Vol 471, No 1 (2016)

Subvertical and subhorizontal bodies were identified in the South Caspian Basin. They are a new class of geological structures with a complicated form, which can serve as migration pathways and hydrocarbon accumulation zones. The basin incorporates a few autonomous sources of oil and gas occurrences with their own distribution areas and spatial–temporal evolution. HC generation sources are displaced relative to each other. The lower boundary of the oil and gas occurrence reaches depths of more than 12–15 km, while the upper boundary of the “oil window” is confined to hypsometric depths of 5–7 km.

The increased demand for indium has made it necessary to revise prospects of In-bearing tin ore deposits in the Russian Far East on the basis of geological data and results of recent analytical methods (X-ray fluorescence with synchrotron radiation, atomic absorption, and ICP-MS). The average In contents in ores of the Tigrinoe and Pravourmiiskoe deposits vary from 55 to 70 ppm, which allows tin ore deposits with Sn‒sulfide mineralization to be considered as quite promising with respect to In production from ores of Russian deposits. By their estimated In reserves, the Tigrinoe and Pravourmiiskoe deposits may be attributed to large ore objects.

The results of investigations of gneissose hornblende granitoids, which intrude terrigenous deposits of the Murandav Formation of the Khingan Group and which were deformed together with them due to later structural transformations, are given. It is shown that by their geochemical properties these granitoids are comparable with granitoids of type I and are 535 ± 6 Ma old (U‒Pb method on zircons). The obtained data indicate that dikes of hornblende granites, which intrude terrigenous rocks of the Murandav Formation of the Khingan Group and are deformed together with them, were embedded at the Cambrian and Ediacaran transition. The assumption that terrigenous deposits of the Khingan Group (at least the Murandav and underlying Igincha formations) were accumulated in the Neoproterozoic is supported.

The Durulgui granite‒pegmatite system unites the Dedova Gora granite massif and pegmatite field with the Chalotskoe beryl deposit. New geochronological data on micas from porphyric biotite granites, fine-grained biotite granites, two-mica granites, and Be-bearing pegmatites are discussed. The plateau age of 128.5(±1.5)–131.2(±1.5) should be considered as indicating the formation time of the granite‒pegmatite system as a whole. The age of the system implies the possibility of its formation owing to several magmatic pulses. This assumption concerns porphyric and fine-grained biotite granites and two-mica and muscovite granites, the contact between which is locally sharp. At the same time, the succession “two-mica granites → muscovite granites → granite‒pegmatites → microcline pegmatites → microcline‒albite pegmatites → albite pegmatites” demonstrates gradual facies transitions between rocks, which indicates their emplacement during a single magmatic pulse.

Experimental research in the Fe₃C–(Fe,Ni)S system was carried out. The objective of the investigation was to model the reactions of carbide–sulfide interaction related to graphite (diamond) formation in reduced lithosphere mantle domains. T ≤ 1200°C is the formation temperature of the Ni-cohenite + graphite assemblage coexisting with two immiscible melts such as sulfide (Fe₆₀–Ni₃–S₃₇)_L and metal–sulfide (Fe₇₁–Ni₇–S₂₁–C₁)_L containing dissolved carbon. Т ≥ 1300°C is the generation temperature of a unified melt such as (Fe₈₀–Ni₆–S₁₀–C₄)_L characterized by graphite crystallization and diamond growth. The extraction of carbide carbon during the interaction with the sulfide melt can be considered as one of the potential mechanisms of graphite and diamond formation in the reduced mantle.

The structural state was determined for zero-valence molybdenum in the lunar regolith. The body- and face-centered molybdenum forms (BCC and FCC, respectively) were identified. Disruption of the structure down to complete amorphization was noted. This might be caused by the long-term influence of the solar wind.

The study of radiation of intrinsic and impurity excitations in natural barite showed that the patterns of BaSO₄ luminescence were mostly controlled by the presence of the [SO₄] anion complex. Several types of self-radiation were registered including those at the expense of the presence of O^2– ions of the axial and nonaxial configurations of the anionic group (emission bands within the wavelength ranges of 209–213 and 330–350 nm, respectively). Exitons located near the impurity and intrinsic defects largely participate in emission. Impurity defects participating in the luminescent centers of barite from the Ore Altai include Pb²⁺, Gd³⁺, Eu²⁺, Eu³⁺, Cu⁺, and Ag⁺ (under X-ray excitation). Variations in the spectral composition of barite indicate the different conditions of its formation.

The formation of the Vilyui rift system in the eastern Siberian Craton was finished with breakdown of the continent and formation of its eastern margin. A characteristic feature of this rift system is the radial distribution of dyke swarms of basic rocks. This peculiarity allows us to relate it to the breaking processes above the mantle plume, the center of which was located in the region overlain in the modern structure by the foreland of the Verkhoyan folded–thrust belt. The Chara–Sina dyke swarm is the southern part of a large area of Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism in the eastern Siberian Craton. The OIB-like geochemical characteristics of dolerite allow us to suggest that the melting substrate for Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism was represented by a relatively homogeneous, mid-depleted mantle of the plume with geochemical parameters similar to those of OIB.

New results of Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotope analyses have been obtained on samples of deformed peridotite xenoliths collected from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe (Yakutia). The data obtained imply two main stages of metasomatic alteration of the lithospheric mantle base matter in the central part of the Siberian Craton. Elevated ratios of Sr isotopes may be considered as evidence of an ancient stage of metasomatic enrichment by a carbonatite melt. The acquired Nd isotope composition together with the geochemistry of the deformed peridotite xenoliths suggests that the second stage of metasomatic alteration took place shortly before formation of the kimberlite melt. The metasomatic agent of this stage had a silicate character and arrived from an asthenosphere source, common for the normal OIB type (PREMA) and the Group-I kimberlite.

It is shown that the absorption capacity of smoke aerosol during mass forest and forest–peat fires is determined to a considerable degree by light absorbing organic compounds or brown carbon. According to the data from the AERONET global network of stations [1], the absorption spectra of smoke aerosol vary significantly if airborne particulate matter is contained in brown carbon. It is established that in several cases, the absorption spectra of smoke aerosol are approximated with satisfactory accuracy by exponents. It is shown that the finely dispersed (submicron) fraction of the smoke aerosol makes a major contribution to its optical characteristics in the 0.44–1.02 μm spectral region. Strong variation in the single scattering albedo is discovered in the presence of brown carbon in the smoke aerosol. It is shown that the optical characteristics of coarsely dispersed and finely dispersed fractions of smoke aerosol differ considerably.

The GRACE data make it possible to detect the areas where the earthquakes initiate postseismic creep in regions much larger than the focal area. This information is important for estimation of the seismic potential and position of the locked segments in the subduction zones.

Estimates of the influence of the Atlantic long-period oscillation (ALO) on the formation of droughts in Northern Eurasia were obtained using the results of numerical experiments with the ECHAM5 atmospheric chemistry general circulation model and the mixed layer ocean model. In general, the model results are consistent with the empirical estimates.

We performed spectral analysis of variations in the bottom currents on the basis of direct measurements in a number of regions of the entire Atlantic Ocean. We compared the spectra of the atmospheric pressure fluctuations at sea level and fluctuations of current velocities in the bottom layer. A significant energy of current fluctuations near the bottom with a synoptic period in the range 10–15 days that exceeds similar energies in the other regions of the ocean was found in the region of the Newfoundland energetically active zone, where increased cyclonic activity in the atmosphere is observed.