The upper Bajocian of the Crimean Mountains: Paleogeography and sedimentation conditions from palynological data

Based on the spore-pollen data, the mineral composition of clay rocks, analyzed structures and facies, and a general paleogeographic analysis, the sedimentation conditions and landscapes of islands located during the Late Bajocian in the region of the present-day the Crimean Mountains have been reconstructed. It is shown that the sublatitudinally elongated insular land zone had a width of 30 km, the heights of the islands were no more than 1 km, with steep mudflow-affected northern slopes and with an extensive river system on the southern slopes.     

Intense mesocyclones in the Black Sea region

The statistical study of intense mesoscale cyclones formed in the Black Sea region in 1979-2013 is carried out using the surface wind data of the RegCM climate model. Such cyclone parameters as intensity, lifetime, area, height, and trajectories over the sea as well as the place and time of origin are considered. The distribution of mesocyclones by months and times of day is considered. The obtained results are compared with the results of a statistical study on the Black Sea mesocyclones based on the PRECIS climate model. Possible causes for differences in data on the intensity and number of mesocyclones simulated by RegCM and PRECIS models are considered.     

Geochemistry of dispersed sedimentary matter and its fluxes in the water column of the Caspian Sea

The first data on the chemical composition of dispersed matter from sedimentary traps are reported. The suspended components of sedimentary matter (amorphous silica, organic matter, carbonates, and lithogenic material, as well as Fe, Mn, and minor elements) are considered. As a result, it is shown that the intraannual variability in vertical fluxes of sedimentary matter is characterized by a seasonal increase in spring and autumn. The high fluxes of the components of sedimentary matter on the northern and southern slopes of the Derbent Basin in winter are explained by precipitation of material from the nepheloid layer that forms over the contour current.     

Influence of a spatial structure of precipitates on polarization characteristics of the outgoing microwave radiation of the atmosphere

Issues of the formation and recording of the spatial and angular distributions of thermal radio radiation of rainfall in the microwave range are discussed. The thermal radio-frequency radiative transfer in a threedimensional rain cell is simulated numerically with a different rainfall rate, taking into account the nonspherical shape of falling raindrops and their size distribution. The role of the three-dimensional inhomogeneity of rainfall fields in the formation of a field of their inherent thermal radio radiation in the microwave range is revealed.     

Modeling meso- and sub-mesoscale circulation along the eastern Crimean coast using numerical calculations

A numerical experiment has been carried out using a hydrodynamical model with nonlinear equations of motion and heat and salt advection to reconstruct the fields of hydrophysical parameters taking into account the real atmospheric forcing for the autumn season along the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The studied part of the coast is situated at 44.25°N 33.95°E/44.72°N 34.55°E. High spatial resolution is used for modeling: 350 m in the horizontal plane with 38 layers in the vertical; the bottom topography is described in detail with ~500 m resolution. Detected and studied meso- and sub-mesoscale structures in the current field agree well with the observational data, which is impossible or hard to identify in numerical experiments with coarser resolution. Their kinematic characteristics and the lifetime are defined and some mechanisms of their origin are suggested.     

First find of srilankite in the Urals

The first find of srilankite (very rare Zr and Ti oxide, Ti₂ZrO₆) in the Urals and the third find in Russia is reported. Srilankite forms very small (0.5–20 μm) inclusions in some rutile grains. These minerals are observed in the rare rock variety, corundum-bearing spinel–saphirine hornblendite forming a block in serpentinized amphibolizied peridotite of the Ilmeny–Vishnevogorsk Complex, near the village of Taiginka, Chelyabinsk oblast. Srilankite has not been observed in such an association yet. The composition of the host rock provides evidence for its deep (the lowermost crust of the Earth) origin. Srilankites of the Urals are distinguished from all others by the high concentrations of UO₂, ThO₂, HfO₂, and Nb₂O₅, which provides additional evidence for their crustal origin. Srilankite may indicate high-temperature and high-pressure conditions of rock formation.     

Ionospheric response to a rocket launch from the Vostochnyi Cosmodrome

The atmospheric disturbances caused by the first rocket launch from the Vostochnyi Cosmodrome on April 28, 2016, were registered 10–24 min after the launch using the signals of the GPS/GLONASS global navigation satellite systems. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the disturbances allowed the conclusion that the launch vehicle moved northwest from the cosmodrome, which corresponds to a trajectory of the satellite movement to the orbit with an inclination of 98º.