Vegetation and climate during the penultimate interglacial of the northeastern Russian Arctic: the Lake El'gygytgyn pollen record

We present a high‐resolution reconstruction of the vegetation and climate dynamics during the penultimate interglacial, corresponding with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7, based on detailed palynological analyses of lacustrine sediments from Lake El'gygytgyn, northeastern Siberia. The analysed sediments were deposited between 246 and 181 ka ago (late MIS 8 to early MIS 6.6). The interglacial vegetation was characterized by herb and shrub (mainly alder and birch) dominated plant communities. Pollen‐based biome reconstruction shows a dominance of the tundra (TUND) biome, thus indicating rather open vegetation. Warmer intervals (MIS 7.5, 7.3 and 7.1) were marked by an increase in the cold deciduous forest (CLDE) biome scores and a synchronous decrease in the cold steppe (STEP) biome scores. The thermal maximum occurred during MIS 7.1, as indicated by the highest CLDE biome scores occurring in this period, and lasted ~10 ka, possibly favoured by the high precession‐related summer insolation and the legacy of the preceding mild and dry stadial (MIS 7.2). In contrast, MIS 7.3 and 7.5 were characterized by shorter durations (~4 ka) and lower summer temperatures. The preceding cold glacial and stadial (MIS 8 and 7.4, respectively) might have led to an extensive distribution of permafrost that hindered vegetation development during the subsequent warm intervals. MIS 7.4 and 6.6 were cold and wet, probably triggered by low obliquity values and coevally low precession‐related summer insolation. As a result, these periods were marked by significantly reduced summer temperatures and an enhanced snow‐ice albedo feedback. The obtained reconstructions provide potential scenarios for future climate changes and allow a better understanding of the relationship between vegetation, climate and external/internal forcings in the high latitudes.     

基于GIS模拟的Votkinsk水库流域积雪和融化过程（英文）

Coupled hydrological and atmospheric modeling is an efficient method for snowmelt runoff forecast in large basins. We use short-range precipitation forecasts of mesoscale atmospheric Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model combining them with ground-based and satellite observations for modeling snow accumulation and snowmelt processes in the Votkinsk reservoir basin(184,319 km2). The method is tested during three winter seasons(2012–2015). The MODIS-based vegetation map and leaf area index data are used to calculate the snowmelt intensity and snow evaporation in the studied basin. The GIS-based snow accumulation and snowmelt modeling provides a reliable and highly detailed spatial distribution for snow water equivalent(SWE) and snow-covered areas(SCA). The modelling results are validated by comparing actual and estimated SWE and SCA data. The actual SCA results are derived from MODIS satellite data. The algorithm for assessing the SCA by MODIS data(ATBD-MOD 10) has been adapted to a forest zone. In general, the proposed method provides satisfactory results for maximum SWE calculations. The calculation accuracy is slightly degraded during snowmelt periods. The SCA data is simulated with a higher reliability than the SWE data. The differences between the simulated and actual SWE may be explained by the overestimation of the WRF-simulated total precipitation and the unrepresentativeness of the SWE measurements(snow survey).     

Trace element and PGE distribution in layered ferromanganese crusts

A collection of layered ferromanganese ores (27 samples) from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was studied. Trace element and PGE contents were determined layer-by-layer (up to 10 microlayers) in 13 of these samples.The trace, rare earth, and platinum group element distributions, including their layer-to-layer variations, were compared in hydrogenic and hydrothermal crusts from different regions. It was found that the main PGE variations (by a factor of 10–50) are related to their layer-to-layer variations within a given ore field.The distributions of PGE and trace elements are strongly heterogeneous, which is related, first, to different contents of the elements in the layers of different age in ferromanganese crusts (FMC) and, second, to the observed regional heterogeneity and influence of hydrothermal fluids. Geochemical data indicate that CFC formation was mainly caused by the hydrochemical precipitation of material from seawater. This process was accompanied by diagenetic phenomena, water-rock interaction, and influence of volcanic and hydrothermal sources.     

Characteristics of Coronal Alfvén Waves Deduced from Helios Faraday Rotation Measurements

A statistical study of Faraday rotation fluctuations (FRF) has been performed using polarization angle data of S-band (f = 2.3 GHz) radio spacecraft signals. The measurements were recorded during the recurring superior conjunctions of the Helios probes, during which the solar proximate point of the radio ray path reached heliocentric distances between 3 and 34 R. The most commonly found temporal FRF spectra are power laws with an average spectral index 1.5 over the frequency range from 1 mHz < v < 10 mHz. The FRF variance decreases with heliocentric distance, the falloff exponent being 8 for R < 6 R and 3 for distances 8 < R < 6 R < 16 R. The results are interpreted under the assumption that the FRF are produced by Alfvén waves propagating in the coronal plasma. For the applicable range of heliocentric distances it is shown that Alfvén waves are in a regime of free propagation and probably transfer much of their energy to the kinetic energy of the solar wind. The spatial power spectrum of magnetic field fluctuations is inferred to be strongly anisotropic, the irregularities extending along the background magnetic field with axial ratios of the order of 10.     

Chromium solubility in anhydrous Phase B

The crystal structure and chemical composition of a crystal of (Mg_14?x Cr _x )(Si_5?x Cr _x )O₂₄ (x ≈ 0.30) anhydrous Phase B (Anh-B) synthesized in the model system MgCr₂O₄–Mg₂SiO₄ at 12 GPa and 1600 °C have been investigated. The compound was found to be orthorhombic, space group Pmcb, with lattice parameters a = 5.900(1), b = 14.218(2), c = 10.029(2) Å, V = 841.3(2) Å³ and Z = 2. The structure was refined to R ₁ = 0.065 using 1492 independent reflections. Chromium was found to substitute for both Mg at the M3 site (with a mean bond distance of 2.145 Å) and Si at the octahedral Si1 site (mean bond distance: 1.856 Å), according to the reaction Mg²⁺ + Si⁴⁺ = 2Cr³⁺. Such substitutions cause a reduction in the volume of the M3 site and an increase in the volume of the Si-dominant octahedron with respect to the values typically observed for pure Anh-B and Fe²⁺-bearing Anh-B. Taking into account that Cr³⁺ is not expected to be Jahn–Teller active, it appears that both the Cr³⁺–for–Mg and Cr³⁺–for–Si substitutions in the Anh-B structure decrease the distortion of the octahedra. Electron microprobe analysis gave the Mg_13.66(8)Si_4.70(6)Cr_0.62(4)O₂₄ stoichiometry for the studied phase. The successful synthesis of this phase provides new information for the possible mineral assemblages occurring in the Earth’s deep upper mantle and shed new light on the so-called X discontinuity that has been observed at 275–345 km depth in several subcontinental and subduction zone environments.     

Wind effects on the upwelling variability in the coastal zone of Primorye (the northwest of the Sea of Japan)

The variability of upwelling events in the coastal zone of Primorye in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan is studied using the SeaWinds/QuikSCAT scatterometer wind data for the period of 1999-2009. The intensity of upwelling is defined by the wind-induced offshore Ekman transport (the upwelling index). It was found that along the southern coast of Primorye upwelling events occur from September to March (April). The winter monsoon period is the most favorable for the upwelling development. In the eastern part of the coastal zone of Primorye upwelling is observed in transitional seasons between winter and summer monsoon (February-April and September-October). On the northeastern coast of Primorye, the upwelling season is from August to October (November). The common feature of the coastal zone of Primorye is a wind-driven upwelling in autumn (September-October). The interannual variability of winter upwelling along the southern coast of Primorye is related to the East Asia high pressure center (the Siberian High). The upwelling intensifies in the years with positive air pressure anomalies in the Siberian High and weakens in the years with negative anomalies.     

Early Neoproterozoic Granite-Gneisses of the Junggar Alataw (Southeastern Kazakhstan): Age, Petrogenesis and Tectonic Implications

The combined petrographic, petrological, geochemical and geochronological study of the Neoproterozoic gneisses of the Sarychabyn and Baskan complexes of the Junggar Alataw of South Kazakhstan elucidate the Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Aktau–Yili terrane. It is one of the largest Precambrian crustal blocks in the western Central Asian orogenic belt. The U-Pb single-grain zircon ages indicate that granite-gneisses formed from the same source and crystallised in the early Neoproterozoic ca. 930–920 Ma. The chemical composition of gneisses corresponds to A2-type granites. The whole-rock Nd isotopic characteristics (εNd(t) = ?4.9 to ?1.0 and TNd(DM-2st) = 1.9 to 1.7 Ga) indicate the involvement of Paleoproterozoic crustal rocks in magma generation. Early Neoproterozoic ca. 930–920 Ma A-type granitoids in the Aktau–Yili terrane of South and Central Kazakhstan might reflect within-plate magmatism adjacent to the collisional belt or a local extension setting in back-arc areas of the continental arc.     

Submarine landslides at the eastern Sunda margin: observations and tsunami impact assessment

Our analysis of new bathymetric data reveals six submarine landslides at the eastern Sunda margin between central Java and Sumba Island, Indonesia. Their volumes range between 1 km3 in the Java fore-arc basin up to 20 km3 at the trench off Sumba and Sumbawa. We estimate the potential hazard of each event by modeling the corresponding tsunami and its run-up on nearby coasts. Four slides are situated remarkably close to the epicenter of the 1977 tsunamigenic Sumba M _w  = 8.3 earthquake. However, comparison of documented tsunami run-up heights and arrival times with our modeling results neither allows us to confirm nor can we falsify the hypothesis that the earthquake triggered these submarine landslides.