Offshore permafrost and gas hydrate stability zone on the shelf of East Siberian Seas

Dynamics of the submarine permafrost regime, including distribution, thickness, and temporal evolution, was modeled for the Laptev and East Siberian Sea shelf zones. This work included simulation of the permafrost-related gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Simulations were compared with field observations. Model sensitivity runs were performed using different boundary conditions, including a variety of geological conditions as well as two distinct geothermal heat flows (45 and 70 mW/m²). The heat flows used are typical for the coastal lowlands of the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea. Use of two different geological deposits, that is, unconsolidated Cainozoic strata and solid bedrock, resulted in the significantly different magnitudes of permafrost thickness, a result of their different physical and thermal properties. Both parameters, the thickness of the submarine permafrost on the shelf and the related development of the GHSZ, were simulated for the last four glacial-eustatic cycles (400,000 years). The results show that the most recently formed permafrost is continuous to the 60-m isobath; at the greater depths of the outer part of the shelf it changes to discontinuous and patchy permafrost. However, model results suggest that the entire Arctic shelf is underlain by relic permafrost in a state stable enough for gas hydrates. Permafrost, as well as the GHSZ, is currently storing probable significant greenhouse gas sources, especially methane that has formed by the decomposition of gas hydrates at greater depth. During climate cooling and associated marine regression, permafrost aggradation takes place due to the low temperatures and the direct exposure of the shelf to the atmosphere. Permafrost degradation takes place during climate warming and marine transgression. However, the temperature of transgressing seawater in contact with the former terrestrial permafrost landscape remains below zero, ranging from –0.5 to –1.8°C, meaning permafrost degradation does not immediately occur. The submerged permafrost degrades slowly, undergoing a transformation in form from ice bonded terrestrial permafrost to ice bearing submarine permafrost that does not possess a temperature gradient. Finally the thickness of ice bearing permafrost decreases from its lower boundary due to the geothermal heat flow. The modeling indicated several other features. There exists a time lag between extreme states in climatic forcing and associated extreme states of permafrost thickness. For example, permafrost continued to degrade for up to 10,000 years following a temperature decline had begun after a climate optimum. Another result showed that the dynamic of permafrost thickness and the variation of the GHSZ are similar but not identical. For example, it can be shown that in recent time permafrost degradation has taken place at the outer part of the shelf whereas the GHSZ is stable or even thickening.     

Structure of the mesoscale variability of the troposphere and stratosphere found from radio refraction measurements via CHAMP satellites

Data of an experiment on radio occultation sounding of the atmosphere with the use of GPS signals were used to obtain global distributions of the variances of mesoscale variations in the refractive index in the troposphere and stratosphere. The experiment was carried out with the CHAMP satellite during the period 2001–2005. Measured vertical profiles were smoothed inside 5–10-km-thick layers centered at different altitudes in the troposphere and stratosphere with the use of second-degree polynomials. Deviations from the smoothed quantities and the corresponding variances were obtained for each profile and averaged for each month during the analyzed interval of the CHAMP experiment. Altitude-longitude-latitude inhomogeneities in the distribution of refractive index variances were analyzed. Altitude and latitude distributions of maxima and minima of refractive index variances depend on altitude and season. Turbulence and acoustic gravity waves can be the causes of small-scale and mesoscale variations in the refractive index of the troposphere and stratosphere. The variances of variations in the refractive index are greater in the regions of tropospheric jet streams and in the zones of near-equatorial deep convection. Atmospheric disturbances increase over mountain systems.     

Search for Atmospheric Wave Signatures by Simultaneous Collocated Barometer and Gravimeter Measurements

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - A spatial distribution model for air density perturbations during the propagation of internal gravity waves (IGWs) is used to derive estimates for...     

Patterns in the daily periodicity of low magnitude seismicity in Kamchatka

A daily periodicity in small (K ≤ 8. 0) Kamchatka earthquakes has been detected, with the maximum occurring during the nighttime. The effect was not observed throughout the area of study, but only in several zones. We show that the results are not affected by human and weather factors. A hypothesis is put forward to explain the physical causes of the effect, viz., that the daily periodicity of small earthquakes could be due to natural VLF electromagnetic radiation acting on the geologic medium. It is pointed out that the effect is related to the previously identified effect of natural electromagnetic radiation modulating the intensity of geoacoustic emission from rocks.     

Satellite Geological Indication of Morphostructural Elements of the Coasts and Bottom of Adjacent Water Areas (Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan)

Oceanology - The implementation of satellite geological investigations within the continent–Sea of Japan transition zone in Southern Primorye has made it possible to establish series,...     

Numerical simulation of the influence of stationary mesoscale orographic waves on the meridional circulation and ozone fluxes in the middle atmosphere

The authors’ parameterization of the dynamic and thermal action of stationary orographic waves generated by the Earth’s surface relief is included into the model of general circulation of the middle and upper atmosphere. Numerical simulation of the general circulation in the troposphere and stratosphere was performed and the influence of stationary orographic waves propagating upward from the Earth’s surface on the meridional and vertical velocity was studied. It is shown that the allowance for the dynamic and thermal action of these waves in the numerical model leads to changes by up to 20–30% in the meridional circulation and ozone fluxes associated with it at heights of the ozone layer maximum.     

Annual and seasonal variability of precipitation in Vojvodina,Serbia

Annual and seasonal variability of precipitation observed at 92 stations in Vojvodina (Serbia) were analyzed during the period 1946–2006. The rainfall series were examined by means of the empirical orthogonal functions (EOF). The first set of singular vectors explains from 68.8 % (in summer) to 81.8 % (in winter) of the total variance. The temporal variability of the time series associated with the main EOF configurations (the principal components, PCs) was examined using the Mann–Kendall test and the spectral analysis. The time series of PC1 revealed decreasing trend in the winter and spring precipitation and increasing trend in the autumn, summer, and annual precipitation. The relationships between the first PC and circulation patterns, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the East Atlantic (EA) pattern, and East Atlantic/West Russia pattern, were also investigated. The PC1, displaying temporal behavior of the first mode, demonstrated evident correspondence with the NAO index in analysis of the annual, winter, and autumn precipitation. Power spectra of the PC1 show statistically significant oscillations of about 3.3 years for the spring precipitation and about 8 and 15 years for the winter precipitation. Comparisons with spectral analysis of authors for some regions in Europe, most of them in the Mediterranean domain, show that similar periodicities are detected.     

Frequency of quasi-geostrophic modes on hexagonal grids

Summary Finite-difference analysis of Rossby modes has been performed for two staggered hexagonal grids. The solutions are compared with those obtained in analytical case and for rectangular grids. The result for one of the selected hexagonal grids better fits to the analytical solution then the results for the other considered grids. The obtained results may contribute to better understanding of the appropriateness of hexagonal grids in atmospheric and oceanographic modeling and numerical computations.With 6 Figures     

Propagation of the Rossby waves on two dimensional rectangular grids

Summary A simple two-dimensional quasi-geostrophic linearized model of the atmosphere is used to investigate the behaviour of the quasi-geostrophic modes for five horizontal rectangular grids. Numerical expressions for frequencies of Rossby waves for all grids are evaluated. It was found that the B and C grids produce only negative frequencies as well as the continuous case. The D grid has negative and zero frequencies. Finally, it was found that the A and E grids produce positive frequencies and eastward moving Rossby waves.With 2 Figures