Modeling meso- and sub-mesoscale circulation along the eastern Crimean coast using numerical calculations

A numerical experiment has been carried out using a hydrodynamical model with nonlinear equations of motion and heat and salt advection to reconstruct the fields of hydrophysical parameters taking into account the real atmospheric forcing for the autumn season along the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The studied part of the coast is situated at 44.25°N 33.95°E/44.72°N 34.55°E. High spatial resolution is used for modeling: 350 m in the horizontal plane with 38 layers in the vertical; the bottom topography is described in detail with ~500 m resolution. Detected and studied meso- and sub-mesoscale structures in the current field agree well with the observational data, which is impossible or hard to identify in numerical experiments with coarser resolution. Their kinematic characteristics and the lifetime are defined and some mechanisms of their origin are suggested.     

First find of srilankite in the Urals

The first find of srilankite (very rare Zr and Ti oxide, Ti₂ZrO₆) in the Urals and the third find in Russia is reported. Srilankite forms very small (0.5–20 μm) inclusions in some rutile grains. These minerals are observed in the rare rock variety, corundum-bearing spinel–saphirine hornblendite forming a block in serpentinized amphibolizied peridotite of the Ilmeny–Vishnevogorsk Complex, near the village of Taiginka, Chelyabinsk oblast. Srilankite has not been observed in such an association yet. The composition of the host rock provides evidence for its deep (the lowermost crust of the Earth) origin. Srilankites of the Urals are distinguished from all others by the high concentrations of UO₂, ThO₂, HfO₂, and Nb₂O₅, which provides additional evidence for their crustal origin. Srilankite may indicate high-temperature and high-pressure conditions of rock formation.     

Ionospheric response to a rocket launch from the Vostochnyi Cosmodrome

The atmospheric disturbances caused by the first rocket launch from the Vostochnyi Cosmodrome on April 28, 2016, were registered 10–24 min after the launch using the signals of the GPS/GLONASS global navigation satellite systems. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the disturbances allowed the conclusion that the launch vehicle moved northwest from the cosmodrome, which corresponds to a trajectory of the satellite movement to the orbit with an inclination of 98º.