mechanical descriptors, has been introduced and applied for a broad range of sedimentary particles. First-order mechanical descriptors (registered for each pebble as a pair {S, U} of integers), refer to the respective numbers of stable and unstable static equilibria and can be reliably detected by hand experiments. However, they have limited ability of distinction, as the majority of coastal pebbles fall into primary class . Higher-order mechanical descriptors offer a more refined distinction. However, for the extraction of these descriptors (registered as graphs for each pebble), hand measurements are not an option and even computer-based extraction from 3D scans offers a formidable challenge. Here we not only describe and implement an algorithm to perform this task, but also apply it to a collection of 271 pebbles with various lithologies, illustrating that the application of higher-order descriptors is a viable option for geologists. We also show that the so-far uncharted connection between the two known secondary descriptors, the so-called Morse–Smale graph and the Reeb-graph, can be established via a third order descriptor which we call the master graph.
AbstractMature fields have been playing a significant role in the oil and gas realm recently, and redevelopment and optimization efforts are being made globally to prolong the lifetime of these resources. The aim of this study is to showcase the benefits of hydrocarbon reservoir modelling, with a special focus on various aspects of Petrel workflows.This article is a direct continuation of Nemes et al. (2021), which described the Phase 1 geomodel of the same field described in this study. The Phase 2 geomodel – the scope of the current article – is based on a significantly more complete, more detailed, and fundamentally rebuilt dataset compared to Phase 1. The seismic and petrophysical interpretations were updated, and additional data sources were incorporated into the analysis.The geomodel was created in Schlumberger's Petrel software, and during the building of it, a comprehensive 800-plus-step, full-cycle, automated workflow was outlined. The created workflow makes the model update faster by a minimum of five times, makes it more transparent and decreases the risk of human error.The created workflow describes the entire geomodelling process from data loading, via surface adjustments, structural modelling, and property modelling, to a closing of the loop with volumetric calculation. The whole workflow can be rerun easily, and beside the updates made to the geomodel, a full range of quality-check supporting calculations and visualizations were created in order to provide the user with full control.The geomodel showcased here is a key building block of the ongoing and planned development and redevelopment activities in the field, serves as a tool for well and workover planning, water injection system adjustments and a direct input to dynamic simulation, and also provides direct inputs to the documentation of an updated field development plan.
Recently it became increasingly evident that the statistical distributions of size and shape descriptors of sedimentary particles reveal crucial information on their evolution and may even carry the fingerprints of their provenance as fragments. However, to unlock this trove of information, measurement of traditional geophysical shape descriptors (mostly detectable on 2D projections) is not sufficient; fully spherical 3D imaging and mathematical algorithms suitable to extract new types of inherently 3D shape descriptors are necessary. Available 3D imaging technologies force users to choose either speed or full sphericity. Only partial morphological information can be extracted in the absence of the latter (e.g., LIDAR imaging). In the case of fully spherical imaging, speed was proved to be prohibitive for obtaining meaningful statistical samples, and inherently 3D shape descriptors were not extracted. Here we present a new method by complementing a commercial, portable 3D scanner with simple hardware to quickly obtain fully spherical 3D datasets from large collections of sedimentary particles. We also present software for the automated extraction of 3D shapes and automated measurement of inherently 3D-shape properties. This technique allows for examining large samples without the need for transportation or storage of the samples, and it may also facilitate the collaboration of geographically distant research groups. We validated our software on a large sample of pebbles by comparing previously hand-measured parameters with the results of automated shape analysis. We also tested our hardware and software tools on a large pebble sample in Kawakawa Bay, New Zealand.
Over the almost 190 years-long research of the Ditrău Alkaline Massif (Eastern Carpathians, Romania), felsic rocks have been regarded as homogeneous, uniform units of the igneous complex. Nevertheless, our detailed textural study revealed that the felsic suite (diorite–alkaline feldspar syenite and nepheline-bearing syenite–granite series) cropping out north of the Jolotca Creek valley is more heterogenous at micro-scale than previously thought. This heterogeneity partly derives from abundant mafic mineral-rich clusters; nevertheless, felsic minerals also exhibit various, remarkable textural features. Outcrop to micro-scale traits of felsic crystal settling, mafic mineral aggregates and flow fabrics along with metamorphic country rock xenoliths suggest that the studied rocks crystallized under dynamic magmatic conditions. Cumulate formation, shear flow, convection currents as well as various open-system magmatic processes (e.g., magma recharge, magma mixing and mingling, crystal or mush transfer and recycling, country rock assimilation) played a significant role in the petrogenesis of the examined felsic suite. Based on field observations as well as on the microtextural relationship of the minerals, two major groups of felsic rocks were distinguished: (1) felsic rocks (lacking or containing sparse mafic minerals) spatially associated with mafic rocks and (2) felsic rocks (with mafic minerals and clots) spatially unassociated with mafic rocks. Rocks of the former group are dominated by plagioclase, accompanied by minor alkaline feldspar, biotite and accessory titanite. Distinct structural and textural features suggest the physical accumulation of the rock-forming phases. Such textural properties can also be observed in some rocks of the second group. Isolated mafic minerals are rather scarce in the latter; nevertheless, different types of aggregates made up of either identical or various mafic phases are more common. Clustered minerals are either intact or show different stages of alteration. A detailed petrographic study of the above-mentioned peculiarities has been implemented in order to define their potential origin(s) and petrogenetic significance.
Abstract The foliated low-grade metamorphic rocks of the Triassic Bagolyhegy Metarhyolite Formation, mainly of pyroclastic origin, host post-metamorphic quartz-albite veins containing abundant tourmaline and occasionally rutile/ilmenite. The study of the Ti-oxide-mineralized veins with SEM-EDX revealed an unusual mineral assemblage comprising fine-grained Nb–Ta-bearing oxides (columbite-tantalite series, fluorcalciomicrolite and other Nb–Ti–Y–Fe-REE-oxide minerals) intergrown with Nb-rich polymorphs of TiO2 (anatase, rutile), ilmenite and zircon enriched with hafnium. This high field strength elements (HFSE)-bearing paragenesis is unexpected in this lithology, and was not described from any formation in the Paleozoic-Mesozoic rock suite of the Bükk Mountains (NE Hungary) before. The host metavolcanics are significantly depleted in all HFSE compared to the typical concentrations in felsic volcanics and the mineralized quartz-albite veins have even lower Ti–Nb–Ta concentration than the host rock, so the mineralization does not mean any enrichment. From proximal outcrops of the Triassic Szentistvánhegy Metavolcanics, potassic metasomatized lenses with albite-quartz vein fillings containing rutile/ilmenite are known. We studied them for comparison, but they only contain REE mineralization (allanite-monazite-xenotime); the Nb–Ta-content of Ti-oxide minerals is undetectably low. LA-ICP-MS measurements for U–Pb dating of Hf-rich zircon of the Nb–Ta-rich mineral assemblage gave 71.5 ± 5.9 Ma as lower intercept age while dating of allanite of the REE mineralized quartz-albite veins gave 113 ± 11 Ma as lower intercept age. The REE-bearing vein fillings formed during a separate mineralization phase in the Early Cretaceous, while the Nb–Ta mineralization was formed by post-metamorphic alkaline fluids in the Late Cretaceous., controlled by fault zones and fractures.
AbstractIn this study, already published and new monitoring data are compiled from the Baradla and Béke caves in the Aggtelek Karst, from the Vacska Cave in the Pilis Mountains as well as from the Szemlőhegy and Pálvölgy caves in the Buda Hills. Recent investigations (2019–2020) include monitoring of climatological parameters (e.g., temperature, CO2) measured inside and outside the caves, and the chemical, trace element and stable isotopic compositions of drip waters. In the Baradla Cave, the main focus of the investigation was on the stable isotope composition and the temperature measurements of drip water. In the Vacska Cave, which belongs to the Ajándék-Ariadne cave system, CO2measurements and drip water collection were conducted in order to perform chemical and stable isotope measurements. In the Szemlőhegy and Pálvölgy caves, the chemical and stable isotope compositions of drip waters at six sites were determined. These datasets were used to characterize the studied caves and the hydrological processes taking place in the karst, and to trace anthropogenic influences. Climatological investigation revealed seasonality in CO2concentration related to outside temperature variation, indicating a variable ventilation regime in the caves. In addition, the contributions of the winter and summer precipitation to the drip water were also estimated, in order to evaluate the main infiltration period. The knowledge of these parameters plays a crucial role in constraining the carbonate precipitation within the cave. Thus, the dataset compiled in this study can provide a basis for the interpretation of speleothem-based proxies.
In the Middle Anisian, extensional tectonic movements led to the development of isolated carbonate platforms in the area of the southwestern part of the Transdanubian Range. The platforms are made up of meter-scale peritidal–lagoonal cycles bounded by subaerial exposure surfaces. One of the platform successions (Tagyon Platform) consists predominantly of limestone that contains partially and completely dolomitized intervals, whereas the other one (Kádárta Platform) is completely dolomitized. Drowning of the platforms took place in the latest Pelsonian to the early Illyrian interval when submarine highs came into existence and then condensed pelagic carbonate successions with volcanic tuff interbeds were deposited on the top of the drowned platforms from the late Illyrian up to the late Ladinian. The comparative study of dolomitization of the coeval platforms, affected by different diagenetic histories, is discussed in the current paper. Traces of probably microbially-mediated early dolomitization were preserved in the slightly dolomitized successions of the Tagyon Platform. This might also have been present in the successions of the Kádárta Platform, but was overprinted by geothermal dolomitization along the basinward platform margin and by pervasive reflux dolomitization in the internal parts of the platform. The Carnian evolution of the two submarine highs was different, and this may have significantly influenced the grade of the shallow to deeper burial dolomitization.
Abstract We have investigated the deformation history of the Keszthely Hills (Transdanubian Range, W Hungary), which belongs to the uppermost slice of the Austroalpine nappe system. This Upper Triassic to Upper Miocene sedimentary rock sequence documented the deformation of the upper crust during repeated rifting and inversion events. We investigated the structural pattern and stress field evolution of this multistage deformation history by structural data collection and evaluation from surface outcrops. Regarding the Mesozoic deformations, we present additional arguments for pre-orogenic (Triassic and Jurassic) extension (D1 and D2 phases), which is mainly characterized by NE–SW extensional structures, such as syn-sedimentary faults, slump-folds, and pre-tilt conjugate normal fault pairs. NW–SE-striking map-scale normal faults were also connected to these phases. The inversion of these pre-orogenic structures took place during the middle part of the Cretaceous; however, minor contractional deformation possibly reoccurred until the Early Miocene (D3 to D5 phases). The related meso- and map-scale structures are gentle to open folds, thrusts and strike-slip faults. We measured various orientations, which were classified into three stress states or fields on the basis of structural criteria, such as tilt-test, and/or superimposed striae on the same fault planes. For this multi-directional shortening we presented three different scenarios. Our preferred suggestion would be the oblique inversion of pre-orogenic faults, which highly influenced the orientation of compressional structures, and resulted in an inhomogeneous stress field with local stress states in the vicinity of inherited older structures. The measured post-orogenic extensional structures are related to a new extensional event, the opening of the Pannonian Basin during the Miocene. We classified these structures into the following groups: immediate pre-rift phase with NE–SW extension (D6), syn-rift phase with E–W extension (D7a) and N–S transpression (D7b), and post-rift phase with NNW–SSE extension (D8).
Abstract Visiting three gravel pits and three natural outcrops across the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, 58 samples were collected from subfossil driftwood recovered from coarse-grained fluvial sediment layers, while no subfossil wood was found at three additional gravel pits. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis of these relict wood can support the temporal extension of the regional dendrochronological reference datasets and their dating can provide a useful contribution to the reconstruction of the landscape evolution of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan. The tree-ring widths of the subfossil samples were measured. Dendrochronological synchronization resulted in two oak chronologies which encompassed five, and two reliably cross-dated series covering 191 years (MURchr1) and 127 years (MURchr2), respectively. Based on the 14C ages the subfossil driftwood material represents Middle and Late Holocene ages. The occasionally up to 6 m-thick fluvial sediment covering relatively young, < 1000-yr-old wood, indicates intense accumulation at the apex of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, which explains the documented rapid and significant Holocene avulsions.
Although the Mesozoic rocks of the Transdanubian Range have been the subject of a multitude of different studies, mineralogical research is largely underrepresented. The clay mineralogy of Lower Jurassic (especially the Pliensbachian and Toarcian) strata was broadly investigated earlier; however, systematic high-resolution clay mineralogical studies remain scarce. Here we present a mineralogical study focusing on the Upper Pliensbachian strata of the Lókút-Hosszúárok section, located near the Eplény Manganese Ore Field. We identified dioctahedral smectite, randomly interstratified illite/smectite, illite as 10 Å phyllosilicate, quartz and cristobalite. Based on our new results we propose that the smectite was formed by aging of Mg or Fe hydroxide-silica precipitates. The smectite and cristobalite were presumably formed from the siliceous tests of radiolarians, whose abundance was controlled by a local upwelling system. The occurrence of Pliensbachian smectite in the Lókút outcrop shows similarities with the Úrkút smectites known from both Pliensbachian and Toarcian strata, which implies that similar processes controlled the sedimentation during the Pliensbachian as well as during the black (gray) shale-hosted ore accumulation in the Eplény and Úrkút basins.
In this paper we review five cancellariid assemblages from the Hungarian part of the Pannonian Basin (Börzsöny, Bakony, and Mecsek Mts regions) which yielded 26 species. Ten species are recorded for the first time in Hungary. One species, Scalptia nemethi n. sp. is described as new. A revision of the Hungarian museum collections and historical Hungarian literature is also provided. Sveltia salbriacensis Peyrot 1928 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Petitina inermis (Pusch 1837).
The laboratory micro X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD) technique is a suitable method to study minerals in-situ in whole-rock specimens without any sample preparation or in polished thin sections, and even in small amounts in powdered form. The micro X-ray diffraction method uses the conventional, closed-tube X-ray generator, but modifications were needed in the diffraction column, sample holder and detector in order to achieve μ-XRD capability.In this paper, we present a case study of the capillary method used in µ-XRD on hydrothermal clay mineral assemblages that formed in the Velence Mts (Hungary). The capillary method in µ-XRD has many advantages in the investigation of small amounts of clay minerals: (1) easy and rapid preparation of randomly oriented, powdered samples; (2) rapid measurements; (3) accurate diffraction patterns. By using the capillary method, the formation of preferred orientation can be eliminated; thus the (hkl) reflection of the clay minerals can be precisely measured. Illite polytype quantification and the investigation of (060) reflection of clay minerals can be used satisfactorily in µ-XRD.Hydrothermal clay mineral assemblages are indicative of temperature and pH. Their examination can determine the physicochemical parameters of the hydrothermal fluids that interacted with the host granite in the Velence Mts. The analyzed hydrothermal clay minerals from the western part of the mountains suggest lower temperatures (150–200 °C) and intermediate pH conditions. In contrast, the clay mineral assemblages' characteristics for the eastern part of the mountains indicate more intense argillization and higher temperatures (∼220 °C) and intermediate pH conditions.
