Shoreline features formed by the late Pleistocene pluvial Lake Dixie in Dixie Valley, central Nevada, record crustal deformation resulting from isostatic rebound of the Lake Lahontan basin, and from Holocene and historic surface faulting. Constructional beach bars on the east side of Dixie Valley show eastward tilt of 0.16 m/km, indicating that lithospheric flexure due to isostatic rebound is symmetrical with the west side of the Lahontan basin. The tilt signal is potentially complicated by post-Lake Dixie fault displacements on the west side of the valley. However, elevation changes recorded geodetically across the analogous 1983 Borah Peak, Idaho earthquake ruptures suggest that coseismic deformation is probably not significant on the east side of the valley relative to the shoreline elevation uncertainties and the overall tilt signal. A survey of faulted shorelines on the west side of the valley suggest that previous fault slip rates estimated from an earlier survey of these same shorelines are in error by nearly a factor of two. Better constrained slip rates from elsewhere along the fault indicate Holocene vertical slip rates of 0.3–0.5 mm/a, consistent with estimates of long term slip rates on the Dixie Valley fault.

For an investigation of the relation between the morphology and the tectonics in the Macaronesian Islands (i.e. the geographical group of middle Atlantic Islands between 10°N and 40°N), orientation studies have been made of steeply dipping joints and, where possible, of the trends of valleys and ridges. A coincidence of the “preferred directions” of these features indicates a probable genetic relation between them. The results are: (1) Joint strikes, stream directions and ridge trends (where available) generally agree with each other on each individual island, indicating a common genetic (tectonic) origin of these features. Thus, the main result of this study is that the morphology of all Macaronesian Islands, although surficially of volcanic origin, has been significantly codesigend by tectonic processes. (2) The direction data for corresponding geomorphic features are essentially the same across each individual archipelago, certainly with regard to the joints, somewhat less so with regard to the links and ridges. (3) The Canary and the Madeira Islands Archipelago yield the same values for the direction maxima of joints and streams. (4) The compression (σ1)-axis indicated by the fault plane solution of the Canary earthquake of 9 May 1989 lines up with one of the bisectrices and not with one of the strike-maxima of the surrounding joints; this indicates that the joint directions may be indicative of the shear lines rather than of the principal stress directions of the neotectonic stress field in the area. (5) There is a steady anticlockwise rotation of corresponding morphotectonic directions as one moves from Africa westward from the Canary Islands through Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands to the Azores.

The genesis of landslides has traditionally been ascribed essentially to exogenic, nontectonic causes. Thus, it has generally been assumed that progressive erosion oversteepens slopes until they become unstable and collapse by forming slides; the specific triggers in each case would be exogenic influences such as, for instance, an extreme weather period. This paper shows that in practically all cases of mass-movements, endogenic processes are also of fundamental importance. In the first place, a landscape responds as a complex open system existing in a quasi-stationary state at the edge of chaos in which an endogenic input and exogenic outflow of mass and energy occur; this quasi-stationary state can become unstable resulting in landslides. In the second place, a direct predesign is present because of endogenic causes, viz. by a former or the present geotectonic stress field. Thus, some common notable contentions regarding the origin of landslides are shown to be false. A better understanding of the mechanisms for landslide genesis is illuminated using examples from the Chinese mountain ranges at the east end of the Himalayas. In these particular cases, the orientations of mass movements are directly controlled (`predesigned') by the present-day local tectonic stress.

A system is defined as a set of interrelated elements which function together as a whole. For a statistical-mechanical application of system theory, it is assumed that the number of elements is large and that the interrelations are complex so that the individual interactions cannot be followed individually in detail. Under such circumstances, the individual processes can be considered as quasi-random, i.e. as if they were stochastic and, by the use of the limit theorems of probability theory, statements can be made regarding the expected behavior of the system. This approach, however, has its limitations: the assumption that the individual processes are quasi-stochastic does not necessarily hold. There are many instances when the individual processes are uniform and correlated; in this case, they cannot under any circumstances be considered as quasi-random. This applies in geomorphology mainly in connection with structural and (neo) tectonic predesign. The application of system theory in such circumstances leads to faulty results.

SummaryCardiotocographic Examinations on Viable and Asphyxiae Bovine Fetuses in the Second Stage of LabourCardiotocographic recording of the heart rate was carried out in 84 mature bovine fetuses of healthy dams during the dilation stage of parturition; in 30 cases, the intrauterine pressure was measured simultaneously.The cardiotocograms were evaluated according to the standards applied in human medicine and related to the blood gas and acid‐base values determined at the same time.A significant correlation was found to exist between the basal heart rate, on the one hand, and plasma pH, blood base deficit and carbon dioxide tension, on the other, the correlation coefficients being – 0.74, 0.65 and 0.48, respectively.The normocardic range determined on the basis of the heart rates recorded in 50 viable fetuses extended 80 to 155 beats per minute. 95% of the fetuses with normocardia (n = 65) had no acidosis (blood base deficit < 6 mmol/l), whereas all 19 fetuses with heart rates exceeding 155 beats per minute (tachycardia) displayed a peripartal acidosis of medium or high degree (blood base deficit > 8.9 mmol/l). Among these fetuses there was a high incidence of saltatory oscillation amplitudes and prolonged decelerations, compared with the normocardic group. On the other hand, non‐acidotic fetuses were generally found to have undulatory oscillation amplitudes and only slightly variable decelerations.ZusammenfassungBei 84 reifen, lebenden Rinderfeten von gesunden Muttertieren wurde während der Aufweitungsphase der Geburt die Herzfrequenz und in 30 Fällen simultan dazu der intrauterine Druck mit einem Kardiotokographen (HP 8020 A) aufgezeichnet.Die Kardiotokogramme wurden nach humanmedizinischen Kriterien beurteilt und zu den gleichzeitig erhobenen blutgasanalytischen Befunden in Beziehung gesetzt.Zwischen der basalen Herzfrequenz und dem Plasma‐pH‐Wert, Basendefizit und Kohlen‐dioxidpartialdruck konnte jeweils eine signifikante Korrelation mit Korrelationskoeffizienten von –0,74, 0,65, 0,48 ermittelt werden.Der anhand von 50 lebensfrischen Feten ermittelte Bereich der Normokardie erstreckte sich von 80 bis 155 Schlägen pro Minute. 95% der Feten mit Normokardie (n = 65) hatten keine Azidose (Basendefizit < 6 mmol/l), 19 Feten mit einer Herzfrequenz von über 155 Schlägen pro Minute (Tachykardie) wiesen ausnahmslos eine mittel‐ bis hochgradige Azidose auf (Basendefizitwerte > 8,9mmol/l). Bei diesen Feten wurden — im Gegensatz zur normokarden Gruppe — gehäuft saltatorische Oszillationsamplituden und prolongierte Dezelerationen festgestellt. Dagegen zeigten nicht azidotische Früchte in der Regel eine undulatorische Oszillationsamplitude und wiesen lediglich leichte variable Dezelerationen auf.

Thousands of linear elements (joint traces, river trends and photolinears) have been identified and statistically analysed in the Province of Alberta, Canada, from the U.S. border to the Fort McMurray area. A statistical evaluation was performed on the data by fitting Dimroth-Watson distributions to groups of them. It is suggested that the joints represent shear surfaces formed in a neotectonic stress field whose maximum compression is oriented normal to the front of the Rocky Mountains, at least in the vicinity of that range. Further to the northeast, the stress trajectories swing to E-W and N-S directions. The river courses in Alberta do not align themselves with the joints and are presumably controlled by the general slope of the land towards Hudson's Bay. The photolineaments are features of uncertain origin and age.

It is shown that the thermodynamic functions cannot be defined for a non-quantized field theory in the usual way; i.e., if there exists a partition function in Gibbs' sense at all, [Formula: see text] is certainly not the correct one.

Gibbs' theory of ensembles of classical mechanical systems has been modified for the application to quantum-mechanical systems by Klein. In this paper, the formalism of the latter author is applied to hamiltonians of different types of field theories and thus a consistent theory of field thermodynamics is obtained without explicitly referring to the statistical behavior of particles that are "contained" in the fields. Speaking in terms of particles, the thermodynamics obtained in this way is the same as for a mechanical system where only the temperature is known, but no other conditions such as the number of particles, the total charge, etc.Specifically, the thermodynamic functions of the nonrelativistic and relativistic Schr\"odinger fields, Dirac's electron field, and the electromagnetic field are deduced. The statistics of the nonrelativistic fields correspond to ordinary Bose and Fermi statistics of an ensemble of identical particles; the relativistic cases, however, yield new expressions. The thermal equilibrium at low temperatures of the Dirac electron field turns out to be the "vacuum" state as described in the hole theory. Finally, it is also shown that the application of the present formalism to the electromagnetic field leads back to Planck's radiation theory.

ACTINET is a European Network of Excellence supported by the EU, dedicated to basic actinide physics and chemistry. It brings together expertise and facilities with the objective of strengthening the concerned scientific community. In view of challenges related to the management and disposal of long-lived nuclear waste, and the exploration of new nuclear energy generation concepts, the networking and development of international expertise in actinide sciences is indispensable. Appropriate facilities for actinide research are becoming rare. In order to catalyse research in actinide sciences, ACTINET aims to coordinate and open the available laboratories, and promote notably young scientists from universities to get involved. In order to enhance the potentialities for research on radioactive material, European Actinide laboratories are networked and access for scientists is promoted and supported. Laboratories operated by CEA (France), ITU (Joint Research Centre, EU), INE-FZK (Germany), SCK-CEN (Belgium), IRC-FZR (Germany) and PSI (Switzerland) are the ACTINET 'pooled facilities'. A broad variety of analytical and radioanalytical instrumentation, hot cell and glove box equipment thus becomes accessible for researchers in universities and national institutions interested in actinide research. Accessible facilities include state-of-the-art techniques as synchrotron-based X-ray beamlines, nuclear microprobe, laser-, mass-, NMR spectroscopy and various microscopic techniques as SEM, TEM, AFM. The availability of advanced analytical methods within the frame of international cooperations is believed to effectively advance actinide research in Europe.