Thermotomographic model and oil-and-gas forecasting for the sedimentary cover of the Laptev Sea shelf

2D and 3D geotemperature models of the sedimentary cover within the Laptev Sea shelf have been calculated. The presence of several “thermal domes” (zones of uplifted isotherms) has been found. Based on analogous sedimentary basins with domes, which correlate to the location of hydrocarbon deposits, the forecasting has been made that the Ust-Lena graben and Omoloi trough are the most promising areas for oil-and-gas prospecting.     

The design and experimental use of the Mikhnevo 2D small aperture seismic array

The design of a 2D small aperture seismic array (SASA) installed in the central part of the East European Platform (in the area of the village of Mikhnevo, Moscow Oblast’) is discussed. Brief information is provided on the geologic structure of the upper section. The SASA configuration is described along with parameters of the seismological instrumentation used, and the digital seismic data acquisition system. Results are described from a study of the spectral content and the spatial correlation properties of short period microseismic noise and seismic signal coherence. Examples are provided of records of natural and manmade seismic events occurring at different epicentral distances. Experimental data are analyzed to show that this small aperture seismic array can be an effective tool to study low magnitude seismicity in the East European Platform and for solving several other problems arising in contemporary experimental seismology.     

Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Momentum Transfer in a Neutral Boundary Layer over a Rough Surface

The turbulent characteristics of the neutral boundary layer developing over rough surfaces are not well predicted with operational weather-forecasting models. The problem is attributed to inadequate mixing-length models, to the anisotropy of the flow and to a lack of controlled experimental data against which to validate numerical studies. Therefore, in order to address directly the modelling difficulties for the development of a neutral boundary layer over rough surfaces, and to investigate the turbulent momentum transfer of such a layer, a set of hydraulic flume experiments were carried out. In the experiments, the mean and turbulent quantities were measured by a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The measured velocity variances and fluxes \({(\overline{{u_{i}^{\prime}}{u_{j}^{\prime}}})}\) in longitudinal vertical planes allowed the vertical and longitudinal gradients (?/?z and ?/?x) of the mean and turbulent quantities (fluxes, variances and third-order moments) to be evaluated and the terms of the evolution equations for ?e/?t, \({\partial \overline{u^{\prime 2}}/\partial t}\), \({\partial \overline{w^{\prime 2}}/\partial t}\) and \({\partial \overline{{u^{\prime}}{w^{\prime}}}/\partial t}\) to be quantified, where e is the turbulent kinetic energy. The results show that the pressure-correlation terms allow the turbulent energy to be transferred equitably from \({\overline{{u^{\prime}}^{2}}}\) to \({\overline{{w^{\prime}}^{2}}}\). It appears that the repartition between the constitutive terms of the budget of e, \({\overline{{u^{\prime}}^{2}}}\), \({\overline{{w^{\prime}}^{2}}}\) and \({\overline{{u^{\prime}}{w^{\prime}}}}\) is not significantly affected by the development of the rough neutral boundary layer. For the whole evolution, the transfers of energy are governed by the same terms that are also very similar to the smooth-wall case. The PIV measurements also allowed the spatial integral scales to be computed directly and to be compared with the dissipative and mixing length scales, which were also computed from the data.     

The dipole-quadrupole cycle of the background solar magnetic field

The evolution of the background magnetic field with the solar cycle has been studied using the dipole-quadrupole magnetic energy behaviour in a cycle. The combined energy of the axisymmetric dipole, non-axisymmetric quadrupole, and equatorial dipole is relatively lowly variable over the solar cycle. The dipole field changed sign when the quadrupole field was near a maximum, andvice versa. A conceptual picture involving four meridional magnetic polarity sectors proposed to explain these features may be in agreement with equatorial coronal hole observations. The rate of sector rotation is estimated to be 8 heliographic degrees per year faster than the Carrington rotation (P = 27.23^d synodic). Polarity boundaries of sectors located 180° apart show meridional migrations in one direction, while the boundaries of the other two sectors move in the opposite direction. A simple model of how the magnetic field energy varies, subject to specifying reasonable initial photospheric magnetic and velocity field patterns, follows the observed evolution of the dipole and quadrupole field energies quite nicely.     

Nonlinear magneto-acoustic waves in the solar atmosphere

The weakly nonlinear evolution of quasi-isentropic magnetoacoustic waves in the solar atmosphere is analyzed. The plasma is assumed to be initially homogeneous, in thermal equilibrium and with a straight and homogeneous magnetic field frozen in. Additionally, the plasma is assumed to be cooled by the standard cooling function in the range of 10⁴ K<T<10⁷ K and heated by a mechanism which is proportional to the density and temperature. The range of temperature where the plasma is isentropically unstable, the e-folding time for thermal instability and the corresponding time and length-scale for wave breaking are found.     

Principles of quality control of upper-air sounding datasets

Basic principles of the quality control of aerological data are formulated. These principles are assumed as a basis for the procedure of the control of archival and current data of upper-air sounding at All-Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Information-World Data Center including the section of aerological information of the Russian State Fund. It is demonstrated that the only possible way to solve a problem of creation of historical high-resolution global datasets is the use of the method of complex (multicomponent) quality control.     

Multiple re‐advances of a Lake Vättern outlet glacier during Fennoscandian Ice Sheet retreat,south‐central Sweden

Lake Vättern represents a critical region geographically and dynamically in the deglaciation of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. The outlet glacier that occupied the basin and its behaviour during ice‐sheet retreat were key to the development and drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake, dammed just west of the basin, yet its geometry, extent, thickness, margin dynamics, timing and sensitivity to regional retreat forcing are rather poorly known. The submerged sediment archives of Lake Vättern represent a missing component of the regional Swedish deglaciation history. Newly collected geophysical data, including high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry of the lake floor and seismic reflection profiles of southern Lake Vättern, are used here together with a unique 74‐m sediment record recently acquired by drill coring, and with onshore LiDAR‐based geomorphological analysis, to investigate the deglacial environments and dynamics in the basin and its terrestrial environs. Five stratigraphical units comprise a thick subglacial package attributed to the last glacial period (and probably earlier), and an overlying >120‐m deglacial sequence. Three distinct retreat–re‐advance episodes occurred in southern Lake Vättern between the initial deglaciation and the Younger Dryas. In the most recent of these, ice overrode proglacial lake sediments and re‐advanced from north of Visingsö to the southern reaches of the lake, where ice up to 400 m thick encroached on land in a lobate fashion, moulding crag‐and‐tail lineations and depositing till above earlier glacifluvial sediments. This event precedes the Younger Dryas, which our data reveal was probably restricted to north‐central sectors of the basin. These dynamics, and their position within the regional retreat chronology, indicate a highly active ice margin during deglaciation, with retreat rates on average 175 m a^?1. The pronounced topography of the Vättern basin and its deep proglacial‐dammed lake are likely to have encouraged the dynamic behaviour of this major Fennoscandian outlet glacier.     

Sedimentogenesis in the Amundsen Basin from geophysical data and drilling results on the Lomonosov Ridge

Studies in the Amundsen Basin have revealed six seismostratigraphic complexes (SSCs) in this region. The horizons bounding these complexes were dated by identifying the linear magnetic anomalies. The recognized SSCs are correlated with the seismostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic units of the Lomonosov Ridge. Based on these correlations, the lithological composition of SSCs in the Amundsen Basin is suggested. The formation of SSC2 is supposed to be due to the diagenetic processes associated with the transition of opal-A to opal-CT. It is found that, generally, the rate of sedimentation in the Amundsen Basin has consistently decreased since the beginning of its formation. However, in the Chattian time, the global regression resulted in a sharp increase in the rate of sedimentation in the basin. Arguments in favor of the duration of the Middle Cenozoic sedimentary hiatus on the Lomonosov Ridge reduced to 16.3 Ma are presented. It is supposed that the decrease in the intensity of oceanic crustal accretion in the Eurasian Basin, which is identified by the slowdown in the rate of its opening in the interval from 46 to 20–23 Ma might have resulted in a gradual sea level falling in the Arctic Ocean isolated from the World Ocean. This fact probably accounts for the Lomonosov Ridge having remained in subaerial conditions over the period from 36.7 to 20.4 Ma.     

Including the Drag Effects of Canopies: Real Case Large-Eddy Simulation Studies

We use the mesoscale meteorological model Meso-NH, taking the drag force of trees into account under stable, unstable and neutral conditions in a real case study. Large-eddy simulations (LES) are carried out for real orography, using a regional forcing model and including the energy and water fluxes between the surface (mostly grass with some hedges of trees) and the atmosphere calculated using a state-of-the-art soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer model. The formulation of the drag approach consists of adding drag terms to the momentum equation and subgrid turbulent kinetic energy dissipation, as a function of the foliage density. Its implementation in Meso-NH is validated using Advanced Regional Prediction System simulation results and measurements from Shaw and Schumann (Boundary-Layer Meteorol, 61(1):47?C64, 1992). The simulation shows that the Meso-NH model successfully reproduces the flow within and above homogeneous covers. Then, real case studies are used in order to investigate the three different boundary layers in a LES configuration (resolution down to 2 m) over the ??Lannemezan 2005?? experimental campaign. Thus, we show that the model is able to reproduce realistic flows in these particular cases and confirm that the drag force approach is more efficient than the classical roughness approach in describing the flow in the presence of vegetation at these resolutions.