Volcanogenic complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan (Comparative analysis)

Several coeval volcanogenic complexes indicating synchronous volcanic events in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk are defined. Volcanics from different-age complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk show many features in common and are attributed to the Pacific type of calc-alkaline series. They were formed in geodynamic settings of the active continental margin and point to its origination on the continental crust of the fragmented Asian continent margin. The volcanic rocks developed in the Sea of Japan reflect different rifting stages. The initial stage was marked by an eruption of calc-alkaline lavas (Paleocene-Eocene complex). At the stage of the marginal-sea spreading, erupted volcanics of the middle Miocene-Pliocene complex were melted from the depleted mantle and magmatism terminated by an eruption of postspreading Pliocene-Holocene volcanics melted from the enriched mantle EM I. Along with the differences, the magmatism in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk has some features in common. In both cases, the sialic component of the lithosphere substantially influenced the magma generation.     

Tectonic core of a sedimentary drift: a potential ridge propagation feature beneath the Blake Outer Ridge

The Blake Outer Ridge is a 480–kilometer long linear sedimentary drift ridge striking perpendicular to the North American coastline. By modeling free-air gravity anomalies we tested for the presence of a crustal feature that may control the location and orientation of the Blake Outer Ridge. Most of our crustal density models that match observed gravity anomalies require an increase in oceanic crustal thickness of 1–3 km on the southwest side of the Blake Outer Ridge relative to the northeast side. Most of these models also require 1–4 km of crustal thinning in zone 20–30 km southwest of the crest of the Blake Outer Ridge. Although these features are consistent with the structure of oceanic fracture zones, the Blake Outer Ridge is not parallel to adjacent known fracture zones. Magnetic anomalies suggest that the ocean crust beneath this feature formed during a period of mid-ocean ridge reorganization, and that the Blake Outer Ridge may be built upon the bathymetric expression of an oblique extensional feature associated with ridge propagation. It is likely that the orientation of this trough acted as a catalyst for sediment deposition with the start of the Western Boundary Undercurrent in the mid-Oligocene.     

Transformation of black-sea waters in the Sea of Marmara

The analysis is performed on the basis of comparison of the hydrological characteristics of prestrait regions of the Sea of Marmara. It is shown that, in summer, the Black-Sea waters are weakly mixed with the Mediterranean waters and the levels of salinity in the prestrait regions differ by 0.6–0.9‰. In winter, the indicated difference increases and the level of salinity near the entrance of Dardanelles reaches 29‰ and exceeds the level observed near the entrance of Bosporus by 5.5‰. In the analyzed regions, we observe local temperature maxima and minima near the interface of two water masses. This is explained by the presence of strong seasonal variations of temperature for the Black-Sea waters and their absence for the Mediterranean waters. The physical mechanisms responsible for the seasonal variations of the intensity of transformations of the Black-Sea waters are discussed. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 49–55, March–April, 2007.     

Distribution of the Neogene Utsira Sand and the succeeding deposits in the Viking Graben area, North Sea

The sandy quartzose parts of the Utsira Formation, the Middle Miocene to mid Pliocene Utsira Sand, extends north–south along the Viking Graben near the UK/Norwegian median line for more than 450 km and 75–130 km east–west. The Utsira Sand is located in basin-restricted seismic depocentres, east of and below prograding sandy units from the Shetland Platform area with Hutton Sands. The Utsira Sand reaches thicknesses up to ca. 300 m in the southern depocentre and 200 m in the two northern depocentres with sedimentation rates up to 2–4 cm/ka. Succeeding Plio–Pleistocene is divided into seismic units, including Base Upper Pliocene, Shale Drape, Prograding Complex and Pleistocene. The units mainly consist of clay, but locally minor sands occur, especially at toes of prograding clinoforms (bottom-set sands) and in the Pleistocene parts, and the total thickness covering the Utsira Sand is in most places more than 800 m, but thins towards the margins.     

Target echo enhancement using a single-element time reversal mirror

Iterative Time Reversal (TR) procedures have been demonstrated to be successful in detecting scatterers even in a highly reverberant environment. The success of the method is attributable to a Time Reversal Mirror (TRM) consisting of an array of transceivers that allows one to reconstruct and reverse-propagate wavefronts of interest. This paper deals with the limiting case of a TRM reduced to a single transceiver, tested using a tank experiment with three scattering objects in free-field conditions. It is shown that it is possible to excite a resonance between the TR operator and the strongest mode of the target in the bandwidth of insonification. A simple free-field scattering model is used to study the mechanisms of convergence and to drive the physics-based analysis of data.     

Dynamic-Stochastic Modeling of Natural Processes

We propose a method for the construction of dynamic-stochastic models of natural systems based on the assimilation of the data of observations in the prognostic equations of coupled processes. In these models, the method of adaptive balance of causes is used to deduce evolutionary equations of the analyzed processes and assimilate the data of observations in these equations. The deduced general equations are considered for an example of a marine ecosystem characterized by the development of four coupled processes. It is shown that the optimal prediction of these processes requires the solution of 11 systems of equations with simultaneous adaptation of prognostic estimates and the coefficients of the models to the data of observations. A numerical simulation experiment explaining the algorithm of the proposed method of modeling is considered. A conclusion is made that the application of this method in the geoinformation systems of monitoring of the environment is quite promising.__________Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 31–42, November–December, 2004.     

Vertical distribution of the macrobenthic community and its relationships to trace metals and natural sediment characteristics in the lower Douro estuary, Portugal

Vertical distribution (0–15 cm) of the macrobenthic community and its relationships to natural sediment characteristics and trace metal contents and bioavailability were studied at five locations in the lower Douro estuary, Portugal. An analysis of vertical metal distribution, for the interpretation of anthropogenic impact on the estuarine sediments, was also investigated. Sediment characterisation included organic matter, grain size, metals (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cd, Zn and Mn), acid volatile sulphide (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM). The macrobenthic community had low diversity (14 species), was dominated by small size opportunists and seemed to be controlled mainly by natural factors such as grain size distribution, Al and Fe contents and sediment depth. The vertically heterogeneous distribution of macrobenthic community appears to affect redox status of the sediments and consequently metal bioavailability. Despite anthropogenic contamination in terms of Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr and Ni having already been detected in the north bank, the analysis of vertical distribution was essential for the identification of current anthropogenic contamination in terms of Zn, Pb and Cd in the south bank.     

Record-breaking chemical destruction of ozone in the arctic during the winter of 2004/2005

The extremely cold winter of 2004/2005 was accompanied by an intensive formation of polar stratospheric clouds and a significant chemical destruction of ozone. The results of calculating chemical losses of ozone in the polar cyclone from the SAGE-III satellite data are given. Over the period January 1–March 25, 2005, at the isentropic levels 450–500 K, about 60% of ozone was destroyed. During that winter, the zone of formation of polar stratospheric clouds went down to levels with very low values of potential temperature (down to 350 K), thus resulting in a noticeable destruction of ozone at low altitudes. By March 25, 2005, the chemical losses of total ozone attained 116 ± 10 DU (128 ± 10 DU at the cyclone boundary), which is a recordbreaking value of the Arctic.