Possible manifestations of underwater mud volcanoes based on results of sonar investigations in region of Taman Peninsula

This paper presents the results of three-dimensional acoustic seabed mapping in the region of the Taman Peninsula in the Black Sea using an interferometric side-scan sonar and an acoustic profiler. Mapping has revealed underwater objects identified as manifestations of underwater mud volcanism. Detailed analysis of sonar images of the relief and seabed profiles in the region of the objects has confirmed the original hypothesis.     

Sources of Zircons from Cretaceous and Lower Paleogene Terrigenous Sequences of the Southern Koryak Upland and Western Kamchatka

The mineral composition of sandstones from Cretaceous–Lower Paleocene terrigenous sequences of the western Kamchatka–Ukelayat zone (southern Koryak Upland, western Kamchatka) suggests that the Okhotsk–Chukot volcanogenic belt and fragments of the Uda–Murgal island arc served as the most probable provenance. Fission-track dating of zircon showed that sandstones from this zone contain detrital zircon of several different-age populations. Fission tracks in zircon grains were nor subjected to secondary ignition. The age of young zircon population coincides with the biostratigraphic age of host sequences. Thus, results of dating of detrital zircon grains from sandstones, which did not experience heating above 215–240°C, indicate that this method is appropriate for dating fossil-free terrigenous sequences. The young zircon population in the sandstones is related to erosion of plagiogranite and diorite intrusions of the Uda–Murgal arc and outer zone of the Okhotsk–Chukot volcanic belt exposed at the day surface owing to differential vertical movements and rapid exhumation of blocks.     

Near-vertical seismic reflection image using a novel acquisition technique across the Vrancea Zone and Foscani Basin, south-eastern Carpathians (Romania)

The DACIA PLAN (Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Process in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics) deep seismic sounding survey was performed in August–September 2001 in south-eastern Romania, at the same time as the regional deep refraction seismic survey VRANCEA 2001. The main goal of the experiment was to obtain new information on the deep structure of the external Carpathians nappes and the architecture of Tertiary/Quaternary basins developed within and adjacent to the seismically-active Vrancea zone, including the Focsani Basin. The seismic reflection line had a WNW–ESE orientation, running from internal East Carpathians units, across the mountainous south-eastern Carpathians, and the foreland Focsani Basin towards the Danube Delta. There were 131 shot points along the profile, with about 1 km spacing, and data were recorded with stand-alone RefTek-125s (also known as “Texans”), supplied by the University Texas at El Paso and the PASSCAL Institute. The entire line was recorded in three deployments, using about 340 receivers in the first deployment and 640 receivers in each of the other two deployments. The resulting deep seismic reflection stacks, processed to 20 s along the entire profile and to 10 s in the eastern Focsani Basin, are presented here. The regional architecture of the latter, interpreted in the context of abundant independent constraint from exploration seismic and subsurface data, is well imaged. Image quality within and beneath the thrust belt is of much poorer quality. Nevertheless, there is good evidence to suggest that a thick (10 km) sedimentary basin having the structure of a graben and of indeterminate age underlies the westernmost part of the Focsani Basin, in the depth range 10–25 km. Most of the crustal depth seismicity observed in the Vrancea zone (as opposed to the more intense upper mantle seismicity) appears to be associated with this sedimentary basin. The sedimentary successions within this basin and other horizons visible further to the west, beneath the Carpathian nappes, suggest that the geometry of the Neogene and recent uplift observed in the Vrancea zone, likely coupled with contemporaneous rapid subsidence in the foreland, is detached from deeper levels of the crust at about 10 km depth. The Moho lies at a depth of about 40 km along the profile, its poor expression in the reflection stack being strengthened by independent estimates from the refraction data. Given the apparent thickness of the (meta)sedimentary supracrustal units, the crystalline crust beneath this area is quite thin (< 20 km) supporting the hypothesis that there may have been delamination of (lower) continental crust in this area involved in the evolution of the seismic Vrancea zone.     

Paleoproterozoic quartz-pebble conglomerate type uranium mineralisation in Mankarhachua area,Angul district,Orissa

Ground Radiometric survey of Paleoproterozoic pyritiferous quartz-pebble conglomerate (QPC) occurring to the north of Pallahara area led to the discovery of a QPC type uranium mineralisation near Mankarhachua village. Significant radioactivity is recorded in three sub-parallel uraniferous QPC horizons with metamorphosed pebbly to medium grained recrystallised massive sandstones. Detrital grains of uranothorite, thorite, radioactive allanite, monazite, zircon, minute uraninite grains in carbonaceous matter and thucolite contributes to the radioactive phases present in QPC matrix. Adsorbed U on limonite and goethite, secondary uranyl minerals in matrix, along bedding planes and fractures are commonly observed. This discovery has opened up a new horizon for future exploration for QPC type uranium mineralization in the area. The paper presents observations on geology, radioactivity, petrological and geochemical nature of the uraniferous QPC horizons.     

Geoarchaeological evidence on a Late Bronze Age earthquake,Ohrid Basin (North Macedonia)

Geoarchaeological investigations on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid revealed 3.5 m thick deepwater lacustrine sediments overlying terrestrial vegetation macrofossils, worked wood and abundant potsherds dated to the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Distinct contact of deepwater sediment with the sub-aerial weathered limestone bedrock point to a sudden increase in lake level. According to radiocarbon data, catastrophic flooding occurred shortly after 1214 yr bc. Because the area is located in a highly active seismic zone, we propose that this event was caused by tectonically induced, metre-scale coseismic subsidence related to faults bordering the Ohrid alluvial plain. Moreover, this event coincides well with a dramatic switch in the habitation and settlement strategy in the region. More important, however, is the finding that the age of the proposed massive tectonic event and change in habitation lies within the interval of the proposed ‘earthquake storm’ in the eastern Mediterranean dated to 1225–1175 bc. As the Ohrid-Korça zone belongs to the same tectonic province, a relationship between the abovementioned earthquakes and the proposed event can be expected. This research therefore might provide the first direct evidence of a large-scale earthquake event linkable to the LBA collapse of Europe's first urban civilisation in the Aegean.     

Deep seismically active fracture zones in ecuador and northern peru

Summary A system of 8 seismically active fracture zones was delineated on the basis of the distribution of earthquake foci in the continental lithosphere of Ecuador. The position and width of the outcrop, thickness, dip and maximum depth of the individual fracture zones were estimated and correlated with surface geological and tectonic phenomena, volcanism and hydrothermal manifestations. The existence and strike of the fracture zones was independently confirmed by the occurrence of historical disastrous earthquakes.

---

uma 8 uu amu a a aa a auu an¶rt;u a mu muma um a¶rt;a. u n¶rt; nu u uua a nmu, mua, u auaaua m¶rt; a . mau mu auu n¶rt;m¶rt;am a¶rt;u umuu aum mu u nmau nmu, mmu, au uu¶rt;mau nuu.

---

---

Visiting professors at Instituto Geofísico and Facultad de Geología, Minas y Petróleos, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito (Ecuador).     

Morphological peculiarities of Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus glacialis in the areas of the co-existence of their populations

Morphological studies of the females of Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis, and C. hyperboreus were performed for specimens sampled in different areas of the Greenland, Barents, Kara, and Laptev seas. Intraspecific variability was found for the ratio of the specimens characterized by different types of setae patterns on the endopodites of C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus. The variability of this parameter did not relate to the environmental peculiarities of the sampling sites and did not depend on the temperature regime. We assume that such differences may be the result of the hybridization of C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus due to the similarity of their reproduction systems and the overlapping of the body size ranges.     

Two and Half Dimensional Simulation of Ridge Effects on the Ground Motion Characteristics

— Seismic responses of weathered and non-weathered ridge models were simulated to study the ridge effects on the ground motion characteristics. The range of ridge slope from 19.98° to 45° was considered to produce a possible set of generalized results. 2.5-D modeling based on parsimonious staggered grid approximation of elastodynamic wave equations was adopted in simulations. Computed results reveal an increase of amplitude of incoming waves with both elevation and the slope of the ridge. Further, the characteristics of surface waves are highly ridge slope dependent. The analysis of responses of weathered and non-weathered ridge models reveals that ridge has caused a strong generation of surface waves near its top. The surface waves are not dominating on the top of the ridge but at some lower elevation. The increase of weathering of ridge further intensified the ridge effect. Analysis in frequency domain, based on spectral ratio method, does not indicate any pattern in the spectral amplification factor and is very much sensitive to slope, source focal mechanism and location. However, on an average there is a continuous decrease of amplification with slope in the vertical component and increase in the transverse component, and it is increasing in the radial component up to slope =38.0° and thereafter decreasing.     

Arumberia-type structures in the Upper Vendian of the Urals

Problematic arumberia-type structures are widespread in Upper Proterozoic sedimentary rocks deposited in depositional environments subject to periodic desiccation and fluctuating salinity. Here we report two new occurrences of arumberia-type structures in the Krutikha Member of the Upper Vendian Chernyi Kamen Formation on the western slope of the Central Urals (Us??va River) and the Zigan Formation of the Asha Group in the South Urals (new road Sterlitamak-Beloretsk). The results of the study of these structures significantly expand paleontological characteristics of the Upper Vendian non-marine rocks and allow us to re-examine the paleontological importance of the hastily forgotten group of arumberia-type organisms. We distinguished six varieties of arumberia-type structures that for the sake of convenience were given formal Latin names in binominal nomenclature although they are not biological species. Two species??Arumberia banski and A. vindhyanensis??were erected by previous researchers, whereas the A. beckeri, A. ollii, A. usvaensis, and A. multykensis varieties are recognized for the first time. Despite similarity to erosional structures on the bottom of turbidite beds, erosion does not explain the genesis of the entire spectrum of arumberia-type structures including those preserved on ripple marks, with evidence of soft-body deformation, or with ribbon and filamentous fabric replaced by clay minerals. The diversity of arumberia could be only a manifestation of living systems. The species of Arumberia are distinguished by their different biostratinomy, the distance between the main structural units, the preservation of the main structural units, and the presence of additional structures between the main structural units. Most likely, the diversity of arumberia reflects not only taphonomic, but also ontogenetic and phenotypic variation. The level of morphological complexity and biostratinomic features of arumberia apparently exceed the organization of microbial mats and represent a non-actualistic type of microbial communities. The occurrence in extremely shallow-water depositional setting suggests that arumberia had evolved an adaption to periodic desiccation and that arumberia-type organisms, along with microbial mats, had been an important factor of sediment biostabilization in the Late Vendian non-marine environments.     

Non-Homogeneous Charge-Consistent Model for Acceleration of Iron in the Solar Corona

Acceleration of iron ions by a spherical shock wave moving through non-homogeneous solar corona is considered. The energy dependence of the mean charge of iron, _Fe(E), is determined by the characteristic acceleration time, T _a, trapping time, T _tr, and time for charge changes, T _q. The latter varies along with plasma number density during the propagation of the shock wave in the corona. Our calculations have demonstrated that adiabatic energy changes, Coulomb losses and shock broadening do not sufficiently influence the dependence _Fe(E). According to our estimations, the photoionizing processes can scarcely affect the ionic states of accelerated iron, except probably for the most powerful X10 class events.