The Southern Baltic Seas in the Paleogene according to the study of the foraminifera

The changes in the paleocomplexes of the foraminifera, the remains of other organisms, and the lithological composition of the Paleogene deposits in the Kaliningrad region made it possible to reconstruct the sedimentation conditions during the Paleogene.     

Stratigraphy and formation conditions of the sedimentary cover in the Sea of Japan near the Bogorov Rise

The results of the complex study of the sedimentary cover (continuous seismic profiling and diatom analysis) in the northeastern part of the Sea of Japan, including the Bogorov Rise, the adjacent part of the Japan Basin, and the continental slope, are presented. Two varied-age complexes were distinguished in the sedimentary cover of Primorye’s continental slope, namely, the Middle Miocene and Late Miocene-Pleistocene; these complexes were formed in a stable tectonic environment with no significant vertical movements. The depression in the acoustic basement is located along the continental slope and it is divided from the Japan Basin by a group of volcanic structures, the most uplifted part of which forms the Bogorov Rise. The depression was formed, probably, before the Middle Miocene. In the Middle Miocene, the Bogorov Rise was already at the depths close to the modern ones. In the sedimentary cover near the Bogorov Rise, buried zones were found, which probably were channels for gas transportation in the pre-Pleistocene. Deformations of sediments that occurred in the beginning of the Pleistocene are established in the basin.     

Evolution of the Northern Caspian Sea Region and the Volga delta in the late Pleistocene-Holocene

On the basis of geologic-geomorphologic studies, an alternative concept regarding the evolution of the Northern Caspian Sea Region and the adjacent areas in the boundary of the Pleistocene-Holocene is presented. A supposition is made about the existence of a large lagoon in the North Caspian Region that the Volga River emptied into forming a delta. Later, water from the lagoon flowed as a “stratum” stream into the Black Sea through the Manych Strait. A conclusion is reached that the Baer mounds were formed on the bottom of this stream.     

Simulating the influence of an atmospheric fine inhomogeneous structure on long-range propagation of pulsed acoustic signals

The results of simulating the influence of an atmospheric fine structure on the characteristics of acoustic signals propagating throughout the atmosphere for long distances from their sources are presented. A numerical model of an atmospheric fine inhomogeneous structure within the height range z = 20…120 km is proposed to perform calculations. This model and its numerical parameters are based on the current notions of the formation of an atmospheric fine structure due to internal gravity waves. The numerical calculations were performed using the parabolic-equation method. A spatial structure of the acoustic field and the structure of an acoustic signal at long distances from a pulsed source were calculated. It is shown that the presence of an atmospheric fine structure results in a scattering of acoustic signals and their recording in the geometric shadow region. The results of calculations of signal forms are in a satisfactory agreement with data on signals recorded in the geometric shadow region which is formed at a distance of about 300 km from an experimental explosion.     

An early Miocene reefal platform in the Rama Ridge (Banda Sea, Indonesia)

 In December 1995 we dredged early Miocene coral-reef carbonates and early/middle Pliocene slope carbonates outcropping on the submerged Rama Ridge. This indicates that some of the Banda Sea Ridges were present during early Miocene times. Subsequent major tectonic subsidence occurred between middle Miocene and early Pliocene times. These results concur with the hypothesis of a relatively recent age for the North Banda Sea basement. Received: 5 March 1997 / Revision received: 23 October 1997     

Analytical solutions of the diffraction problem of a group of truncated vertical cylinders

An exact analytical method is described to solve the diffraction problem of a group of truncated vertical cylinders. In order to account for the interaction between the cylinders, Kagemoto and Yue's exact algebraic method is utilised. The isolated cylinder diffraction potential due to incident waves is obtained using Garret's solution and evanescent mode solutions are derived in a similar manner.Numerical results are presented for arrays of two and four cylinders. Comparisons between the results obtained from the method presented here and those obtained from numerical methods show excellent agreement.     

Characterization of the Karababa-C reservoir in the South Karaku oilfield, southeast Turkey

The South Karaku oil field is located in southeast Turkey, and produces, from the Late Cretaceous Mardin Group, carbonate reservoirs consisting of the Karababa, Derdere, Sabunsuyu and Areban Formations. The Karababa Formation is divided into three members, of which the productive Karababa-C member, discussed here, is composed of shallow marine bioclastic mudstone to wackestone. It is affected by early to late diagenetic processes that caused modification of the original pore system by cementation, dissolution and fracturing. Two petrophysical-petrologic facies can be discriminated by principal component analysis, and linear, multiple and stepwise multiple regression analysis of petrophysical data. These correspond to vuggy-moldic porosity and microporosity dominated reservoirs.     

Geometrical aspects of a sonar-based navigation system for underwater vehicles

A novel self-contained navigation system has been devised for underwater vehicles operating in and around offshore installations. This system matches data from a sector-scanning sonar device to a computer model of the installation. The paper begins by highlighting the existing approaches to subsea navigation before outlining the main features of the proposed system. It then concentrates on a key component of this system which is a method for calculating the position and heading of an underwater vehicle navigating in the vincinity of tubular steel structures. An iterative solution method is presented which incorporates six degree of freedom vehicle motions and this is verified in a series of laboratory experiments with various arrangements of structural members and using a commercial sonar device. The key features, applications and performance of this method are discussed. The main conclusion is that the proposed method for calculating the position and heading of an underwater vehicle contributes towards achieving an accurate and reliable subsea navigation capability.