Synchronous Variations in the Atmospheric Pressure and Electric Field during the Passage of the Solar Terminator

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The paper presents the field observation data on variations in the pressure and electric field intensity in the near-surface atmospheric layer during the passage of the...     

Gas hydrate accumulation at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano

Gas hydrate (GH) accumulation is characterized and modeled for the Håkon Mosby mud volcano, ca. 1.5?km across, located on the Norway–Barents–Svalbard margin. Pore water chemical and isotopic results based on shallow sediment cores as well as geothermal and geomorphological data suggest that the GH accumulation is of a concentric pattern controlled by and formed essentially from the ascending mud volcano fluid. The gas hydrate content of sediment peaks at 25% by volume, averaging about 1.2% throughout the accumulation. The amount of hydrate methane is estimated at ca. 10⁸?m³ STP, which could account for about 1–10% of the gas that has escaped from the volcano since its origin.     

Structure of the zooplankton communities in the region of the Ob River’s estuarine frontal zone

The studies were carried out on September 27–30, 2007, in the area of the Ob estuarine frontal zone and over the adjacent inner Kara Sea shelf. Based upon the latitudinal changes in the salinity, the 100 nautical mile wide estuarine frontal zone was marked out. The frontal zone was inhabited by a specific zooplankton community dominated by species that occurred outside the frontal zone in only minor amounts. The biomass of the mesozooplankton averaging 984 mg/m³ in the frontal zone exceeded by 1.5 and 6 times the corresponding values in the inner desalinated area of the estuary and the adjacent areas of the Kara Sea shelf. At the inner southern periphery of the frontal zone, at maximal latitudinal salinity gradients (>2 psu per mile), the maximal development of the mesoplankton with the mean biomass for the water column of 3.1 g/m³ (37 g/m²) and up to 5.8 g/m³ in the subpycnocline layer was observed. The latitudinal extension of the biomass in the maximum zone did not exceed 10 miles. More than 90% of the maximum was composed of herbivorous zooplankton with the strong domination of the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus. The daily consumption within the zooplankton maximum area was estimated at 820 mgC/m² per day. This value exceeds by two orders of magnitude the local primary production. At that level of consumption, the available phytoplankton biomass was consumed by grazers in less than 8 hours (!). A zooplankton aggregation at the southern periphery of the estuarine front exists due to the advection of phytoplankton from the adjacent river zone. The aggregation forms a natural pelagic biofilter where new allochthonous organic matter delivered by the river flow is accumulated and high secondary production is formed on its basis. An anomalously high concentration of planktic predatory Parasagitta elegans with biomass of over 1 g/m³ (46% of the total zooplankton biomass) was associated with the outer northern periphery of the estuarine frontal zone.     

Geology, mineralization, stable isotope geochemistry, and fluid inclusion characteristics of the Novogodnee–Monto oxidized Au–(Cu) skarn and porphyry deposit, Polar Ural, Russia

The Novogodnee–Monto oxidized Au–(Cu) skarn and porphyry deposit is situated in the large metallogenic belt of magnetite skarn and Cu–Au porphyry deposits formed along the Devonian–Carboniferous Urals orogen. The deposit area incorporates nearly contemporaneous Middle–Late Devonian to Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous calc-alkaline (gabbro to diorite) and potassic (monzogabbro, monzodiorite- to monzonite-porphyry, also lamprophyres) intrusive suites. The deposit is represented by magnetite skarn overprinted by amphibole–chlorite–epidote–quartz–albite and then sericite–quartz–carbonate assemblages bearing Au-sulfide mineralization. This mineralization includes early high-fineness (900–990?‰) native Au associated mostly with cobaltite as well as with chalcopyrite and Co-pyrite, intermediate-stage native Au (fineness 830–860?‰) associated mostly with galena, and late native Au (760–830?‰) associated with Te minerals. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data indicate an involvement of magmatic–hydrothermal high-salinity (>20 wt.% NaCl-equiv.) chloride fluids. The potassic igneous suite may have directly sourced fluids, metals, and/or sulfur. The abundance of Au mineralization is consistent with the oxidized character of the system, and its association with Co-sulfides suggests elevated sulfur fugacity.     

Reduced Horizontal Sea Surface Temperature Gradients Under Conditions of Clear Skies and Weak Winds

Consideration of the dependence of various components of the sea-surface heat and momentum fluxes on sea surface temperature (SST) leads to an explanation for the observed reduction in the horizontal temperature gradients in the uppermost layer of the ocean (a few to 10 m in depth). Horizontal temperature gradients within the mixed layer can be masked by a near-surface layer of warm water. This camouflage of horizontal temperature gradients has importance for the remote sensing of SST used by the fishing industry, for the estimation of acoustic transmission, and for the forecasting of hurricane development, among many uses of SST data. Diurnal warming conditions in the Straits of Florida are examined by a simulation calculation and by analysis of observations obtained on moorings deployed on the south-east Florida shelf. When there is net heating (i.e., the solar input is stronger than the combined latent, sensible and longwave radiative heat losses) the originally warmer water experiences less heating than the colder water, leading to a weakening of the horizontal SST gradients as seen by surface buoys or satellites. The warmer water also experiences more mixing and therefore less increase in temperature. The strongest effect of the diurnal heating on wind stress occurs when the SST starts out cooler than the air temperature and the atmosphere is stably stratified. Diurnal warming can then rapidly increase the SST above the air temperature because of reduced wind stress and reduced upper-ocean mixing. After that the wind stress increases as convectively driven turbulence contributes to the atmospheric exchange.     

Neutron generation and geomagnetic disturbances in connection with the Chilean earthquake of February 27, 2010 and a volcanic eruption in Iceland in March–April 2010

The relationship between solar and geomagnetic activities in connection with seismicity and volcanic eruptions on the globe during the period 1680–2010 is studied. The centennial cycles of terrestrial endogenous activity, related to solar and geomagnetic activity, are revealed; at the beginning of these cycles, solar cycles with small Wolf numbers were detected, while intensive seismic and volcanic activity was observed for several decades. A stable negative correlation between seismicity and volcanism, on the one hand, and solar and geomagnetic activity, on the other hand, were found. Experiments, which were simultaneously carried out at the Pushkov Institute of Geomagnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN), Troitsk, Moscow oblast, and the Karymshina Complex Geophysical Observatory, Kamchatka Branch, Geophysical Survey, Russian Academy of Sciences, have verified the suggestion that disturbances in the geomagnetic field and neutron generation occur during the early stages of strong earthquakes. It is supposed that the mechanism of primary generation of terrestrial neutrons is related to nuclear reactions in the Earth’s interior.     

Hindcast of oil-spill pollution during the Lebanon crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, July-August 2006

MOON (Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network http://www.moon-oceanforecasting.eu) provides near-real-time information on oil-spill detection (ocean color and SAR) and predictions [ocean forecasts (MFS and CYCOFOS) and oil-spill predictions (MEDSLIK)]. We employ this system to study the Lebanese oil-pollution crisis in summer 2006 and thus to assist regional and local decision makers in Europe, regionally and locally. The MEDSLIK oil-spill predictions obtained using CYCOFOS high-resolution ocean fields are compared with those obtained using lower-resolution MFS hydrodynamics, and both are validated against satellite observations. The predicted beached oil distributions along the Lebanese and Syrian coasts are compared with in situ observations.The oil-spill predictions are able to simulate the northward movement of the oil spill, with the CYCOFOS predictions being in better agreement with satellite observations. Among the free MEDSLIK parameters tested in the sensitivity experiments, the drift factor appears to be the most relevant to improve the quality of the results.     

Vostok-2 gold-base-metal-tungsten skarn deposit,Central Sikhote-Alin,Russia

Vostok-2—East Russia’s largest skarn deposit of high-grade sulfide-scheelite ore with substantial base-metal and gold mineralization—was formed during the Mesozoic orogenic epoch of evolution of the Far East marginal continental system as an element of the gold-tin-tungsten metallogenic belt. The deposit is related to the multistage monzodiorite-granodiorite-granite complex pertaining to the ilmenite series and spatially associated with a minor granodiorite porphyry (?) stock, which bears petrological features transi- tional to those of intrusive rocks occurring at Au-W and Au deposits. The hydrothermal metasomatic alteration of host rocks evolved from pyroxene skarn via retrograde postskarn and propylitic (hydrosilicate) metasomatic rocks to the late, low-temperature quartz-sericite metasomatic rocks often with albite, chlorite, carbonate, and apatite. The mineral assemblages of skarn and postskarn metasomatic rocks correspond to those at the reduced-type tungsten skarn deposits. Zoning of the postskarn metasomatic rocks is controlled by granodiorite stock. The hydrothermal metasomatic alteration was accompanied by development of mineralization from scheelite via sulfide-scheelite with pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite to the gold-base-metal-scheelite assemblage with arsenopyrite, Bi-Sb-Te-Pb-Zn sulfides and sulfosalts. Several scheelite generations are recognized. Scheelite of the late generations is enriched in Eu, as is typical of gold deposits. The associated gold mineralization comprises both native gold varying in fineness and Au-bearing arsenopyrite. The significant gold mineralization emphasizes genetic links of this deposit with intrusion-related Au-W and Au deposits of the reduced type.