We present locations of almost 14,000 events from the first six months of the Petrinja (Croatia) earthquakes sequence (mainshock 29 December 2020, Mw 6.4). The catalogue is estimated complete for ...ML ≥ 1.20. Initially sparse local seismograph network was densified a week after the mainshock, which reduced uncertainties of focal locations by about 75%. Source-specific station corrections were used in an iterative location scheme. The hypocentres were located with 30 different sets of velocity models and program control parameters in order to gain insight into the epistemic uncertainty of each earthquake location. The bulk of epicentres are located close to, and to the SE of the causative, dextral strike-slip Petrinja fault, but considerable activity has been triggered on smaller faults, up to 25 km away. About a half of the 78 first-motion polarity focal mechanism solutions (FMS) from the full first year of activity were found to have mechanisms similar to the foreshock, the mainshock and the largest of aftershocks, while the rest indicated almost pure reverse faulting. Strike-slip mechanisms occurred more often close to the main fault. The P-axes of FMS for aftershocks were found to be on the average rotated by 16° clockwise with respect to the P-axis of the mainshock, regardless of the style of faulting. The spatial distribution of aftershocks coincides very well with the areas of positive Coulomb stress change caused by the mainshock rupture. The inferred cut-off seismogenic depth in the area (7–10 km), estimated on the basis of published values of the geothermal gradient and the assumption of predominantly granitic upper crust, is considerably shallower than the depth of the deepest reliably located aftershocks (16–18 km). This fact may be explained by considering ophiolite-dominated crust, and by increased strain rate during the sequence, which raises the ability of crustal rocks for brittle failure.
•Almost 14,000 aftershocks of the Petrinja earthquake sequence have been located.•The accuracy of locations markedly increased after installation of local networks.•Epistemic uncertainties of locations are estimated by velocity model variation.•Strike-slip and pure reverse focal mechanisms are observed for 78 events.•Coulomb stress change trigger zones correspond to aftershock locations.
Knowledge of groundwater flow, and accordingly, groundwater residence time is immensely important for the sustainable management of groundwater resources. This requires a good conceptual model of the ...aquifer system. In this paper, a conceptual model based on the interpretations of hydrogeological and hydrochemical data, as well as measurements of environmental tracers (18O, 2H, 3H) was formulated for a semiconfined aquifer system in Eastern Slavonia in Croatia. The aquifer system is composed of Quaternary gravel and sand and silty–clayey interlayers and is covered with low permeability deposits. Measurements of water levels and environmental tracers in the study area clarified the groundwater flow evolution from the recharge area to the discharge area. The content of stable isotopes confirmed that the groundwater originates from precipitation. The tritium content and geochemical processes (such as cation exchange, silicate weathering) suggested a relatively long residence time of groundwater in the part of the aquifer system that is further from the Sava River. The same is confirmed by the results of calculated particle tracking pathlines.
•Recharge mechanism and groundwater flow evolution were studied.•Hydrogeological, hydrochemical and isotopic methods were combined successfully and used to improve conceptual model.•The results confirmed recharge by rainfall infiltration as the main source of water.•Groundwater residence time of several decades was confirmed by associated methods.
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•The impacts of time and vineyard soil management were studied.•Tillage reduced soil quality and increased soil degradation.•Sediment and nutrient transport were high in the wet ...season.•Sustainable measures are needed in tilled plots to reduce soil degradation.
Soil degradation in vineyards is a global problem, indicating the need for the adoption of sustainable practices. Studies on the seasonal and long-term management impacts on soil properties and hydrological responses in vineyards are needed. Rainfall simulation experiments (60 mm h−1 for 30 min) and soil sampling were conducted on Cambisols in eastern Croatia during the dry and wet seasons in long-term grass-covered and tilled vineyards. The results show that bulk density (BD), soil organic matter (SOM), available phosphorous (P2O5), soil water content (SWC), mean weight diameter (MWD), and water-stable aggregates (WSA) were significantly higher in grass-covered plots than in tilled plots. WSA was significantly lower in the wet period, whereas the opposite trend was observed for SWC and MWD. The time to ponding (PT) and time to runoff (RT) were high (p < 0.05) in the tilled plot in the dry season and low in the wet season. The sediment concentration (SC), soil loss (SL), carbon loss (C loss), and P2O5 loss were significantly higher in the tilled plot than in the grass-covered plot. Runoff, SC, SL, C loss, and P2O5 loss were significantly lower in the dry period. Although the grass-covered plots exhibited high compaction, the stable structure reduced SL by 91% and 94% in the dry and wet seasons, respectively. The tilled plots increased disaggregation and the availability of sediments for transport, enhancing C loss (4.5 times higher) and P2O5 loss (6.4 times higher) compared with the values in the grass-covered plots. Tillage as an unsustainable practice was more pronounced in the wet season with 16.4, 10.1, and 11.1 times higher sediment, P2O5, and C losses, respectively, than those in the grass-covered plots. More sustainable practices are needed to decrease soil degradation and reverse these processes.
A high-resolution analysis of the Zmajevac loess-palaeosol sequence in East Croatia (Baranja) was performed with the purpose to get new insights into the palaeoenvironmental history during the last ...three glacial-interglacial cycles. The post-IR infrared stimulated luminescence signal of feldspar, stimulated at 290°C (thereafter pIRIR290) was used to establish a reliable chronological framework and revealed intensive sedimentation during (at least) the last 300 kyr, which was five times interrupted by climate optima resulting in the formation of soils (now palaeosols). The environmental magnetic measurements support the obtained luminescence chronology. Further chronological time control was reached by age modelling based on tie points from variations in frequency dependence of magnetic susceptibility and benthic δ18O variations from the LR04 stack of Lisiecki and Raymo (2005). The grain-size record provided information about the environmental conditions and dust accumulation. Additional palaeoenvironmental implications were provided by room temperature magnetic susceptibility and colourimetric analyses and revealed a continuously lower intensity of pedogenesis, coupled with constantly decreasing temperatures and precipitation from the oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 9 to the end of OIS 3. X-ray diffraction of the clay mineral fraction revealed chlorite, smectite and illitic material as dominant mineral phases. While clay minerals from loess are mostly detrital, smectite from palaeosols is partly of a pedogenic origin. The application of our multi-proxy approach, including relative and numerical dating techniques, provided new insights into a highly resolved terrestrial paleoenvironmental record of Eastern Croatia.
•Post-IR IRSL chronology of the Zmajevac loess-palaeosol sequence is presented.•Age modelling based on environmental-magnetic and colorimetric data was performed.•Grain-size analysis and EMM imply to the provenance of the material.•U-ratio indicate differences in wind intensity.•Glacials show instability of prevailing wind regimes compared to the interglacials.•MS and colourimetric data indicate strong decrease of summer heat and seasonality.
Today's international war crimes tribunals lack police powers, and therefore must prod and persuade defiant states to co-operate in the arrest and prosecution of their own political and military ...leaders. Victor Peskin's comparative study traces the development of the capacity to build the political authority necessary to exact compliance from states implicated in war crimes and genocide in the cases of the International War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Drawing on 300 in-depth interviews with tribunal officials, Balkan and Rwandan politicians, and Western diplomats, Peskin uncovers the politicized, protracted, and largely behind-the-scenes tribunal-state struggle over co-operation.
The article is a review of key ideas and proposals from the book "EmpowerUs: From Crisis to Strategic Harmony" (Kitsap Publishing, 2020). In the preface to the book Philip Kotler, the Father of ...modern marketing and one of the most influential global management experts points out that there are many "fixing the world books, and this is one of the best". The authors are Ira Kaufman, a transformation strategist and consultant from the USA, and Velimir Srića, a leadership consultant and professor of management informa-tion systems from Croatia. Both are well known experts on management of change, digital transformation, and leadership development. The article provides an overview of the Strategic Harmony model and its application. After explaining the key issues of "the broken world", the text focuses on proposed solutions. First, it describes the Change Drivers and their role in initiating necessary transformation. Then, it discusses the importance of mindset change, based on so called TEST values (Trust, Empathy, Sustainability, and Transparency). The article provides a model of transformative leadership enabling leaders in business, government, science, education, culture, medicine, and other human activities to become Catalyzers of change and lead their institutions to-ward Strategic Harmony.
The budget is a mechanism of governing a state that has a very important role for any economy as well as for the inhabitants of each country. The budget is the outcome of the budgetary process. With ...its development, many budgetary functions have been developed. These functions best describe what the budget and its purpose are. The budgetary process, which is extremely complex and consists of many phases, is a serious economic and political activity in all modern countries. In each phase various factors play important roles. This topic has seldom been researched in Croatia and therefore the paper offers an overview of previous research devoted to the politics of the budgetary process in the world, particularly describing the budgetary process in Croatia. Adapted from the source document.
Quantification of soil plasticity is usually based on Atterberg limits or indices, which are then used for engineering and agricultural purposes on clay soils. Because these limits/indices are seldom ...analyzed during routine soil surveys, they are sometimes estimated from available soil properties using pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Main aim of this study was to test if two robust PTFs, previously created by other authors for other soils/areas, may be used for predicting plasticity of typical clay soils on fluvial deposits in Croatia. We analyzed mineralogy, plasticity, and related physicochemical properties of four representative soil profiles along Sava and Drava, two longest Croatian rivers. Particle size distribution patterns pointed to more uniform sedimentation along Sava, compared to Drava. Also, more clay was found within Sava profiles. Soil texture was finer farther away from the sources of both rivers. Soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) was almost fully positively correlated to clay content. On the other hand, C
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content showed no correlation to CEC. This is attributed to the significant presence of smectite across all studied soils. Clay was recognized as the main factor influencing soil plasticity. When compared to the measured values, the predicted values of plasticity index and liquid limit were heavily underestimated. Hence, region-specific PTFs should be developed for more accurate prediction of plasticity in these soils. According to the WRB-2015, the soils were classified as Eutric Reductigleyic Stagnic Gleysols (Clayic, Humic, Protovertic). Because soils were not dry during field description, shrink-swell cracks were not prominent, and therefore soils were not classified as Vertisols. We suggest that field criteria for classification of Vertisols should not depend on actual soil moisture. Instead, plastic limits/indices could be used.
