Ophiolitic association of Cape Fiolent area,southwestern Crimea

An ophiolitic association consisting of serpentinized ultramafic rocks and serpentinite, layered mafic–ultramafic complex, gabbro and gabbrodolerite, fragments of parallel dike complex, pillow lava, black bedded chert, and jasper has been identified for the first time by authors in the Cape Fiolent area. The chemistry of pillow lavas and dolerites, including REE patterns and a wide set of other microelements, indicates suprasubduction nature of the ophiolites and their belonging to a backarc basin that has reached the stage of spreading in its evolution.     

Ecology of the bottom fauna and bioaccumulation of trace metals along the Lena River–Laptev Sea transect

The first data on ecology and trace metal (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb) bioaccumulation by macrozoobenthic organisms in area along the 130°E meridional transect from shallow water near the Lena River’s delta till the 78°N are presented. At the newly discovered methane seeps in the shallow Laptev Sea areas (72 m depth), a higher total abundance and biomass compared with background stations were recorded. In carbonate shells and soft tissues of Bivalvia Portlandia arctica and Astarte borealis, the high concentrations of Mn, Fe, Pb, Ni and Co were detected that varied in dependence from sampling site. In the dominating taxa of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea), there were found no significant differences between majority of trace metal content in organisms inhabiting the seeps area and background ones. An elevated content of some metals was detected in the Asteroidea bodies that may be attributed to its trophic behavior (deposit feeder).     

Analysis of Photoelectric Occultations and Development of a Digital Model of the Lunar Libration Zone

Astronomy Reports - One of the priority tasks of modern astronomy is the observation and study of transient celestial processes, which also concerns photoelectric observations of lunar occultations...     

Complex geomagnetic field database as a result of the survey performed aboard the Zarya non-magnetic schooner in the ocean water area

The results of the expedition studies of the spatial structure of the main geomagnetic field components, performed aboard the Zarya unique non-magnetic schooner, have been stored at SPbF IZMIRAN in an analog form, as a result of which it was almost impossible to widely use these results. For several last years, the SPbF IZMIRAN members have converted the entire magnetic data obtained during the Zarya voyages into a digital form, have developed and realized the project of specialized database including the results of the magnetic survey in the ocean water areas. The present work has briefly described the Zarya voyages in the oceans and has presented the database structure and the interface developed for users.     

Spatial distribution of microelements in the seston of the White Sea

With a view to a more complete understanding of the role of phyto-and zooplankton in biogeochemical cycles, the spatial distributions of Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, As, Hg, and C_org in the White Sea seston (21 samples) collected in August 2004 during cruise 64 or R/V Professor Shtokman were studied. It was shown that the elements studied are accumulated in plankton with enrichment coefficients from 10² for Hg to 10⁵ for Fe, as compared to seawater. The spatial distribution of microelements is determined by the sources of their supply and correlates with the distribution of the primary production and biomass of zooplankton. The increased values of microelement contents (excluding As) are characteristic of Dvina Bay, whereas the highest As concentrations were found in Kandalaksha Bay.     

Transport directions for clastic material of Aptian-Senomanian deposits in western Turkmenia

Transport directions for clastic material in Aptian-Senomanian time in western Turkmenia is the subject of this paper. Results were obtained by investigating the heavy minerals of sand deposits and stilizing the linear discriminant function. Mahalonobis' generalized distance was used as a measure of interrelations between samples. The linear discriminant function allowed separation of samples into two groups. Source of material for both groups was from the southeast. Comparison of all investigated sections with Sangu-Dag as the key section revealed some specific information about sediment transport direction.     

Development of Methods for Navigational Referencing of Circumlunar Spacecrafts to the Selenocentric Dynamic Coordinate System

Astronomy Reports - The initial form of present-day space optical observations contain considerable geometrical and brightness distortions. This problem can be solved based on geometrical...     

Inverse problem for the current loop model: Possibilities and restrictions

The possibilities of determining arbitrary current loop parameters based on the spatial structures of the magnetic field components generated by this loop on a sphere with a specified radius have been considered with the use of models. The model parameters were selected such that anomalies created by current loops on a sphere with a radius of 6378 km would be comparable in value with the different-scale anomalies of the observed main geomagnetic field (MGF). The least squares method was used to solve the inverse problem. Estimates close to the specified values were obtained for all current loop parameters except the current strength and radius. The radius determination error can reach ±120 km; at the same time, the magnetic moment value is determined with an accuracy of ±1%. The resolvability of the current force and radius can to a certain degree be improved by decreasing the observation sphere radius such that the ratio of the source distance to the current loop radius would be at least smaller than eight, which can be difficult to reach when modeling MGF.