Origin and kinematics of a basin-scale, non-polygonal, layer-bound normal fault system in the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean

Polygonal, layer-bound normal faults can extend over very large areas (>2,000,000 km2) of sedimentary basins. Best developed in very fine-grained rocks, these faults are thought to form during early burial in response to a range of diagenetic processes, including compaction and water expulsion. Local deviations from this idealised polygonal pattern are common; however, basin-scale, layer-bound faults with non-polygonal map view are not well-documented and accordingly, their genesis is not well understood. In this study, we use 3D seismic reflection data, biostratigraphy and well logs from the Southern Levant Basin, offshore Israel, to develop an age-constrained seismic-stratigraphic framework and determine the geometry and kinematics of such basin-scale fault system. The faults tip out downwards along an Eocene Unconformity, but unlike layer-bound faults in the Northern Levant Basin, they do not reach the base of the Messinian evaporites, instead tipping out upwards at the top Langhian. On average, the faults in the Southern Levant Basin are 6.3 km long, have an average throw of 120 m, and consistently strike NW-SE. Throw-depth plots, accompanied by thickness changes, indicate that the faults accumulated growth strata during the Late Burdigalian and are spatially and kinematically associated with a WSW-ESE-striking strike-slip fault. Unlike true polygonal faults, these faults propagated through ca. 2 km-thick sandstone-prone Oligocene-Miocene strata. Whereas previous studies from the Northern Levant Basin associate fault nucleation and growth with burial-related diagenesis, the sandstone-prone character of the Oligocene-Miocene suggests that this process cannot be readily applied to the Southern Levant Basin. Instead, we highlight potential tectonic events that occurred during and may have triggered thin-skinned extension at times of fault growth

Conference of Soviet and American Jurists on the Law of the Sea and the Protection of the Marine Environment

Included in the papers for the Conference of Soviet and American Jurists on the Law of the Sea and the Protection of the Marine Environment: Introduction by Milton Katz and Richard R. Baxter, p. 1 Freedom of Scientific Research in the World Ocean by A.F. Vysotsky, p. 7 The International Law of Scientific Research in the Oceans by Richard R. Baxter, p. 27 Responsibility and Liability for Harm to the Marine Environment by Robert E. Stein, p. 41 Liability for Marine Environment Pollution Damage in Contemporary International Sea Law by A. L. Makovsky, p. 59 Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution by Richard A. Frank, p. 73 The Freedom of Navigation and the Problem of Pollution of the Marine Environment by V. A. Kiselev, p. 93 The Freedom of Navigation Under International Law by William E. Butler, p. 107 International Fisheries Management Without Global Agreement: United States Policies and Their Impact on the Soviet Union by H. Gary Knight, p. 119 Some Biological Background for International Legal Acts on Rational Utilization of the Living Resources of the World Ocean by P. A. Moiseev, p. 143 An International Regime for the Seabed Beyond National Jurisdiction by Thomas M. Franck, p. 151 Settlement of Disputes Under the Law of Ocean Use, with Particular Reference to Environmental Protection by John Lawrence Hargrove, p. 18

Covidate semester 2020: first lessons

В статье рассматриваются первые итоги и опыт преподавания дисциплины «Схемотехника в системах управления» для студентов специальности 1-53 01 07 «Информационные технологии и управление в технических системах» в режиме удаленного обучения в весеннем семестре 2019-20 учебного года. Формулируются выводы и задачи для дальнейшего совершенствования технологий удаленного обучения. The article discusses the first results and experience of teaching the discipline "Circuitry in control systems" for students of the specialty 1-53 01 07 "Information technology and control in technical systems" in the remote learning mode in the spring semester of the 2019-20 academic year. Conclusions and tasks are formulated for the further improvement of distance learning technologies

Extensive breaking of genetic code degeneracy with non-canonical amino acids

Abstract Genetic code expansion (GCE) offers many exciting opportunities for the creation of synthetic organisms and for drug discovery methods that utilize in vitro translation. One type of GCE, sense codon reassignment (SCR), focuses on breaking the degeneracy of the 61 sense codons which encode for only 20 amino acids. SCR has great potential for genetic code expansion, but extensive SCR is limited by the post-transcriptional modifications on tRNAs and wobble reading of these tRNAs by the ribosome. To better understand codon-tRNA pairing, here we develop an assay to evaluate the ability of aminoacyl-tRNAs to compete with each other for a given codon. We then show that hyperaccurate ribosome mutants demonstrate reduced wobble reading, and when paired with unmodified tRNAs lead to extensive and predictable SCR. Together, we encode seven distinct amino acids across nine codons spanning just two codon boxes, thereby demonstrating that the genetic code hosts far more re-assignable space than previously expected, opening the door to extensive genetic code engineering

New Frontiers in Ocean Exploration: The 2011 E/V NAUTILUS Field Season

In the summer of 2011, the Exploration Vessel NAUTILUS is undertaking a four-month expedition to the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, and North Atlantic Ocean. The primary goal of the NAUTILUS is to create a focus of international leadership for the development and integration of leading-edge technologies, educational programs, field operations, and public outreach programs for ocean exploration, in partnership with NOAA, National Geographic Society, Office of Naval Research, and other sponsors. To do so, the program uses a complement of deep submergence vehicle systems and “telepresence” technologies to engage scientists, educators and the public, both at sea and ashore, allowing them to become integral members of the on-board exploration team. When discoveries are made, experts ashore are notified and brought aboard virtually within a short period of time to help guide shipboard response before the ship moves on. The 2011 expedition is currently in progress, and is comprised of eight areas of interest. Extensive sidescan mapping is taking place off the Turkish coasts of the Black and Aegean Seas, and will be followed by remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives on targets of archaeological, geological and biological interest. In the Black Sea, additional work on the porewater chemistry of the sediments in the oxic, suboxic and anoxic zones will take place. High-resolution multibeam, stereo imaging and structured light mapping, as well as sediment and water sampling, will be carried out at two locations in the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, the Kolumbo underwater volcano and deep Cretan Basin. We will also carry out transects on the unexplored slopes of the volcanic Christianna Domes, located near Santorini volcano. We will use ROVs equipped with MAPRs and ORP sensors to search for and investigate hydrothermal activity on seamounts and other suspected venting sites in the Aeolian Arc and Straits of Sicily. In the western Mediterranean, the submarine canyons and Mazarron Escarpment off the east coast of Spain are primary targets for investigating the movement of sediment into the deep sea, deep benthic communities, and tectonic movement between the European and African plates. We will carry out transects on the slopes of Gorringe Bank, which lies on the Azores-Gibraltar transform plate boundary, to survey for faulting, venting and benthic communities. The final area of interest is the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, where the outer continental shelf and slope will be acoustically and visually surveyed for potential targets of archaeological, biological and geological interest