Том 54, № 11 (2018)

Atmospheric particle ionization by cosmic rays peaks at altitudes of the formation of tropospheric clouds. Since the formation of ionizing particles is a cascaded process, the effect of cosmic radiation on vortex atmospheric processes is essentially nonlinear. The importance of aerosol is manifested in the generation of plasma vortices and in the accumulation of energy and mass by atmospheric vortices during the condensation of moisture. The nonmonotonic stratification of unstable plasma inhomogeneities contributes to the formation of cellular structures. With the ionization of particles, the fields of pressure gradients of a mosaic cellular topology can be characterized by the appearance of an electric field of plasma vortices. In the aerosol plasma of atmospheric cloudiness, the electromagnetic forces between the flow structure elements contribute to the intensification of the vortex component. The interaction of spiral current vortices in plasma is determined by their magnitude and spatial distribution geometry. The interaction between a cyclone and an anticyclone depends on the stability of the anticyclone. Vortex activity of the atmosphere, its jet streams, and turbulence are associated with inhomogeneous cellular distributions of atmospheric pollutants. The energy of strong atmospheric vortex structures is partially generated by aerosol plasma vortices.

The ocean level fluctuations relative to continents are caused by both physical processes related to water volume variations and tectonic processes related to changes in the bottom topography. Currently, the main tectonic causes are considered to include the occurrence of midocean ridges and variations in an expansion velocity of the ocean floor with the corresponding rise or fall of the bottom. The specific role of continental drift is not taken into account, or it is given a passive role. This work demonstrates the important role of continents in long-term changes in the ocean level. The numerical model shows the influence of continents on tectonic activity of the mantle and continents “floating” over the mantle with uneven relief, which cause relative variations in the ocean level. While the continent is above the ascending mantle stream, it is raised, and the ocean level relative to the continent falls. After the supercontinent split, the continents diverge, and the ridge previously covered by continents occurs in the ocean. Being close to subduction zones, the continents subside thus increasing the relative ocean level. The model also shows that the continents do not move strictly horizontally along the mantle, but, like floating ships, change their slope depending on the mantle relief.

The Great Andaman–Sumatra earthquake (GASE) on December 26, 2004, with magnitude M_w of 9.2, occurred in the Indian Ocean near the northwestern coast of Sumatra Island at a depth of 30 km and is the third-largest earthquake of the historical world seismic observations. The surface rupture of 1200–1600 km provoked a right-lateral strike-slip fault at a distance of 15 m along the subduction zone of the Indian Plate beneath the Sunda arc in the west of the Southeast Asia (Melanesia) and the Burma Plate (part of the larger Eurasian Plate) in the north. It is suggested that such a strong event should be reflected in variations in the long-term type of seismotectonic deformation (STD) in its vicinity. The aim of this work is the search for these deformations. The STD type in the GASE spatial-temporal vicinity is estimated on the basis of a set of focal mechanisms of earthquakes with M_w ≥ 5 published in the ISC catalog. The long-term estimations of the STD type are consistent with current ideas on the character of collision of tectonic plates in the western part of the Sunda arc and support the geological ideas on near-horizontal compression (shortening) across the arc in the nearest vicinity of the earthquake epicenter. At the same time, variations in the STD type are noticeable in comparison with long-term estimations in different periods relative to the time of the GASE. These variations can be explained by the change in the kinematics of deformation at different stages of evolution of the deformation process in the spatial-temporal vicinity of the strongest seismic catastrophe. In a control sample to the south of the territory studied (without rupture during the earthquake), the type of STD underwent no noticeable changes during the entire period considered.

Based on the deformation data measured by the Baksan laser interferometer-strainmeter, Earth’s free oscillations (EFO) excited by the Okhotsk Sea deep-focus earthquake of May 24, 2013, the largest recorded deep-focus earthquake, are analyzed. The periods of 50 fundamental modes of EFO in the range 1.2–5.0 mHz are determined with an error of 3–12 μHz. The comparison of the EFO spectra for the May 24, 2013, Okhotsk Sea deep-focus earthquake the November 15, 2006, Simushir shallow-focus earthquake revealed a number of features of EFO excitation by the deep-focus earthquake. It is found that more overtones (both spheroidal and toroidal) are observed for the deep-focus earthquake. The amplitude values ​​of the observed EFO modes for the deep-focus earthquake are greater than for the shallow-focus earthquake, with a smaller observed deformation. The presence of interacting spheroidal and toroidal modes being close in frequency (coupling effect) is revealed. A method is proposed that can obtain an estimate of the EFO modes, which are not observed explicitly in the spectrum, from the beat period between close frequencies. Application of the method to the deformation data made it possible to find the frequencies of nine pairs of close EFO modes.