Some aspects in the development of dynamic meteorology in Russia in 2003–2006

A brief review of the studies performed by Russian scientists in dynamic meteorology in 2003–2006 is presented. This review is based on the material prepared by the Commission on Dynamic Meteorology of the National Geophysical Committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences and included in the general information report of the Section of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences at the 24th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.     

Composition of ferromanganese nodules from Riga Bay (Baltic Sea)

An average sample of ferromanganese nodules from Riga Bay was investigated by analytical electron microscopy coupled with atomic absorption, neutron activation, and ICP-MS methods. It is established that the nodules consist of colloform and poorly crystallized Fe and Mn hydroxides with an admixture of dispersed inclusions of better crystallized particles allowing revealing their mineralogical nature by the microdiffraction method. The major mineral phases are ferroxigite and Fe-vernadite with subordinate magnetite, asbolane, and todorokite. The chemical composition of the nodules is dominated by iron followed by cobalt and lead, while nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten associate with the manganese phase. The concentration of several minor elements in the Riga Bay nodules is slightly lower as compared with their average values for the entire Baltic Sea; some elements such as silver, bismuth, cadmium, niobium, tin, and thallium were never analyzed before.     

Heavy metals in the benthic animals from hydrothermal vents: Results of neutron activation analysis

A series of samples of inhabitants of hydrothermal vents were collected during the 12th cruise of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in Guaymas Basin (the Gulf of California) and the Axial Seamount area (Juan de Fuca Ridge). The concentrations of trace and heavy metals in the tissues of Ridgeia piscesae, Riftia pachyptila, and Paralvinella palmiformis were analyzed. The neutron-activation analysis revealed significantly higher concentrations of uranium in the tissues of Paralvinella palmiformis as compared to the ambient seawater. The possible reasons for such phenomenon are discussed. The data obtained by the neutron-activation method are compared with those obtained by the atomic-absorption method for the same tissues analyzed.     

Nonlinear interaction of internal waves in the coastal zone of the Sea of Japan

Nonlinear interactions of the internal waves of a tidal period with low-frequency synoptic-scale internal waves are studied using instrumental measurements of the current in the coastal zone of the Sea of Japan. In the course of spectral analysis of the data of instrumental measurements, it is found that a maximum in the spectrum of the kinetic energy of coastal waters in the vicinity of the semidiurnal frequency ω₀ is surrounded by satellite maxima whose frequencies obey the relation ω _s = ω₀ ± Ω, where Ω is the characteristic frequency of synoptic-scale internal waves. The spectrum of the anticyclonic current component has a similar structure in the vicinities of the frequency ω₀ and its first and second harmonics. The general theory of nonlinear interactions of weakly dispersive waves is used to solve the problem of modulation and the parametric amplification of tidal internal waves in the coastal zone using low-frequency narrow-band internal waviness. As can be judged from the literature, the effect of parametric modulation of tidal internal waves by low-frequency synoptic-scale internal waves has been recorded in the coastal zone of a tidal sea for the first time.     

Oxidation of copper(I) in seawater at nanomolar levels

The oxidation and reduction of nanomolar levels of copper in air-saturated seawater and NaCl solutions has been measured as a function of pH (7.17–8.49), temperature (5–35 °C) and ionic strength (0.1–0.7 M). The oxidation rates were fitted to an equation valid at different pH and ionic strength conditions in sodium chloride and seawater solutions:

The reduction of Cu(II) was studied in both media for different initial concentrations of copper(II). When the initial Cu(II) concentration was 200 nM, the copper(I) productions were 20% and 9% for NaCl and seawater, respectively. The effect of speciation of copper(I) reduced from Cu(II) on the rates was studied. The Cu(I) speciation is dominated by the CuCl₂⁻ species. On the other hand, the neutral chloride CuCl species dominates the Cu(I) oxidation in the range of 0.1 M to 0.7 M chloride concentrations.     

Endogenic nature of variations in the bottom topography of the mid-ocean rift zones with intermediate spreading rates

Specific features of variations in the bottom topography of the mid-ocean rift zones with intermediate spreading rates are considered in this work. The rift zones with a transition morphology are analyzed, and the main features of the transition topography are distinguished. Several successive stages of topographic variations, each of which is characterized by a specific relative position of the topographic features of the rift zone cross section, have been distinguished based on an analysis of the character of rift zone topographic variations in going from axial rises to rift valleys. The specific features of variations in the structural segmentation of rift zones with intermediate spreading rates, depending on the morphological changes, have been established. The thermal models of the structure of the rift zone magmatic formations have been considered, and the geodynamic relations of the magmatic systems with the specific features of the morphology and the structural segmentation of the mid-ocean axial zones with the intermediate spreading rates have been discussed.     

Simulation of the quasi-biennial oscillations of the zonal wind in the equatorial stratosphere: Part II. Atmospheric general circulation models

The problem of simulating quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs) of zonal velocity in the equatorial stratosphere in atmospheric general circulation models is considered. In accordance with the results from Part I of this study on the basis of the models developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS), the possibility of implementing (in these models) mechanisms of QBO excitation through both the interaction of planetary waves with the mean flow and breaking of short gravity waves is investigated. A new high-resolution 2° × 2.5° × 80 version of the INM RAS model is designed, a climate simulation with the two 2° × 2.5° × 39 and 2° × 2.5° × 80 versions of the INM RAS model is briefly described, results of spectral analysis of equatorial wave activity are presented, and the QBO formation processes in these models are considered in detail. For the new 2° × 2.5° × 80 model, realistic QBOs of zonal wind are obtained as the result of the action of both mechanisms.     

Identifying anthropogenic sources of nitrogen oxide emissions from calculations of Lagrangian trajectories and the observational data from a tall tower in Siberia during the spring-summer period of 2007

The task of identifying climatically significant regional anthropogenic emissions and estimating their contribution to the variability of nitrogen oxides observed at a monitoring station is considered on the basis of NO and NO₂ surface concentrations measured at the Zotino background observation station (60°26′ N, 89°24′ E, Krasnoyarsk Territory). The approach used is based on an estimation of the conditional probability of polluted air arriving from individual regions by using the results of calculating backward Lagrangian trajectories in the lower troposphere. It is established that the contribution of air masses supplied from industrial regions in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to episodes of high concentrations of nitrogen oxides (>0.7 ppb) is larger than the contribution from cities and towns located in the south of Western Siberia. The results indicate that anthropogenic sources of pollution substantially affect the balance of minor gases in the lower troposphere on a regional scale and that this factor must be taken into account when observational data from the Zotino background station are analyzed and interpreted.