Joint use of TEM and MRS methods in a complex geological setting

Transient Electromagnetic (TEM), known also as Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) and Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) methods were applied jointly to investigate variations in lithology and groundwater salinity in the Nahal Hever South area (Dead Sea coast of Israel). The subsurface in this area is highly heterogeneous and composed of intercalated sand and clay layers over a salt formation, which is partly karstified. Groundwater is very saline, with a chloride concentration of 100–225 g/l. TEM is known as an efficient tool for investigating electrically conductive targets like saline water, but it is sensitive to both the salinity of groundwater and the porosity of rocks. MRS, however, is sensitive primarily to groundwater volume, but it also allows delineating of lithological variations in water-saturated formations. MRS is much less sensitive to variations in groundwater salinity in comparison with TEM. We show that MRS enables us to resolve the fundamental uncertainty in TEM interpretation caused by the equivalence between groundwater resistivity and lithology. Combining TEM and MRS, we found that the sandy Dead Sea aquifer filled with Dead Sea brine is characterized by a bulk resistivity of ρ_x > 0.4 Ωm, whereas zones with silt and clay in the subsurface are characterized by a bulk resistivity of ρ_x < 0.4 Ωm. These observations are confirmed by calibration of the TEM method performed near 18 boreholes.     

Geochemical investigation and characterisation of Neogene sediments from Valjevo-Mionica Basin (Serbia)

Sediments from the Valjevo-Mionica Basin of Neogene age were investigated in this study using different geochemical methods. The results of the inorganic part analyses suggest that during genesis of the sediments, the contents of Na₂O, B and As changed the most, which indicates that genesis of the investigated sediments was followed by climate changes and volcanic activity. The quantity of other macro- and microelements did not vary significantly. Investigations of the organic substance showed that it is native organic matter, which has been preserved to a significant extent, formed predominantly of algal precursor organisms, which provided good quality, deposited under reducing conditions and that it is at a low maturity level. As it has been established that genesis of the investigated sediments was mostly affected by an arid climate with more intensive salinity, the aim of this study, was also to identify the processes which were the most affected by the change in salinity, as well as biomarkers which are the most sensitive to this change. The results led to the conclusion that the salinity increase in the depositional environment had a primary effect on the preservation of the organic substance and the formation of the mineral searlesite. In addition, it was noticed that besides the Sq/nC₂₆ ratio, the parameters nC₁₇/nC₂₇, CPI and Ph/nC₁₈, are also significantly sensitive to salinity change in a depositional environment in case of immature organic substance deposited under reducing conditions.     

The distribution function of dark matter in massive haloes

We study the distribution function (DF) of dark matter particles in haloes of mass range  10¹⁴–10¹⁵ M_⊙  . In the numerical part of this work we measure the DF for a sample of relaxed haloes formed in the simulation of a standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. The DF is expressed as a function of energy E and the absolute value of the angular momentum L , a form suitable for comparison with theoretical models. By proper scaling we obtain the results that do not depend on the virial mass of the haloes. We demonstrate that the DF can be separated into energy and angular momentum components and propose a phenomenological model of the DF in the form     . This formulation involves three parameters describing the anisotropy profile in terms of its asymptotic values (β₀ and  β_∞  ) and the scale of transition between them ( L ₀). The energy part   f _E ( E )  is obtained via inversion of the integral for spatial density. We provide a straightforward numerical scheme for this procedure as well as a simple analytical approximation for a typical halo formed in the simulation. The DF model is extensively compared with the simulations: using the model parameters obtained from fitting the anisotropy profile, we recover the DF from the simulation as well as the profiles of the dispersion and kurtosis of radial and tangential velocities. Finally, we show that our DF model reproduces the power-law behaviour of phase-space density   Q =ρ( r )/σ³( r )  .     

Community Structure in the Amber Forest: Study of the Arthropod Syninclusia in the Rovno Amber(Late Eocene of Ukraine)

<正>Arthropodan syninclusions in the Late Eocene Rovno amber were examined using x~2 to reveal correlation of the component groups(some taxa of Diptera,ants,aphids,and mites) supposedly indicative of the biocoenotic relationships in the ancient amber forest.Three tightly correlated groups were identified,representing a putative aerial plankton guild(Chironomidae+Ceratopogonidae) and two tree-trunk guilds,one of which (Dolichopodidae+Germaraphis) is possibly connected to more open or/and more hygrophilous habitats than the other(Sciara zone Diptera +"Acarus"rhombeus).The ants were not linked with any of the above components.     

The Oka Belt (Southern Siberia and Northern Mongolia): A Neoproterozoic analog of the Japanese Shimanto Belt?

Abstract   The Oka Belt, composed of clastic rocks and greenschists, extends for approximately 600 km in the South-Siberian Sayan region and adjacent northern Mongolia. For a long time the Oka Belt's age and tectonic setting were the most controversial problem in the region. We argue that the belt was formed in Late Neoproterozoic as an accretionary prism. The Oka Belt shows imbricated thrust structure, which had originally seaward vergence and reflected the Neoproterozoic accretion process. The Early Paleozoic orogeny had minor effect on its structural style. The belt contains tectonic slivers of mid-ocean ridge basalts, some oceanic-island basalts and possible pelagic sediments. In several localities they are associated with gabbro and serpentinite. All these rocks represent the oceanic lithosphere subducting beneath the Oka prism and trapped within it. In the inner zone of the Oka Belt are the blueschists exhumed from the deeper prism level. The northern Oka Belt includes mafic intrusions geochemically similar to normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt and felsic volcaniclastic rocks. This segment of the belt is very similar to the Tertiary portion of northern Shimanto Belt, in Japan, and has also experienced the subduction of orthogonal oceanic ridge beneath the prism. This event dates back to 753 ± 16 Ma (the U-Pb zircon discordia). The Oka prism started accreting in Mid-Neoproterozoic after the subduction had initiated under the Japan-like South-Siberian continental terrain. The prism existed through the second half of Neoproterozoic and accumulated a huge volume of sialic material to enlarge the nearby continent. Currently, the Oka Belt remains poorly studied and is very promising for further investigation and discoveries.     

IR-OSL dating of uranium-rich deposits from the new late Pleistocene section at the Voka site, North-Eastern Estonia

This paper presents a series of results obtained from the 22 m thick deposits of the late Pleistocene section at the Voka site, NE Estonia. The section has been intensively studied during the past few years to elucidate the dynamics of the late Weichselian palaeoenvironmental changes in the Baltic region. According to the results obtained, the sediments at the Voka site were deposited in presumably freshwater sedimentary basin, which existed at least during the whole pre-Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) period of late Pleistocene (MIS 5 to 3). One of the characteristic features of the deposits is the high uranium content (up to 23 ppm) in the upper part of the section studied. This study aimed to focus on the influence of potentially unstable environmental radioactivity on dosimetric dating results due to possible disequilibrium in the U decay chain. It was found that despite the high uranium content in the deposits, the dispersion of the dates obtained is surprisingly low. At the depths with the highest uranium content, only a moderate increase of the dispersion of the ages is observed.     

Dynamics of Russian Forests and the Carbon Budget in 1961–1998: An Assessment Based on Long-Term Forest Inventory Data

Development trends of Russian forests and their impact on the global carbon budget were assessed at the national level on the basis of long-term forest inventory data (1961–1998). Over this period, vegetation of Russian forest lands are estimated as a carbon sink, with an annual average level of carbon sequestration in vegetational organic matter of 210 ± 30 Tg C · yr^–1 (soil carbon is not considered in this study), of which 153 Tg C · yr^–1 were accumulated in live biomass and 57 Tg C · yr^–1 in dead wood. The temporal variability of the sink is very large; for the five-year averages used in the analysis, the C sequestration varies from about 60 to above 300 Tg C· yr^–1. It is shown that long-term forest inventory data could serve as an important information base for assessing crucial indicators of full carbon accounting of forests.     

Paleomagnetism of Khatyrka and Maynitsky superterranes, Koryak highlands, far eastern Russia

We have completed a paleomagnetic reconnaissance study of sedimentary and volcanic extrusive rocks collected from two major tectonic zones in northeastern Russia. Paleomagnetic sites were sampled within the fault-bounded structural units of the Khatyrka and Maynitsky superterranes and an overlap sequence of the Khatyrka superterrane. These sampling localities were chosen to allow both within-site and between-site fold tests. Stepwise thermal demagnetization within the temperature range 200–640°C showed a characteristic linear demagnetization path between thermal demagnetization steps of 400°C and 530°C. For thermal steps above 550°C, the magnetic intensity of many samples began to increase rapidly with magnetic directions, which were random between heating steps, suggesting the formation of new magnetic phases in these samples. Paleomagnetic samples collected from basalts and sediments of the Khatyrka superterrane and basalts and gabbros of the Maynitsky superterrane pass fold tests and show significant poleward motion of these superterranes since the formation of their rocks. The observed paleomagnetic paleolatitudes between 24°N or S and 32°N or S can be compared with expected paleolatitudes of 57°N to 79°N. Paleomagnetic results from sites collected from overlapping Senonian rocks pass a fold test at the 99% confidence level and give a pole position not significantly different from that expected from the apparent polar wander path for the Eurasia or North America plates, suggesting that these sedimentary units overlapping the Khatyrka superterrane were deposited along the ancient northeast margin of the Eurasian plate. The declination, in stratigraphie coordinates, shows a maximum clockwise rotation of about 20° when compared with the Eurasian APWP.     

Post-mortem transport of freshwater mollusc shells in the northern Caspian Sea: A cautionary note on the implications for palaeoecological reconstructions

Fossils of stenohaline taxa are frequently used in palaeoecological and archaeological investigations to indicate the former position of deltas or the occurrence of freshwater conditions. However, the post-mortem transport of freshwater mollusc shells from deltaic and other areas can complicate interpretation of fossil assemblages. We present an example from the north Caspian Sea that shows that failure to consider these taphonomic processes can lead to erroneous conclusions.