Peculiarities of the Earth’s crust sedimentary layer structure in the Falkland Basin

An electronic databank including the results of seismic investigations and schemes of the sediment thickness’s distribution patterns was built up for two seismostratigraphic complexes in the Falkland Basin. The interface’s border was dated, and the sedimentation rates were estimated for each complex. An integrated map of the cumulative thickness of the deposits and sedimentation rates was developed. The lowest limits of the parameters of the sedimentation process were characterized for the sedimentary layers affected by compaction and erosion.     

A probable mechanism of the formation of hydrocarbon deposits in the intraplate deformation area of the Indian Ocean’s lithosphere

Most of the hydrocarbon fields in the oceanic and thinned suboceanic crust are associated with deep-seated faults. This fact might be caused by methane formation under the serpentinization of the upper mantle rocks and its transfer to the sedimentary cover with hydrotherms. The northern part of the Indian Ocean deformation zone may be of considerable promise for the formation of deposits of such genesis. This is favored by the occurrence of the long-living hydrothermal activity over the deep-seated faults and by quite the thick sedimentary cover (over 1 km). In the course of cruise 32 of the R/V Akademik Kurchatov, a buried anticline formation with an acoustic anomaly of the bright-spot type was discovered 450 km southwards from Sri Lanka Island. This may point to the presence of a hydrocarbon accumulation in the sedimentary cover.     

The wind-induced drift velocity of the freshwater layer on the sea’s surface

The effect of an unsteady river plume on the wind drift was studied. Initially, the plume occurs as a horizontal homogeneous near-surface layer with a low density and different thicknesses being washed around by the wind in the course of time due to the vertical mixing with the underlying waters. This process is described using the one-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model (POM) with the integrated turbulence submodel. A series of numerical experiments yielded the empirical dependence of the normalized surface drift velocity modulus on the nondimensional parameters: the Ekman numbers and the relations between the buoyancy and Coriolis forces.     

The influence of the climate’s variability on the deep-water oxygen conditions in the east of the Gulf of Finland

Based on the long-term surveys in 1995?C2010, the influence of the variability of the winter conditions on the interannual dynamics of the content of dissolved oxygen was studied concerning the deep waters (the 40 m isobath line) of the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. The content of oxygen varied within a wide range with a low-pronounced trend to a decrease during the considered period. All the processes affecting the aeration of deep waters, i.e., the advection of oxygen-depleted saline waters from the Baltic Sea and the intensity of the autumnal and winter mixing, correlated with the North Atlantic oscillation index, which determined the close positive correlation between this parameter and the oxygen content (r = +0.87). The hypoxic effects in the gulf were registered in the years of negative anomalies of the North Atlantic oscillation. The conclusion is reached that the deterioration of the oxygen conditions at the inner part of the Gulf of Finland during the late 20th-early 21st century is mainly caused by the large-scale variations in the atmospheric processes.     

The three-layer model of the thermohaline structure in the shallow seas

——A three-layer model of the thermohaline structure is developed on the basis of the two -layer model of thermocline. The model is able to simulate the depth,thickness and intensity of both thermocline and halocline, and the temperature and salinity of both upper layer and lower layer in the shallow seas.Camparison of simulation with data is favorable.Detailed analysis is made on a variety of factors affecting the intensity of the thermocline.     

The redox profile of the bottom sediments in the Ob River’s mouth area

By the data of cruise 54 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh (September 2007), the results of geochemical studies of the redox processes in the bottom sediments of the Ob River’s near-mouth area as applied to the redox indicator elements such as manganese, iron, and sulfur are presented. The characteristics of the bottom sediments and the distribution of these elements in them testify not only to the significant role of the mixing processes in the formation of the geochemical profile of the bottom sediments in the estuary but also to the role of the postsedimentation (diagenetic) processes.     

The Moon is the Source of Unstable Nonstationary Disturbances in the Earth’s Atmosphere

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - By using a nonstationary numerical thermohydrodynamic model of atmospheric tides genesis and evolution in the Earth’s atmosphere, it is shown that...     

The Mechanism of Formation of Mesoscale Pulsating Jet Streams in the Earth’s Atmosphere

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The formation mechanism of local pulsatile jet streams is considered. It may in general be reduced to the following sequence: (i) a breaking gravity...     

The volumes of volcanic seamounts as a factor determining the formation of the ocean floor’s morphostructure

The volumes of formed volcanoes are an important indicator of the formation intensity of the ocean floor volcanogenic morphostructure under different geodynamic conditions. The distribution of the volumes of volcanoes that formed within the oceanic lithosphere of different geological ages is considered to analyze the spatial and time dynamics of the scopes of the seamount formation. The greatest volumes of effused rocks concentrate in volcanoes of different heights on the different-age segments of the lithosphere. The total volumes of volcanogenic substance growing with increasing age and thickness of the lithosphere is caused by the increasing range of the heights of the formed volcanoes and the growing number of big seamounts. Despite that the volcanic seamounts formed within the mid-oceanic ridges, on the divergent boundaries of the lithospheric plates and in the transform faults most often, half of the volcanogenic material was emitted to the earth’s surface during the spreading of the intraplate volcanism. A leading part in the formation of the volcanogenic morphostructure of the ocean floor belongs to the formation of big seamounts with heights of 4–6 km and volumes from 1500 to 5100 km³, respectively, in the provinces with ages from 60 to 90 mln years.     

The influence of ambient salinity on the histological structure of the kidney of Trachidertmus fasciatus

Trachidermus fasciatus is a species of catadromous fish in China. In order to elucidate the phenomenon of their seaward propagation, comparative studies of kidney histological structure of this species collected from fresh-water (salinity 10), sea-water (salinity 32) and artificial sea-water (salinity 17.5, 22.5) have been made.     

The changing face of global fisheries—The 1950s vs. the 2000s

Spatialized catch and effort data, representing the world's marine fisheries in the 1950s and the 2000s are presented in form of cartograms, i.e., global maps in which the surface areas of continents are made proportional to the magnitude of the annual catches and fishing effort by their fleets. This is complemented by an analysis of the flows of seafood between the continents in whose waters the fish were captured, in the 1950s and the 2000s, and the continents where fleets originated. Such broad-brush analyses of temporal changes and trade patterns are helpful to understand major trends of fisheries, which, are increasingly dominated by scarcity of fish, and competition, notably off the coast of West Africa, and in newly accessed polar waters.     

Variations of the Earth’s magnetic field in the Phanerozoic

The global VDM database, which was later supplemented by new determinations published in the world literature (a total of 3194 determinations), is used as the basis for addressing the VDM behavior in the Phanerozoic (0–542 Ma) and up to 580 Ma. The results revealed a positive linear trend to higher VDM values from 3.5 × l0²² Am² to 5.7 × l0²² Am². Against this background, fluctuations of the mean VDMs occur with a periodicity of about 40 Myr. In the Phanerozoic, prominent minima of the intensity are found in the time intervals of 510–520, 420–460, 340–370, 290–300, 240–270, 190–210, 165–140 Ma (chrons M17–M43), 130–120 Ma (chrons M2–M10), 100–110 Ma (chron C34), 75–85 Ma (chrons C33 and the beginning of chron C34), 70–60 Ma (chrons C31–C27), and 40–15 Ma (chrons C18–C5AD). The distribution of the VDMs appears to reflect the paleomagnetic field behavior and may be taken into account in a magnetization model for the reversely magnetized oceanic crust.     

Peculiarities of the East Scotia ridge’s geochronology

The first map of the acoustic basement and the new map of chrons C1-C5E for the region of the East Scotia mid-ocean ridge have been made. The analysis of the maps and the calculations have indicated that the sea-floor spreading at the ridge’s flanks started in its southeast in the interval of chrons C5Er-6An (18.52–20.17 Ma BP). The maximal spreading rate (5.3 cm/year) was in the interval of chrons C5Bn-C5Br (14.78–15.97 Ma BP). Then, the spreading rate was slow and increased again from 3–6 Ma BP until the present. The spreading in the last 1–2 Ma was accompanied by the propagating of the axes southwards in the E1, E2, and E4 segments and northwards in the E8 and E9 segments.     

The Primorskoe Current at Standard Sections and in Satellite Images of the Sea of Japan’s Surface

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A three-dimensional analysis of the Primorskoe Current (Sea of Japan) in April–June 2000–2017 is performed with joint use of satellite and...     

The gentleman’s agreements: a fisheries management case study from the Southwest of England

This paper assesses the unique ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ that exist between the crab fishermen of South Devon and trawlermen from the UK and other EU member states. The reasons for the success of the arrangements are discussed, particularly as the agreements apply to fisheries that are currently characterised by over-capacity, rent dissipation and non-compliance with regulations. The agreements are analysed in relation to other common-property resource-management systems, and their compatability with the principles of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is established. Finally the agreements are compared and contrasted with the concepts of subsidiarity and co-management.     

The effect of internal tides on the vertical structure of tidal current in the North Huanghai Sea

The tidal current is generally predominant in China's offshore areas. The vertical structure of the observedtidal current is quite complicated with the presence of seasonal thermocline. The observed tidal current may be divided into two parts, an averaged barotropic tide current and a variation tide current. A method for studying the vertical structure of tidal current is developed from the constitution and distribution of energy, and the vertical structure of the observed tide current in the North Huanghai Sea is studied on the basis of the method. The result shows that the reason why the energy of the tidal current is concentrated on the neighbourhood of the thermocline mainly lies in the internal tides i under certain conditions, the fact that the direction of the internal tide current above the thermocline is opposite to the one below the thermocline will be able to cause the rotary directions of the observed tidal current above and below the thermocline to be in opposite. The interaction between th     

Modelling the effect of climate change on the wave climate of the world’s oceans

This paper analyses the trends and the future projections of significant wave height in several ocean areas at different parts of the world. It uses a stochastic Bayesian hierarchical space-time model, with a regression component with atmospheric levels of CO₂ as covariates in order to estimate the expected long-term trends and make future projections towards the year 2100. The model was initially developed for an area in the North Atlantic ocean, and has been found to perform reasonably well there, and it is now investigated how the model performs for other ocean areas. 11 new ocean areas have been analysed with the model, and this paper presents the results pertaining to the estimated long-term trends and future projections of monthly maximum significant wave height for each of the 12 ocean areas.     

Aluminum hydroxide’s solubility and the forms of dissolved aluminum’s occurrence in seawater

The solubility of aluminum hydroxide in seawater of 35‰ salinity at pH = 7.4−8.2 and 25°C was determined experimentally for three samples synthesized in different ways. The solubilities of two phases subjected to ageing and precipitated (a) from a boiling solution of aluminum sulfate and (b) immediately from seawater at room temperature were a little different and showed the minimum within pH = 8.05−8.10. The solubility of aluminum hydroxide precipitated from a solution of sulfate aluminum at room temperature and not subjected to ageing was about twofold at pH∼7.9. The analysis of the pH dependence of the concentration of dissolved aluminum allows one to suppose that an Al(OH)₂⁺ hydroxo complex is the primary form of the aluminum occurrence in seawater at pH < 8.05, whereas the Al(OH)₄⁻ anion is prevailing at pH > 8.10. Electrically neutral Al(OH)₃⁰ hydroxocomplexes may be prevailing within the narrow range of pH = 8.05−8.10 and, in general, are of secondary importance.     

The evolution of rifting on the volcanic margin of the Pelotas Basin and the contextualization of the Paraná–Etendeka LIP in the separation of Gondwana in the South Atlantic

The Pelotas Basin is the classical example of a volcanic passive margin displaying large wedges of seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR). The SDR fill entirely its rifts throughout the basin, characterizing the abundant syn-rift magmatism (133–113 Ma). The Paraná–Etendeka Large Igneous Province (LIP), adjacent to west, constituted the pre-rift magmatism (134–132 Ma). The interpretation of ultra-deep seismic lines showed a very different geology from the adjacent Santos, Campos and Espírito Santo Basins, which constitute examples of magma-poor passive margins. Besides displaying rifts totally filled by volcanic rocks, diverse continental crustal domains were defined in the Pelotas Basin, such as an outer domain, probably constituted by highly stretched and permeated continental igneous crust, and a highly reflective lower crust probably reflecting underplating.The analysis of rifting in this portion of the South Atlantic is based on seismic interpretation and on the distribution of regional linear magnetic anomalies. The lateral accretion of SDR to the east towards the future site of the breakup and the temporal relationship between their rift and sag geometries allows the reconstitution of the evolution of rifting in the basin. Breakup propagated from south to north in three stages (130–127.5; 127.5–125; 125–113 Ma) physically separated by oceanic fracture zones (FZ). The width of the stretched, thinned and heavily intruded continental crust also showed a three-stage increase in the same direction and at the same FZ. Consequently, the Continental-Oceanic Boundary (COB) shows three marked shifts, from west to east, from south to north, resulting into rift to margin segmentation. Rifting also propagated from west to east, in the direction of the final breakup, in each of the three segments defined. The importance of the Paraná–Etendeka LIP upon the overall history of rupturing and breakup of Western Gondwanaland seems to have been restricted in time and in space only to the Pelotas Basin.     

Penetration of internal waves into the ocean’s thickness

The data of beam propagation of internal waves into the ocean are confirmed by several analytical solutions of the linear long wave theory. The obtained solutions are applied to calculate the mode of the internal waves.