Last ice-dammed lake in the Kuray basin, Russian Altai: New results from multidisciplinary research

Results from geomorphological, sedimentological and geochronological analyses, together with micropaleontological and mineralogical characteristics of lacustrine deposits in five locations within the Kuray intermountain depression, southeast Altai, mountains of south Siberia, support the thesis of repeated formations of ice-dammed lakes during MIS-2 and their draining by high energy floods. Our data suggest that the timing of one of the last cataclysmic draining events in the area can be estimated by an Optically-Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) age of 19.0 ± 1.1 ka for a sandy layer at the top of the diluvial (i.e. large flood) deposit, revealed in a sedimentary sequence of the 1570 m a.s.l. strandline – one of the lowest preserved strandlines in the western part of the basin. New OSL and radiocarbon ages, augmenting previously published dates, indicate that the last lake to occupy the Kuray depression occurred around 19–16 ka with a depth of at least 170 m in the central part of the basin and to a depth of no less than 220 m near the glacier dam. Lacustrine deposits are represented by two horizons of sandy clays separated by interlayers of mixed-size sands. The mineralogical data, supported by analysis of sedimentological and micropaleontological records, indicate accumulation of a lower lacustrine horizon in a deeper reservoir. Finding of Leucocythere sp.1, Leucocythere sp.2, and Leucocythere dorsotuberosa ostracod species in lacustrine deposits characterizes these reservoirs as periglacial freshwater cold and deep lakes. The presence of well-crystallized mica and chlorite in lacustrine silts and clays from the lower lacustrine horizon indicates cold, dry conditions at the time of their formation, as well as a predominance of physical weathering of rocks within the denudation area. After an abrupt dropping of the lake level around 16 ka, determined from OSL dating, the lake never recovered its former depth. The available radiocarbon ages for organic material in subaerial deposits within the study area and the new OSL ages suggest that the last ice-dammed lake in the Kuray basin was drained between ~16.7 and 9.9 ka. The presence of this lake might explain the absence of late Paleolithic surface finds within the basin that remained generally unsuitable for human habitation until its final drying. The last outburst flood passed along the Chuya and Katun river valleys, which had been already carved by older cataclysmic floods, but did not significantly affect the topography downstream of the Kuray-Chuya intermountain depressions. We numerically simulated the draining of a palaeolake in the Kuray basin with the water level 1650 m a.s.l. (maximal depth about 220 m near the dam) with different scenarios of breaching the ice dam. In contrast to a relatively gradual breach of the ice dam due to thermal erosion, an instantaneous dam break due to structural failure can cause an outburst flood with a peak discharge of around 2 × 106 m3 s−1. The high speeds of the water flow, 1.9–5.6 m s−1, with the maximum Froude numbers of 0.06–0.22, and peak Shields values of 0.03–0.25 indicate competence to mobilize gravel. Generally, the simulated flow remained subcritical, suggesting that bedforms developed under supercritical flows, such as antidunes, could not have developed, although the development of dunes cannot be precluded. Our data also contribute to the issue of correlating the low lake strandlines in the Kuray basin with the landforms associated with cataclysmic outburst floods.The study was supported by State Assignment of IGM SB RAS and partly funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Researches (grant 18-05-00998). We also benefited from the funds of the projects EX-AQUA (1623P) “Palaeohydrological Extreme Events - evidence and archives”, sustained by INQUA TERPRO. The flood modelling contribution by Bohorquez was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN/FEDER, UE) under Grant SEDRETO CGL2015-70736-R

Study of the process e+e−→3(π+π−) in the c.m. energy range 1.5–2.0 GeV with the CMD-3 detector

AbstractThe cross section of the process e+e−→3(π+π−) has been measured using a data sample of 22 pb−1 collected with the CMD-3 detector at the VEPP-2000 e+e− collider. 7956 signal events are selected in the center-of-mass energy range 1.5–2.0 GeV. The measured cross section exhibits a sharp drop near the pp¯ threshold. A first study of dynamics of six-pion production has been performed

Holocene climate changes in southern West Siberia based on ostracod analysis

The study presents a summary of the latest data on ostracod microfaunas from Middle-Upper Holocene lacustrine deposits of southern West Siberia collected from lakes Malye Chany, Bol'shaya Lozhka, Beloe, and paleolake Chicha. A total of 28 ostracod species were identified. The identified ostracod assemblages reveal local variations in the lake ecosystems as well as general trends, which can be correlated with both regional and global climate changes. A cooling episode during the second half of the Subboreal is marked by the transition from a warm-water mesohaline assemblage to cold-water candonid ostracods at ca. 3.4 cal ka BP. The widespread occurrence of mesopolythermophilic ostracod species at 1.9-0.6 cal ka BP indicates the end of cooling and lowering of lake-water level. From 0.6 cal ka BP to present, the ostracod assemblages area characterized by the high specific diversity, which is probably an indication of the increased variability of aquatic ecosystems due to fluctuations in salinity and water levels of the lakes. Climate changes identified by ostracod assemblages are consistent with the climatic trend constrained by early palynological studies. (C) 2016, V.S. Sobolev IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Study of the processes

We report preliminary results on the measurement of the cross sections of the processes e+e− → K+K−π+π− and e+e− → ϕη in the c.m.energy range from 1.5 GeV to 2 GeV with the CMD-3 detector. The cross sections of these processes agree with BaBar results and have better accuracy

Measurement of e+e− → π+π− cross section at CMD-3

Regular operation of the VEPP-2000 electron-positron collider started at the end of 2010 and about 60 pb−1 were collected so far by the CMD-3 detector in the whole available c.m. energy range from 0.32 GeV to 2.0 GeV. One of the main goals of the experiments at VEPP-2000 is a sub-percent measurement of the e+e− → π+π− cross-section. Here we present the overview of the data analysis techniques and the preliminary results of this measurement

Study of the process e+e− → 2(π+π−π0) with the CMD-3 detector at VEPP-2000 collider

Since 2010 the CMD-3 detector has been collecting data at the VEPP-2000 e+e− collider. CMD-3 is a general purpose detector designed to study e+e− annihilation into hadrons in the center-of-mass (c.m.) energy range from 0.3 up to 2 GeV. Preliminary results for the e+e− → 2(π+π−π0) cross section were obtained in the c.m. energy range from 1.5 up to 2 GeV. The analysis is based on a data sample of 22 pb−1