Active faulting at the Eurasian, North American and Pacific plates junction

The active faults known and inferred in the area where the major Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates come together group into two belts. One of them comprises the faults striking roughly parallel to the Pacific ocean margin. The extreme members of the belt are the longitudinal faults of islands arcs, in its oceanic flank, and the faults along the continental margins of marginal seas, in its continental flank. The available data show that all these faults move with some strike-slip component, which is always right-lateral. We suggest that characteristic right-lateral, either partially or dominantly, kinematics of the fault movements has its source in oblique convergence of the Pacific plate with continental Eurasian and North American plates. The second belt of active faults transverses the extreme northeast Asia as a continental extension of the active mid-Arctic spreading ridge. The two active fault belts do not cross but come close to each other at the northern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk marking thus the point where the Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates meet.     

Vertical and Horizontal Transport of Energy and Matter by Coherent Motions in a Tall Spruce Canopy

In the framework of the EGER (ExchanGE processes in mountainous Regions) project, the contribution of coherent structures to vertical and horizontal transports in a tall spruce canopy is investigated. The combination of measurements done in both the vertical and horizontal directions allows us to investigate coherent structures, their temporal scales, their role in flux transport, vertical coupling between the sub-canopy, canopy and air above the canopy, and horizontal coupling in the sub-canopy layer. The temporal scales of coherent structures detected with the horizontally distributed systems in the sub-canopy layer are larger than the temporal scales of coherent structures detected with the vertically distributed systems. The flux contribution of coherent structures to the momentum and sensible heat transport is found to be dominant in the canopy layer. Carbon dioxide and latent heat transport by coherent structures increase with height and reach a maximum at the canopy height. The flux contribution of the ejection decreases with increasing height and becomes dominant above the canopy level. The flux fraction transported during the sweep increases with height and becomes the dominant exchange process at the upper canopy level. The determined exchange regimes indicate consistent decoupling between the sub-canopy, canopy and air above the canopy during evening, nighttime and morning hours, whereas the coupled states and coupled by sweep states between layers are observed mostly during the daytime. Furthermore, the horizontal transport of sensible heat by coherent structures is investigated, and the heterogeneity of the contribution of coherent events to the flux transport is demonstrated. A scheme to determine the horizontal coupling by coherent structures in the sub-canopy layer is proposed, and it is shown that the sub-canopy layer is horizontally coupled mainly in the wind direction. The vertical coupling in most cases is observed together with streamwise horizontal coupling, whereas the cross-stream direction is decoupled.     

High-resolution climate simulation of the last glacial maximum

The climate of the last glacial maximum (LGM) is simulated with a high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model, the NCAR CCM3 at spectral truncation of T170, corresponding to a grid cell size of roughly 75 km. The purpose of the study is to assess whether there are significant benefits from the higher resolution simulation compared to the lower resolution simulation associated with the role of topography. The LGM simulations were forced with modified CLIMAP sea ice distribution and sea surface temperatures (SST) reduced by 1°C, ice sheet topography, reduced CO₂, and 21,000 BP orbital parameters. The high-resolution model captures modern climate reasonably well, in particular the distribution of heavy precipitation in the tropical Pacific. For the ice age case, surface temperature simulated by the high-resolution model agrees better with those of proxy estimates than does the low-resolution model. Despite the fact that tropical SSTs were only 2.1°C less than the control run, there are many lowland tropical land areas 4–6°C colder than present. Comparison of T170 model results with the best constrained proxy temperature estimates (noble gas concentrations in groundwater) now yield no significant differences between model and observations. There are also significant upland temperature changes in the best resolved tropical mountain belt (the Andes). We provisionally attribute this result in part as resulting from decreased lateral mixing between ocean and land in a model with more model grid cells. A longstanding model-data discrepancy therefore appears to be resolved without invoking any unusual model physics. The response of the Asian summer monsoon can also be more clearly linked to local geography in the high-resolution model than in the low-resolution model; this distinction should enable more confident validation of climate proxy data with the high-resolution model. Elsewhere, an inferred salinity increase in the subtropical North Atlantic may have significant implications for ocean circulation changes during the LGM. A large part of the Amazon and Congo Basins are simulated to be substantially drier in the ice age—consistent with many (but not all) paleo data. These results suggest that there are considerable benefits derived from high-resolution model regarding regional climate responses, and that observationalists can now compare their results with models that resolve geography at a resolution comparable to that which the proxy data represent.     

The first record of “spelaeoid” bears in Arctic Siberia

For a long time, “spelaeoid” (cave-bear-like) bears, Ursus (Spelearctos) spp., were believed to be almost purely European animals. Their geographic range has recently been extended to the east, in southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Kirghizia, Mongolia and Korea. Two unexpected new findings, presented here in detail, significantly change existing views on the distribution of cave bears; both were found in North-Eastern Siberia, far beyond the Arctic Circle, more than 1500 km to the north-east of the previously accepted range.One of the fossils is a mandible, found near the town of Cherskiy at 68.73°N, 161.38°E. The analysis of local geology and accompanying mammal fossils suggests that it comes from the Olyorian Fauna (Early to early Middle Pleistocene). Morphologically, the Cherskiy mandible is closest to Ursus savini, a small middle Pleistocene cave bear from the British Cromer Forest-bed Formation, but differs in having a slightly more advanced dentition, and thus it is described as a new subspecies Ursus savini nordostensis. Another newly recognized fossil of the “spelaeoid” bear is an astragalus found at the Oskhordokh site at 67.54°N, 135.67°E, on a large gravel bar on the right bank of the Adycha River. This specimen is attributed to Ursus cf. deningeri.The paper also presents an interesting example of the interaction between classical and “molecular” palaeontology.The new finds significantly change existing ideas on the ecology and evolution of cave bears, some of the most remarkable members of the extinct Pleistocene megafauna.     

Paleontological records indicate the occurrence of open woodlands in a dry inland climate at the present-day Arctic coast in western Beringia during the Last Interglacial

Permafrost records, accessible at outcrops along the coast of Oyogos Yar at the Dmitry Laptev Strait, NE-Siberia, provide unique insights into the environmental history of Western Beringia during the Last Interglacial. The remains of terrestrial and freshwater organisms, including plants, coleopterans, chironomids, cladocerans, ostracods and molluscs, have been preserved in the frozen deposits of a shallow paleo-lake and indicate a boreal climate at the present-day arctic mainland coast during the Last Interglacial. Terrestrial beetle and plant remains suggest the former existence of open forest-tundra with larch (Larix dahurica), tree alder (Alnus incana), birch and alder shrubs (Duschekia fruticosa, Betula fruticosa, Betula divaricata, Betula nana), interspersed with patches of steppe and meadows. Consequently, the tree line was shifted to at least 270 km north of its current position. Aquatic organisms, such as chironomids, cladocerans, ostracods, molluscs and hydrophytes, indicate the formation of a shallow lake as the result of thermokarst processes. Steppe plants and beetles suggest low net precipitation. Littoral pioneer plants and chironomids indicate intense lake level fluctuations due to high evaporation. Many of the organisms are thermophilous, indicating a mean air temperature of the warmest month that was greater than 13 °C, which is above the minimum requirements for tree growth. These temperatures are in contrast to the modern values of less than 4 °C in the study area. The terrestrial and freshwater organism remains were found at a coastal exposure that was only 3.5 m above sea level and in a position where they should have been under sea during the Last Interglacial when the global sea level was 6–10 m higher than the current levels. The results suggest that during the last warm stage, the site was inland, and its modern coastal situation is the result of tectonic subsidence.     

Radiocarbon Ages and Environments of Deposition of the Wono and Trego Hot Springs Tephra Layers in the Pyramid Lake Subbasin, Nevada

Uncalibrated radiocarbon data from core PLC92B taken from Wizards Cove in the Pyramid Lake subbasin indicate that the Trego Hot Springs and Wono tephra layers were deposited 23,200 ± 300 and 27,300 ± 300¹⁴C yr B.P. (uncorrected for reservoir effect). Sedimentological data from sites in the Pyramid Lake and Smoke Creek–Black Rock Desert subbasins indicate that the Trego Hot Springs tephra layer was deposited during a relatively dry period when Pyramid Lake was at or below its spill point (1177 m) to the Winnemucca Lake subbasin. The Wono tephra layer was deposited when lake depth was controlled by spill across Emerson Pass sill (1207 m) to the Smoke Creek–Black Rock Desert subbasin.¹⁸O data from core PLC92B also support the concept that the Trego Hot Springs tephra fell into a relatively shallow Pyramid Lake and that the Wono tephra fell into a deeper spilling lake.     

The Late Pleistocene megafauna of the Chulym River basin,southeastern West Siberian Plain: chronology and stable isotope composition

New data were obtained for the Chulym River basin in the southeastern part of the West Siberian Plain, one of the understudied parts of Siberia in terms of age and composition of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes for Late Pleistocene megafauna. The ¹⁴C dates from the Sergeevo outcrop, the most complete section of Late Quaternary deposits in the region, are mostly greater than ~30 550 bp. Other localities yielded ¹⁴C values in the range from >44 500 to ~19 300 bp. The finite date of ~42 270 bp for the Khozarian steppe elephant (Mammuthus trogontherii chosaricus) from Asino is intriguing because previously it was not detected in the Late Pleistocene of Siberia after the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5e), ~115 000–130 000 years ago. Stable isotope data show both similarities and differences compared to the pre-Last Glacial Maximum megafaunal species in other parts of Siberia.     

Hydrologic characteristics of floods in Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna (GBM) delta

In the middle of 2007, a severe flood affected the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. This is a natural disaster that takes people’s lives, destroys livestock, infrastructures and communication systems and, damages crops and fish ponds. Despite many adverse impacts, the flood situation is an accepted phenomenon to the citizens of Bangladesh, due to the immense increase of soil fertility due to the flood, plus, the recharge of aquifer, ecosystem and fish. The flood of 2007 was the 5th major flood of the last 20 years when more than thirty-five percent of the area of the country was inundated with flood water. As in the past, the flood of 2007 had its own significance. The geography of the country contains a floodplain delta of three major river basins: the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM). The mean monthly rainfall plot from the TRMM satellite data has shown that for both the Meghna and Brahmaputra basins, the rainfall was higher during July 2007 than any other months of the last 2 years. This excess rainfall had accumulated in the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers and carried downstream to Bangladesh. This was the main cause of the flooding in 2007. The first crossing above the danger level of the river waters was observed at Durgapur station of the Someswari and at Sunamganj station of the Surma on the nineteenth of July, 2007 inside Bangladesh. In terms of magnitude of the peak and duration of the flood, the Brahmaputra was higher in 2007 than during 2004. However, the Ganges river water level never crossed the danger level during flood of 2007. The Meghna was lower during the flood peak for the duration of the flood in 2007. The year–to-year variability in both the magnitude and duration of the flood suggests changes in rainfall and landuse pattern of the catchment.     

The Kaidun meteorite: Mineralogy of an unusual CM1 lithology

Abstract Kaidun is a breccia of disparate enstatite and carbonaceous chondrite clasts that continues to provide real surprises. Many Kaidun clasts have been intensely altered by aqueous fluids, as evidenced by the widespread occurrence of ferromagnesian phyllosilicates and by the presence of carbonate- and phyllo-silicate-filled veins. In this report, we describe an unusual CM lithology containing many mineralogical features not previously reported from any meteorite, including pyrrhotite, with exclusive needlelike morphologies and thick mantles of phyllosilicate, and complex aggregates of phyllosilicate, melanite garnet, crosscut by pentlandite veins. The latter features appear to be due in large part to extensive hydrothermal alteration at temperatures on the order of 450 °C, which is significantly higher than that attained during secondary processing from other known CM material.     

Numerical simulations of a highway bridge structure employing passive negative stiffness device for seismic protection

A new passive seismic response control device has been developed, fabricated, and tested by the authors and shown to be capable of producing negative stiffness via a purely mechanical mechanism, thus representing a new generation of seismic protection devices. Although the concept of negative stiffness may appear to be a reversal on the desired relationship between the force and displacement in structures (the desired relationship being that the product of restoring force and displacement is nonnegative), when implemented in parallel with a structure having positive stiffness, the combined system appears to have substantially reduced stiffness while remaining stable. Thus, there is an ‘apparent weakening and softening’ of the structure that results in reduced forces and increased displacements (where the weakening and softening is of a non‐damaging nature in that it occurs in a seismic protection device rather than within the structural framing system). Any excessive displacement response can then be limited by incorporating a damping device in parallel with the negative stiffness device. The combination of negative stiffness and passive damping provides a large degree of control over the expected performance of the structure. In this paper, a numerical study is presented on the performance of a seismically isolated highway bridge model that is subjected to various strong earthquake ground motions. The Negative Stiffness Devices (NSDs) are described along with their hysteretic behavior as obtained from a series of cyclic tests wherein the tests were conducted using a modified design of the NSDs (modified for testing within the bridge model). Using the results from the cyclic tests, numerical simulations of the seismic response of the isolated bridge model were conducted for various configurations (with/without negative stiffness devices and/or viscous dampers). The results demonstrate that the addition of negative stiffness devices reduces the base shear substantially, while the deck displacement is limited to acceptable values. This assessment was conducted as part of a NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) project which included shaking table tests of a quarter‐scale highway bridge model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.