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74-536: The overall geology records a history with three distinct stages of sedimentation within a mountainous environment. First, tectonic activity forms a basin (the Tambach Basin) dominated by high-energy debris flows , sheetfloods , and braided rivers . These incise underlying rhyolitic rock, depositing a coarse conglomerate known as the Bielstein Conglomerate. Second, calmer conditions allow

148-407: A Liar , choreographer David Gordon brought together the music of Harry Partch and the words of John McPhee from The Control of Nature , read by Norma Fire, in a dance titled "Debris Flow", a "harrowing taped narrative of a family's ordeal in a massive L.A. mudslide..." University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (German: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz )

222-609: A Sakmarian age. The sand and silt-rich portions of the Tambach Formation were likely deposited in a warm climate with both hot, dry parts of the year and periodic heavy rainfall events. The dry times were severe enough to evaporate the Tambach basin's flood-induced ephemeral lakes within a matter of days, restricting the ability of a permanent aquatic fauna to colonize the basin. However, most plant root fossils are horizontally (rather than vertically) oriented, indicating that

296-546: A biozone which was estimated to include the Artinskian-Kungurian boundary. Combining both invertebrate and tetrapod biostratigraphy, the age of the Tambach Formation was considered to be probably Artinskian in age. In a study published in 2022, Menning and colleagues consider the age of the Tambach formation to be probably between 294 and 292 Ma, corresponding to the Sakmarian. This estimate is based primarily on

370-408: A debris-flow surge often contains an abundance of coarse material such as boulders and logs that impart a great deal of friction . Trailing behind the high-friction flow head is a lower-friction, mostly liquefied flow body that contains a higher percentage of sand , silt and clay. These fine sediments help retain high pore-fluid pressures that enhance debris-flow mobility. In some cases the flow body

444-487: A diverse amphibian fauna, but only terrestrially-adapted types including dissorophoids and seymouriamorphs . Large herbivorous tetrapods such as caseids and especially diadectids are the most common body fossils recovered from the formation, while carnivorous synapsids are relatively rare. This is in contrast to North American environments, where fossils of carnivores such as Dimetrodon outnumber herbivore fossils. The environmental conditions of Tambach likely created

518-432: A food web which was very different from that of the lowlands. The most common plants were tough, drought-adapted types such as conifers , while seed ferns and other lowland plants were much rarer. Fibrous terrestrial plants encouraged colonization of the basin by herbivorous land animals, but the dry climate prevents the development of an aquatic food chain, inhibiting animals such as large species of Dimetrodon , which get

592-525: A founder of American avant-garde cinema Jonas Mekas ; his brother Adolfas Mekas, film director, writer and educator; mural artist Rainer Maria Latzke ; the German climatologist Wolfgang Seiler ; Abbas Zaryab , notable Iranian scholar and historian; Indonesian Toraja Church pastor and politician, Ishak Pamumbu Lambe ; Srinivas Kishanrao Saidapur , an Indian reproductive biologist; American educator Biddy Martin ; Stanisław Potrzebowski , one of leaders of

666-1289: A large portion of their food from waterways. Scoyenia gracilis Tambach-Sandstein Member Numerous specimens. Tiny burrow casts, possibly created by burrowing worms. Striatichnium bromackerense Tambach-Sandstein Member Numerous specimens. Possibly feeding traces from underwater worms or arthropods raking along a substrate. Tambia spiralis Tambach-Sandstein Member Numerous specimens. Small burrow casts with scratch marks, possibly created by large beetles or small burrowing reptiles ( Thuringothyris ). [REDACTED] Tambach-Sandstein Member Rare, heavily eroded specimens. Footprints likely created by seymouriamorphs such as Seymouria sanjuanensis . Tambach specimens may be misinterpreted examples of other ichnotaxa. Diadectes Tambach-Sandstein Member MNG ;8853 (holotype), MNG 7721, 8978 (paratypes). A diadectid tetrapod . May be its own genus, Silvadectes . [REDACTED] Georgenthalia Tambach-Sandstein Member MNG  11135 (holotype),

740-418: A last resort because they are expensive to construct and require commitment to annual maintenance. Also, debris basins may only retain debris flows from a fraction of streams that drain mountainous terrain. Before a storm that can potentially nucleate debris flows, forecasting frameworks can often quantify the likelihood that a debris flow might occur in a watershed; however, it remains challenging to predict

814-531: A period of high tectonic activity (part of the Variscan orogeny ) to the southeast, the Oberhof uplift. The formation of the basin among this tectonic backdrop initially led to powerful debris flows and sheet floods , and then active braided rivers flowing along its edge with lower-energy rivers, floodplains , and lakes at its center. The coarse ( cobble / boulder -scale) and rhyolitic Bielstein conglomerate

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888-716: A result of their high sediment concentrations and mobility, debris flows can be very destructive. Notable debris-flow disasters of the twentieth century involved more than 20,000 fatalities in Armero, Colombia , in 1985 and tens of thousands in Vargas State , Venezuela , in 1999. Debris flows have volumetric sediment concentrations exceeding about 40 to 50%, and the remainder of a flow's volume consists of water. By definition, “debris” includes sediment grains with diverse shapes and sizes, commonly ranging from microscopic clay particles to great boulders . Media reports often use

962-664: A significant hazard in many steep, mountainous areas, and have received particular attention in Japan, China, Taiwan, USA, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, the European Alps, Russia, and Kazakhstan. In Japan a large debris flow or landslide is called yamatsunami ( 山津波 ), literally mountain tsunami . Debris flows are accelerated downhill by gravity and tend to follow steep mountain channels that debouche onto alluvial fans or floodplains . The front, or 'head' of

1036-1274: A small but complete skull . An amphibamiform dissorophoid temnospondyl . Ichniotherium Tambach-Sandstein Member Numerous specimens. Footprints created by Diadectes absitus . I. sphaerodactylum Tambach-Sandstein Member Numerous specimens. Footprints created by Orobates pabsti . Orobates Debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock flow down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally have bulk densities comparable to those of rock avalanches and other types of landslides (roughly 2000 kilograms per cubic meter), but owing to widespread sediment liquefaction caused by high pore-fluid pressures , they can flow almost as fluidly as water. Debris flows descending steep channels commonly attain speeds that surpass 10 m/s (36 km/h), although some large flows can reach speeds that are much greater. Debris flows with volumes ranging up to about 100,000 cubic meters occur frequently in mountainous regions worldwide. The largest prehistoric flows have had volumes exceeding 1 billion cubic meters (i.e., 1 cubic kilometer). As

1110-469: A somewhat narrower layer of finer sediments such as sandstone , the Tambach-Sandstein (Tambach sandstone) member. However, the borders between these layers are often imprecise, and some geologists have offered a more complex depositional picture with three stratigraphic stages defined by changes in basin-wide sedimentology, rather than specific rock types. The lowest stage (stage I) experienced

1184-399: A strong coupling between the solid and the fluid momentum transfer , where the solid's normal stress is reduced by buoyancy , which in turn diminishes the frictional resistance, enhances the pressure gradient , and reduces the drag on the solid component. Buoyancy is an important aspect of two-phase debris flow, because it enhances flow mobility (longer travel distances) by reducing

1258-505: A succession of finer and darker micaceous sediments such as shale , siltstone , and (rarely) very fine sandstone. This reconstructs a sequence of repeated flooding events, involving strong, straight rivers eroding channels through the silty floodplain at the center of the basin, leaving behind sandy channel fills (sandstone) and fine-grained overbank deposits (shale and other sediments). The mudstone drapings can be explained as precipitate from extensive ephemeral lakes that evaporated in

1332-641: A year. The third stage involves a return of tectonic conditions, this time inducing wide deposits of polymictic (heterogenous) conglomerate known as the Finsterbergen conglomerate. The Tambach Formation also includes one of the most important Permian fossil localities in Europe: the Bromacker locality. This former sandstone quarry and surrounding sites preserves several different facies types, with different fossil components. Thick sandstone channel fills in

1406-589: Is a public research university in Mainz , Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It is named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. As of 2018, it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 academic programs. The university is organized into 11 faculties. The university is a member of the German U15 , a group of fifteen major research and medical universities in Germany. It also participates in

1480-434: Is a debris flow related in some way to volcanic activity , either directly as a result of an eruption, or indirectly by the collapse of loose material on the flanks of a volcano. A variety of phenomena may trigger a lahar, including melting of glacial ice, sector collapse , intense rainfall on loose pyroclastic material, or the outburst of a lake that was previously dammed by pyroclastic or glacial sediments. The word lahar

1554-477: Is followed by a more watery tail that transitions into a hyperconcentrated stream flow. Debris flows tend to move in a series of pulses, or discrete surges, wherein each pulse or surge has a distinctive head, body and tail. Debris-flow deposits are readily recognizable in the field. They make up significant percentages of many alluvial fans and debris cones along steep mountain fronts. Fully exposed deposits commonly have lobate forms with boulder-rich snouts, and

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1628-533: Is of Indonesian origin, but is now routinely used by geologists worldwide to describe volcanogenic debris flows. Nearly all of Earth's largest, most destructive debris flows are lahars that originate on volcanoes. An example is the lahar that inundated the city of Armero , Colombia. A jökulhlaup is a glacial outburst flood. Jökulhlaup is an Icelandic word, and in Iceland many glacial outburst floods are triggered by sub-glacial volcanic eruptions. (Iceland sits atop

1702-524: Is one of few campus universities in Germany. Nearly all its institutions and facilities are located on the site of a former barracks in the south west part of the city. The university medical centre is located off campus, as is the Department of Applied Linguistics and Cultural Sciences, which was integrated with the university in 1949 and is located in Germersheim . On campus next to the university

1776-623: Is the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry , the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research , the Institute of Molecular Biology , the electron accelerator MAMI , the research reactor TRIGA, the botanical garden , a sports stadium and an indoor swimming pool. Mainz Academy of Arts ( Kunsthochschule Mainz ) is located off campus. The range of studies is comprehensive; the university lacks some technical studies, veterinary medicine and nutrition science . One can nonetheless study

1850-474: Is unclear whether the strata at Elgersburg are younger, older, or equivalent in age to the Tambach Formation. Biostratigraphy is more informative but still imprecise. Insect and conchostracan biostratigraphy places it into the Sakmarian - Artinskian Moravamylacris kukalovae and late Artinskian Lioestheria monticula/andreevi biozones, respectively. The only species of tetrapod known to exist in both

1924-638: Is unusual for its lack of aquatic animals such as xenacanthid sharks, Eryops , or Diplocaulus , which are otherwise common in Early Permian red beds. This is best explained by its mountainous environment, isolated from the monsoonal lowland floodplains which deposited most of the red beds. In addition, the ephemeral nature of the Tambach Basin's lakes and rivers means that only aquatic animals adapted to such conditions, such as conchostracans , were able to flourish. The Tambach Basin did support

1998-631: The Eisenach Formation . It is the oldest part of the Thuringian Forest Basin's Upper Rotliegend succession, a name referring to a sequence of purely sedimentary rocks in the Lower Permian of Germany. The sediments of the Tambach Formation were deposited in a small Permian graben (termed the Tambach Basin), which was oriented in a northeast to southwest direction and incised into the igneous and sedimentary rocks of

2072-613: The Friedenstein Castle . Due to funding issues, collecting from Bromacker has been limited and the Tambach collection is being archived at the historic Perthesforum complex prior to the construction of a new Permian exhibit. The Tambach Formation mainly lies within a basin currently occupied by the Thuringian Forest , and it is stratigraphically younger than the Rotterode Formation and older than

2146-754: The IT-Cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar and forms part of the Rhine-Main-Universities (RMU) along with Goethe University Frankfurt and Technische Universität Darmstadt . Founded in 1477, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe and one of the most prestigious in Germany. The first University of Mainz goes back to the Archbishop of Mainz , Prince-elector and Reichserzkanzler Adolf II von Nassau . At

2220-720: The QS World University Rankings for 2024, the university holds the 464th position worldwide and is placed 27th nationally. On the Times Higher Education World University Rankings , it finds itself within the 251–300 range globally, and falls within the 25–31 range on a national scale in the 2024 edition. In terms of the ARWU World Rankings for 2022, the university is positioned in the 201–300 band internationally, and ranks between 10th and 19th in

2294-552: The "lower beds" or "Bromacker sandstone" and stage II sediments are the "upper beds" or "Bromacker horizon". The lower beds are dominated by thick sheets of fine-grained sandstone, often with cross-bedding indicating that the paleocurrent was oriented towards the northeast. These sandstone layers are typically blanketed by homogeneous mudstone , which sometimes preserved mudcracks , plant fossils, invertebrate burrows, and tetrapod footprints. The thick sandstone layers (and their mudstone drapings) are not continuous, interrupted by

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2368-566: The 1840s, five-toed footprints had been described from various sandstone quarries and roadcuts in the Gotha district of Germany. The stratigraphy of rocks near Tambach-Dietharz was mapped out in 1876, and named as the "Tambacher Schichten" (Tambach strata) in 1895, although at the time it was believed to include several additional rock layers (now termed the Elgersberg and Eisenach Formations ) which have since then been separated from it. in 1887

2442-562: The Arts Bremen . One of the instruments carried by the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity , a miniature Mössbauer spectrometer , was developed at the university. The University of Mainz does not currently levy fees or tuition ( Studiengebühren ) for a regular course of study. Senior citizen students, auditing students, and certain postgraduate students may be subject to fees. As per

2516-464: The DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutes and finances them. The ranking is thus regarded as an indicator of the quality of research. Alumni of the old University include theologian Friedrich Spee as well as Austrian diplomat Klemens von Metternich , who studied law from 1790 to 1792, and revolutionary Adam Lux . Among notable alumni from

2590-423: The Finsterbergen conglomerate. The most famous and fossiliferous locality within the Tambach Formation is the Bromacker locality, a cluster of small abandoned quarries near the town of Tambach-Dietharz . Strata exposed to the surface at Bromacker corresponds to the center of the Tambach Basin, during the time of the upper portion of stage I and the lower portion of stage II. Stage I sediments at Bromacker are termed

2664-773: The Institute for Physiological Chemistry played a decisive role in the SPD's higher education policy and in the development of Study Accounts. The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is divided in ten faculties since 1 September 2010. The academies for music and art are independent art colleges of the Johannes Gutenberg University, the Hochschule für Musik Mainz and the Kunsthochschule Mainz  [ de ] . The University of Mainz

2738-535: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is formed by a chain of mostly submarine volcanoes). Elsewhere, a more common cause of jökulhlaups is the breaching of ice-dammed or moraine -dammed lakes. Such breaching events are often caused by the sudden calving of glacier ice into a lake, which then causes a displacement wave to breach a moraine or ice dam. Downvalley of the breach point, a jökulhlaup may increase greatly in size through entrainment of loose sediment from

2812-598: The Rotterode Formation. The Tambach Basin would have about 250 square km during the Permian, though modern outcrops only occupy about 50 square km, not counting the northeastern portion of the basin which has had its deposits erased by later geological processes. Traditionally, the Tambach Formation is considered to be divided into three discrete layers: a lower and an upper conglomerate layer (Bielstein and Finsterbergen Konglomerate, respectively), separated by

2886-577: The Tambach Formation and North American faunas is Seymouria sanjuanensis , which persisted for approximately 15 million years between the Asselian and the early Kungurian . Since the species of Dimetrodon present at Tambach is smaller than those present in the red beds of Texas , the Tambach Formation was likely older than those formations. The Tambach Formation was placed within the Seymouran LVF (Land Vertebrate Faunachron) of Lucas (2006),

2960-479: The Tambach Formation as a sequence including two conglomerate layers separated by a sandstone layer. In the coming years, research contacts were made with Western paleontologists such as Jürgen Boy ( University of Mainz ) and David Berman ( Carnegie Museum of Natural History ). This allowed excavation to ramp up and the Tambach Formation to achieve worldwide fame. A 1993 German-American joint expedition recovered articulated tetrapod fossils, and trace fossil collecting

3034-443: The Tambach Formation from 1890 until his death in 1908. The collection was rediscovered in the 1950s, and subsequently restudied by GDR paleontologists such as Hermann Schmidt , Arno Hermann Müller , and Hartmut Haubold . Fossilized tetrapod bones were discovered in the upper beds of Bromacker by Thomas Martens in 1974, prompting further attention from Gotha paleontologists. These include Harald Lutzner , who formally delineated

Tambach Formation - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-465: The Tambach Formation had made sheetfloods the dominant erosional force, rather than individual channels. The lowest sheetflood deposit was particularly rich in diadectid fossils. The fine sediment successions were also altered, becoming dominated by finely laminated (and only occasionally micaceous) shale in which conchostracans and arthropod remains were fossilized. These indicate a transition to more permanent lakes and broad floodplain conditions at

3182-487: The Tambach Sandstone Member, Scholze and Pint proposed a mean annual temperature of only 10.9 to 15°C (12.7°C on average). There is evidence that sub-zero temperatures may have occurred on some nights during the dry season, likely as a result of the basin's high elevation. The climate may have been drier during the conglomerate-rich periods of the Tambach Formation. The ecosystem of the Tambach Formation

3256-422: The amount of sediment mobilized and therefore, the total size of debris flows that may nucleate for a given storm, and whether or not debris basins will have the capacity to protect downstream communities. These challenges make debris flows particularly dangerous to mountain front communities. In 1989, as part of his large-scale piece David Gordon's United States , and later, in 1999, as part of Autobiography of

3330-467: The basin to widen, and the conglomerate is marginalized by finer sediments which were previously only common at the center of the basin, such as the characteristic Tambach Sandstone. These finer sediments were deposited through repeated sequences of flooding, followed by calm water, followed by exposure to air. The overall climate would have been similar to modern tropical savannas , with hot and dry periods broken up by heavy rainfall, likely multiple times in

3404-406: The center of the Tambach Basin, rather than the ephemeral fluvial environment of the lower beds. An extensive older sequence, the "Tambach-Wechsellagerung" (Tambach interbedding ) was discovered in 2004 through borehole data. This sequence somewhat resembled the lower beds, with alternating fine micaceous deposits and thick sandstone sheets filled with a breccia of mudstone intraclasts. However,

3478-444: The chief conditions required for debris flow initiation include the presence of slopes steeper than about 25 degrees , the availability of abundant loose sediment, soil, or weathered rock, and sufficient water to bring this loose material to a state of almost complete saturation (with all the pore space filled). Debris flows can be more frequent following forest and brush fires, as experience in southern California demonstrates. They pose

3552-469: The climate was generally humid enough that native plants would not need to evolve deep roots or other xerophytic adaptations. Because of this, the Tambach Formation would probably fall under the modern tropical savanna climate , despite its lack of grass. Modern climatic equivalents include the northern African savanna and the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia . However, from the sediment geochemistry of

3626-628: The confusion after the establishment of the Mainz Republic of 1792 and its subsequent recapture by the Prussians , academic activity came to a gradual standstill. In 1798 the university became active again under French governance, and lectures in the department of medicine took place until 1823. Only the faculty of theology continued teaching during the 19th century, albeit as a theological seminary (since 1877 "College of Philosophy and Theology"). The current Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

3700-563: The country. According to the report of the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2018, the University of Mainz is one of the best universities in natural sciences in Germany. In the period under review from 2014 to 2016, the University of Mainz received the highest number of competitive grants in the natural sciences . The university also achieved the first place in physics . In a competitive selection process,

3774-496: The edge of the basin. As a result, the braided rivers at the edge slowed down, lowering the size of the clasts to cobble/ pebble conglomerate. The center of the basin graded into small streams and marshes, depositing sandstone, siltstone , shale and mudstone in fossiliferous red beds . Although the Tambach Basin may have been hydrologically isolated during this period, with its waterways draining internally, some paleontologists instead consider its waters to flow into another basin in

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3848-512: The effective frictional shear stress for the solid phase is that of pure granular flow. In this case the force due to the pressure gradient is altered, the drag is high and the effect of the virtual mass disappears in the solid momentum. All this leads to slowing down the motion . To prevent debris flows reaching property and people, a debris basin may be constructed. Debris basins are designed to protect soil and water resources or to prevent downstream damage. Such constructions are considered to be

3922-499: The first fossilized footprints from Bromacker were discovered by a local fossil collector named Heinrich Friedrich Schäfer . The find was donated to the Ducal Museum in the city of Gotha , after which it was independently reported on by various German paleontologists who had received photographic evidence. Wilhelm Pabst , the curator of the Ducal Museum's natural history department, collected and described 140 sandstone slabs from

3996-513: The fluid and the solid phases. The effect is substantial when the density ratio ( γ {\displaystyle \gamma } ) is large (e.g., in the natural debris flow). If the flow is neutrally buoyant, i.e., γ = 1 {\displaystyle \gamma =1} , (see, e.g., Bagnold, 1954) the debris mass is fluidized and moves longer travel distances. This can happen in highly viscous natural debris flows. For neutrally buoyant flows, Coulomb friction disappears,

4070-424: The frictional resistance in the mixture . Buoyancy is present as long as there is fluid in the mixture. It reduces the solid normal stress, solid lateral normal stresses, and the basal shear stress (thus, frictional resistance) by a factor ( 1 − γ {\displaystyle 1-\gamma } ), where γ {\displaystyle \gamma } is the density ratio between

4144-432: The lateral margins of debris-flow deposits and paths are commonly marked by the presence of boulder-rich lateral levees . These natural levees form when relatively mobile, liquefied, fine-grained debris in the body of debris flows shoulders aside coarse, high-friction debris that collects in debris-flow heads as a consequence of grain-size segregation (a familiar phenomenon in granular mechanics ). Lateral levees can confine

4218-483: The lateral solid pressure gradient vanishes, the drag coefficient is zero, and the basal slope effect on the solid phase also vanishes. In this limiting case , the only remaining solid force is due to gravity , and thus the force associated with buoyancy. Under these conditions of hydrodynamic support of the particles by the fluid, the debris mass is fully fluidized (or lubricated ) and moves very economically, promoting long travel distances. Compared to buoyant flow,

4292-774: The lower section at Bromacker are overlain with mudstone from ephemeral lakes. A diverse assemblage of trace fossils such as footprints are imprinted onto the mudstone drapings. The upper section of Bromacker contains siltstone deposited through sheetfloods, in which well-preserved articulated skeletons of terrestrial tetrapods have been discovered. These include early amphibians like Rotaryus and Tambaroter , and early reptiles like Eudibamus and Thuringothyris . Unlike most fossil-preserving Permian red beds, aquatic vertebrates are absent at Bromacker while carnivorous synapsids (like Dimetrodon ) are rare and herbivorous diadectids are abundant. Plant and arthropod fossils have also been found in shales at Bromacker. Starting in

4366-401: The neutrally buoyant flow shows completely different behaviour. For the latter case, the solid and fluid phases move together, the debris bulk mass is fluidized, the front moves substantially farther, the tail lags behind, and the overall flow height is also reduced. When γ = 0 {\displaystyle \gamma =0} , the flow does not experience any buoyancy effect. Then

4440-452: The northeast, which was not preserved. The last stage (stage III) experienced a return of tectonic activity (the Ruhla crystalline uplift) to the northwest, although the relief was still fair flat. Ruhla-sourced alluvial fans and braidplains became more common, gradually allowing mineral-rich and polymictic pebble-sized conglomerate to build up and expand into the center of the basin, forming

4514-472: The old university and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, in spite of an interruption spanning over 100 years, is contested. During the time up to its reopening only a seminary and midwifery college survived. In 1972, the effect of the 1968 student protests began to take a toll on the university's structure. The departments (Fakultäten) were dismantled and the university was organized into broad fields of study (Fachbereiche). Finally in 1974 Peter Schneider

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4588-795: The paths of ensuing debris flows, and the presence of older levees provides some idea of the magnitudes of previous debris flows in a particular area. Through dating of trees growing on such deposits, the approximate frequency of destructive debris flows can be estimated. This is important information for land development in areas where debris flows are common. Ancient debris-flow deposits that are exposed only in outcrops are more difficult to recognize, but are commonly typified by juxtaposition of grains with greatly differing shapes and sizes. This poor sorting of sediment grains distinguishes debris-flow deposits from most water-laid sediments. Other geological flows that can be described as debris flows are typically given more specific names. These include: A lahar

4662-902: The post-1946 University of Mainz are German politicians Malu Dreyer ( SPD , Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate ); Rainer Brüderle ( FDP , Federal Minister for Economics and Technology); Horst Teltschik (former security advisor to Chancellor Helmut Kohl and president of the Munich Conference on Security Policy ); Kristina Schröder , Federal Minister of Family and Social Affairs; Franz Josef Jung ( CDU , Former Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and former Federal Minister of Defence); Jens Beutel , Oberbürgermeister (mayor) of Mainz; particle physicist Vera Lüth ; nuclear and particle physicist Johanna Stachel ; sculptor Karlheinz Oswald ; sports journalist Béla Réthy ; political journalist Peter Scholl-Latour ; Dieter Stolte, former director-general of ZDF ; soprano Elisabeth Scholl ;

4736-439: The radiometric age of 295.8 ± 0.4 Ma (late Asselian ) of the Rotterode Formation which unconformably underlies the Tambach Formation, and on the estimate that the interval of geologic time not represented between the two formations is less than 2 million years. In addition, comparison of the footprint assemblage of the Tambach Formation with radiometrically dated Permian footprint assemblages from France and Italy also suggests

4810-451: The sandstone layers had no evidence of cross-bedding, and the mud drapings responsible for most of the Tambach trace fossils were absent as well. Rare fragments of vertebrate fossils were present, along with calcite structures. Uranium-Lead dating is not possible for the Tambach Formation, which lacks fresh volcanic rocks. The similar Elgersburg Formation to the southeast contains rhyolite dated to 274 ± 4.9 million years ago. However, it

4884-867: The term mudflow to describe debris flows, but true mudflows are composed mostly of grains smaller than sand . On Earth's land surface, mudflows are far less common than debris flows. However, underwater mudflows are prevalent on submarine continental margins , where they may spawn turbidity currents . Debris flows in forested regions can contain large quantities of woody debris such as logs and tree stumps. Sediment-rich water floods with solid concentrations ranging from about 10 to 40% behave somewhat differently from debris flows and are known as hyperconcentrated floods. Normal stream flows contain even lower concentrations of sediment. Debris flows can be triggered by intense rainfall or snowmelt, by dam-break or glacial outburst floods, or by landsliding that may or may not be associated with intense rain or earthquakes. In all cases

4958-556: The theology, history of books, athletics , music, visual arts, theatre, and film. Today the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has approximately 36,000 students (as of 2010 ) and consists of over 150 institutions and clinics. The university offers international programs, such as the award-winning choir EuropaChorAkademie , founded by Joshard Daus in 1997, in collaboration with the University of

5032-473: The time, establishing a university required papal approval and Adolf II initiated the approval process during his time in office. The university, however, was first opened in 1477 by Adolf's successor to the bishopric, Diether von Isenburg . In 1784 the university was opened up for Protestants and Jews (curator Anselm Franz von Bentzel-Sternau  [ de ] ). It became one of the largest Catholic universities in Europe with ten chairs in theology alone. In

5106-624: The valley through which it travels. Ample entrainment can enable the flood to transform to a debris flow. Travel distances may exceed 100 km. Numerous different approaches have been used to model debris-flow properties, kinematics , and dynamics . Some are listed here. Calibrating and validating such sophisticated models require well-documented data from field surveys or minute laboratory experiments. The mixture theory , originally proposed by Iverson and later adopted and modified by others, treats debris flows as two-phase solid-fluid mixtures. In real two-phase (debris) mass flows there exists

5180-687: The weeks following the floods, after which they became mudflats. Many of the mudcrack fragments were ripped up by the next flood, being incorporated into the subsequent sandstone sheets as intraclasts . The narrower upper beds also represent alternating flooding and still water conditions, albeit with finer clasts and lower topography. The sandstone channel fills are mostly replaced by homogeneous layers of red siltstone, which were prone to breaking along sharp edges. This siltstone contained mudcrack fragments, calcite -encased roots, and well-preserved partial or articulated skeletons of terrestrial tetrapods. These sediments indicate that reduced relief in stage II of

5254-401: Was deposited among the high-energy marginal environments while early portions of the Tambach sandstone were deposited further away from the basin's edge. The most prominent flow direction in the well-preserved eastern part of the basin is northwest, towards the center of the basin. Decreasing tectonic activity in the middle stage (stage II) leads to increased erosion , lowering the relief along

5328-506: Was elected as the first president of what was now a "constituted group-university" institute of higher education. In 1990 Jürgen Zöllner became university president yet spent only a year in the position after he was appointed Minister for "Science and Advanced Education" for the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. As the coordinator for the SPD 's higher education policy , this furloughed professor from

5402-701: Was founded in 1946 by the French occupying power . In a decree on 1 March the French military government implied that the University of Mainz would continue to exist: the university shall be "enabled to resume its function". The remains of anti-aircraft warfare barracks erected in 1938 after the remilitarization of the Rhineland during the Third Reich served as the university's first buildings and are still in use today. The continuation of academic activity between

5476-400: Was resumed after more than 80 years thanks to the excavation of a new sandstone quarry at Bromacker in 1995. The first Tambach body fossils outside of Bromacker were discovered in 2008, in a construction site in downtown Tambach-Dietharz. In 2010, the exhibits comprising Gotha's Museum of Nature began the process of being moved from the Ducal Museum (which was being converted to an art museum) to

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