This volume brings together texts produced as part of a research project funded by the Austrian National Bank (ÖNB) Jubilee Fund, which examined the development and interaction of all the ...institutions responsible for music education in Styria after 1945: the reorganisation of the music school system, the reopening of the Provincial Conservatory and its transformation into the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. The focus is on the work of Erich Marckhl (1902-1980), who held leading positions in all areas.
Delineating dolines is not a straightforward process especially in densely vegetated areas. This paper deals quantitatively with the surface karst morphology of a Miocene limestone occurrence in the ...Styrian Basin, Austria. The study area is an isolated karst mountain with a smooth morphology (former planation surface of Pliocene age), densely vegetated (mixed forest) and with a surface area of 1.3km2. The study area is located near the city of Wildon and is named “Wildoner Buchkogel”. The aim of this study was to test three different approaches in order to automatically delineate dolines. The data basis for this was a high resolution digital terrain model (DTM) derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS) and with a raster resolution of 1×1m. The three different methods for doline boundary delineation are: (a) the “traditional” method based on the outermost closed contour line; (b) boundary extraction based on a drainage correction algorithm (filling up pits), and (c) boundary extraction based on hydrologic modelling (watershed). Extracted features are integrated in a GIS environment and analysed statistically regarding spatial distribution, shape geometry, elongation direction and volume. The three methods lead to different doline boundaries and therefore investigated parameters show significant variations. The applied methods have been compared with respect to their application purpose. Depending on delineation process, between 118 and 189 dolines could be defined. The high density of surface karst features demonstrates that solutional processes are major factors in the landscape development of the Wildoner Buchkogel. Furthermore the correlation to the landscape evolution of the Grazer Bergland is discussed.
•Airborne laser scan data facilitate accurate doline delineation.•Depending on the delineation process, the number of dolines varies significantly.•The Leitha limestone area of Wildon hosts a significant cluster of dolines.
The cultural-historical perspective asks what role law played as an everyday phenom-enon in people’s lives. One such area in which one would probably not expect a central position of law at first ...glance is the scene life in the subculture of heavy metal. And yet metal has been characterized by a certain understanding of law since its early days. This article explores the question of what role law and references to law have played in the cultural history of the metal scene in Graz and Styria since 1980. On the levels of everyday social reality, socio-cultural im-agination (for example on band T-shirts, flyers, record covers etc.) as well as the music itself, the topic of law had a strong influence on the formation of the specific identity and values of the Styrian metal community.
After the Styrian composer Anselm Hüttenbrenner had largely withdrawn from public life, he spent most of his time between the autumn of 1853 and the autumn of 1858 in Maribor (Marburg). In Maribor ...and its surroundings he found peace of mind and a closeness to nature, devoting himself intensively to compositional and pedagogical activities. He composed numerous lieder on texts by his host Ferdinand von Rast (Hilarius) plus many piano pieces, in addition to orchestral overtures and church music. The article attempts to shed light on this period in Hüttenbrenner’s life, which has not been previously studied.
Acoustic emission (AE) is generated in soil and rock materials by rearrangement of particles during displacement or increasing damage in the microstructure preceding a collapse; therefore AE is ...appropriate for estimation of slope degradation. To overcome the high attenuation that characterise geological materials and thus to be able to monitor AE activity, a system that makes use of a waveguide to transmit AE waves from a deforming zone to a piezoelectric transducer was developed. The system quantifies acoustic activity as Ring Down Count (RDC) rates. In soil applications RDC rates have been correlated with the rate of deformation, whereas the recent application to rock slopes requires new interpretation strategies. In order to develop new strategies the system was installed at two rock slope trial sites in Italy and Austria. RDC rates from these sites, which have been measured over 5 and 1.5years respectively, are analysed and clear and recurring trends are identified. The comparison of AE trends with response from a series of traditional instruments available at the sites allows correlation with changes in external slope loading and internal stress changes. AE signatures from the large rock slope in Italy have been identified as generated in response to variations in the groundwater level and snow loading. At the slope in Austria, AE signatures include the detachment of small boulders from the slope surface caused by the succession of freeze-thaw cycles during winter time. The work reported in this paper is contributing to the development of AE monitoring and interpretation strategies for rock slopes. The longer-term aim is to identify approaching failures and derive rules for setting thresholds that can be used to give warning of rock slope failures in time to enable action to be taken.
•An approach for monitoring the stability of rock slopes using acoustic emission is proposed.•The system comprises a steel waveguide grouted into the rock mass to transfer AE waves to a piezoelectric transducer.•Case studies demonstrate that AE monitoring using grouted waveguides can differentiate a range of deformation mechanisms.•Clear and repeatable AE trends were measured.•AE trends were associated with changes in internal stress, external slope loading and superficial degradation.
•Application of Structure-From-Motion for the generation of a scaled and referenced point cloud.•Semi-automatical mapping of discontinuities in the point cloud.•Determination of the rock mass ...geometry in terms of block size and shape distribution as well as block orientation.•Parameter study on the influence of the joint persistence on the rock mass geometry.•Comparison of the results with standard analytical equations.
Rock engineering in blocky rock masses demands a sound knowledge about the joint network, since it consists of planes of weakness than can lead to block instabilities. However, collecting data about the joint network is time consuming, seldom very detailed and depends strongly on the experience of the mapping geologist. Additionally, the characterization is reduced to the identification of the most relevant joint structures with their characteristic orientation and spacing. Other parameters, like the in situ block shape and the block size distribution or the main orientation of the blocks are seldom collected or determined, if at all. With the emergence and increasing application of digital surface mapping techniques in rock mass characterization, like ShapeMetriX3D or the Discontinuity Set Extractor, the time needed on site could be reduced and the degree of detail in the mapping of discontinuities is improved significantly. The work presented in this study displays a continuous work flow from the data collection in the field to the determination of the block size and shape distribution, generated by the intersection of joint sets. For the process, a marble quarry in Styria (Austria) was digitized, using photogrammetry. The joint sets are semi-automatically identified with the Discontinuity Set Extractor whose results are transferred into the software ShapeMetriX3D, where the joint set spacing along with its standard deviations are determined. These parameters are used to generate statistical representation of representative rock mass units, using 3DEC (Itasca Consulting Group, Inc.) and determine the block sizes, block shapes and main orientation of the blocks in a row of simulations.
•We indicate the added value of Fyw in model reliability by better constraining model outputs.•Fyw is a time-variant process-diagnostic metric that identifies more informative model realizations.•Fyw ...is an alternative calibration constraint to reduce model equifinality.
Introducing additional information sources, such as hydrochemical signatures and water isotopes, into the model calibration has shown to be useful to enhance model robustness by increasing parameter identifiability and maintaining simulation reliability. Our study explores the added value of discharge young water fractions (Fyw, derived from the volume-weighted δ18O concentrations) on the model reliability as a calibration constraint. For this, we coupled a karst hydrological model (VarKarst) with a catchment-scale transport model (StorAge Selection (SAS) function approach) to simulate discharge δ18O concentration (δ18OQ) and corresponding Fyw. We performed a multi-variable calibration scheme by simultaneously constraining a large model ensemble (1x106 realizations) with respect to the model performance on discharge and Fyw. By searching a model output space in which the model performance on discharge and model performance on Fyw provides an optimal trade-off, we extracted hydrologically more informative model realizations. We tested our calibration approach at the Wasseralm spring, which supplies drinking water to the city of Vienna, Austria. The contribution of the information content of Fyw to the model robustness was assessed by the degree of reduction in the parameter and simulation uncertainties. Our results indicate that the inclusion of Fyw notably reduced the uncertainty in model parameters (6 parameters out of 8), simulations (14 % vs. 10 % by δ18OQ), and water balance components for the model internal states (around 40 %). Our findings reveal that Fyw confirms the model reliability (KGE: 0.71 ± 0.01 in validation) in that it mainly reduces the parameter equifinality by providing physically more plausible and identifiable parameter sets. Therefore, Fyw is a potentially useful metric to better constrain the model outputs, thereby limiting the model uncertainty.
Whereas most karstic caves worldwide are formed by carbonic acid, a small but significant number of sub-surface cavities are the product of sulfuric acid speleogenesis (SAS). In the Eastern Alps, no ...cave has so far been attributed to this type. In this multidisciplinary study we demonstrate that Kraushöhle in northern Styria was indeed formed by SAS. The cave pattern shows individual chambers, 3D-mazes and blind galleries, as well as typical SAS morphologies such as cupolas, gypsum replacement pockets, corrosion notches and convection niches. “Ceiling pendant drip holes” are described here for the first time and these corrosion features are fully consistent with the SAS model. Other features of Kraushöhle include thick gypsum deposits with strongly depleted δ34S values and other minerals – mostly sulfates – indicating highly acidic conditions.
We also studied acid–rock interaction processes giving rise to widespread corrosion and concomitant replacement by gypsum. Petrographic and geochemical analyses reveal the presence of a distinctive alteration layer of highly increased porosity at the interface between the host limestone and the secondary gypsum. Dissolution and replacement of the limestone was fast enough to prevent the development of C and O isotopic alteration halos but resulted in selective leaching of elements. This stable isotope signal is thus different from the pronounced isotope gradient commonly observed in CO2-dominated hypogenic caves. Petrographic observations reveal that the limestone–gypsum replacement was a nearly constant volume process.
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