Thermal behavior of ferric selenite hydrates (Fe2(SeO3)3·3H2O,Fe2(SeO3)3·5H2O) and the water content in the natural ferric selenite mandarinoite

Any progress in our understanding of low-temperature mineral assemblages and of quantitative physico-chemical modeling of stability conditions of mineral phases, especially those containing toxic elements like selenium, strongly depends on the knowledge of structural and thermodynamic properties of coexisting mineral phases. Interrelation of crystal chemistry/structure and thermodynamic properties of selenium-containing minerals is not systematically studied so far and thus any essential generalization might be difficult, inaccurate or even impossible and erroneous. Disagreement even exists regarding the crystal chemistry of some natural and synthetic selenium-containing phases. Hence, a systematic study was performed by synthesizing ferric selenite hydrates and subsequent thermal analysis to examine the thermal stability of synthetic analogues of the natural hydrous ferric selenite mandarinoite and its dehydration and dissociation to unravel controversial issues regarding the crystal chemistry. Dehydration of synthesized analogues of mandarinoite starts at 56–87?°C and ends at 226–237?°C. The dehydration happens in two stages and two possible schemes of dehydration exist: (a) mandarinoite loses three molecules of water in the first stage of the dehydration (up to 180?°C) and the remaining two molecules of water will be lost in the second stage (>180?°C) or (b) four molecules of water will be lost in the first stage up to 180?°C and the last molecule of water will be lost at a temperature above 180?°C. Based on XRD measurements and thermal analyses we were able to deduce Fe₂(SeO₃)₃·(6-x)H₂O (x?=?0.0–1.0) as formula of the hydrous ferric selenite mandarinoite. The total amount of water apparently affects the crystallinity, and possibly the stability of crystals: the less the x value, the higher crystallinity could be expected.     

Middle-Upper Miocene stratigraphy of the Taman Peninsula, Eastern Paratethys

The stratigraphy of the Taman Peninsula is defined using the sections at Zelensky Hill ?? Panagia, Popov Kamen, Taman and Zheleznyi Rog. The stratigraphy is constructed from distribution of mollusks, foraminifers, nannofossils, diatoms, and organic-walled phytoplankton, as well as incorporating paleomagnetic data. The occurrence of oceanic diatom species in the Middle-Upper Sarmatian, Maeotian and Lower Pontian makes a direct correlation possible between the sections studied, the Mediterranean basin and oceanic zonation. The new data on planktonic and benthic biotic groups suggests a pulsating connection of the Eastern Paratethys with the open marine basins, especially during transitional intervals within constant environments. Comprehensive studies of the Chokrakian-Kimmerian microbiota provide evidence for several levels of marine microbiotic associations that are related to short-term marine invasions. The biotic and paleomagnetic data of the Taman Peninsula sections give a more comprehensive, but sometimes a controversial picture on the Eastern Paratethys history and the nature of its relationship with the adjacent marine basins.     

Water exchange and water quality in the coastal zone in the presence of structures

The water exchange and water quality around coastal structures are considered by analytical, numerical and experimental methods. Water exchange for a small yacht harbour at the Black Sea coast is discussed as an application example. Physical and numerical experiments were carried out to determine the wave induced current field and to correlate the water exchange inside the area around the harbour mole. A hydraulic approach was applied to estimate the water exchange intensities for typical zones. The proposed mathematical model is an irregular wave-current model which includes the interaction between waves and current and a modified breaking criterion. The evolution of salinity concentration during the experimental investigations shows the water exchange intensity. A satisfactory agreement between calculated and measured concentration evolution was obtained.     

Influence of atmospheric circulation on precipitation in Altai Mountains

We analyzed the changes in precipitation regime in the Altai Mountains for 1959-2014 and estimate the influence of atmospheric circulations on these changes. Our study showed that during last 56 years the changes in the precipitation regime had a positive trend for the warm seasons(April-October),but weakly positive or negative trends for the cold seasons(November-March). It was found that these changes correspond to the decreasing contribution of “Northern meridional and Stationary anticyclone(Nm-Sa)” and “Northern meridional and East zonal(Nm-Ez)” circulation groups and to the increasing contribution of “West zonal and Southern meridional(Wz-Sm)” circulation groups,accordingly to the Dzerdzeevskii classification. In addition,it was found that the variation of precipitation has a step change point in 1980. For the warm seasons,the precipitation change at this point is associated with the reduced influence of “West zonal(Wz)”,“Northern meridional and Stationary anticyclone(Nm-Sa)” and “Northern meridional and Southern meridional(Nm-Sm)” circulation groups. For the cold seasons,a substantialincrease of “Wz-Sm” and a decrease of “Nm-Sa”,“Nm-Ez” circulation groups are responsible for the precipitation change in the two time periods(1959-1980 and 1981-2014).     

Productivity of Mining-Induced Seismicity

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - The paper addresses the study of the ability of mining-induced earthquakes to generate successive shocks. Based on the example of the Khibiny...     

Testing the applicability of a Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) to assessing the ecological quality of soft-bottom benthic communities, in the South America Atlantic region

Recently, several monitoring programmes have been undertaken to evaluate the impact of different anthropogenic activities, upon a range of coastal ecosystems located in the South-western Atlantic. In the present contribution, the applicability of the AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) is tested, to establish the benthic health of the ecosystem using these data sets. As the AMBI was created previously for use in European estuarine and coastal environments, its general applicability to new geographical locations is discussed. In general, the results are in agreement with those obtained using traditional univariate and multivariate methods. Some inconsistent results are observed, when low abundances and/or number of taxa are recorded in the samples. Moreover, when the macrofauna samples are dominated by large nematodes, the classification of the benthic ecosystem health using AMBI is not consistent with previous results achieved applying other statistical techniques. Thus, parallel to the application of this index to a wider extend, the complementary use of different indices and/or methods is recommended to assess confidently the environmental quality of a coastal area.     

地磁数据分析的一些思考

通过若干实例,本文讨论了地磁数据分析中的一些方法.这些方法包括时间序列的多项式拟合,相关性分析,频谱分析和小波分析等.在Matlab和AutoSignal软件下实现了以上方法,并基于这些方法研究了地磁场形态和地磁现象的频谱特征.我们分析了Surlari观测台（余纬45.3°,经度26.3°）的地磁时间序列,并与Ottawa（余纬44.6°,〖JP2〗经度284.5°）,Canberra（余纬125.3°,经度149.3°）, Kakioka（余纬53.8°,经度140.2°）,Vernadsky〖JP〗（余纬155.3°,经度295.7°）等台站的结果进行了对比分析,讨论了Fourier变换时间窗和小波基函数选取的影响,有限长时间序列引起的边缘效应,以及小波尺度和Fourier频率的关系等问题.我们采用谱分析和小波分析处理了2007年两个台站的地磁数据,研究了地磁场形态和地磁现象的频谱特征,并讨论了Fourier变换和小波变换的优缺点.     

Spectroscopic and photometric observations of symbiotic nova PU Vul during 2009–2016

A new set of low-resolution spectral and UBVJHKL-photometric observations of the symbiotic nova PU Vul is presented. The binary has been evolving after its symbiotic nova outburst in 1977 and now it is in the nebular stage. It is found that the third orbital cycle(after 1977) was characterized by great changes in associated light curves. Now, PU Vul exhibits a sine-wave shape in all the light curves(with an amplitude in the U band of about 0.7 mag), which is typical for symbiotic stars in the quiescent state. Brightness variability due to pulsations of the cool component is now clearly visible in the VRI light curves. The amplitude of the pulsations increases from 0.5 mag in the V band to 0.8 mag in the I band. These two types of variability, as well as a very slow change in the physical parameters of the hot component due to evolution after the outburst of 1977, influence the spectral energy distribution(SED)of the system. The variability of emission lines is highly complex. Only hydrogen line fluxes vary with orbital phase. An important feature of the third orbital cycle is the first emergence of the OVI, 6828  Raman scattering line. We determine the temperature of the hot component by means of the Zanstra method applied to the He II, 4686  line. Our estimate is about 150 000 K for the spectrum obtained near orbital maximum in 2014. The VO spectral index derived near pulsation minimum corresponds to M6 spectral class for the cool component of PU Vul.