New average global P and PcP travel times

This paper deals with the construction procedure for regional travel-time curves and the new average global curve for P times. This paper also presents new average global values for PcP times constructed from observed travel times.     

Numerical investigation of internal waves in jet streams including nonlinear effects

Internal waves in an atmospheric jet stream are discussed, using both linear and non-linear theory. In the former case., the wave phase-speeds depend only on the total static stability in the jet stream layer. In the latter case, the temperature profile curvature plays the main role in the behaviour of gravity-type waves.     

The azimuthal variation of teleseismic P-wave travel times

Summary. Results of earlier studies of P -wave travel-time anisotropy are compared with the P -wave velocity-anisotropy obtained by other authors for different regions of the Earth. The azimuthal relationship of P -wave travel times from surface sources on the Siberian platform is investigated. It is found that the direction of the minimal travel time of P -waves for the Siberian platform, as well as that for European regions, is close to north–south.     

Ecological Conditions of Watercourses in the Middle Amur Lowland in the Areas of Drainage Reclamation

The effect of land reclamation on the migration and accumulation of heavy metals and some pollutants in small rivers is determined. The study was conducted in the Middle Amur lowland in different phases of hydrological regime and at different extent of floodplain inundation. The formation of the hydrological regime in small rivers in this area is governed by the irregular annual runoff distribution. The seasonal character of flood periods requires water samples to be taken before spring flood (April) and after floods have passed (September–October), and at various extent of floodplain inundation. The field studies of water-courses were carried out in 2009–2014. The water samples were analyzed to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead and zinc), suspended substances, organic carbon (total, dissolved, and suspended), humic and fulvic acids, and volatile organic compounds. The mobility of heavy metals in surface watercourses was shown to reflect the effect of drainage and surface runoff from soil horizons, an increase in the concentrations of suspended and organic compounds, especially, fulvic acids, which enhance their geochemical mobility. During floods, an increase in heavy metals washout from floodplain soils and the dilution of their concentrations causes the formation of a single-type concentration series of heavy metals. In addition, the processes of pollutants migration show an effect of changes in the geomorphological characteristics of floodplain–channel complexes and a decrease in flow velocity in watercourses in the areas where land reclamation was applied. Thus, all factors mentioned above lead to a decrease in water pollution index in the river.     

Anisotropy and large-scale lateral inhomogeneity of the upper mantle

An investigation of travel-time residuals of P waves as compared to an average global travel-time curve with a base-line determined shows that about 400–500 km of the upper mantle at the boundary with the crust and a similar thickness of the lower mantle at the boundary with the core are laterally inhomogeneous. The upper mantle both under continents and under oceans consists of crust-mantle blocks distinguished by longitudinal wave velocity, surface tectonics and intensity of the heat flow. It has been revealed that within individual crust-mantle blocks there is an azimuthal relationship of P-wave travel-time indicative of possible anisotropy of upper mantle elastic properties down to depths of the order of several hundred kilometers.     

Isostasy of aseismic tectonic units in the South Atlantic Ocean and geodynamic implications

Mechanical isostasy of the lithosphere in the South Atlantic Ocean was studied using information on gravity anomalies and bathymetry with additional constraints imposed by the altimetric geoid. The isostatic responses (admittances) over the Walvis Ridge, Rio Grande Rise and Trindade Seamount Chain were computed using a three-dimensional algorithm. The eastern Walvis Ridge and the Rio Grande Rise have the same response, which is well explained by an Airy model of isostasy. The other features are regionally supported. A variation in the thickness of the elastic plate was found along the western Walvis Ridge. A high value of the elastic plate thickness (20 km) was found under the Trindade Chain. Geodynamic implications are discussed in the light of these results.     

Monitoring of the eruption of the Sarychev Peak Volcano in Matua Island in 2009 (central Kurile islands)

In June 2009, one of the greatest eruptions of the Sarychev Peak volcano in Matua Island (48°06′ N, 153°12′ E) for the recent historical period occurred. With the help of satellite sounding methods, the first signs of volcanic activity were recorded and all the stages of the explosive eruption were traced. During the expeditionary investigations in the active volcano, unique data on the character of the eruption were obtained. The volume of erupted material was 0.4 cubic km, which lead to an increased area of Matua Island by 1.4 square km. The GPS observation station set at the distance of 7 km from the volcano recorded the rapid displacement of the Earths’s surface during the first two days of the active phase of eruption. This eruption of the Sarychev Peak volcano occurred 2.5 years after the catastrophic Simushir earthquakes in the period of intensive relaxation of stresses in the middle of the central part of the Kurile island arc.     

Evaluation of radiative parameterizations using an explicit cloud microphysical model

Based on the simulations with a 3-D large-eddy simulation model of marine cloud-topped boundary layer that includes explicit cloud physics formulation, we have evaluated the effect of spatial inhomogeneities in cloud macro- and microstructure on the performance of parameterizations of optical depth commonly used in large-scale models. We have shown that an accurate parameterization of the grid average optical depth alone is not sufficient for correct determination of cloud transmittance to solar radiation due to the non-linear dependence between these two variables.The problem can be solved by introducing the “equivalent” value of optical depth that differs from the ordinarily defined mean optical depth by a factor α_t, that depends on the degree of cloud inhomogeneity and ranges from about 2 in the cumulus case to about 1.3 in the stratiform case.The accuracy of cloud optical depth parameterizations commonly employed in largescale models has been evaluated using the data from the explicit microphysical model as a benchmark for comparison. It has been shown that in the cumulus cloud case the parameterized expressions can err by as much as 100%. The error is smaller for more uniform stratiform clouds, where the error for some parameterizations varied in the 10–40% range. The best results are given by parameterizations that account for vertical stratification of parameters on which they are based. However, the error given by a particular parameterization varies and is different at cloud and surface levels. The results show the limitations of the existing simplified parameterizations and illustrate the scope and complexity of the cloud radiation parameterization problem.     

Monitoring drought dynamics in the Aravalli region (India) using different indices based on ground and remote sensing data

The hard-rock hilly Aravalli terrain of Rajasthan province of India suffers with frequent drought due to poor and delayed monsoon, abnormally high summer-temperature and insufficient water resources. In the present study, detailed analysis of meteorological and hydrological data of the Aravalli region has been carried out for the years 1984–2003. Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) has been used to quantify the precipitation deficit. Standardised Water-Level Index (SWI) has been developed to assess ground-water recharge-deficit. Vegetative drought indices like Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI) and Vegetation Health Index (VHI) have been computed using NDVI values obtained from Global Vegetation Index (GVI) and thermal channel data of NOAA AVHRR satellite. Detailed analyses of spatial and temporal drought dynamics during monsoon and non-monsoon seasons have been carried out through drought index maps generated in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. Analysis and interpretation of these maps reveal that negative SPI anomalies not always correspond to drought. In the Aravalli region, aquifer-stress shifts its position time to time, and in certain pockets it is more frequent. In comparison to hydrological stress, vegetative stress in the Aravalli region is found to be slower to begin but quicker to withdraw.