Source selectivity: An assessment of volcanic glass sources in the southern primorye region,far East Russia

Artifacts made from volcanic glass have been found in archaeological contexts dating from the Late Palaeolithic (ca. 20,000 yr B.P.) through to the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 2700 yr B.P.) in the southern Primorye region of Far East Russia. A geoarchaeological survey of volcanic glass outcrops assessed the various potential sources to determine their potential for sustained exploitation. A characterization study of source samples and artifacts from 27 spatially and temporally dispersed sites using a combination of PIXE‐PIGME and relative density identified which sources had actually been exploited and a technological analysis of the assemblages described patterns of use. The combination of these three approaches shows the impact of a relatively stable geological environment on patterns of procurement and exchange. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Combination of ICP-AES and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis as Effective Methods for Studying Distribution of Elements in Soil and Plants

A detailed characterisation was carried out for soil sampled from sites with different levels of contamination before and after the cultivation of oats and barley. Mineralogical composition, concentration of exchangeable cations, dynamics of soil pH and acid neutralisation buffer capacity of the soil were studied. A total of 21 elements in the soil and 28 elements in the plants were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Distribution of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb in soil leachates was studied by sequential leaching procedure and ICP-AES. It was found that plants significantly affect most of the soil characteristics including the leaching of heavy metals.     

On the classical expansion of the perturbing function in individual orbital elements

Starting from the classical expansion of the perturbing function in the three‐body problem, the transformation to individual orbital elements is performed in principle up to any degree in small parameters. Some corrections to the results presented in the well‐known article by Yuasa on secular perturbations of asteroids are given. Consequences for the expansion of the indirect part of the perturbing function are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Computer Expert System for Epithermal Gold-Silver Deposit Prognostication (Okhotsk–Chuckchee Volcanic Belt,Northeast Russia)

The Okhotsk–Chuckchee volcanic belt (OCVB) represents a world class gold–silver province, being a well-studied part of the Circum-Pacific Rim. Extensive research, preceding the system compilation, included collection of various data on major gold–silver, silver–lead–zinc, and tin–silver ore fields (with some data on minor gold–quartz, gold–sulfide, and gold–rare-metal sites). The database consists of 129 ore fields of the OCVB and comprises 433 geological, mineralogical, geochemical, and geophysical indicators. Using the original pattern recognition programs (accounting the frequencies and correlation of the indicators), the most informative indicators were selected, their weights (both positive and negative) were identified, and an expert system (solution tree) was compiled. The computer system is intended to be an assistance to an expert in the ore field potential evaluation. The system includes several blocks of questions with a goal of classifying the geochemical type and size of the analyzed ore field. The questions have an indirect character, so they could be answered by an expert at early stages of exploration (before drilling). The level of recognition of sizes of the ore sites in the control populations is 95% or higher. The aim of the expert system is to reestimate a large number of known ore sites in a relatively brief period of time with the aid of the personal computer. The revealed patterns could be used in other less studied parts of the Circum-Pacific belt.     

Nonconventional hydrocarbon targets in the crystalline basement, and the problem of the recent replenishment of hydrocarbon reserves

Analysis of the distribution of oil pools in sedimentary cover has shown that known platform hydrocarbon fields are closely associated with faults in the crystalline basement and the sedimentary cover itself. Oil pools in the lower productive beds of the sedimentary cover are linked to faulted zones in the crystalline basement. A genetic relationship between oil fields and tectonic dislocations indicates a dominant role for vertical migration in the accumulation of commercial hydrocarbons in the Paleozoic. The conducted geochemical, palynological, geophysical and geological studies have shown that oil and gas pools in the upper sedimentary cover have been formed due to the vertical migration of hydrocarbons, which is also confirmed by the vertical alignment of the oil pools.     

Response of the ionosphere to the Baltic Sea earthquake of 21 September 2004

GPS observations of the European permanent network were used to identify seismo-ionospheric precursors of Baltic Sea earthquake of 21 September 2004. It is a very rare event for this region of Europe (magnitude of about 5.0). This value is the threshold for the occurrence of seismic effects in the ionosphere. In total electron content (TEC) data over the region of the earthquake, a specific ionospheric anomaly appeared one day before the earthquake was detected. The ionospheric variability had a positive sign with an enhancement of about 4–5 TECU (1 TECU = 10¹⁶ electrons/m²) relative to the non-disturbed state of the ionosphere. The anomaly had a duration of 4–5 hours in the day time. The special size of this anomaly was about 1000 km. The characteristic parameters of the anomaly show that it can be associated with ionospheric precursors of an earthquake.     

Borehole-guided AVO analysis of P-P and P-S reflections: Quantifying uncertainty on density estimates

Seismic properties of isotropic elastic formations are characterized by the three parameters: acoustic impedance, Poisson's ratio and density. Whilst the first two are usually well estimated by analysing the amplitude variation with angle (AVA) of reflected P‐P waves, density is known to be poorly resolved. However, density estimates would be useful in many situations encountered in oil and gas exploration, in particular, for minimizing risks in looking ahead while drilling. We design a borehole seismic experiment to investigate the reliability of AVA extracted density. Receivers are located downhole near the targeted reflectors and record reflected P‐P and converted P‐S waves. A non‐linear, wide‐angle‐based Bayesian inversion is then used to access the a posteriori probability distributions associated with the estimation of the three isotropic elastic parameters. The analysis of these distributions suggests that the angular variation of reflected P‐S amplitudes provides additional substantial information for estimating density, thus reducing the estimate uncertainty variance by more than one order of magnitude, compared to using only reflected P‐waves.     

Theory of EM monitoring of sea bottom geothermal areas

Monitoring of geophysical conditions of marine sedimentary basins is necessary for predicting seismic events and for adaptation of geothermal technologies for seismically active (as a rule) sea bottom geothermal areas. These conditions are characterized by seismo-hydro-electromagnetic (EM) geophysical field interaction in the presence of gravity. Based on the main physical principles, geophysical and petrophysical data, we formulate a mathematical model of seismo-hydro-EM interaction in a basin of a marginal sea and calculate the transformation of a seismic excitation in the upper mantle under the central part of the sea of Japan into the low-frequency (0.1 to 10 Hz) EM signals at the top of the sea bottom sedimentary layer, at the sea surface and in the atmosphere up to the lower boundary of the ionosphere. Physics of the EM generation and propagation process is shown including: generation of EM waves in the upper mantle layer M by a seismic wave from under M, spatial modulation of diffusive EM waves by a seismic wave, stopping of the EM wave arrived (before the seismic P wave) from the upper mantle at the top of the sediments because of the high electric conductivity of seawater (3.5 S/m), immediate penetration of the EM wave through the seawater thickness after the delayed seismic P wave shock into the sea bottom, and EM emission from the sea surface into the atmosphere. Let us note that the EM signal in the sea bottom sediments is the first measurable signal of a seismic activation of geological structures beneath the seafloor and this signal is protected by seawater from the influence ionosphere disturbances. Amplitude of the computed magnetic signals (300, 200, 50, and 30 pT at the ocean–atmosphere interface and at the height of 10, 30 and 50 km, respectively), their predominant frequency (0.25 Hz), the delay of the seismic P wave in regard to the magnetic signal for the receivers at the shore (20 s), the amplitude of temperature disturbances in sediments (up to 0.02 K), the parameters of the long (150 km) tsunami wave of a small (up to 20 cm) amplitude far from the shore and other values that characterize the seismo-hydro-EM process are of the orders observed. Recommendations for the EM monitoring of dynamic processes beneath seafloor geothermal areas are given.     

Features of the ionosphere behavior before the Kythira 2006 earthquake

In this paper we present specific features of TEC (total electron content of the ionosphere) behavior as possible precursors of Kythira (Southern Greece) earthquake of January 8, 2006 (M6.8). For this purpose, we used both the TEC data of GPS-IGS stations nearest to the epicenter, and TEC maps over Europe. The favorable circumstance for this analysis was the quiet geomagnetic situation during the period prior to the earthquake. One day before the earthquake, a characteristic anomaly was found out as the day-time significant increase of TEC at the nearest stations, up to the value of 50% relative to the background condition. To estimate the spatial dimensions of seismo-ionospheric anomaly, the differential mapping method was used. The ionosphere modification as a cloud-like increase of electron concentration situated in the immediate vicinity of the forthcoming earthquake epicenter has been revealed. The amplitude of modification reached the value of 50% relative to the non-disturbed condition and was in existence from 10:00 till 22:00 UT. The area of significant TEC enhancement had a size of about 4000 km in longitude and 1500 km in latitude.