Unique Marine Olenekian-Anisian Boundary Section from South Primorye, Russian Far East

INTRODUCTION LateOlenekianandAnisianmarinedepositsin SouthPrimoryewerefirststudiedbyD.L.Ivanov,thechiefofageologicalteammakingreconnaissance workfortheconstructionofthetrans Siberianrail road.HecollectedEarlyandMiddleTriassicam monoidsonRussianIsland.Arep…     

Detrital zircon geochronology of Palaeozoic Novaya Zemlya – a key to understanding the basement of the Barents Shelf

The Novaya Zemlya fold‐and‐thrust‐belt is the northern continuation of the late Palaeozoic Uralide Orogen. Little is known about its deeper structure and the basement history of the adjacent Barents and Kara shelves. Based on geological evidence and detrital zircon analysis of 28 samples from the northeastern and stratigraphically deepest part of the archipelago, we demonstrate that Cambro‐Ordovician turbidite‐dominated deposition was almost exclusively sourced from rocks consolidated during the Timanian orogeny (Timanian basement). A profound change in provenance occurred near the end of the Ordovician. Over 90% of the zircons from Silurian and about 80% from Devonian strata have ages characteristic of the Sveconorwegian Orogen, implying uplift of these rocks in the vicinity of Novaya Zemlya. The presence of Sveconorwegian and Grenvillian rocks in the high Arctic suggests revision of recent reconstructions of the Rodinia supercontinent, its break‐up and subsequent Caledonian orogeny.     

The structure of the mid- and high-latitude ionosphere during the November 2004 storm event obtained from GPS observations

GPS data from the International GNSS Service (IGS) network were used to study the development of the severe geomagnetic storm of November 7–12, 2004, in the total electron content (TEC) on a global scale. The TEC maps were produced for analyzing the storm. For producing the maps over European and North American sectors, GPS measurements from more than 100 stations were used. The dense network of GPS stations provided TEC measurements with a high temporal and spatial resolution. To present the temporal and spatial variation of TEC during the storm, differential TEC maps relative to a quiet day (November 6, 2004) were created. The features of geomagnetic storm attributed to the complex development of ionospheric storm depend on latitude, longitude and local time. The positive, as well as negative effects were detected in TEC variations as a consequence of the evolution of the geomagnetic storm. The maximal effect was registered in the subauroral/auroral ionosphere during substorm activity in the evening and night period. The latitudinal profiles obtained from TEC maps for Europe gave rise to the storm-time dynamic of the ionospheric trough, which was detected on November 7 and 9 at latitudes below 50°N. In the report, features of the response of TEC to the storm for European and North American sectors are analyzed.     

Caspian Sea amphipods: biodiversity,systematic position and ecological peculiarities of some species

In the Caspian Sea, one group of crustaceans, the Amphipoda, is represented by 72(70?) species, 60(58?) of which are gammarids, arranged in 20 genera. Almost all are endemic to the Ponto-Caspian zoogeographical region. To simplify the taxonomy of the genusGammarus Fabricius s.l., the Caspian gammarids ought to be grouped in 4 genera:Dikerogammarus Stebbing,Pontogammarus Sowinsky,Stenogammarus Martynov, andChaetogammarus Martynov. Taking into account the influence of different ecological factors on the external morphology of gammarids, we consider that all described forms ofDikerogammarus haemobaphes (Eichwald),D. villosus (Sowinsky),D. palmatus Martynov,D. fluviatilus Martynov, and perhapsD. aralensis (Uljanin) are one species —D. haemobaphes. Study of the ecological area and distribution ofIphigenella andrusovi Sars,Pandorites podoceroides (Grimm) andChaetogammarus placidus Sars indicates that these species are endemic to the Caspian Sea.     

Fluid regime and diamond formation in the reduced mantle: Experimental constraints

The composition and potential diamond productivity of C–O–H fluids that could exist in the reduced regions of the Earth’s upper mantle and in the mantles of Uranus and Neptune were studied in experiments at 6.3 GPa and 1400–1600 °C and durations of 15–48 h. Hydrogen fugacity in the fluid phase was controlled by the Mo–MoO₂ or Fe–FeO buffers, using a specially modified double-capsule method. The oxygen fugacity in the samples was controlled by adding different amounts of water, stearic acid, anthracene, and docosane to a graphite charge. At high P–T conditions, the degree of decomposition of the heavy hydrocarbons added to the charge was 99.9%. The composition of the fluids coexisting with graphite/diamond in the buffered experiments varied from H₂O  H₂ > CH₄ (at fO₂ somewhat lower than the “water maximum”) to H₂ > CH₄ > (C₂H₄ + C₂H₆)>C₃H₈ (in C–H system). In the C–H system the maximum concentrations of major species in the synthesized fluid were: H₂ = 79 mol.% and CH₄ = 21 mol.%. The composition of the H₂-rich fluids, which were synthesized at 6.3 GPa and 1400–1600 °C for the first time, differs considerably from that of the ultra-reduced CH₄-rich fluids stable at 2.0–3.5 GPa and 1000–1300 °C. Thermodynamic calculations of the reduced C–O–H fluids at the P–T conditions of the experiments revealed CH₄-rich compositions (CH₄  H₂ > (C₂H₄ + C₂H₆)>C₃H₈), which however drastically differed from the synthesized compositions. The rates of diamond nucleation and growth in the experiments depended on the fluid composition. Diamond crystallization had a maximum intensity in the pure aqueous fluids, while in the H₂-rich fluids no diamond formation was observed. Only metastable graphite precipitated from the ultra-reduced fluids. The type of the initial hydrocarbon used for the fluid generation did not affect this process.     

Model Radiants of the Geminid Meteor Shower

This paper describes the final stage of the study of the Geminid meteoroid stream formation and evolution using the nested polynomials method reported by Ryabova (in: Warmbein (ed.) Meteoroids 2001, Proc. of the Internat. Conf., Kiruna, Sweden, 6–10 August 2001; MNRAS 375:1371–1380, 2007). In the previous work we discussed possibility to calibrate the model using the shape of the model activity profiles and configuration of orbital parameters. Here we show that the radiant structure also could be utilized for this purpose, since the model radiant structure has a very specific pattern. Model area of radiation does not have a “classical” prolate linear shape, and the configuration of activity centers has a “V” shape. During one night of simulated observations several activity centers could be observed. The model produced maps of the velocity distribution in the radiant area.     

贝加尔湖Aulacoseira硅藻细胞壳的形态多样性及其在人类活动影响下的变化

We have investigated the frustule ultrastructure of Baikalian Aulacoseira: A.baicalensis (K.Meyer) Sim. and of thin-wall, spore-producing Aulacoseira which has long been designated as A. islandica (O.Muller) Sim. or A.islandica ssp. helvetica (O.Muller) Sim. (now A.skvortzowii Edlund, Stoermer,Taylor). It was found that the disagreement on the name of spore-forming Aulacoseira is due to the destruction of its vegetative frustules in the process of breaking free of the organic content, while ultrastructure data on A.islandica from different Russia''s regions can reflect signatures of different species.A. baicalensis is characterized by great polymorphism. A. baicalensis starts its development from the initial cell (auxospore). The morphological characteristics of the frustule undergo the drastic changes in the course of the life cycle. It sequentially changes the morphology and structure of its valves. Its cells evolve through several stages of development:from cyclotella-like cells to narrow and short reproducing cells. In the influence zone of the Baikalsky Pulp-and-Paper Plant (BPPP), waste waters, disturbances in the frustule structure both in vegetative and generative cells have been detected.