The structure of a prominence sheet

A one-dimensional analysis of Kippenhahn-Schlüter type is applied to a sheet of prominence material inclined at an angle, to the horizontal. It is found that the magnetic pressure across the prominence no longer has a symmetric profile, but is stronger on the lower side of the sheet. This excess in magnetic pressure is necessary to balance the component of prominence weight in that direction. A matching function is derived and allows for variations along the length of the sheet, enabling the internal prominence solution to be linked onto a given background potential field. In this way a curved prominence sheet in a potential field may be resolved. A smooth profile for the magnetic field and a continuous variation of plasma pressure across the prominence region is then possible. An example is given in which the analysis is applied to a polar-crown prominence configuration of inverse polarity and the basic properties of the prominence are determined.     

Millennium scale environment changes of the Okhotsk Sea during last 80 kyr and their phase relationship with global climate changes

The paper presents the records of several paleoproductivity proxies (PP) (biogenic opal and Ba (Si_bio, Ba_bio), organic carbon (C_org) and carbonate Ca_carb, chlorin and benthic foraminifera abundance (BFA)) in sediments of the Okhotsk Sea for the last 80 kyr with a resolution of ∼100–300 years. The sediment age model was based on the AMS ¹⁴C data, records of benthic foraminifera δ¹⁸O, paleointensity of the Earth’s geomagnetic field and magnetic susceptibility. PP values demonstrate series of severe prolonged productivity drops in the Okhotsk Sea followed by a sharp increase during the last glaciation. On the basis of quantitative estimations of the paleoproductivity in the Okhotsk Sea during the cold MIS 2 and warm Holocene (Gorbarenko and Goldberg, 2005), it is suggested that the millennium scale relationship in productivity-climate changes of this basin was similar: an increase in the sea’s productivity was related with regional climate warming and vice-versa. The PP records of productivity/climate oscillations in the Okhotsk Sea during MIS 2–4 occurred contemporaneously with the North Atlantic cold Heinrich events (HE) and Greenland Dansgaard-Oyeshger interstadial (DOI). Observed successions of prolonged climate cooling events followed by rapid, abrupt warming are similar to climate and environmental oscillations in the N. Atlantic and Greenland, that confirms the millennium-scale climate changes synchronicities in the Northern Hemisphere including the far NW Pacific, the hydrology and climate conditions of which are close to those of the Okhotsk Sea. Synchronism of the N. Hemisphere severe cooling (including the Okhotsk Sea) with the Antarctic warming suggests that mechanisms of the “seesaw” effect (Blunier and Brook, 2001) in the low latitude heat redistribution between high latitudes of both hemispheres were more complicated than direct NADW formation forcing and encompasses the global atmospheric reorganization. Within the PP used a closer connection in the Okhotsk Sea millennium oscillations was observed for the C_org, BFA and chlorin; Ba_bio increases more closely to DOI. Si_bio variability does not show any evident correlation with productivity changes.     

Structure and variability of current and water temperature fields near the Mascarene Ridge

An anticyclonic mesoscale eddy is found using the current and temperature data obtained at six moorings near the eastern foot of the Mascarene Ridge (Southern Hemisphere). Its spatial parameters radius, depth of penetration, and direction of the vertical axis tilt are given. The volume of water transported by the eddy across its radial section is calculated. Numerical characteristics of the spatial-temporal variability of the current and temperature field in the eddy are obtained. The relative contributions of the variability of mesoscale, tidal and inertial, and high-frequency oscillations are estimated.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Statistical characteristics and the variability of currents over the western Black Sea shelf

Statistical characteristics and the parameters of the temporal variability of currents are analysed using data on current measurements conducted by five moored autonomous buoy stations over Bulgaria's shelf. Estimates of the specific contribution to the variability of synoptic (60%) and mesoscale (40%) oscillations are derived. The qualitative spectrum of the currents is defined, constituted by synoptic oscillations, short-period synoptic oscillations, inertial oscillations, and internal waves. Estimates of periods and oscillation amplitudes are also derived. The kinetic energy of the currents is calculated and the specific contribution of the energy of different-scale oscillations and their interrelations are determined.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Biomorphic formations in recent phosphorites

Ultramicroscopic particles of biogenic appearance found in recent phosphorite nodules in diatomaceous oozes from the Namibian shelf are described. The particles are mostly represented by three varieties, namely, colloform, rounded, and elongated bacillary particles, which are disseminated over the rock or, more often, form aggregations of various shapes. The aggregations consist of particles of similar types though different in sizes (from fractions of a micrometer to a few micrometers). Mutual intergrowths are also encountered, as well as twins, rosettes, and ball-shaped aggregations of elongated particles resembling vugs of other crystals. These morphological features together with the results of microbiological studies of diatomaceous oozes, in which phosphorite nodules are formed, suggest a nonmicrobial origin of most of the biomorphic particles.     

Remote acoustic sensing methods for studies in oceanology

In this paper, the lines of investigation on a problem of the development of remote acoustic sensing methods in oceanology are formulated. This paper summarizes the results of investigations into the possibilities for monitoring temperature and flow fields in shallow seas. In the discussed experiments, the instrumentation being constituents of the complex for longduration remote monitoring of marine medium climatic variability and that of the acoustic tomography of shallow sea dynamic processes is used. The acoustic instruments were located on the POI FEB RAS acousto-hydrophy sical polygon (Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy o f Sciences) near the Gamov Peninsula. Acoustic receiving and transmitting systems operating with multiplex phase-manipulated signals (of M-codes) at frequency range 250-2500 Hz form the basis for this complex.     

日本海百年来沉积速率及粒度指示意义

对日本海中部、北部和西部四个深水多管沉积岩芯中的210Pb活度和沉积物粒度进行分析。结果显示百年以来大和海脊、日本海北部和西部陆坡沉积物以粉砂和黏土质粉砂为主。在日本海北部和大和海脊表层沉积物存在显著的生物扰动现象,而在西部陆坡不存在。基于恒定供给速率(CRS)模式建立了4个岩芯的年代框架,并计算了沉积速率。日本海现代平均沉积速率介于0.19~0.42 cm/a,最低值出现在大和海脊。4个岩芯中沉积物平均粒径呈现不同的分布模式,但是在1940年和1980年,沉积物粒度分布模式同时发生了改变,这可能与百年以来北太平洋十年涛动(PDO)及东亚夏季风震荡有关。     

Fatal landslides in Europe

Landslides are a major hazard causing human and large economic losses worldwide. However, the quantification of fatalities and casualties is highly underestimated and incomplete, thus, the estimation of landslide risk is rather ambitious. Hence, a spatio-temporal distribution of deadly landslides is presented for 27 European countries over the last 20  years (1995–2014). Catastrophic landslides are widely distributed throughout Europe, however, with a great concentration in mountainous areas. In the studied period, a total of 1370 deaths and 784 injuries were reported resulting from 476 landslides. Turkey showed the highest fatalities with 335. An increasing trend of fatal landslides is observed, with a pronounced number of fatalities in the latest period from 2008 to 2014. The latter are mostly triggered by natural extreme events such as storms (i.e., heavy rainfall), earthquakes, and floods and only minor by human activities, such as mining and excavation works. Average economic loss per year in Europe is approximately 4.7 billion Euros. This study serves as baseline information for further risk mapping by integrating deadly landslide locations, local land use data, and will therefore help countries to protect human lives and property.