A piecewise curve-fitting technique for vertical oceanographic profiles and its application to density distribution

A unified method of approximation, extrapolation, and objective layering is offered for processing vertical oceanographic profiles. The method is demonstrated using seawater density and consists of adjustable splitting of each individual profile into N vertical layers based on tentative, piecewise linear homogeneous approximation with specified accuracy and a final fitting of an N-layered analytical model to data. A set of 3N coefficients of the model includes one density value at the sea surface; N−1 depths of layer interfaces; and N pairs of coefficients that describe a profile shape within the n-th layer—an asymptotic density value (a key parameter for extrapolation) and a vertical scale of maximum density variability (related to vertical gradient). Several distinctive characteristics of the technique are: (1) It can be used for the analysis of the vertical structure of individual profiles when N is an unknown parameter, and spatial interpolation when N should be equal for all profiles. (2) A justified downward extrapolation of incomplete data is possible with the model, especially if historical deepwater profiles are available. (3) Layer interfaces, as well as other coefficients, are derived with only one fitting to the entire profile. (4) The technique, using its general formulation, can serve as a parent for developing various types of models. The simpler step-like (with hyperbolic or exponential approximation) and more complicated smooth (continuous in gradient space) models were designed and tested against a large number of density profiles from the Sea of Okhotsk and the Gulf of California. Comparison of parametric, z-levels and isopycnal averaging was done for the region off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin.     

Gas seeps in Lake Baikal—detection, distribution, and implications for water column mixing

Echo sounders served to locate a large number of shallow- and deepwater gas seeps at the bottom of all three basins of Lake Baikal during the years 2005 to 2008. A substantial proportion of the shallow gas seeps was located near the delta of the Selenga River, and at the Posolskii uplift. Deepwater gas seeps were recorded at the lake bed both inside and outside of areas where a bottom-simulating reflector was identified in seismic profiles. By monitoring the activity of gas emissions at the gas seeps, times of episodic gas ebullition could be distinguished from times of persistent gas bubble streams. A maximum gas flare height of more than 950 m above the bottom was recorded at the St. Petersburg mud volcano located in the central basin of Lake Baikal. Based on calculations from echo sounder data, the ascent velocity of gas bubbles reached 40 cm/s. In the area of gas seepage, there was a thick near-bottom layer, in which the gradient of water temperature was equal to the adiabatic gradient. This implies complete mixing of the water close to the lake bed, resulting from ascending gas bubbles released at seep sites. Analyses of vertical temperature profiles indicate possibly localized upwelling up to the lake surface when gas emissions are intensive.     

Global solar cycle in the distribution of the green coronal emission period: 1940–1989

We have studied the latitude-time distribution of the green (5303 Å) coronal line emission for 1940–1989 from observations by Waldmeier (1957), Kislovodsk, Lomnický tít, Norikura, and Pic-du-Midi - Q.B.S.A. (1955–1987). We have compared these data with the distributions of the weak magnetic field (Stenflo, 1988), of polar faculae and sunspots, and have given our interpretation of the results. We have found that a new cycle of coronal activity commences after the polar field reversal in the form of two components in each hemisphere. We identify the first component with the polar faculae that appear at latitude 40° and migrate polewards. The second component representing sunspots shows up at 40° latitude 5–6 years after and drifts equatorward. Thus the global coronal activity cycle has a duration of 16–17 years and is described by two components that reflect the activity of polar faculae and sunspots.     

Local dark energy: HST evidence from the vicinity of the M81/M82 galaxy group

The Hubble Space Telescope observations of the nearby galaxy group M81/M82 and its vicinity indicate that the dynamics of the expansion outflow around the group is dominated by the antigravity of the dark energy background. The local density of dark energy in the area is estimated to be near the global dark energy density or perhaps exactly equal to it. This conclusion agrees well with our previous results for the Local Group vicinity and the vicinity of the Cen A/M83 group. Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 493–505 (November 2007).     

Relationship between the thickness of stellar disks and the relative mass of a dark galactic halo

We analyze the R-and K _s-band photometric profiles for two independent samples of edge-on galaxies. The thickness of old stellar disks is shown to be related to the relative masses of the spherical and disk components of galaxies. The radial-to-vertical scale length ratio for galactic disks increases (the disks become thinner) with increasing total mass-to-light ratio of the galaxies, which reflects the relative contribution of the dark halo to the total mass, and with decreasing central deprojected disk brightness (density). Our results are in good agreement with numerical models of collisionless disks that evolved to a marginally stable equilibrium state. This suggests that, in most galaxies, the vertical stellar-velocity dispersion, on which the equilibrium-disk thickness depends, is close to a minimum value that ensures disk stability. The thinnest edge-on disks appear to be low-brightness galaxies in which the dark-halo mass far exceeds the stellar-disk mass.     

Zonal character of failure near the wells and openings in high depth conditions

Rock mass failure on the high depth near the underground openings often has zonal character. The mechanism of this phenomenon consists in the periodical character of stresses in surrounding rock mass and developing of tensile macrocracks at the places （zones） of maximum tangentional stresses. Mathematical model of the high stressed rock mass is developed on the base of the defect media mechanics and nonequilibrium thermodynamics principals. The correspondence between the experimental research of faulted zonal structures near the high depths openings and mathematical model calculation is achieved. Relationships between the width of cracking zones and rock mass strength property have been determined.     

Underthrusting of Tarim beneath the Tien Shan and deep structure of their junction zone: Main results of seismic experiment along MANAS Profile Kashgar-Song-Köl

The results of reflection CMP seismic profiling of the Central Tien Shan in the meridional tract 75–76° E from Lake Song-Köl in Kyrgyzstan to the town of Kashgar in China are considered. The seismic section demonstrating complex heterogeneous structure of the Earth’s crust and reflecting its near-horizontal delamination with vertical and inclined zones of compositional and structural differentiation was constructed from processing of initial data of reflection CMP seismic profiling, earthquake converted-wave method (ECWM), and seismic tomography. The most important is the large zone of underthrusting of the Tarim Massif beneath the Tien Shan.