Regional Climate Change (Karelia, Russia)

The overview of climatic conditions in Karelia is based on the data from meteorological observations carried out in 1951-2009 at Roskomgidromet weather stations situated in the study area. Taking the period in question into account, the mean annual air temperature norm has increased by 0.2-0.3°C. The greatest deviation from multiyear averages of mean monthly air temperature is observed in January and March. The investigation of the changes the basic regional climate characteristics is very important in present time because the global climate is changed. The analysis the data about air temperature and precipitation, that were obtained for the different meteorological stations in the investigated region, shows that the regional climate is changed and the main tendencies are directly proportional to the change of the global characteristics

Climate dynamics of the Beloe Sea catchment area

The climate of the Beloe Sea  catchment area (total size 717.7 km2, 714 of which belongs to Russia) is described. The territory is characterized by several geographic zones, thus substantial diversity of climatic conditions is observed. Climate variability in the region was studied using data from the longest available instrumental observations at weather stations (WS) and gauge sites of the Russian Federal Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Agency located in the study area, covering the period from the beginning of observations at the stations until 2012-2013. The data obtained were statistically processed with due regard to the research tasks. Modern observational data are analyzed to distinguish the changes in the climatic regime of the main parameters, i.e. air temperature, precipitation, sunshine length, etc. Since 1989, the stable increase of mean annual air temperature (1-2оC) over a climatic norm is observed. The most intensive warming is typical for the winter months. The analysis of changes in precipitation over the study area demonstrates the stable increase of annual sums, deviation of which from the climatic norm in the first decade of XXI century is about 50-100 m

Climate Change and Fluctuations in the Karelian-Kola Region

In this work we consider the regularities of changes of climate and assessed the potential impact of these changes on some of the characteristics of the hydrological regime and biota water bodies of the North of the European territory of Russia from temperate latitudes to the Arctic. Within the annual course, variation of monthly air temperature values is irregular for different seasons, with most intensive warming in January and March. In summer, variations in air temperature are multidirectional. Variations in the thermal regime led, in its turn, to later ice cover formation and earlier ice-breakup resulted in the longer ice-free period. Data analysis revealed variations in the course of precipitation of warm and cold periods. Under distinguished increase of precipitation sums, a total number of days with precipitation was revealed to be equal to or lower than its climatic norm. The total precipitation amount increase occurred due to increasing frequency of rainfalls of 10 mm and more. In winter, the snow cover height exceeded the climatic norm. As the increase of annual sums of precipitation is compensated by a rise of evapotranspiration, any trend in the total river inflow into Lake Onego is absent

A POINT OF VIEW ON CHIRONOMID DEFORMITIES INVESTIGATION

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Late Holocene climate and environmental changes in Kamchatka inferred from subfossil chironomid record.

This study presents a reconstruction of the Late Holocene climate in Kamchatka based on chironomid remains from a 332 cm long composite sediment core recovered from Dvuyurtochnoe Lake (Two-Yurts Lake, TYL) in central Kamchatka. The oldest recovered sediments date to about 4500 cal years BP. Chironomid head capsules from TYL reflect a rich and diverse fauna. An unknown morphotype of Tanytarsini, Tanytarsus type klein, was found in the lake sediments. Our analysis reveals four chironomid assemblage zones reflecting four different climatic periods in the Late Holocene. Between 4500 and 4000 cal years BP, the chironomid composition indicates a high lake level, well-oxygenated lake water conditions and close to modern temperatures (w13 �C). From 4000 to 1000 cal years BP, two consecutive warm intervals were recorded, with the highest reconstructed temperature reaching 16.8 �C between 3700 and 2800 cal years BP. Cooling trend, started around 1100 cal years BP led to low temperatures during the last stage of the Holocene. Comparison with other regional studies has shown that termination of cooling at the beginning of late Holocene is relatively synchronous in central Kamchatka, South Kurile, Bering and Japanese Islands and take place around 3700 cal years BP. From ca 3700 cal years BP to the last millennium, a newly strengthened climate continentality accompanied by general warming trend with minor cool excursions led to apparent spatial heterogeneity of climatic patterns in the region. Some timing differences in climatic changes reconstructed from chironomid record of TYL sediments and late Holocene events reconstructed from other sites and other proxies might be linked to differences in local forcing mechanisms or caused by the different degree of dating precision, the different temporal resolution, and the different sensitive responses of climate proxies to the climate variations. Further high-resolution stratigraphic studies in this region are needed to understand the spatially complex pattern of climate change in Holocene in Kamchatka and the surrounding region.

Изучение романских и германских литератур в России 2012–2014 гг.: аналитический очерк

The article analyzes theses on the Literatures of Foreign Countries (speciality code 10.01.03) defended between 2012 and 2014. The author names the leading research centres for specialists in Western-European and American (US) literature, as well as singles out priorities in the study of this or that national literature, determining the most topical directions of research in the sphere in question.В представленной статье дается аналитика диссертационных работ, защищенных по специальности 10.01.03 «Литература народов стран зарубежья». Автор обозначает ведущие центры подготовки специалистов по изучению западноевропейской и американской (США) литератур, выделяет приоритеты в исследовании той или иной национальной литературы, определяет актуальные направления исследований в указанной области

Method for locating weak zones at coal-bed�host rock interface in the context of outburst hazard: Theory and laboratory experiment

Within the framework of a geomechanical model that describes deformation of rock mass during extraction of subhorizontal coal beds, the outburst hazard mechanism is substantiated: the approach of a working face to a weak zone at the coal-bed�host rock interface initiates tensile stress areas, which creates the prerequisites for the face spalling and loss of coal with methane. The inverse problem of determining conditions at the horizontal boundaries of a coal bed is formulated and solved using tomography data (patterns of P-wave velocity V) and the empirical dependence of V on the mean normal stress s. Lab-scale test results on stepwise compression of parallelepipeds made of artificial geomaterials are presented. Tomography of the specimens was performed by acoustic sounding data, and the pattern of velocities V* was obtained. Using the pre-found empirical dependence V(s) for geomaterial, the distribution s*=V-1(V*) in the specimen was calculated, which served as the input data for the inverse problem on the shear stresses sxy at the specimen�press plate interface. The inversion of the lab data confirmed the possibility of identifying weak zones at the boundaries where sxy0. These zones are associated with probable sources of failure and outbursts