Resolvability of the interval between inversions using marine magnetic anomalies based on the Rao-Cramer inequality

It has been indicated that the Rao-Cramer inequality can be used to estimate the resolvability of intervals with opposite geomagnetic field polarity based on marine anomalies and for measurement planning. Specifically, it has been elucidated that the width of a detected interval of one polarity is determined more exactly than its center.     

Nature and age of metamorphic rocks from the basement of the West Siberian megabasin (according to U-Pb isotopic dates)

The SHRIMP-II zircon U-Pb dates for metamorphic rocks from the West Siberian basement are determined for the first time. It is established that the major protolith of the metamorphic strata from the Shaimsk-Kuznetsovsk meganticlinorium is composed of sedimentary Late- and Middle-Devonian rocks (395–398 Ma). It is likely that the greywackes, whose strata were mainly formed under erosion of ophiolitic rocks, served as a substrate for the metamorphic rocks. The metamorphic transformations of the rocks occurred under conditions of greenschist and occasionally lower amphibolite facies of metamorphism during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian period.     

The first data on the Early Proterozoic sialic basement in the eastern West Siberian Platform (studies of the Tyn'yar rhyolite–granite pluton)

Despite the long history of research, the presence of Precambrian complexes in the West Siberian basement has not been proven. The Tyn'yarskaya 100 and Tyn'yarskaya 101 wells were drilled in the Vakh–Elogui interfluve, in the eastern West Siberian Plate (eastern Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District). At a depth of 1790 m, they stripped a rhyolite extrusion, which graded into A-type alkali granitoids with rare-metal and REE mineralization (thorite, thorogummite, pitchblende, REE-carbonates, chevkinite, and others) downsection. This volcanoplutonic complex is Early Permian (K–Ar age, ～ 270 Ma; Rb–Sr age, 275.7 Ma; Sm–Nd age, 276 Ma; U–Pb age, 277 Ma). Some zircon grains from granites are much older (2049 ± 23 Ma, SHRIMP II), suggesting a relationship between the Early Permian granitic magma and the ancient matter. This might have been a granite-metamorphic basement, the partial melting of which produced the Tyn'yar rhyolite–granite body. The Sm–Nd model ages also suggest the participation of a Precambrian substratum in the formation of the rocks under study. Thus, it is quite possible that the Tyn'yar area is underlain by a Proterozoic (～ 2 Ga) sialic basement, which is an edge of the Siberian Platform thinned by Late Proterozoic–Early Paleozoic rifting and extension.     

Inundations in Kuban delta

A typification of inundations in Kuban River delta is proposed. The causes, recurrence, and the specific features of its manifestation in the delta are discussed for each identified type of inundations. The efficiency of the existing measures for inundation control is assessed. The present-day conveying capacity of major delta branches is evaluated; jam-formation processes in the delta are studied. The causes, manifestation character, and consequences of extreme inundations of 1969 and 2002 are considered in detail. As the result, recommendations are proposed for the prevention or mitigation of damage caused by runoff and mixed-type inundations.     

Influx of dissolved chemical substances to the Ob-Taz estuarine area

The results of calculation and analysis of a long-term spatial variability in volumes of the influx of a wide spectrum of dissolved chemical substances to the Ob-Taz estuarine area are under consideration. It is shown that physical transport of mineral nitrogen and phosphorus, silicic acid, petroleum hydrocarbons, phenols, heavy metal compounds down the rivers flowing into the Ob-Taz estuarine area dominates over the processes of their chemical-biological transformation. Therefore, a substantial amount of these compounds enters the estuarine ecosystems, which leads to a substantial transformation of the component composition of their water environment and a greater extent of its pollution. The latter predetermines a possible transition of the Ob-Taz estuarine area state from equilibrium into crisis, and in occasional years, even into critical state.     

Viability of pyrite pulled metabolism in the ‘iron-sulfur world’ theory: Quantum chemical assessment

The viability of pyrite-pulled metabolism in the ‘iron-sulfur world’ theory was assessed using a simple model of iron-nickel sulfide (Fe-Ni-S) surface and data obtained from quantum chemical calculations. We have investigated how the individual reactions in the carbon fixation cycle (carboxylic acids formation) on an Fe-Ni-S surface could have operated to produce carboxylic acids from carbon oxide and water. The proposed model cycle reveals how the individual reactions might have functioned and provides the thermodynamics of each step of the proposed pathway. The feasibility of individual reactions, as well the whole cycle was considered. The reaction of acetic acid production from CH₃SH and CO on an Fe-Ni sulfide surface was revealed to be endergonic with a few partial steps having positive Gibbs free energy. On the other hand, the pyrite formation was found to be slightly exergonic. The significance of the catalytic activity of transition metal sulfides in generation of acetic acid was shown. The Gibbs free energy values indicate that the acetic acid synthesis is unfavorable to proceed on the studied Fe-Ni-S model under simulated conditions. The importance of these results in terms of a primordial chemistry on iron-nickel sulfide surfaces is discussed.