Climate-induced changes in surface runoff on the North-Eurasian plains during the late glacial and Holocene

Abandoned rivers (large paleochannels and meanders) are common on river floodplains and low terraces on the East European and West Siberian plains. They are 10–15 times greater in size than the present-day river channels. The large paleochannels are dated back to 11–15 thousand radiocarbon years B.P. (the Late Glacial period). Based on the hydraulic and morphometric relationships for present-day rivers and the method of paleogeographic analogs, the surface runoff during the Late Glacial period was quantitatively reconstructed by the morphometric parameters of large paleochannels. The reconstructed surface runoff exceeded the present values by 1.4 times on the northern mega-slope of the East European Plain (the Northern Dvina, Mezen, and Pechora river basins), by 2.3 times on its southern mega-slope (the Volga, Don, and Dnepr basins), and twofold in West Siberia (the Ob basin). The large surface runoff volumes can be explained by the landscape and climate conditions, including the high coefficients of runoff (due to the permafrost), the increased proportion (and, conceivably, the amount) of snowfall, and, hence, the respective increased intensity of spring floods. The transformation of large Late-Glacial paleorivers due to climate warming at the beginning of the Holocene is a likely scenario of the surface runoff development within the present-day permafrost zone at the ongoing human-induced climate warming. A general decrease in surface runoff and its more uniform intra-annual distribution would result in the reduced size of rivers in the middle Siberia, Yakutia, and northeastern Russia.     

A New Model of the Ninety East Ridge Formation,Indian Ocean

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The comprehensive analysis of geological, geophysical, and geochemical data makes it possible to obtain the most complete picture of the geological...     

Characteristics of Pc4–5 pulsations obtained using the method of bistatic backscatter of HF radio waves,the EISCAT HF heating facility,and ground-based magnetometers

The results of studying the Pc4–5 pulsation parameters based on the method of bistatic backscatter of radio waves, using the EISCAT/Heating HF facility (Tromsø, Norway) and IMAGE ground-based magnetometers (Scandinavia), are presented. The observations were performed during the morning hours on October 3, 2006, when a substorm developed on the nightside. An analysis of the observational data obtained from 1000 to 1020 UT indicated that wave-like disturbances with periods corresponding to Pc4–5 pulsations (80–240 s) existed at that time. The variations in the full vector of the ionospheric irregularity motion and the electric field strength in an artificially disturbed high-latitude ionospheric F region has been reconstructed based on simultaneous Doppler observations on two paths. A general conformity is observed among the time variations in Pc4–5 pulsations in the magnetic and ionospheric data: between the velocity amplitude (|V|) and the X component of the Earth’s magnetic field and between the irregularity motion azimuth and the Y component. Large-scale waves, corresponding to the natural resonances of magnetic field lines (small values of the azimuthal number |m| ～ 2–4), and small-scale waves (large values |m| ～ 17–20) were simultaneously registered during the experiment based on magnetic data. It has been indicated that the periods of wave-like processes registered using the method of bistatic backscatter and ground-based magnetometers were in agreement with one another. The formation of wave-like processes is explained by the nonstationary impact of the solar wind and IMF on the Earth’s magnetosphere. The variations in the IMF, according to the ACE satellite measurements, were characterized by a sharp increase in the solar wind plasma dynamic pressure that occurred at about 09 UT on October 3, 2006, and was accompanied by rapid polarity reversals of the north-ward-southward (B _z) and transverse (B _y) IMF components.     

Holocene Treeline History and Climate Change Across Northern Eurasia

Radiocarbon-dated macrofossils are used to document Holocene treeline history across northern Russia (including Siberia). Boreal forest development in this region commenced by 10,000 yr B.P. Over most of Russia, forest advanced to or near the current arctic coastline between 9000 and 7000 yr B.P. and retreated to its present position by between 4000 and 3000 yr B.P. Forest establishment and retreat was roughly synchronous across most of northern Russia. Treeline advance on the Kola Peninsula, however, appears to have occurred later than in other regions. During the period of maximum forest extension, the mean July temperatures along the northern coastline of Russia may have been 2.5° to 7.0°C warmer than modern. The development of forest and expansion of treeline likely reflects a number of complimentary environmental conditions, including heightened summer insolation, the demise of Eurasian ice sheets, reduced sea-ice cover, greater continentality with eustatically lower sea level, and extreme Arctic penetration of warm North Atlantic waters. The late Holocene retreat of Eurasian treeline coincides with declining summer insolation, cooling arctic waters, and neoglaciation.     

Development of the steppe zone in southern Russia based on the reconstruction from the loess-soil formation in the Don-Azov Region

Herbaceous communities in forest ecosystems on the southern part of the Russian Plain appeared in the Middle Miocene (??10 Ma BP). In the Late Miocene (??7 Ma BP), feather-grass steppe associations appeared among them. In the time span of 2.7 to 2.1 Ma BP (i.e., in the Early Quaternary, according to the current chronostratigraphic scale), the steppe zone arose on the southern Russian Plain in the Don-Azov Region. Seven stages of this zone development here have been distinguished throughout the Quaternary. The first one (Eopleistocene-Early Pleistocene) was characterized by savanna-like subtropic ecosystems. Then, in the Middle Pleistocene, the temperate zone ecosystems (tallgrass prairie-like steppes) developed here and were followed by steppe ecosystems close to the modern ones in Central Europe. The ecosystems of rich-species forb steppes developed in the Late Pleistocene. Finally, in the optimum of the modern interglacial (Holocene), steppes became similar to the modern ones here, but with a slightly higher precipitation. The general trend is characterized by reduction in heat and water provision and increase in aridization progressing from earlier to later stages.     

Relation between Hertz Range Artificial Pulsations and the Dynamics of the Auroral Electrojet: Experiment at the SPEAR Facility

We have analyzed the artificial pulsations detected in several cases in the hertz range in terms of the eastern electrojet dynamics. The pulsations were detected in 30% cases of pulse HF wave impact on the ionosphere during an experiment on modulated ionosphere heating at the Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar (SPEAR) facility (Spitsbergen Archipelago) in November 2013. The pulsations occur when the polar edge of the eastern electrojet approaches the assumed region of influence on the ionosphere due to the northward drift of the electrojet or its extension with increased intensity. The pulsations vanish when the electrojet moves away from the influenced region, drifting southward. The beginning of pulsations is delayed by several minutes with respect to the starting of the HF transmitter. The pulsations are observed only in one of the horizontal components of the geomagnetic field at a distance of 50 km from the SPEAR facility, and they vanished at a distance of about 1300 km.     

Justification of Hydrological Safety Conditions in Residential Areas Using Numerical Modelling

The present paper looks at the application of modern technology of numerical modelling to simulate natural and human-induced river floods of residential areas. The modelling is based on the use of 2D shallow-water equations and 3D digital terrain models. The application of adaptive mesh generator and effective algorithms of parallel computing using NVIDIA graphics processors with CUDA technology enables calculating the areas and depths of flooding in a big city, taking into account all residential, industrial, and road constructions. Each one of them is specifically singled out on the mesh. This enables the reproduction of the real course of a flood well.     

Characterization of Artificial,Small-Scale,Ionospheric Irregularities in the High-Latitude F Region Induced by High-Power,High-Frequency Radio Waves of Extraordinary Polarization

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of experimental studies of characteristics of artificial, small-scale, ionospheric irregularities in the high-latitude ionospheric F region caused by the...     

Assessing the Hazard Due to the Effect of Heat Discharges from the Novocherkasskaya SDPP on the Hydroecological Regime of the Lower Don Taking into Account the Future Bagaevskoe Reservoir

Water Resources - The article presents the results of numerical hydrothermal simulation of changes in the temperature regimes of the Don River under the effect of heat discharges of the...