Temperature variations in linear dimensions of elements of a broadband seismometer perceived by the latter as ground vibration

The development of a new broadband seismometer should begin with preliminary theoretical study that includes, first of all, the investigation of noise which is expected to be generated by the device under the action of fluctuations of environmental factors. This noise limits a frequency band of devices from the long-period side and their dynamic range from below. Experimental determination of the noise characteristics of the existing broadband seismometers is limited by a microseism level in the places where the devices are installed. In view of this, the theoretical study of noise generating factors and channels of noise generation is of special importance. One of the main noise generating factors of the broadband seismometers is the ambient temperature variation. One of the types of temperature noise is the variation in linear dimensions of device elements perceived by a seismosensor as ground vibration. In this study, the estimates are presented which make it possible, first, to clarify which elements of the device are the most sensitive to the ambient temperature variations and, consequently, insert the most noise to seismic recording and, second, to determine the level of noise generated by all the elements. The frequency dependence of apparent motion of the Earth on structural dimensions and materials of the device is expressed in general form.     

Contamination of mafic magma by partial melting of dolomitic xenoliths

Mg-skarns enclosed in dunite cumulates of the Neo-Proterozoic Ioko-Dovyren intrusion (northern Baikal region, Russia) can be traced to silica-poor dolomitic host rock layers. The dominant minerals of the skarns are brucite (pseudomorph after periclase), forsterite and Cr-poor spinel. Rapid heating of quartz-poor dolomitic xenoliths led to the formation of minor olivine, followed by the breakdown of dolomite to calcite and periclase. Xenoliths were partially melted upon further heating resulting in a calcite melt. This low-density melt was quantitatively squeezed out, mixed with the surrounding mafic magma and left behind periclase and olivine. This caused the crystallization of new olivine with elevated CaO contents in zones above skarn-bearing horizons. Mixing of calcite melt with the surrounding mafic magma also resulted in the crystallization of Cats-rich clinopyroxene instead of plagioclase. The mineralogy of contaminated dunite cumulates is consistent with assimilation of approximately 4wt% CaO by the Ioko-Dovyren mafic magma.     

Geochemical evidence for the fractionation of iridium group elements at the early stages of crystallization of the Dovyren magmas (northern Baikal area,Russia)

We have first generalized geochemical and mineralogical data indicating the important role of crystallization of Os-Ir-Ru phases and fractionation of refractory iridium subgroup of PGE (IPGE) at the early stages of the evolution of parental magmas and primitive cumulates from the Yoko-Dovyren layered massif (northern Baikal area, Russia). The object of study was two types of plagioclase peridotites from the lower part of the intrusion, differing in the porosity of primary olivine cumulates: less melanocratic (but more primitive) type I and more melanocratic type II. Inclusions of refractory IPGE (Os, Ir, and Ru) discovered during LA-ICP-MS studies of aluminochromite from type I rocks are the first evidence for the presence of Os-Ir-Ru phases. Subsequent electron microscopy examinations revealed more than 25 grains of laurite and Ir-containing osmium in aluminochromite from plagioperidotites of both types. Attention is focused on the importance of the Ru/Cr₂O₃ and Ir/Cr₂O₃ ratios in rocks for the separation of IPGE at early and late fractionation stages. The conclusion is drawn that the higher Ru/Cr₂O3 and Ir/Cr₂O3 ratios in type I plagioperidotites indicate higher enrichment of aluminochromite in inclusions of refractory IPGE minerals. This is consistent with the fact that these rocks are assigned to the most primitive high-temperature ultramafites genetically related to the parental magma, which was in equilibrium with olivine Fo88 at ~ 1290 °C. We have established that the parental Dovyren magma was already depleted in IPGE and rhodium before its entrance into a chamber. No signs of early sulfide-silicate immiscibility have been detected. © 2018, V.S. Sobolev IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.     

Laurite and Ir-Osmium from Plagioclase Lherzolite of the Yoko–Dovyren Mafic–Ultramafic Pluton,Northern Baikal Region

The near-bottom part of the Yoko-Dovyren layered ultramafic-mafic intrusion host the Baikal deposit of Cu–Ni sulfide ores with Pt–Pd mineralization, whereas horizons and pockets of low sulfide ores with Pt–Pd mineralization occur at higher stratigraphic levels, including the boundary between strata of troctolite and gabbronorite, within these rocks, as well as in strata of peridotite at the lower part of the intrusion. This paper represents a new (for the Yoko-Dovyren intrusion) type of “refractory IPGE-mineralization” discovered in the lower peridotite ranging from two-pyroxene-plagioclase-bearing lherzolite. This mineralization occurs in thin intercalations of plagioclase lherzolite containing as much as 7% of alumochromite, up to 50 ppb Ru, 15 ppb Ir, and 60 ppb Pt. Crystals of cumulate alumochromite with 0.2–0.8 wt % TiO₂ contain hexagonal plates of Ir-osmium up to 5 m in size. Crystals of cumulate alumochromite with 1.2–2.8 wt % TiO₂ host pentagonal dodecahedrons of laurite up to 4 m in size. One of the alumochromite crystals with an inclusion of Os-poor laurite was found inside a crystal of cumulate olivine Fo86. Intergrowth of laurite and Ir-osmium enclosed in alumochromite with 1.1% TiO₂ was observed in one case. Laurite from Yoko-Dovyren contains 93–66%, predominantly 92–82%, RuS₂ endmember (n = 10); 3–20, predominantly 5–12%, OsS₂ endmember; 4–5% IrS₂ endmember; and up to 0.7% Pd and 0.5% Au. Ir-osmium is divided into two groups by composition. The first group is enriched in Os (58–73 wt %, on average 64 wt %) and Ru (3–8 wt %, on average 5 wt %), contains 24–34 wt % Ir (n = 4), up to 1.4 wt % Au, and no Pt. Compositions of the second group have 57–58 wt % Os, 27–30 wt % Ir, 1.5–5.5 wt % Ru, approximately 10 wt % Pt (n = 3), and up to 0.2 wt % Pd. The Cr# and Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺ + Mg) values, which range within 58–69 and 61–72, respectively, are identical in alumochromite with both enclosed laurite and Ir-osmium. Alumochromite, relatively enriched in Ti, crystallized slightly later, suggesting later crystallization for hosted laurite. Occurrence of Ir-osmium seems to indicate a picritic magma undersaturated with sulfide sulfur during bulk crystallization of alumochromite Judging from the diagram from (Brennan and Andrews, 2001), intergrowths of laurite and Ir-osmium, evidence that their probable crystallization temperature did not exceed 1250°C. The presence of own minerals of Ru, Os, Ir in the rocks, containing the first ppb of these PGE shows startling degree of magmatic differentiation. In the matrix of plagioclase lherzolites, containing laurite and Ir-osmium, in association with phlogopite, pargasite, pentlandite, troilite and chalcopyrite there were found the smallest crystals of geversite, sperrilite, insizwaite, niggliite, naldrettite, zvyagintsevite, in association with serpentine and chlorite–native platinum, Pd-platinum, osarsite, irarsite, platarsite.     

Present-day variations and paleodynamics of the Caspian Sea level as a standard for climate modeling data verification

Long-term variations of the Caspian Sea level occur mainly due to river runoff variations (the variations of the Volga River runoff is of primary importance here). In this case, the observed and reconstructed variations of the Caspian Sea level can serve as a standard for assessing the quality of the model runoff simulated by climate models. To solve this problem, a number of detailed maps of the Caspian Sea are prepared for the series of regression and transgression stages. These data are used for verifying the results of some numerical experiments carried out within the framework of CMIP5/PMIP3. It is demonstrated that the model data can be verified depending on how well the models simulate the present-day (instrumentally observed) variations of the decadal scale reconstructed in recent 1000 years of variations: the transition from the Derbent regression to the New Caspian transgression (the 5th phase) with the insignificant sea level drop in the late 19th century and under conditions of large regression during the period of the late Pleistocene glaciation maximum.