Ozone content over the Russian Federation in the second quarter of 2016

The review is compiled on the basis of the operation of the total ozone (TO) monitoring system in the CIS and Baltic countries that functions in the operational regime at the Central Aerological Observatory. The monitoring system uses the data from the national network equipped with M-124 filter ozonometers under methodological supervision of the Main Geophysical Observatory. The quality of the functioning of the entire system is under the operational control based on the observations obtained from the OMI satellite equipment (NASA, the United States). The basic TO observation data are generalized for each month of the second quarter of 2016 and for the quarter as a whole. The data of routine observations of surface ozone content carried out in the Moscow region and Crimea are also presented.     

Intense mesocyclones in the Black Sea region

The statistical study of intense mesoscale cyclones formed in the Black Sea region in 1979-2013 is carried out using the surface wind data of the RegCM climate model. Such cyclone parameters as intensity, lifetime, area, height, and trajectories over the sea as well as the place and time of origin are considered. The distribution of mesocyclones by months and times of day is considered. The obtained results are compared with the results of a statistical study on the Black Sea mesocyclones based on the PRECIS climate model. Possible causes for differences in data on the intensity and number of mesocyclones simulated by RegCM and PRECIS models are considered.     

Eddies in the ocean and atmosphere: Identification by satellite imagery

The results are presented of using a new approach that helps to detect and compute the parameters of eddies in the ocean and tropical cyclones in the atmosphere based on satellite imagery. The approach is based on the concept of dominant orientation of thermal contrasts (DOTC). DOTC is an angle of the statistically significant orientation of brightness contrast in the specified vicinity of the image. DOTC highly correlates with the directions of flows; it is a base for construction of models for identification of eddy motions, namely, synoptic eddies in the oceans and tropical cyclones in the atmosphere. The model-based identification of one or another eddy allows estimating such parameters as the center position, shape, size, and sign (cyclone or anticyclone) of the eddy, and the size of the tropical cyclone eye. Based on the proposed approach, technologies of automatic identification and monitoring of oceanic eddies and tropical cyclones are developed. The results of the practical use of these technologies are presented for the recent years.     

Mutual interaction of redox pairs in silicate melts: Equilibria involving metallic phases

Mutual interaction of redox pairs resulting in the origin or decomposition of a metal phase is analyzed based on the concept of intrinsic oxygen fugacity. Reactions are suggested that may be responsible for the synthesis (or decomposition) of submicrometer-sized metal nuggets when experimental melts are quenched and can explain the possible crystallization of Pt—Fe alloys when basaltic melts cool and elucidate the nature of color of Au-bearing ruby glass. Possible disproportionation reactions of certain lower oxides into a higher oxide and respective metal in cooled silicate melts are discussed.     

Shoreline variability of an urban beach fronted by a beachrock reef from video imagery

This contribution presents the results of a study on the shoreline variability of a natural perched urban beach (Ammoudara, N. Crete, Greece). Shoreline variability was monitored in high spatio-temporal resolution using time series of coastal video images and a novel, fully automated 2-D shoreline detection algorithm. Ten-month video monitoring showed that cross-shore shoreline change was, in some areas, up to 8 m with adjacent sections of the shoreline showing contrasting patterns of beach loss or gain. Variability increased in spring/early summer and stabilized until the end of the summer when partial beach recovery commenced. Correlation of the patterns of beach change with wave forcing (as recorded at an offshore wave buoy) is not straightforward; the only discernible association was that particularly energetic waves from the northern sector can trigger changes in the patterns of shoreline variability and that increased variability might be sustained by increases in offshore wave steepness. It was also found that the fronting beachrock reef exerts significant geological control on beach hydrodynamics. Hydrodynamic modelling and observations during an energetic event showed that the reef can filter wave energy in a highly differential manner, depending on its local architecture. In some areas, the reef allows only low-energy waves to impinge on the shoreline, whereas elsewhere penetration of higher waves is facilitated by the low elevation and limited width of the reef or by the presence of an inlet. Wave/reef interaction can also generate complex circulation patterns, including rip currents that appeared to be also constrained by the reef architecture.     

Paleoproterozoic gabbro–diorite–granite magmatism of the Batomga Rise (NE Aldan Shield): Sm–Nd isotope geochemical evidence

The geochemical similarity and almost simultaneous (2055–2060 Ma) formation of Utakachan gabbro-amphibolite, Jagdakin granodiorite-diorite, Khoyunda granitoid, and Tygymyt leucogranite complexes, which inruded metamorphic formations of the Batomga Group are evidence of their formaton from unified magmatic source. All this makes it possibble to combine aforementioned complexes into the unified Early Proterozoic diferentiated gabbro-diorite-granite complex.     

The natural high-pressure phase of cubic CdSe in impact glass from Zhamanshin crater

A CdSe high-pressure polymorph of the NaCl structural type of a₀ = 0.549 nm and Fm–3m space group was discovered in nature for the first time. Its composition is within range of CdSe–CdSe_1–х where x = 0.2 apfu. The phase was discovered as abundant nanosize inclusions in irgizite-type condensate glass separated from the sample of impact rock of the Zhamanshin crater (Central Kazakhstan). The treated mineral was presumably formed within a gas–plasma cloud at the moment of impact.     

First results on determination of chlorophill <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis> and its derivatives in the system of trapped sedimentary material–fluffy layer–bottom sediment of the Caspian Sea

The first data were obtained on the vertical chlorin flux in the water column and its accumulation in the upper layer of sediments of the Caspian Sea. Seasonal variability of the chlorine concentration in sedimentary matter was evaluated. The tendency of decrease in the phytoplankton-synthesized (allochtonous) organic matter content was revealed over approximately the past 60 years.     

Tychite in mantle xenoliths from kimberlites: The first find and a new genetic type

Tychite Na₆Mg₂(CO₃)₄(SO₃) is a rare natural Na and Mg sulfatocarbonate. It is found only as minor mineral in deposits of saline lakes in the United States, Canada, Uganda, and China. In these continental evaporites tychite has sedimentary genesis. In this study, we report the first occurrence of tychite as a crystal phase in the melt inclusions in olivine from mantle xenoliths of the Udachnaya-East kimberlite pipe. This find provides an evidence for the probability of tychite crystallization from melts; i.e., this rare sulfatocarbonate may have a magmatic origin as well.