Stereoscopic observations of solar flares made onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft and CORONAS-F satellite

The results of observations of solar hard radiation recorded by two spacecraft—2001 Mars Odyssey and CORONAS-F—which were located in the vicinity of Mars and Earth, respectively, are discussed. The HEND instrument, developed at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recorded photons with energies ranging from 80 keV to 2 MeV, and the SPR and SONG instruments, developed at the Skobeltsyn Research Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Moscow State University, detected radiation in the energy interval from 15 keV to 100 MeV. The rising of the sunspot group 10486 in late October 2003, which had been observed from Martian orbit before it was seen from the Earth’s surface, is analyzed in detail. In this case, observations made from directions that differ by 24° showed a close-to-24 h advance for the detection of hard radiation of flares. Stereoscopic observations of M-class flares near the limb show that the overwhelming part of radiation with energies above 80 keV arises at heights that do not exceed 7–10 thousand km. Also reported are the results of observations of the powerful flare on August 25, 2001, by the two devices, which complement each other substantially. The processes resulting in the formation of high-energy radiation of solar flares are discussed.     

Isotopic-geochronological systems in metamorphic rocks: Pon’goma Island,Belomorian mobile belt

Several isotopic methods (U-Pb, Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and K-Ar) were applied to different rock-forming and accessory minerals to decipher the chronology of events in a separate segment of the Belomorian mobile belt. Enderbites intruded supracrustal rocks at 2.73 Ga and granodiorites were emplaced at 2.41 Ga. Immediately afterwrads, a permeable schistosity zone was formed along the enderbite-granodiorite contact. Isotopic data indicate that this zone served as a pathway for heat and fluid. The retrograde stage of regional metamorphism and subsequent cooling continued from 1.89 Ga till ～ 1.46 Ga.The cooling rate of the Pon’goma Island rocks is similar to that of other Precambrian complexes and amounted to ～1.5⁰/Ma, which is consistent with previous data on the northern segment of the Belomorian belt. Based on isotopic geochronological data, two tectonometamorphic scenarios can be proposed for the evolution of the Belomorian belt. The first scenario suggests long-term regional metamorphism, i.e., lengthy residence of the Archean and Lower Proterozoic rocks at a significant depth and high temperatures. Geochronological data for different systems (U-Pb, Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and K-Ar) suggest Caledonian hydrothermal cryptometamorphic processes. However the rocks of this age are absent from the study area.     

Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic systems in basalts of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago

Rb, Sr, Sm, Nd, U, and Pb contents and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic composition were determined in tholeiite and subalkaline basalts (in both whole-rock samples and individual minerals) from the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. Isotopic data obtained for the Arctic basin are similar to those for islands from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The assimilation of crustal (sedimentary) rocks by primary depleted material makes isochron determination of basalt age difficult or impossible. The subalkaline basalts (basaltic andesites) were presumably formed by the metasomatic introduction of incompatible elements in tholeiitic basalts and, only partially, through crustal contamination and fractional crystallization.     

Responses of acoustic emission in geomaterials to the action of electric pulses under various values of the compressive load

The effect of quasi-stationary electromagnetic pulses on rock samples under a uniaxial compressive load is studied. The time dependences of acoustic emission (AE) activity and accumulation of AE events are constructed and analyzed in a wide range of principal compressive stresses. The qualitative and quantitative comparison of AE responses to an external action under various compressive loads is performed. The range of principal stresses (well below the failure level) is established in which the action of electric pulses on the AE regime is fairly effective.     

Isotopic systematics of He,Ar, S,Cu, Ni,Re, Os,Pb, U,Sm, Nd,Rb, Sr,Lu, and Hf in the rocks and ores of the Norilsk deposits

This paper reports the first results of a study of 11 isotope systems (³He/⁴He, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar, ³⁴S/³²S, ⁶⁵Cu/⁶³Cu, ⁶²Ni/⁶⁰Ni, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, ^206–208Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, Hf–Nd, U–Pb, and Re–Os) in the rocks and ores of the Cu–Ni–PGE deposits of the Norilsk ore district. Almost all the results were obtained at the Center of Isotopic Research of the Karpinskii All-Russia Research Institute of Geology. The use of a number of independent genetic isotopic signatures and comprehensive isotopic knowledge provided a methodic basis for the interpretation of approximately 5000 isotopic analyses of various elements. The presence of materials from two sources, crust and mantle, was detected in the composition of the rocks and ores. The contribution of the crustal source is especially significant in the paleofluids (gas–liquid microinclusions) of the ore-forming medium. Crustal solutions were probably a transport medium during ore formation. Air argon is dominant in the ores, which indicates a connection between the paleofluids and the atmosphere. This suggests intense groundwater circulation during the crystallization of ore minerals. The age of the rocks and ores of the Norilsk deposits was determined. The stage of orebody formation is restricted to a narrow age interval of 250 ± 10 Ma. An isotopic criterion was proposed for the ore-bearing potential of mafic intrusions in the Norilsk–Taimyr region. It includes several interrelated isotopic ratios of various elements: He, Ar, S, and others.     

Seismoacoustic responses to high-power electric pulses from well logging data at the Bishkek geodynamical test area

The results of recording seismoacoustic emission (SAE) in the boreholes of the Bishkek geodynamical test area in Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan, are presented. The spectral structure of SAE signals and the pattern of variations in SAE intensity during electromagnetic (EM) sounding of the Earth’s crust by the highpower ERGU-600-2 generator unit are studied. The statistical methods for SAE data processing are adjusted for the problem of revealing the correlations between SAE responses and pulsed electrical impacts (i.e., energy input into the medium). The response of the medium to EM soundings, which are conducted for monitoring the apparent resistivity of the rocks, is revealed. The response of the medium manifests itself as the increase in SAE intensity (the responses to the electric current pulses generated during the soundings). The SAE responses belong to the same group of the effects (the signs of external forcing of rock destruction) as the variations in seismicity during the runs of the geophysical magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) generators in 1983–1989 or experimental soundings in 2000–2005. The sources of SAE signals are located at shallow depths, near the geophone installation place. This accounts for the difference between the variations in SAE intensity and microseismicity in response to the same impact.     

The Oldest Granites of Russia: Paleoarchean (3343 Ma) Subalkali Granites of the Okhotsk Massif

The Paleoarchean age (3.34 Ga) of subalkali granite magmatism first established for the Kukhtui uplift of the Okhotsk Massif suggests a formation time of the mature continental K-rich crust in this region as early as the Paleoarchean. According to the geological structural, mineralogical–geochemical, geochronological, and isotopic–geochemical data, the Kukhtui uplift can be considered as the most ancient Paleoarchean province in Russia: the ancient consolidation core of the sialic protocrust of the Okhotsk–Omolon Craton.     

Paleoproterozoic Age (2055–2050 Ma) of Volcanogenic–Terrigenous Rocks from the Bilyakchan Zone of the Siberian Platform and Okhotsk Massif Junction

Doklady Earth Sciences - The age of the Bilyakchan Group, representing the northern fragment of the Ulkan–Bilyakchan volcano-plutonic belt of the Okhotsk Massif and Siberian platform junction...     

Ultrapotassic Volcanism of the Valagin Ridge,Kamchatka

New isotopic-geochemical data are reported on the Late Cretaceous–Paleocene ultrapotassic volcanic rocks of the alkaline–ultrabasic complex of the Valagin Ridge, Eastern Kamchatka. The high Mg, low Ca and Al contents at high K/Na ratios in these rocks make them similar to the Mediterranean-type lamproites and ultrapotassic rocks. The low contents of high-field strength (HFSE) and heavy rare-earth (HREE) elements relative to the MORB composition, and the low Sr and high Nd isotopic ratios indicate the formation of their primary melts from a depleted mantle source. The enrichment of the ultrapotassic rocks in the large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) can be explained by the fluid influx in melts during melting of subsided oceanic crust.     

Cosmic gamma-ray bursts detected in the RELEC experiment onboard the Vernov satellite

The RELEC scientific instrumentation onboard the Vernov spacecraft launched on July 8, 2014, included the DRGE gamma-ray and electron spectrometer. This instrument incorporates a set of scintillation phoswich detectors, including four identical X-ray and gamma-ray detectors in the energy range from 10 keV to 3 MeV with a total area of ~500 cm² directed toward the nadir, and an electron spectrometer containing three mutually orthogonal detector units with a geometry factor of ~2 cm² sr, which is also sensitive to X-rays and gamma-rays. The goal of the space experiment with the DRGE instrument was to investigate phenomena with fast temporal variability, in particular, terrestrial gammaray flashes (TGFs) and magnetospheric electron precipitations. However, the detectors of the DRGE instrument could record cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and allowed one not only to perform a detailed analysis of the gamma-ray variability but also to compare the time profiles with the measurements made by other instruments of the RELEC scientific instrumentation (the detectors of optical and ultraviolet flashes, the radio-frequency and low-frequency analyzers of electromagnetic field parameters). We present the results of our observations of cosmicGRB 141011A and GRB 141104A, compare the parameters obtained in the GBM/Fermi and KONUS–Wind experiments, and estimate the redshifts and E _iso for the sources of these GRBs. The detectability of GRBs and good agreement between the independent estimates of their parameters obtained in various experiments are important factors of the successful operation of similar detectors onboard the Lomonosov spacecraft.