Late Quaternary lake-level changes of Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Siberia

Lake El'gygytgyn is situated in a 3.6 Ma old impact crater in northeastern Siberia. Presented here is a reconstruction of the Quaternary lake-level history as derived from sediment cores from the southern lake shelf. There, a cliff-like bench 10 m below the modern water level has been investigated. Deep-water sediments on the shelf indicate high lake levels during a warm Mid-Pleistocene period. One period with low lake level prior to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 has been identified, followed by a period of high lake level (10 m above present). In the course of MIS 2 the lake level dropped to − 10 m. At the end of MIS 2 the bench was formed and coarse beach sedimentation occurred. Subsequently, the lake level rose rapidly to the Holocene level. Changes in water level are likely linked to climate variability. During relatively temperate periods the lake becomes free of ice in summer. Strong wave actions transport sediment parallel to the coast and towards the outlet, where the material tends to accumulate, resulting in lake level rise. During cold periods the perennial lake ice cover hampers any wave activity and pebble-transport, keeping the outlet open and causing the lake level to drop.     

Statistical acceleration and spatial diffusion of cosmic rays in turbulent medium

Statistical acceleration of cosmic rays in a turbulent medium is considered. Charged particles are assumed to acquire energy in a bounded region of space and leave the acceleration region due to spatial diffusion caused by the scattering of cosmic rays in turbulent magnetic fields. Analytical solutions of the cosmic ray transport equation are obtained and equilibrium space-energy distributions of high-energy particles are studied in the acceleration region and beyond.     

The creation of a spatial data infrastructure in management of regions (exemplified by Irkutsk oblast)

We examine the currently central issues related to developing the regional component of a spatial data infrastructure. We identify the primary goals and basic principles embedded in the establishment of a spatial data infrastructure; the baseline spatial objects are outlined.     

Interannual variability of the solar constant

It can be concluded from the calculations performed of interannual variations of the distance between the Sun and the Earth in the moments of the Earth’s position in the equinoctial and solstitial points that the mean amplitude (approximately the same for all the equinoctial and solstitial points) is determined to be equal to 5700 km (at the maximum values being approximately equal to 15000 km). The values of the solar constant have been calculated on the basis of the data of varying distances, and the values of its interannual variability (for the period from 1900 up to 2050) have determined. Based on the analysis of the series, new periodic characteristics of a long-term variation of the solar constant, related to the celestial-mechanical process, namely, to the perturbed orbital motion of the Earth, are obtained. A three-year cycle is distinguished in the interannual variability of the solar constant, which alternates with a two-year cycle every eight and eleven years. The amplitude of the interannual variability in the series of equinoctial and solstitial points is on average about 0.1 W/m² (about 0.008% of the solar constant value). This is comparable to the interannual variability of the solar constant in the eleven-year cycle of the solar activity. The series obtained can be represented by alternation of eleven-year and eight-year cycles. The eleven-year cycle is composed of three three-year cycles and one two-year cycle, and the eight-year cycle is composed of two three-year cycles and one two-year cycle.     

The Distribution Function of Solar Cosmic Rays under Prolonged Particle Injection

Kinematics and Physics of Celestial Bodies - Abstract—The propagation of solar cosmic rays (SCR) in the interplanetary medium is considered on the basis of the Fokker–Planck kinetic...     

Seismic stratigraphical record of Lake Levinson‐Lessing,Taymyr Peninsula: evidence for ice‐sheet dynamics and lake‐level fluctuations since the Early Weichselian

A multi‐channel, high‐resolution seismic reflection survey using a Micro‐GI airgun was carried out in the framework of the Russian‐German project PLOT (Paleolimnological Transect) on Lake Levinson‐Lessing, Taymyr Peninsula, in 2016. In total, ~70 km of seismic reflection profiles revealed in unprecedented detail the glacial and postglacial sedimentary infill of the lake basin. Five main seismic units have been recognized and interpreted as glacial (Unit V), subglacial and proglacial (Unit IV), marine (Unit III), fluvial‐lacustrine (Unit II) and lacustrine (Unit I) sediments. Of particular significance are imbricated, south‐orientated structures present in the southernmost part of the lake basin within Unit V and a large topographic ridge recognized in front of those structures. We interpret these structures as push moraines and an end moraine, respectively, left by the glacier after its retreat. The depositional pattern of the units above the moraines documents past lake‐level fluctuations. We interpret Unit IV, Unit III and Unit I as highstand deposits, and Unit II as lowstand deposits. Gas‐charged sediments dominate the northern part of the lake basin, whilst they occur only sporadically and in limited spatial extent in the central and southern parts of the lake. In the latter areas, the seismic and echo‐sounder data suggest recent tectonic activity. Our study contributes to the reconstruction of environmental conditions in the Taymyr Peninsula directly following the Early Weichselian deglaciation and shows that deep tectonic lake basins affected by several glaciations can preserve important palaeoenvironmental records, which contributes significantly to our understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes in the Taymyr Peninsula and the central Russian Arctic.     

Deglaciation history of Lake Ladoga (northwestern Russia) based on varved sediments

Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia is Europe's largest lake. The postglacial history of the Ladoga basin is for the first time documented continuously with high temporal resolution in the upper 13.3 m of a sediment core (Co1309) from the northwestern part of the lake. We applied a multiproxy approach including radiographic imaging, (bio‐)geochemical and granulometric analyses. Age control was established combining radiocarbon dating with varve chronology, the latter anchored to a correlated radiocarbon age from a lake close by. The age‐depth model reveals the onset of glacial varve sedimentation at 13 910±140 cal. a BP, when Lake Ladoga was part of the Baltic Ice Lake. Linear extrapolation of published retreat rates of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet provides a formation age of the Luga moraine close to Lake Ladoga's southern shore of 14.5–15.9 cal. ka BP, older than previously assumed. Varve sedimentation covers the Bølling/Allerød interstadial, the Younger Dryas stadial and the Early Holocene. Varve‐thickness variations, conjoined with grain‐size and geochemical variations, inform about the relative position of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and the climate during the deglaciation phase. The upper limit of the varved succession marks the change from glaciolacustrine to normal lacustrine sedimentation and post‐dates the drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake as well as the formation of the Salpausselkä II moraine north of Lake Ladoga, by c. 250 years. The Holocene sediment record is divided into three periods in the following order: (i) a lower transition zone between the Holocene boundary and c. 9.5 cal. ka BP, characterized by mostly massive sediments with low organic content, (ii) a phase with increased organic content from c. 9.5 to 4.5 cal. ka BP corresponding to the Holocene Thermal Maximum, and (iii) a phase with relatively stable sedimentation in a lacustrine environment from c. 4.5 cal. ka BP until present.     

Glacial and palaeoenvironmental history of the Cape Chelyuskin area, Arctic Russia

Quaternary glacial stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes reveal at least two glacial expansions over the Chelyuskin Peninsula, bordering the Kara Sea at about 77°N in the Russian Arctic, as indicated from tills interbedded with marine sediments, exposed in stratigraphic superposition, and from raised-beach sequences mapped to altitudes of at least up to ca. 80 m a.s.l. Chronological control is provided by accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dating, electron-spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence geochronology. Major glaciations, followed by deglaciation and marine inundation, occurred during marine oxygen isotope stages 6–5e (MIS 6–5e) and stages MIS 5d–5c. These glacial sediments overlie marine sediments of Pliocene age, which are draped by fluvial sediment of a pre-Saalian age, thereby forming palaeovalley/basin fills in the post-Cretaceous topography. Till fabrics and glacial tectonics record expansions of local ice caps exclusively, suggesting wet-based ice cap advance, followed by cold-based regional ice-sheet expansion. Local ice caps over highland sites along the perimeter of the shallow Kara Sea, including the Byrranga Mountains and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, appear to have repeatedly fostered initiation of a large Kara Sea ice sheet, with the exception of the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2), when Kara Sea ice neither impacted the Chelyuskin Peninsula nor Severnaya Zemlya, and barely touched the northern coastal areas of the Taymyr Peninsula.     

On the properties of O and O2 ions in a hybrid model and in Mars Express IMA/ASPERA-3 data: A case study

We have performed a numerical simulation to analyze the energy spectra of escaping planetary O⁺ and O₂⁺ ions at Mars. The simulated time-energy spectrograms were generated along orbit no. 555 (June 27, 2004) of Mars Express when its Ion Mass Analyzer (IMA)/ASPERA-3 ion instrument detected escaping planetary ions. The simulated time-energy spectrograms are in general agreement with the hypothesis that planetary O⁺ and O₂⁺ ions far from Mars are accelerated by the convective electric field. The HYB-Mars hybrid model simulation also shows that O⁺ ions originating from the ionized hot oxygen corona result in a high-energy (E>1 keV) O⁺ ion population that exists very close to Mars. In addition, the simulation also results in a low-energy (E<0.1 keV) planetary ion population near the pericenter. In the analyzed orbit, IMA did not observe a clear high-energy planetary ion or a clear low-energy planetary ion population near Mars. One possible source for this discrepancy may be the Martian magnetic crustal anomalies because MEX passed over a strong crustal field region near the pericenter, but the hybrid model does not include the magnetic crustal anomalies.