Palaeomagnetism of Lower Cambrian sediments from the Olenek River section (northern Siberia): palaeopoles and the problem of magnetic polarity in the Early Cambrian

New palaeomagnetic data from the Lower and Middle Cambrian sedimentary rocks of northern Siberia are presented. During stepwise thermal demagnetization the stable characteristic remanence (ChRM) directions have been isolated for three Cambrian formations. Both polarities have been observed, and mean ChRM directions (for normal polarity) are: Kessyusa Formation (Lower Cambrian) D = 145°, I = -40°, N = 12, α₉₅= 12.8°; pole position: φ= 38°S, A = 165°E; Erkeket Formation (Lower Cambrian, stratigraphically highly) D = 152°, I = - 47°, N = 23, α₉₅= 6.8°; pole position: φ= 45°S, A = 159°E; Yunkyulyabit-Yuryakh Formation (Middle Cambrian) D = 166°, I = - 33°, N = 38, α₉₅= 4.6°; pole position: φ= 36°S, L = 140°E. These poles are in good agreement with the apparent polar wander path based on the bulk of existing Cambrian palaeomagnetic data from the Siberian platform. In Cambrian times, the Siberian platform probably occupied southerly latitudes stretching from about 35° to 0°, and was oriented 'reversely' with respect to its present position. Siberia moved northwards during the Cambrian by about 10° of latitude. This movement was accompanied by anticlockwise rotation of about 30°. The magnetostratigraphic results show the predominance of reversed polarity in the Early Cambrian and an approximately equal occurrence of both polarities in the part of the Middle Cambrian studied. These results are in good agreement with the palaeomagnetic polarity timescale for the Cambrian of the Siberian platform constructed previously by Khramov et al. (1987).     

Reflection coefficients for weak anisotropic media

The interaction of plane elastic waves with a plane boundary between two anisotropic elastic half-spaces is investigated. The anisotropy dealt with in this study is of a general type. Explicit expressions for energy-related reflection and transmission coefficients are derived. They represent an approximation which is valid for a small deviation of the elastic parameters from isotropy.
Classical perturbation theory is applied on a 6times6 non-symmetric real eigenvalue problem to calculate first-order corrections for the polarization and stress of the plane waves. The explicit solution of the isotropic problem is used as a reference case. Degenerate perturbation theory is used to consider the splitting of the isotropic S -wave into two anisotropic qS-waves. The boundary conditions for two half-spaces in welded contact lead to a 6times6 system of linear equations. A correction to the isotropic solution is calculated by linearization. The resultant coefficients are functions of horizontal slowness, Lamé parameters and densities of the reference media, and of the perturbation of the elasticity tensors from isotropy.     

Climatic and limnological changes at Lake Karakul (Tajikistan) during the last ~29 cal ka

We present results of analyses on a sediment core from Lake Karakul, located in the eastern Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan. The core spans the last ~29 cal ka. We investigated and assessed processes internal and external to the lake to infer changes in past moisture availability. Among the variables used to infer lake-external processes, high values of grain-size end-member (EM) 3 (wide grain-size distribution that reflects fluvial input) and high Sr/Rb and Zr/Rb ratios (coinciding with coarse grain sizes), are indicative of moister conditions. High values in EM1, EM2 (peaks of small grain sizes that reflect long-distance dust transport or fine, glacially derived clastic input) and TiO₂ (terrigenous input) are thought to reflect greater influence of dry air masses, most likely of Westerly origin. High input of dust from distant sources, beginning before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and continuing to the late glacial, reflects the influence of dry Westerlies, whereas peaks in fluvial input suggest increased moisture availability. The early to early-middle Holocene is characterised by coarse mean grain sizes, indicating constant, high fluvial input and moister conditions in the region. A steady increase in terrigenous dust and a decrease in fluvial input from 6.6 cal ka BP onwards points to the Westerlies as the predominant atmospheric circulation through to present, and marks a return to drier and even arid conditions in the area. Proxies for productivity (TOC, TOC/TN, TOC _Br ), redox potential (Fe/Mn) and changes in the endogenic carbonate precipitation (TIC, δ¹⁸O _Carb ) indicate changes within the lake. Low productivity characterised the lake from the late Pleistocene until 6.6 cal ka BP, and increased rapidly afterwards. Lake level remained low until the LGM, but water depth increased to a maximum during the late glacial and remained high into the early Holocene. Subsequently, the water level decreased to its present stage. Today the lake system is mainly climatically controlled, but the depositional regime is also driven by internal limnogeological processes.     

Ignorable coordinates in the ideal resonance problem

If a dynamical system ofN degrees of freedom is reduced to the Ideal Resonance Problem, the Hamiltonian takes the form $$F = B(y) + 2\mu ^2 A(y)\sin ^2 x_1 , \mu<< 1.$$ Herey is the momentum-vectory _k withk=1, 2,...,N, andx ₁ is thecritical argument. A first-orderglobal solution,x ₁(t) andy ₁(t), for theactive variables of the problem, has been given in Garfinkelet al. (1971). Sincex _k fork>1 are ignorable coordinates, it follows that $$y_\kappa = const., k > 1.$$ The solution is completed here by the construction of the functionsx _k(t) fork>1, derivable from the new HamiltonianF′(y′) and the generatorS(x, y′) of the von Zeipel canonical transformation used in the cited paper. The solution is subject to thenormality condition, derived in a previous paper fork=1, and extended here to 2≤k≤N. It is shown that the condition is satisfied in the problem of the critical inclination provided it is satisfied fork=1.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000806

Zoned tourmaline（schorl-dravite） in the matrix of hydrothermal explosive breccia and ore veins in gold deposits,Chita region.Eastern Transbaikalia.Russia,are associated with Na- and K-rich porphyry-type subvolcanic intrusives.δ¹⁸O values of tourmaline from three gold deposits（Darasun. Talatui,Teremkinskoye） are +8.3‰,+7.6‰,and +6.0‰and calculatedδ¹⁸O values of fluids responsible for the tourmalinization are +7.3‰,+7.7‰,and +4.2‰,respectively.These data imply an igneous fluid source,except at the Teremkin deposit where mixing with meteoric water is indicated.Wide ranges of Fe³⁺/Fe_tot,and the presence of vacancies characterize the Darasun deposit tourmaline indicating wide ranges of f（O₂） and pH of mineralizing fluids.Initial stage tourmalines from the gold deposits of the Darasun ore district are dravite or high mg schorl.Second stage tourmaline is characterized by oscillatory zoning but with Fe generally increasing towards crystal rims indicating decreasing temperature.Third stage tourmaline formed unzoned crystals with x_Mg（mole fraction of Mg） close to that of the hrst stage tourmaline,due to a close association with pyrite and arsenopyrite.From Fe³⁺/Fe_tot values,chemical composition and crystallization temperatures.logf（O₂） of mineralizing fluids ranged from ca.—25 to—20. much higher than for the gold-bearing beresite—listvenite association,indicating that tourmalinization was not related to gold mineralization.     

Winter severity effects on the nonuniformity of winter flow formation in a river basin

Results of studying winter flow formation in the Northern Dvina and Lovat?? river basins are presented. Substantial effect of temperature factor on water exchange between upper and lower parts of a river basin is established.     

World space observatory-ultraviolet among UV missions of the coming years

Continuous access to the UV domain has been considered of importance to astrophysicists and planetary scientists since the mid-sixties. However, the future of UV missions for the post-HST era is believed by a significant part of astronomical community to be less encouraging. We argue that key science problems of the coming years will require further development of UV observational technologies. Among these hot astrophysical issues are: the search for missing baryons, revealing the nature of astronomical engines, properties of atmospheres of exoplanets as well as of the planets of the Solar System etc. We give a brief review of UV-missions both in the past and in the future. We conclude that UV astronomy has a great future but the epoch of very large and efficient space UV facilities seems to be a prospect for the next decades. As to the current state of the UV instrumentation we think that this decade will be dominated by the HST and coming World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) with a 1.7 m UV-telescope onboard. The international WSO-UV mission is briefly described. It will allow high resolution/high sensitivity imaging and high/low resolution spectroscopy from the middle of the decade.     

Seasonal oceanic variability on meso- and submesoscales: a turbulence perspective

Ocean Dynamics - Seasonal variability of the upper ocean on meso- and submesoscales is investigated in the framework of the quasi-normal scale elimination theory, or QNSE. The longitudinal and...     

Structure of the Malpelo Ridge (Colombia) from seismic and gravity modelling

Wide-angle and multichannel seismic data collected on the Malpelo Ridge provide an image of the deep structure of the ridge and new insights on its emplacement and tectonic history. The crustal structure of the Malpelo Ridge shows a 14 km thick asymmetric crustal root with a smooth transition to the oceanic basin southeastward, whereas the transition is abrupt beneath its northwestern flank. Crustal thickening is mainly related to the thickening of the lower crust, which exhibits velocities from 6.5 to 7.4 km/s. The deep structure is consistent with emplacement at an active spreading axis under a hotspot like the present-day Galapagos Hotspot on the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre. Our results favour the hypothesis that the Malpelo Ridge was formerly a continuation of the Cocos Ridge, emplaced simultaneously with the Carnegie Ridge at the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre, from which it was separated and subsequently drifted southward relative to the Cocos Ridge due to differential motion along the dextral strike-slip Panama Fracture Zone. The steep faulted northern flank of the Malpelo Ridge and the counterpart steep and faulted southern flank of Regina Ridge are possibly related to a rifting phase that resulted in the Coiba Microplate’s separation from the Nazca Plate along the Sandra Rift.