Basement structure and sedimentary cover seismostratigraphy in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise (Sea of Japan)

The results of continuous seismic profiling thermodynamics performed in the northern part of the Japan Basin in the region of the Tarasov Rise and the data of a micropaleontological examination of the diatom remains encountered in the sediment samples from the rise and continental slope are presented. In the area studied, the topography of the acoustic basement features a vast rise (plateau) buried under the sedimentary cover outlined by the depth contour 5.8 s. The plateau has a relatively smooth top surface crossed by a series of rises of the acoustic basement. The two largest rises are represented by the ridges of the Tarasov Rise. The plateau is separated from the continental slope by a depression in the acoustic basement with a depth up to 6.8 s. From the end of the Middle Miocene up to the beginning of the Paleocene, the region of the plateau represented an area of active volcanism; it coincided in time with the stage of subsidence of the floor of the acoustic basement depression. At the end of the Late Miocene, the ridges of the Tarasov Rise started to sink. In the Pliocene, this process accelerated, and, at the beginning of the Pleistocene, it stopped. In the Middle Miocene-Early Pleistocene time, the portion of the continental slope adjacent to the plateau remained stable and suffered no significant vertical movements.     

Agglutinated abyssal foraminifers of the equatorial pacific

The quantitative study of the distribution and taxonomic composition of recent living and dead (without plasma) benthic foraminifers revealed three foraminiferal assemblages in the bottom sediments of the Pacific Ocean at depths of 3350 to 4981 m. The assemblage dominated by the epibenthic Lagenammina difflugiformis, Reophax dentaliniformis, and Saccorhiza ramosa occupies the slopes of underwater hills. The assemblage with a high share of the infaunal Cribrostomoides subglobosum, C. nitidum, and Ammobaculites agglutinans is registered on the abyssal plateau. The assemblage with a significant proportion of the large Astrorhiza and Reophax species, which are characterized by an active way of life, populates gentle slopes and narrow depressions with potentially strong bottom currents.     

Estimates of the characteristics of the horizontal turbulent exchange in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean

Estimates of the characteristics of the horizontal turbulent exchange (coefficients of horizontal exchange, scales of deviations of the velocity of geostrophic currents from the background flows, and horizontal scales of perturbations) in the upper ocean layer were obtained on the basis of the data of expeditions held in 1978 and 1980 in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. It is shown that the characteristics of the horizontal turbulent exchange strongly depend on the structure of the background flows, and one of the causes of their variability is related to tropical cyclones. A tendency to a decrease (to different degrees) of the turbulent coefficients in the wake of a tropical cyclone is noted.     

Adaptive balance of global development processes

We study the processes of global self-regulation of Earth’s biota (GAIA-theory) by applying the method of adaptive balance of causes proposed by the authors. By using, as an example, the Daisy World model constructed by this method, we reveal the phenomenon of preservation of the mean temperature of Earth’s surface due to the presence of the vegetation cover. We develop an integral model of global natural, social, and economic processes in which the World Ocean is one of the factors regulating the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The decrease in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by the GAIA-effects increases the number of hurricanes and floods on the Earth. As a result, the levels of ecological and social hazards for the mankind become much higher. To eliminate these threats, it is necessary to intensify the processes of self-organization of the society realized via the improvement of education, development of science, and global regulation of the competition for natural resources. We present the results of numerical experiments performed by using the model demonstrating possible scenarios of global development with regard for the processes of self-organization of the society. __________ Translated From Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 3, Pp. 62–80, May–June, 2007.     

Intense Arctic mesocyclones

Characteristics of polar mesoscale cyclones (PMCs) over the North European Basin are analyzed using cloud cover distribution data for 1981–1995. Special features of the annual cycle and interannual variations in characteristics of Arctic mesocyclones with a spiral and comma-shaped cloud structure are discussed. Against the background of large interannual variations, no statistically significant trends were found in the characteristics of Arctic mesocyclones over the North European Basin in the late 20th century. It is shown that the cumulative frequency distribution of PMCs is well approximated by an exponential function in a size range for Arctic mesocyclones from 50 to 400 km. The applicability of the Weibull distribution as an approximation of the PMC size distribution of the number of cyclone days is analyzed. It is shown that the correspondence between the real distribution and the Weibull distribution became worse in the 1990s than in the 1980s, especially the first half of the 1980s. Much of this was due to an increased local maximum in the 1990s in the distribution of polar mesocyclones with diameters about 400 km. This local maximum was found for all types of mesoscale vortices and for all analyzed five-year subperiods during 1981–1995. A large discrepancy between the frequency distribution functions for PMCs depending on their diameters was shown to exist for different types of Arctic mesocyclones.     

Anthropogenic influence on the planktonic community in the basin of Mamala Bay (Oahu Island,Hawaii) based on field and satellite data

The anthropogenic impact on the biomass of coastal plankton communities caused by submerged disposal of urban sewage waters (dumping) was studied. The observations were carried out in August–September of 2002–2004 in Mamala Bay (Oahu Island, Hawaii) using satellite and sea truth methods. An analysis of the variability of the integral indicators of the water column determined on the basis of shipborne measurements allowed us to divide them into two groups: the elements most sensitive to the pollution (heterotrophic bacteria (H-Bact), the phototrophic cyanobacteria Synechococcus spp. (SYN), and chlorophyll a (CHLa)) and the elements that manifested episodic positive dependence on the inflow of the polluted waters (heterotrophic unicellular eukaryotes, small unicellular algae, the phototrophic green bacteria Prochlorococcus spp., as well as the total biomass of microplankton). It was shown that the submerged wastewater disposal in the region of the diffuser of the dumping device led to an insignificant (1.2–1.4 times, on the average) local increase in the integral biomass of H-Bact, SYN, and in the content of CHLa. A similar but sharper (1.5–2.1, on the average) increase in these parameters was found in the water layers with maximal biomasses. The possible pathways of disposed waters (under the pycnocline, at its upper boundary, and in the entire mixed layer) were analyzed on the basis of studying the vertical displacement of the biomasses of H-Bact, SYN, and prochlorophytes. The possibility of using the optical anomalies distinguished from satellite data as markers of anthropogenic eutrophication caused by dumping was confirmed. Application of such markers depends on the water transparency and on the shapes of the curves of the vertical distribution of autotrophic organisms.     

Spatial distribution of microelements in the seston of the White Sea

With a view to a more complete understanding of the role of phyto-and zooplankton in biogeochemical cycles, the spatial distributions of Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, As, Hg, and C_org in the White Sea seston (21 samples) collected in August 2004 during cruise 64 or R/V Professor Shtokman were studied. It was shown that the elements studied are accumulated in plankton with enrichment coefficients from 10² for Hg to 10⁵ for Fe, as compared to seawater. The spatial distribution of microelements is determined by the sources of their supply and correlates with the distribution of the primary production and biomass of zooplankton. The increased values of microelement contents (excluding As) are characteristic of Dvina Bay, whereas the highest As concentrations were found in Kandalaksha Bay.     

海山富钴结壳标准物质研制

报道了我国与俄罗斯合作研制的三个海山富钴结壳标准物质GSMC-1,2,3.这三个标准物质的原样分别取自西太平洋麦哲伦海山和中太平洋海山.样品经风干、选配、球磨制备成均匀的粉体样品,其均匀性采用高精度的X-射线荧光光谱法检验.样品的化学组分采用国内外多实验室协同分析方式定值,有八个国内实验室和八个国外实验室参加了合作分析.测试组分均为57个,其中GSMC-1,2有43个组分定为保证值,10个组分作为参考值;GSMC-3有45个组分定为保证值,8个组分作为参考值.经2a多的试用,三个标准物质已于2005年被国家计量部门批准为国家一级标准物质,其编号分别为GBW07337,GBW07338和GBW07339.     

Comparisons between the influences of habitat, body size and season on the dietary composition of the sparid Acanthopagrus latus in a large marine embayment

Seasonal samples from Shark Bay on the west coast of Australia were used to determine (1) the habitats occupied by the juveniles and adults of Acanthopagrus latus in this large subtropical marine embayment and (2) the extent to which the dietary composition of this sparid is influenced by habitat type, body length and season. Sampling was undertaken in two habitat types in which A. latus was known to be abundant, namely mangrove (Avicennia marina) creeks and nearby rocky areas, the latter comprising sandstone boulders and/or limestone reefs. The mean total length ±95% CLs of A. latus was far lower in mangrove creeks, 126 ± 6.1 mm, than in rocky areas, 313 ± 4.7 mm. As A. latus attains maturity at ca. 245 mm, the juveniles of this species typically occupy mangrove areas and then, with increasing body size, move to nearshore rocky areas, where they become adults. The species composition of the food ingested by juvenile A. latus in mangrove creeks differed markedly from that of large juveniles and adults in rocky areas. Based on analyses of data for both habitat types combined, this difference was far greater than that between size classes and season, which was negligible. There were indications, however, that, overall within each habitat, the dietary composition did change seasonally, although not with body size. Acanthopagrus latus fed predominantly on mangrove material, sesarmid crabs and small gastropods in mangrove habitats, and mainly on Brachidontes ustulatus in rocky areas, where this mytilid bivalve is very abundant. The mangrove material, which contributed nearly 40% of its overall dietary volume in mangrove creeks, consisted mainly of lateral root primordia. This apparently unique food source for a teleost is presumably ingested through subsurface nipping, which would be facilitated by the mouth and dentitional characteristics of sparids. The almost total lack of correspondence in the dietary compositions of fish in the length class that was well represented in both mangrove and rocky areas illustrates the extent to which this sparid is capable of opportunistic feeding behaviour.     

Path following control system for a tanker ship model

A two-dimensional path following control system for autonomous marine surface vessels is presented. The guidance system is obtained through a way-point guidance scheme based on line-of-sight projection algorithm and the speed controller is achieved through state feedback linearization. A new approach concerning the calculation of a dynamic line-of-sight vector norm is presented which main idea is to improve the speed of the convergence of the vehicle to the desired path. The results obtained are compared with the traditional line-of-sight scheme. It is intended that the complete system will be tested and implemented in a model of the “Esso Osaka” tanker. The results of simulations are presented here showing the effectiveness of the system aiming in to be robust enough to perform tests either in tanks or lakes.