New data on lineament control of modern centers of methane degassing in east Asian seas

This paper reports on the heaviest submarine fluxes of natural gas bubbles (flares) that have occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Laptev Sea, and Lake Baikal. It has been concluded that there is a “gas-geochemical response” of geodynamic and seismotectonic processes in the interaction of lithospheric plates. Using the example of one of the lineaments of Eastern Asia, we have shown that lineament geotectonic structures, which compose the regmatic net of the Earth, control the formation and activity of the biggest centers of methane emission, which are indicators of tectonospheric activity and hydrocarbon accumulation. Changes in the activity of these centers are informative signals of seismic fluctuations. It is concluded that Russian studies play a leading role in gas hydrate forecasts in the seas of the Eastern Arctic.     

A sophisticated lander for scientific exploration of Mars: scientific objectives and implementation of the Mars-96 Small Station

A mission to Mars including two Small Stations, two Penetrators and an Orbiter was launched at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 16 November 1996. This was called the Mars-96 mission. The Small Stations were expected to land in September 1997 (Ls approximately 178 degrees), nominally to Amazonis-Arcadia region on locations (33 N, 169.4 W) and (37.6 N, 161.9 W). The fourth stage of the Mars-96 launcher malfunctioned and hence the mission was lost. However, the state of the art concept of the Small Station can be applied to future Martian lander missions. Also, from the manufacturing and performance point of view, the Mars-96 Small Station could be built as such at low cost, and be fairly easily accommodated on almost any forthcoming Martian mission. This is primarily due to the very simple interface between the Small Station and the spacecraft. The Small Station is a sophisticated piece of equipment. With the total available power of approximately 400 mW the Station successfully supports an ambitious scientific program. The Station accommodates a panoramic camera, an alpha-proton-x-ray spectrometer, a seismometer, a magnetometer, an oxidant instrument, equipment for meteorological observations, and sensors for atmospheric measurement during the descent phase, including images taken by a descent phase camera. The total mass of the Small Station with payload on the Martian surface, including the airbags, is only 32 kg. Lander observations on the surface of Mars combined with data from Orbiter instruments will shed light on the contemporary Mars and its evolution. As in the Mars-96 mission, specific science goals could be exploration of the interior and surface of Mars, investigation of the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere, the role of water and other materials containing volatiles and in situ studies of the atmospheric boundary layer processes. To achieve the scientific goals of the mission the lander should carry a versatile set of instruments. The Small Station accommodates devices for atmospheric measurements, geophysical and geochemical studies of the Martian surface and interior, and cameras for descent phase and panoramic views. These instruments would be able to contribute remarkably to the process of solving some of the scientific puzzles of Mars.     

Radar scattering on gravity-capillary waves: Laboratory investigation

The mechanism of the resonance (Bragg) scattering of microwaves by gravity-capillary waves (GCWs) is checked experimentally. Resonant regularities of backscattered signal intensity are obtained as functions of frequency and GCW propagation direction. It is shown that the width of the resonance curves is determined by the width of the directivity pattern of the scatterometer’s antenna. The excitation of the GCW second harmonic and the spatial structure of the wave field at the GCW doubled frequency are investigated. The ratio of the amplitudes of the free wave and forced harmonic that originated during excitation of the primary wave is determined. The resonance curve is obtained for the second-order scattering of radio waves (on forced harmonics and free GCWs). The correction to the backscattering cross section is investigated in the second order of smallness relative to the Bragg term.     

LONG-TERM VARIATIONS OF THE TORSIONAL OSCILLATIONS OF THE SUN

We investigated long-term variations of the differential rotation of the solar large-scale magnetic field on 1024 H charts in the latitude zones from +45° to -45° in the period 1915–1990. We used the expansion in terms of Walsh functions. It turns out that the rotation of the Sun becomes more rigid than average during the cycle maximum and the rotation is more differential during minimum. From 1915 to 1990, 7 bands of faster- and 7 bands of slower-than-average rotation are revealed showing an 11-year period. These bands drift towards the equator: 45° in 2.5 to 8 years. The time span of the bands varies from 4 to 6.8 years and is in anti-phase with long-term solar activity. The latitude span of the bands of torsional oscillations varies from 0.5 R to 1.3 R and shows a long-term variation of about 55 years. The poloidal component of velocity, V varies from 2 ms ^-1 to 6 ms ^-1. The maximum rate of the equatorial drift occurs in the period between 1935 and 1955 and it develops prior to the highest maximum activity. At the modern epoch from 1965 to 1985, V does not exceed 3 ms ^-1, but now it has a tendency to increase. The bands of slower-than-average rotation correspond to the evolution of the magnetic activity towards the equator in the butterfly diagram.     

New results concerning the global solar cycle

We derive the poleward migration trajectory diagram of the filament bands for the years 1915–1982 from the H-alpha synoptic charts. We find that the global solar activity commences soon after the polar field reversal in the form of two components in each hemisphere. The first component we identify with the polar faculae that appear at latitudes 40–70° and migrate polewards. The second and the more powerful component representing the sunspots shows up at 40° latitudes 5–6 years later and drifts equatorward giving rise to the butterfly diagram. Thus the global solar activity is described by the faculae and the sunspots that occur at different latitude belts and displaced in time by 5–6 years. This gives rise to the prolonged duration for the global solar activity lasting for 16–18 years as against the 11 years which has come about based only on the spots. The two components match with the pattern of the coronal emission in 5303 Å line. Finally, we show that the two components of activity also match with the pattern of excess shear associated with the torsional oscillations on the Sun and this provides a link between the torsional oscillations and the magnetic activity.     

Seismotectonic deformations and recent tectonics of the Tien Shan

Seismotectonic strains (STSs) are calculated on the basis of the catalog of focal mechanisms of earthquakes including more than 5000 events compiled at the Institute of Seismology, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, in order to investigate deformation processes in the Tien Shan (38°–44°N, 68°–80°E). A modern approach to STS classification based on the identification of 11 deformation settings (including four main, two extreme, and five transitional settings) is applied for constructing STS maps. Areal distributions of the Lode-Nadai coefficient, vertical component, and angle of the stress-state type are obtained. The results of the calculations are verified by comparing them with STS calculations using focal mechanisms of 116 strong earthquakes from the centroid moment tensor catalog of Harvard University that occurred in the studied region in 1976–2003.     

Effect of the hydrostatic pressure on the vertical distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Laminaria saccharina</Emphasis> (L.) lamouroux in the Barents Sea

An experimental study was undertaken to reveal the influence of the hydrostatic pressure on the early developmental stages of Laminaria saccharina, including the motile zoospores, the embryospores, and sprouting spores. The pressure did not affect the moving patterns and sinking rate of the zoospores. The sprouting spores were the most vulnerable among the other types; i.e., a pressure of 3 standard atmospheres (the hydrostatic pressure at the depth of 30 m) delayed or disturbed their development. The light conditions did not limit the vertical distribution of L. saccharina to greater depths. We assume that the hydrostatic pressure may significantly impact the vertical distribution of benthic macrophytes in the sublittoral zone.     

Latitude-time distribution of 3 types of magnetic field activity in the global solar cycle

Large-scale solar activity is considered as a manifestation of 3 types of magnetic field activity which is demonstrated in the 22-year cycle (a) of small-scale flux emergence (polar faculae at latitudes > 40°), (b) of somewhat larger scale flux emergence (sunspots at latitudes < 40°), and (c) of the global magnetic neutral lines at all latitudes. The migration (poleward or equatorward) of the place of birth and/or of the phenomena themselves of these three types of manifestation of magnetic field is discussed. The poleward migration of the global field is explained in a phenomenological way.     

The Hubble flow around the Local Group

We use updated data on distances and velocities of galaxies in the proximity of the Local Group (LG) in order to establish properties of the local Hubble flow. For 30 neighbouring galaxies with distances  0.7 < D _LG < 3.0  Mpc, the local flow is characterized by the Hubble parameter   H _loc= (78 ± 2) km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹  , the mean-square peculiar velocity  σ_v= 25 km s⁻¹  , corrected for errors of radial velocity measurements  (∼4 km s⁻¹)  and distance measurements  (∼10 km s⁻¹)  , as well as the radius of the zero-velocity surface   R ₀= (0.96 ± 0.03)  Mpc. The minimum value for σ_v is achieved when the barycentre of the LG is located at the distance   D_c = (0.55 ± 0.05) D _M31  towards Andromeda galaxy (M31) corresponding to the Milky Way (MW)-to-M31 mass ratio   M _MW/ M _M31≃ 4/5  . In the reference frame of the 30 galaxies at 0.7–3.0 Mpc, the LG barycentre has a small peculiar velocity  ∼(24 ± 4) km s⁻¹  towards the Sculptor constellation. The derived value of R ₀ corresponds to the total mass   M _T(LG) = (1.9 ± 0.2) 10¹² M_⊙  with  Ω_m= 0.24  and a topologically flat universe, a value in good agreement with the sum of virial mass estimates for the MW and M31.     

Galaxy triplets in the local supercluster

We report a catalog of 168 galaxy triplets with line-of-sight velocities V _LG < 3500 km/s identified using a percolation criterion, which takes individual properties of galaxies into account. The catalog contains the line-of-sight velocities, K-band magnitudes, and morphological types of galaxies. Our sample of galaxy triplets is characterized by the median values of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion, projected harmonic radius, and crossing time of 40 km/s, 155 kpc, and 3 Gyr, respectively. The median projectedmass and K-band luminosity of our triplets are equal to 5 × 10¹¹ M _⊙ and 15M _⊙/L _⊙, respectively, with the uncertainty of these parameters due mostly to the errors of radial-velocity measurements. The basic properties of triple systems in the Local Supercluster are compared to those of more distant isolated triplets from the KTG and KTS samples. The fraction of triplet members among all galaxies is found be more than 5%.