Multidisciplinary studies in Onega Bay of the White Sea and the estuary of the Onega River during the summer period

The distribution of the temperature and salinity, current velocities, suspended particulate matter, bottom sediments, bottom morphology, and planktonic and benthic organisms during the summer period are studied in the estuary of the large Onega River and the coastal areas of Onega Bay (White Sea) influenced by interacting marine and riverine factors.     

Cataclysmic variables from the USNO-B1.0 catalog: Stars with outbursts on infrared palomar plates

Cataclysmic variables with outlying infrared magnitudes have been searched for in the USNO-B1.0 catalog. The sample was limited to objects in the northern hemisphere with (B1−R1) < 1 and (R2−I) > 3.5. The search method is described, and individual stars are considered in detail. A total of 27 variable objects have been found; 20 of them are previously known ones and 7 are new discoveries. Four of the newly found stars are cataclysmic variables, most likely dwarf novae, while the remaining three objects are pulsating red Mira or semiregular variables, including the heavily reddened star in the Pelican Nebula. The pulsation periods have been determined for two stars discovered previously by other researchers. It has been confirmed that one suspected dwarf nova is actually such a star. Prospects for the proposed search technique within the framework of the Virtual Observatory are discussed.     

Interrelation between the vegetation index and the climatic parameters and structural characteristics of vegetation cover

The interrelations between the normalized difference vegetation index and the total incoming radiation; total evaporation; mean surface-air temperature over the vegetation period; and the structural characteristics of vegetation cover, such as its overground phytomass and overground net primary production, are analyzed on the basis of experimental and satellite data. The analysis was made with the use of the data obtained for plain regions of European Russia and western Siberia. It is shown that, for these regions, the latitudinal distributions of the values of the vegetation index and the structural vegetation-cover characteristics under consideration do not coincide. The relationships between the structural characteristics of vegetation cover (phytomass, production) and the vegetation index have the form of functions with saturation. The relationships between the vegetation index and the climatic parameters under consideration have a bell-shaped form. The analysis has shown that the normalized difference vegetation index is not an indicator for the values of the overground net primary production of vegetation cover and its overground phytomass within the areas under consideration.     

Bivalves as indicators of environmental variation and potential anthropogenic impacts in the southern Barents Sea

Identifying patterns and drivers of natural variability in populations is necessary to gauge potential effects of climatic change and the expected increases in commercial activities in the Arctic on communities and ecosystems. We analyzed growth rates and shell geochemistry of the circumpolar Greenland smooth cockle, Serripes groenlandicus, from the southern Barents Sea over almost 70 years between 1882 and 1968. The datasets were calibrated via annually-deposited growth lines, and growth, stable isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C), and trace elemental (Mg, Sr, Ba, Mn) patterns were linked to environmental variations on weekly to decadal scales. Standardized growth indices revealed an oscillatory growth pattern with a multi-year periodicity, which was inversely related to the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO), and positively related to local river discharge. Up to 60% of the annual variability in Ba/Ca could be explained by variations in river discharge at the site closest to the rivers, but the relationship disappeared at a more distant location. Patterns of δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C, and Sr/Ca together provide evidence that bivalve growth ceases at elevated temperatures during the fall and recommences at the coldest temperatures in the early spring, with the implication that food, rather than temperature, is the primary driver of bivalve growth. The multi-proxy approach of combining the annually integrated information from the growth results and higher resolution geochemical results yielded a robust interpretation of biophysical coupling in the region over temporal and spatial scales. We thus demonstrate that sclerochronological proxies can be useful retrospective analytical tools for establishing a baseline of ecosystem variability in assessing potential combined impacts of climatic change and increasing commercial activities on Arctic communities.     

Discovery of an optical afterglow from the cosmic GRB 920925C

A systematic study of the archival images for the error boxes of cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) obtained at the Palomar (USA) and Siding Spring (Australia) Observatories during the DSS allsky survey has revealed an optical transient with a magnitude of 17.8 within the error circle of the bright event GRB 920925C on the plate taken 6 h after the burst. The position of the object falls within the IPN error box for the burst. Analysis of the event properties suggests that the detected transient is most likely the optical afterglow from GRB 920925C. This event occurred 4.5 yr before GRB 970228, which has been considered to be the first optically identified GRB up until now.     

Detection of large scale TIDs associated with the dayside cusp using SuperDARN data

Variations in the dayside ionosphere parameters as a result of a large-scale acoustic gravity wave (LS AGW) were studied for the 17 February 1998 substorm using the super dual auroral radar network (SuperDARN) measurements. This event was characterised by a sharp rise in the AE index with a maximum of ～900 nT. The source of the disturbance responsible for the LS AGW appears to have been located within the plasma convection throat and in the dayside cusp region. The location of the source was obtained from studies of a number of datasets including high-latitude convection maps, data from 4 DMSP satellites and networks of ground-based magnetometers. The propagation of the LS AGWs caused quasi-periodic variations in the skip distance (with an amplitude up to 220–260 km) of the ground backscatter measured by up to 6 SuperDARN radars, including Goose Bay and Kapuskasing, resulting in two large-scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (LS TIDs). The LS TIDs had wave periods of 1.5 and 2 h, a velocity of ～400 m/s for both, and wavelengths of 2200 and 2900 km, respectively. These quasi-periodic variations were also present in the peak electron density and height of the F2 layer measured by the Goose Bay ionosonde. The numerical simulation of the inverse problem show good agreement between Goose Bay radar and Goose Bay ionosonde measurements. But these LS TIDs would be difficult to deduce from the ground based ionospheric station data alone, because h_mF2 variations were 10–40 km only and f_OF2 variations between 10% and 20%. The results demonstrate how important SuperDARN radars can be, and that this is a more powerful technique than routine ground-based sounding for studies of weak quasi-periodic variations in the dayside subauroral ionosphere related to LS AGW.     

Potential models of the unipolar sunspot magnetic field

The potential models of the unipolar sunspot magnetic field are calculated on the basis of magnetographic measurements of the magnetic field made in the three spectral lines of different intensities, H, Cai 6103 and Fei 4808. The computed distributions of the magnetic field vector are compared with actual distributions observed at these three levels. It is shown that the electric current density in the spot reaches values up to 10⁵ CGSE in the volume contained between formation depths of two pairs of lines, Fei 4808-Cai 6103 and Fei 4808 - H. Therefore, the magnetic field of the spot deviates strongly from a potential configuration. To the contrary, at higher levels, in the semi-infinite volume restricted at the bottom by the hydrogen H-line, the field appears to be quite close to a potential one.     

Potential effects of temperature on the benthic infaunal community on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf: Possible impacts of climate change

In the late 1950s, Soviet researchers collected benthic infaunal samples from the southeastern Bering Sea shelf. Approximately 17 years later, researchers at University of Alaska Fairbanks also sampled the region to assess infaunal biomass and abundance. Here, the two data sets were examined to document patterns and reveal any consistent differences in infaunal biomass among major feeding groups between the two time periods. No significant differences in the geometric mean biomass of all taxa pooled were indicated between the two study periods (1958–1959=49.1 g m⁻²; 1975–1976=60.8 g m⁻²; P=0.14); however, significant differences were observed for specific functional groups, namely carnivores, omnivores and surface detritivores. Of the 64 families identified from both data sets from all functional groups, 21 showed statistically significant (P0.05) differences in mean biomass. Of the 21 families showing significant differences, 19 (91%) of the families had higher mean biomass in the 1975–1976 data set. The above differences suggest a trend toward higher overall infaunal biomass for specific functional groups during mid 1970s compared with the late 1950s. Temperature measurements and literature data indicate that the mid-1970s was an unusually cold period relative to the period before and after, suggesting a mechanistic link between temperature changes and infaunal biomass. Food-web relationships and ecosystem dynamics in the southeastern Bering Sea indicate that during cold periods, infaunal biomass will be elevated relative to warm periods due to elevated carbon flux to the benthos and exclusion of benthic predators on infaunal invertebrates by the cold bottom water on the shelf. As long-term observations of temperature and sea-ice cover indicate a secular warming trend on the Bering Sea shelf, the potential changes in food-web relationships could markedly alter trophic structure and energy flow to apex consumers, potentially impacting the commercial, tourist and subsistence economies.