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The article presents the results of the analysis of the impact of field development on the geody-namic state and seismic activity of the earth's crust of the Southern Urals, were compared in field development, anthropogenic changes in the bowels of district fields with the level of seismic ac-tivity, correlation between indicators of development of deposits and the parameters of the seis-mic activity of the earth's crust and the statistical analysis of the seismic regime of the area de-posits of hydrocarbon raw materials. Correlation analysis of field development indicators and seismic activity parameters revealed an almost linear relationship (r>0.9) between reservoir pres-sure and the number of events (including low-energy pulse events) and a close relationship be-tween the average debit and the number of events. A model of the seismic activity of hydrocar-bon deposits in the Southern Urals is constructed in the form of a set of graphs of the frequency of seismic events and changes in their angle of inclination. The constructed model indicates a change in the nature of seismic activity in the subsurface of the field area, which consists in a de-crease in the energy of events and an increase in their number. The cyclical nature of seismic ac-tivity on the territory of the Orenburg oil and gas condensate field (OOGCF) is revealed. Current-ly, there is an accumulation of stress associated with the continued drop in reservoir pressure during the field operation and natural tectonic processes against the background of a decrease in the rate of hydrocarbon production. Reducing production volumes at OOGCF does not reduce the man-made load on the Earth's crust, but reduces the rate of stress accumulation. This leads to a decrease in the energy of seismic events and an increase in their number (taking into account the pulses).

Recently, we have faced the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the world, which has attracted the attention of all people. Stress has become a word familiar to all people. The stressors of life are relatively clear and some of them cannot be eliminated by humans. One of the stressors in the life of humans is the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors believe that the virus is controllable but its prevalence is quicker and deadlier than other viruses. In addition, the virus puts the elderly and those with underlying diseases (e.g. pulmonary problems) at extreme risk. Therefore, more care is seriously required to protect members of society. However, this psychological imbalance caused by the virus is associated with stress and anxiety. Lack of proper management of this stress will be associated with emotional impacts (e.g. depression and anxiety), physiological impacts (e.g. gastrointestinal disorders and increased heart rate), cognitive impacts (e.g. reduced concentration and distraction) and behavioural impact (e.g. increased work and activity avoidance, and sleep disorders). Contribution:Given the importance of this topic, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between religious beliefs and coping with COVID-19-related stress amongst Muslim students in three cities of Russia – Ingushetia, Chechnya and the Republic of Dagestan – in 2020. Data were collected using questionnaires, the validity and reliability of which were previously confirmed. According to the results, religious beliefs had an impact on stress coping byp= 0.657. In other words, students’ ability to cope with stress improved by 0.657 units, with each unit of enhancement in their religious beliefs.

FREND telescope performs measurements of the Martian neutron flux since May 2018. Estimation of hydrogen content in the upper one meter of the regolith is possible based on these data. Because of the instrument’s collimator limiting its field of view, it is also possible to produce high spatial resolution maps, never achieved before on Mars. In this study we will show maps of water equivalent hydrogen distribution in the Martian equatorial region, along with description of all the techniques performed to build these maps from raw instrument measurements to water content estimation. Since FREND is an instrument of statistical nature, these maps are assessed to provide the range of their statistical error. Finally, we perform global analysis of these maps to locate most prominent water-rich areas, and an enhanced analysis to assess some of these areas individually.This study is performed with support of Russian Science Foundation grant 19-72-10144.

A new area of oceanography, operational oceanography, involves a comprehensive assessment and forecast of the variability of the state of the marine environment. This requires systematic study of numerous natural parameters, the creation of integrated measurement systems for the properties of the water column and seafloor, rapid data collection and transmission systems, assimilation of new data in the model, etc. The seafloor has a significant impact on the hydrophysical state of the environment and vice versa; accordingly, information is needed on the state and properties of the bottom in the deployment area of various surveillance tools, including assessment of possible geohazards. The spatial distribution and possible variability of the geomorphological and geological–geophysical parameters of the bottom, which determine the geoacoustic properties, depends on the shape of the relief and its morphometric characteristics. Thus, the digital elevation model (DEM) is an essential component of marine geographic information systems and an essential element of operational oceanography. A DEM entails an organized structure of files containing vector representations of various types of spatial objects, information on their attributes, and topological relationships between them. The DEM displays the seafloor relief as a grid file with a resolution corresponding to a given scale. Methods for the direct spatial mathematical processing of DEMs make it possible to obtain a wide range of bottom surface characteristics, including morphometric. DEMs can have both independent practical application and act as parameters for systematizing, typifying, and zoning the seafloor. The paper outlines some areas of the possible use of DEMs in operational oceanography with a case study of the Arctic shelf.

Global climate warming and increased anthropogenic pressure on the Arctic shelf contribute to the development of thermoabrasive processes along the coast of the western sector of the Russian Arctic.Comprehensive geophysical, hydroacoustic, geological-geomorphological, and hydrophysical scientific studies were carried out within the Kara and Pechora Seas in June – July 2019, during the 41st cruise of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov.To test modern sediments, bottom grabbers and shock tube were used. The sampling points were selected based on the materials of continuous seismic profiling and bathymetric bottom survey.As a result of the studies, mapping of the relief and modern sediments within the Kara and Pechora Seas has been carried out and it has been found that the Pechora basin is characterized by various types of sediments and deposits (pelitic mud, aleurite-pelitic mud, clay, silt, sand, moraine deposits), and the Kara Sea is mainly inhabited by thin sediments (pelitic mud). A small amount of sand and siltstone among the bottom sediments of the Kara basin should be associated with an insignificant introduction of terrigenousclastic material from the continent and its deep water. The wide distribution in the southern and central parts of the Pechora Sea of psammiticfacies is due to its shallow water, intensive supply of a large amount of sand-silty material by river flow, processes of solifluction and thermal abrasion of the coasts. In 2020, the next flight of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov is planned to continue the study of the upper sedimentary stratum and topography of the seabed of the western sector of the Russian Arctic. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the most likely scenario for the development of changes in the natural environment on the shelf, associated primarily with a reduction in the area of ice cover.

This paper covers the parallel arrangement of the diagnostics process across a set of similar discrete objects with a partial test reversal. In this case, the discrete objects are the digital nodes of vehicle information systems. We prove that it is possible to reduce the time spent on tests, and thus the time spent on the overall object set diagnostics as well. We demonstrate that parallel diagnostics with a partial test reversal offers more benefits than simple parallel diagnostics, as far as gain in time is concerned.

The article discusses parallel diagnostics of a set of digital objects of the same type using a parallel-sequential procedure. The procedure makes it possible to detect one defect in each of the diagnosed objects in one test run. The article proves that such a process reduces the time spent on diagnosing the entire set of objects. It presents the advantages of a v-procedure over a parallel one in terms of time spent on diagnostics.

The article considers the primary results of geological, geophysical, geomorphological, and hydrophysical studies in the Barents and Kara seas conducted on cruise 49 of the R/V Akademik Nikolay Strakhov in 2020.

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument (DAN) onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) uses 3He proportional counters to detect neutrons escaping the martian surface. This neutron leakage flux can be used to estimate the amount of hydrogen in the shallow martian regolith. During sols 753 through 1292 of the MSL mission, the rover traversed from Pahrump Hills to the Naukluft Plateau and acquired slightly less than 2000 h of neutron count rate data covering ~3 km of traverse and 125 waypoints along that traverse. Here we present an analysis of these data, including new procedures to leverage the oversampling of the instrument within its own spatial footprint, water equivalent hydrogen (WEH) estimates, and DAN passive geochemical index (DPGI) values. The average water equivalent hydrogen estimate for this region of the traverse is 1.6 wt% with a standard deviation of 1.1 wt%. These results show that Curiosity transitioned into a relatively lower WEH-content region as it left the plains of Gale crater and began ascending the hills at the base of Mt. Sharp. We also show that the WEH populations of the geologic units investigated during this time (Murray and Stimson Formations) are statistically different both from each other and the previously studied Aeolis Palus sediments (Smooth Hummocky, Bedded Fractured, Eolian, Rugged, and Striated Light-toned). Additionally, DAN passive WEH estimates agree with measurements from other MSL instruments in this region and are consistent with decreasing phyllosilicate abundance with increasing elevation.

The Pechora Sea is of great economic importance for the Russian Federation. Knowledge of the history of the shelf of the Russian Western Arctic seas is impossible without studying the modern processes of sedimentation and lithological structure of the sections. Therefore, the spatial distribution and variety of types of bottom sediments was studied by direct methods of geological testing in August – September 2018 during the 38 route of the research vessel "Academician Nikolai Strakhov". The link of lithological types of bottom sediments to the forms of bottom topography of different origin was established. The characteristics of the late Quaternary sedimentary cover in the Pechora Sea were revealed. The sampling of bottom sediments of the Pechora Sea was carried out using a dredger and a shock ground tube. The sampling points were selected based on the materials of continuous seismic profiling and bathymetric bottom survey. As a result of the study, the following types of bottom sediments were identified: pelitic mud, aleurite-pelitic mud, clay, silt, sand, moraine deposits. The lithological characteristic of various types of the Pechora Sea modern sediments has been presented in the paper. It has been shown that in the most shallow water – the southern and central part of the Pechora Basin – psammitic facies dominate. This is connected with the intensive flow of sandy-silt material from the continent due to river runoff. In the northern – the deepest part of the Pechora basin – thin sediments (pelitic and aleurite-pelitic silts) are mainly distributed. The presence of moraine deposits in the southeastern part of the Pechora Sea suggests that there was a glacier here during the Late Valdaian, while the rest of the Pechora Basin was a lowland with a cryoarid subaerial landscape

FREND is a neutron telescope installed onboard Russian-European ExoMars mission Trace Gas Orbiter. Neutron measurements from orbit are a good characteristic of water content in the subsurface of Mars down to 1 meter in depth. The instrument’s major characteristic is its neutron collimator that narrows significantly the field of view allowing for mapping with high spatial resolution of 60-200 km.Previous missions (e.g. HEND experiment on NASA’s Mars Odyssey) showed that water content is enhanced mainly in Martian polar regions and at Arabia area, however spatial resolution of these instruments only allowed to map the surface with a resolution of several hundreds of kilometers. A study performed on FREND data accumulated during its science mission between May 2018 and January 2021 was targeted on equatorial band of ±40° latitude. We identified several local areas with enhanced mass fraction of water and performed a thorough analysis of each of them to identify the water content and estimate statistical significance of such wet spots.The locations found are associated with major Martian relief formations, e.g. Olympus Mons, Ascraeus Mons, Xanthe Terra, Valles Marineris and others, each showing water content of tens of weight percent (wt%), with good statistical certainty above 3σ relative to the immediate dry surroundings.In this talk we will present the areas identified as well as explain the search algorithm and water content estimation techniques.

The ExoMars landing mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2022, will carry the active gamma ray and neutron spectrometer ADRON-EM and compact passive neutron spectrometer ADRON-RM to the equatorial region of Mars as part of the mission's science payload. The main science objective of the ExoMars mission is dedicated to understanding the evolution and habitability of Mars. ADRON-EM instrument is developed in Space Research Institute (IKI) for active neutron sensing of the soil from the stationary landing platform. The main goal of this experiment is study of elemental composition of the martian subsurface down to 1 m. The instrument consists of two units, the block of detectors and electronics (DE) and the pulse neutron generator (PNG). Measuring post-pulse neutron and gamma ray emission from the soil, one can detect layering stratification of hydrogen and other major elements of the soil. The second complementary instrument ADRON-RM (IKI) is installed on the Rover. It will measure the spatial variability of neutron flux emitted from the martian surface along the traverse. The data processing will convert the raw data into an estimation of bulk water distribution and abundance of neutron absorbing elements, mainly chlorine and iron. The instrument will also provide continuous monitoring of the neutron component of the radiation background on the surface which is necessary to know for planning future human missions to the planet. In the beginning of the surface mission after landing, there is the unique possibility to perform the measurement of subsurface density by both instruments operating together. The data for this analysis will be obtained from different distances between rover and landing platform. Description of ADRON-EM and RM instruments and expected results will be presented.

Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) is an instrument onboard ExoMars' Trace Gas Orbiter. Its measurements of epithermal neutron flux on orbit provide data on hydrogen (and thus, water) content in the 1-m thick near-surface regolith layer. Similar experiments have been performed before, neutron sounding is a well-established technique for estimating water content in the celesital body's soil. FREND's chatacteristic feature is its collimator - a massive body surrounding detectors and narrowing their field of view substantially, thus providing for very high spatial resolution, around 60 to 200 km, depending on measurement conditions. Such spatial resolution allows identifying local water-rich features with relief and other geomorphological features, assess water content in small ellipses of future landing sites. In this study we present latest findings based on FREND data, containing a number of surprisingly "wet" local features in the equatorial band. Water or water ice is not stable at the surface of Mars, in the equatorial regions especially, that is why locating areas with enhanced subsurface hydrogen or water is of much interest both to scientists and for the purpose of planning future exploration missions.

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment onboard the MSL Curiosity rover performs active neutron measurements at the rover’s stops. It produces short pulses of high-energy neutrons and observes the time profile of slowed down neutrons leaking from the subsurface. Due to neutrons’ high penetrating power it is sensitive to the abundance of neutron moderating elements (mostly hydrogen) and neutron capturing elements (most significant are chlorine and iron) in approximately top 60 cm of the subsurface under the rover, a few tons of matter in total. The DAN data processing procedure is based on numerical simulations of neutron propagation, moderation and capture with the MCNPX software package and returns both the model acceptance probability and the best fit estimates for H2O mass fraction and equivalent Cl mass fraction. The latter corresponds to the total neutron absorption of the subsurface assuming a fixed Fe content. If external information on Fe content is available from other measurements, the DAN equivalent Cl mass fraction can be transformed into an estimate of the real Cl mass fraction in the subsurface.We compare the DAN data on neutron absorption in the subsurface to the data on the Cl and Fe mass fractions on the surface as measured by the APXS instrument in different regions along the Curiosity path. Our analysis shows that the DAN and APXS measurements taken at the same location are in many cases not consistent with each other as the neutron absorption corresponding to the surface concentrations of chlorine and iron measured by APXS is too high to be accepted by the DAN data.We investigate this finding in several regions along the Curiosity path. E.g., for the Glen Torridon region the DAN neutron absorption level for different measurements corresponds to the average chlorine mass fraction of 0.81% with a standard deviation of 0.18% and with typical measurement uncertainty of 0.10% (assuming the Fe mass fraction measured by APXS), while the chlorine mass fraction measured by APXS is 1.19% on average with a standard deviation of 0.43%. These two distributions are significantly different, and only 22% of the DAN measurements in the Glen Torridon region agree with the APXS-based neutron absorption for the same location.We discuss several possible causes for this inconsistency, including either differences between Cl abundances in the martian dust particles and in rocks, or differences between Cl content in the very top surface layer and in the subsurface, or possible bias in APXS target selection.

During more than 7 years, the NASA MSL Curiosity rover is successfully traversing across the Mars surface exploring Gale crater with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutron (DAN) instrument installed onboard. This year, next generation neutron spectrometer Adron-RM is ready to be launched to Mars as a payload of the ExoMars 2020 rover. The main objectives of these instruments are analogous and consist in the assessment of Water Equivalent Hydrogen (WEH) in the shallow martian subsurface.The hydrogen presence significantly influences the neutron leakage spectrum because of neutron moderation and thermalization through collisions with hydrogen nuclei. As a result, the variations of neutron flux detected onboard in different energy bands correlate with subsurface hydrogen/water abundance.In our study, we will demonstrate scientific potential and latest results of natural neutron background measurements (called as passive measurements) by DAN. We will provide assessment on average WEH content in the area of the ExoMars 2020 landing site, which could be expected from first measurements of Adron-RM.

Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) is an instrument onboard ExoMars’ Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). It uses neutron measurements to detect hydrogen (and thus water) variations in the shallow subsurface of the Martian soil. In case of sub-polar regions, it is quite sensitive to the thickness of seasonal deposition of CO2, which it well-sees in neutrons, as “dry” layer on top of the hydrogen-rich polar permafrost soil.This presentation is aimed to give a first look at variations of seasonal depositions of Carbone dioxide at winter vs summer seasons on Mars. Similar studies have been performed by neutron instruments earlier, however FREND’s major advantage is its much better spatial resolution: by shielding from the neutron flux coming from off-nadir directions, the instrument’s spatial resolution is improved down to a 60-200 km diameter spot. The orbiter’s inclination is currently 74 deg, so the experiment is capable to observe the rim of the polar permafrost northern and southern regions with seasonal coverages of atmospheric Carbone dioxide over them.We re-define and improve the shape of polar CO2 caps boundaries and the column density of seasonal deposits thanks to improved spatial resolution and present data of FREND’s first Martian year of observations of high Martian latitudes.

Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector, FREND, is an instrument onboard ExoMars’ Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). It uses neutron measurements to detect hydrogen (and thus water) variations in the shallow subsurface of the Martian soil. Similar experiments have been performed in the past on Mars, but FREND’s main characteristic is its neutron collimator that significantly narrows down the field of view (FOV) to 28° full cone which corresponds to a 60-200 km diameter spot on the surface. This is considerably smaller than the spatial resolution of previous experiments and thus allows us to peek inside local features of hydrogen variations.The instrument has been measuring for almost one full Martian year currently so what we present is a result of continuous observations of shallow subsurface water between May 2018 and present. A technique to locate the most prominent local spots, either very “dry” or very “wet”, was developed to analyze the planetary surface from 70° North down to 70° South. It yielded several such local spots of interest that are presented, characterized and associated with particular geomorphological features or/and with the selected landing sites candidates.It is known that water or water ice is not stable at the surface of Mars, especially closer to equator, thus locating areas with enhanced subsurface hydrogen or water is of much interest both scientifically and in terms of future exploration. FREND is most sensitive to water in the shallow subsurface of about 1 m deep, which makes such deposits easily accessible and valuable.

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument aboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been used to map a stratigraphically conformable layer of high-SiO (Formula presented.) material in Gale crater. Previous work has shown that this material contains tridymite, a high-temperature/low-pressure felsic mineral, interpreted to have a volcanic source rock. We describe several characteristics including orientation, extent, hydration, and geochemistry, consistent with a volcaniclastic material conformably deposited within a lacustrine mudstone succession. Relationships with widely dispersed alteration features and orbital detections of hydrated SiO (Formula presented.) suggest that this high-SiO (Formula presented.) layer extends at least 17 km laterally. Mineralogical abundances previously reported for this high-SiO (Formula presented.) material indicated that hydrous species were restricted to the amorphous (non-crystalline) fraction, which is dominated by SiO (Formula presented.). The low mean bulk hydration of this high-SiO (Formula presented.) layer (1.85 (Formula presented.) 0.13 wt.% water-equivalent hydrogen) is consistent with silicic glass in addition to opal-A and opal-CT. Persistent volcanic glass and tridymite in addition to opal in an ancient sedimentary unit indicates that the conversion to more ordered forms of crystalline SiO (Formula presented.) has not proceeded to completion and that this material has had only limited exposure to water since it originally erupted, despite having been transported in a fluviolacustrine system. Our results, including the conformable nature, large areal extent, and presence of volcanic glass, indicate that this high-SiO (Formula presented.) material is derived from the product of evolved magma on Mars. This is the first identification of a silicic volcaniclastic layer on another planet and has important implications for magma evolution mechanisms on single-plate planets.

The Mars Science Laboratory Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment measures the martian neutron leakage flux in order to estimate the amount of water equivalent hydrogen present in the shallow regolith. When DAN is operating in passive mode, it is sensitive to neutrons produced through the interactions of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) with the regolith and atmosphere and neutrons produced by the rover’s Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). During the mission, DAN passive mode data were collected over the full diurnal cycle at the locations known as Rocknest (sols 60–100) and John Klein (sols 166–272). A weak, but unexpected, diurnal variation was observed in the neutron count rates reported at these locations. We investigate different hypotheses that could be causing these observed variations. These hypotheses are variations in subsurface temperature, atmospheric pressure, the exchange of water vapor between the atmosphere and regolith, and instrumental effects on the neutron count rates. Our investigation suggests the most likely factors contributing to the observed diurnal variations in DAN passive data are instrumental effects and time-variable preferential shielding of alpha particles, with other environmental effects only having small contributions.

Analysis of the morphometric characteristics from a study of the Barents Sea seabed has shown that the existing troughs are consistent with geodynamic conclusions, allowing morphological typing into structural slopes and reconstruction of their origin. Thus, the Norwegian–Mezenskaya rift system and Svyataya Anna and Victoria troughs were formed due to stretching of the lithosphere. The South Barents and Medvezinsko- Edzinskaya depressions formed at the generation stage of lithospheric plates due to the collision of several island arcs between outliers of the ancient oceanic crust. The choice of the geomorphic method for studying the seabed is because the science of geomorphology comprehensively studies bottom relief (morphology), its origin, and age. Adequate reconstruction of the causal relationships of exogenous and endogenous processes aids in substantiating the prediction of probable catastrophic seabed events. The results of mathematical calculations have confirmed the geodynamic conclusions within the Barents Sea region.

ExoMars is a joint ESA—Rosscosmos program for investigating Mars. Two missions are foreseen within this program: one consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), that carries scientific instruments for the detection of trace gases in the Martian atmosphere and for the location of their source regions, plus an Entry, Descent and landing demonstrator Module (EDM), launched on March 14, 2016; and the other, featuring a rover and a surface platform, with a launch date of 2020. On October 19, 2016 TGO was inserted into high elliptic Mars’ orbit. The dosimetric telescope Liulin-MO for measuring the radiation environment onboard the ExoMars 2016 TGO is a module of the Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND). Here we present first results from measurements of the charged particle fluxes, dose rates, Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectra and estimation of dose equivalent rates in the interplanetary space during the cruise of TGO to Mars and first results from dosimetric measurements in high elliptic Mars’ orbit. A comparison is made with the dose rates obtained by RAD instrument onboard Mars Science Laboratory during the cruise to Mars in 2011–2012 and with the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) count rates provided by other particle detectors currently in space. The average measured dose rate in Si from GCR during the transit to Mars for the period April 22–September 15, 2016 is 372 ± 37 µGy d−1 and 390 ± 39 µGy d−1 in two perpendicular directions. The dose equivalent rate from GCR for the same time period is about 2 ± 0.3 mSv d−1. This is in good agreement with RAD results for radiation dose rate in Si from GCR in the interplanetary space, taking into account the different solar activity during the measurements of both instruments. About 10% increase of the dose rate, and 15% increase of the dose equivalent rate for 10.5 months flight is observed. It is due to the increase of Liulin-MO particle fluxes for that period and corresponds to the overall GCR intensity increase during the declining phase of the solar activity. Data show that during the cruise to Mars and back (6 months in each direction), taken during the declining of solar activity, the crewmembers of future manned flights to Mars will accumulate at least 60% of the total dose limit for the cosmonaut's/astronaut's career in case their shielding conditions are close to the average shielding of Liulin-MO detectors—about 10 g cm−2. The dosimetric measurements in high elliptic Mars’ orbit demonstrate strong dependence of the GCR fluxes near the TGO pericenter on satellite's field of view shadowed by Mars.

The parallel organization of the diagnostics process of a set of identical discrete objects is considered. In this context, the discrete objects mean digital assemblies of information system on motor vehicles. It is proved that replacing a set of discrete objects by one object containing defects of the whole set is valid. It is shown that parallel organization has advantages if compared to the sequential one in terms of time spent on diagnostics.

The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment detects neutrons for the purpose of searching for hydrogen in the shallow subsurface of Mars. DAN has two modes of operation, active and passive. In passive mode, the instrument detects neutrons produced by Galactic Cosmic Ray interactions in the atmosphere and regolith and by the rover's Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. DAN passive data from Yellowknife Bay to Amargosa Valley (sols 201 through 753) are presented and analyzed here. Water equivalent hydrogen (WEH) estimates from this portion of Curiosity's traverse range from 0.0 wt. % up to 15.3 wt. %. Typical uncertainties on these WEH estimates are ∼0.5 wt. % but in some cases can be as high as ∼4.0 wt. % depending on the specific circumstances of a given measurement. Here we also present a new way of reporting results from the passive mode of the experiment, the DAN passive geochemical index (DPGI). This index is sensitive to some key geochemical variations, but it does not require assumptions about the abundances of high thermal neutron absorption cross section elements, which are needed to estimate WEH. DPGI variations in this section of the traverse indicate that the shallow regolith composition is changing on both the local (∼meters) and regional (∼100 s of meters) scales. This variability is thought to be representative of the diverse composition of source regions for sediments within the crater floor. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Tests on the populations of WEH estimates and DPGI values demonstrate there are statistically significant differences between nearly all of the geologic units investigated along the rover's traverse. We also present updated previous DAN passive results from Bradbury Landing to John Klein that make use of revised DAN active mode results for calibration, however, no qualitative changes in the interpretations made in Tate et al. (2015b) are incurred.

The processes of multi-stage and polycyclic transformation and transfer of carbon in the crust and mantle have been described. The sediments drawn in the plate underthrust zones break down, become transformed and altered by metamorphic events, and part of the newly formed carbon compounds is transferred by the mantle convective currents to rift zones of the mid-oceanic ridges and carried up to the surface as hydrocarbons of various composition and carbon dioxide. This material becomes re-deposited on the sea floor as sediments forming carbonaceous and carbon-bearing units. As a result of multi-stage mechanism of physical and chemical transformations in the crust-mantle areas of the Earth hydrocarbon compounds acquire features of abiogenic origin remaining, in fact, exogenic. The revealed crust-mantle carbon cycle represents part of a global process for the cyclic carbon transfer from the atmosphere to the mantle and back. The scale of its manifestation is likely not so wide, and numerous small (mm and portions of millimeters) particles of exogenic substance and dispersed carbon drawn in the plate underthrust zones form a stable geochemical tail of the crustal direction in the mantle propagating in the plane of convective currents motion. The scale of this process may be indirectly suggested by the volumes of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide de-gassing and hydrogen in the rift systems of the Earth crust. The amount of generated hydrocarbon gases with deep-seated origin cannot form large gas and oil-and-gas fields since their significant part is transferred to the atmosphere. Just some portion of compounds may be deposited in oceanic sediments and generate gas-hydrate pools.

The results of recent geological and geophysical expeditions indicate the activation of hazardous natural phenomena associated with ice gouging and represent geohazard for almost all activities, including operation of the Northern Sea Route. Within the Barents Sea and the western part of the Kara Sea, the modern ice gouging is mainly associated with icebergs which are formed as a result of the destruction of the glaciers of Novaya Zemlya, the Spitsbergen archipelago and Franz Josef Land, while on the eastern shelf it is caused by the destruction of seasonal or perennial ice fields. Fixed furrows can be divided into modern coastal gouges or deep water ploughmarks. All deep water gouges within the periglacial and glacial shelf are of paleogeographical origin, but with different mechanisms of action on the seabed. These furrows were formed by floating ice on the periglacial shelf. On the glacial shelf deep water ploughmarks were formed by large icebergs, which could carry out the gouging even on the continental slope and deep-sea ridges of the Arctic Ocean.

—The results of recent geological and geophysical expeditions indicate the activation of hazardous natural phenomena associated with ice gouging and representing a geohazard for almost all activities, including operation of the Northern Sea Route. The underwater parts of ice formations plow up the seabed. Within the Barents Sea and the western part of the Kara Sea, modern ice gouging is mainly associated with icebergs formed as a result of the breakup of glaciers of Novaya Zemlya and the Svalbard and Franz Josef Land archipelagos, while on the eastern shelf it is caused by the destruction of seasonal or perennial ice fields. Fixed furrows can be divided into modern coastal gouges or deep water plowmarks. All deep water gouges within the periglacial and glacial shelf are of paleogeographical origin, but with different mechanisms of action on the seabed. These furrows were formed by floating ice on the periglacial shelf; on the glacial shelf, deep-water plowmarks were formed by large icebergs, which were able to cause gouging even on the continental slope and deep-sea ridges of the Arctic Ocean.

ExoMars is a joint ESA - Rosscosmos program for investigating Mars. Two missions are foreseen within this program: one consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), that carries scientific instruments for the detection of trace gases in the Martian atmosphere and for the location of their source regions, launched on March 14, 2016; and the other, featuring a rover and a surface platform, with a launch date of 2022. In March 2018 TGO was inserted into circular Mars science orbit with a 400 km altitude. The dosimetric telescope Liulin-MO for measuring the radiation environment onboard the ExoMars TGO is a module of the Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND). Here we present recent results from measurements of the charged particle fluxes, dose rates and estimation of dose equivalent rates at ExoMars TGO science orbit, provided by Liulin-MO dosimeter. The obtained data from May 2018 to December 2019 show that: 1) Increase of the dose rate, dose equivalent rate and flux is observed during this period, which corresponds to the increase of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) intensity during the declining of the solar activity. Measurements in two perpendicular directions along axes X and Z of TGO show that the average fluxes for the period are 3.08 cm−2 s−1 and 3.18 cm−2 s−1, the average dose rates are 352 ± 35 μGy day−1 and 366 ± 36 μGy day−1, the average dose equivalent rates are 1.6 ± 0.33 mSv day−1 and 1.65 ± 0.34 mSv day−1; 2) There is slight dependence of the flux distribution on the Martian latitude and longitude; 3) Data from two independent instruments is also evaluated and compared to: good agreement between the GCR count rates time profiles from Liulin-MO, neutron detectors of FREND and High Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) onboard Mars Odyssey orbiter is observed. The comparison between simulations of dose rate carried out with OLTARIS tool using the GCR model of Matthia et al., 2013 and Liulin-MO measurements during the transit to Mars and on the high elliptic orbit show that the measured dose rate behind the shielding of the detectors of Liulin-MO is about 25% higher than the simulated values. The data obtained confirm the worsening of the radiation conditions in the interplanetary space. Our evaluations show that with respect to the values measured during TGO transit to Mars (April–September 2016) in December 2019 the particle flux in the free space has increased at least by 16% and the dose rate – by 23%. The GCR dose rate in free space during the minimum of 24th solar cycle, based on Liulin-MO data is significantly higher than the dose rate measured by CRaTER instrument onboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter during the minimum of 23rd cycle.

—The article briefly describes the results of integrated geological, geophysical, and hydrophysical studies on the shelves of the Barents and Kara seas. The research was aimed at substantiating the most probable scenario of development of natural conditions of Russia’s Western Arctic against ongoing climate warming, sea level rise, and increasing anthropogenic impact. Studies have confirmed widespread modern hazardous geological and geomorphological processes of different genesis in the Barents–Kara region.

Rationale Linear matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) is widely used in analytical and biomedical applications. The use of delayed extraction increases the resolution, but the roughness of the matrix crystals and the misalignment of the target plate in the order of a few micrometers cause a substantial spread in the ion TOF values and a decrease in mass accuracy. Methods The method of mass spectra correction based on the correlation of matrix fragment peaks in MALDI mass spectra was used. Experiments were performed using the MALDI-TOF instrument CMI-1600. SIMION 8.1 and MATLAB were used for ion motion simulations. Data analysis was done using the home-built custom-developed software and MATLAB. Results It was shown that the peak position drift in the MALDI-TOF mass spectra depends linearly on the TOF in a wide mass range. While using the linear correction of the TOF scale, an increase in m/z accuracy of more than 10 times was achieved. The mass accuracy was limited by the resolution of the fast Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) used. Conclusions It is expected that the proposed method will significantly increase the dynamic range, since it becomes possible to sum up corrected individual mass spectra without a significant loss of resolution. Timescale adjusting can be used for both linear TOF instruments and reflector systems of various configurations.

The paper considers issues of the Barents Sea shelf geodynamic evolution and influence of basement geologic structural processes on seabed morphology in their interaction. The obtained data have made possible to assume that the Norwegian-Mezenskaya rift system, Voronin graben, St. Anne and Victoria grabens were formed at the expense of the lithosphere stretching processes, but the Vostochno-Barentsevomorskaya basin and MedvezinskoEdzinskaya area of depressions developed on the initial stage of lithosphere plate evolution due to collision of several island arcs and now all of them are outliers of the ancient oceanic crust. The technique of morphostructural analysis developed by the authors has allowed solve the inverse problem, and under morphological approach split all largest depressions on two main genetic types that confirm received geodynamic conclusion. Ключевые слова: геодинамика, морфоструктурный анализ, Баренцевоморский шельф, рельеф.

The perspectives of development of the Varanger–Timan petroleum basin are considered. The Varanger–Timan oil-and-gas basin was formed in the Riphean and Vendian on the passive continental margin of the East European Plate. Evolution of the Barents–Kara region in the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic led to a mosaic junction of the lithospheric plates having different ages and having undergone significant alterations during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. The spatiotemporal regularities of the interaction between geodynamic processes and conditions providing for the formation of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon fields are described.

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is designed to detect neutrons to determine hydrogen abundance within the subsurface of Mars (Mitrofanov, I.G. et al. [2012]. Space Sci. Rev. 170, 559–582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-012-9924-y ; Litvak, M.L. et al. [2008]. Astrobiology 8, 605–613. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2007.0157 ). While DAN has a pulsed neutron generator for active measurements, in passive mode it only measures the leakage spectrum of neutrons produced by the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR). DAN passive measurements provide better spatial coverage than the active measurements because they can be acquired while the rover is moving. Here we compare DAN passive-mode data to models of the instrument’s response to compositional differences in a homogeneous regolith in order to estimate the water equivalent hydrogen (WEH) content along the first 200 sols of Curiosity’s traverse in Gale Crater, Mars. WEH content is shown to vary greatly along the traverse. These estimates range from 0.5 ± 0.1 wt.% to 3.9 ± 0.2 wt.% for fixed locations (usually overnight stops) investigated by the rover and 0.6 ± 0.2 wt.% to 7.6 ± 1.3 wt.% for areas that the rover has traversed while continuously acquiring DAN passive data between fixed locations. Estimates of WEH abundances at fixed locations based on passive mode data are in broad agreement with those estimated at the same locations using active mode data. Localized (meter-scale) anomalies in estimated WEH values from traverse measurements have no particular surface expression observable in co-located images. However at a much larger scale, the hummocky plains and bedded fractured units are shown to be distinct compositional units based on the hydrogen content derived from DAN passive measurements. DAN passive WEH estimates are also shown to be consistent with geologic models inferred from other MSL instruments, which indicate that fluvial/lacustrine activity occurred at certain locations ( e.g. , Yellowknife Bay).

The article raises a problem of dangerous geodynamic processes taking place in the eastern part of Orenburg region. The analysis of subsoil geodynamic state of Orenburg region is completed. Effective monitoring of geodynamic processes in the eastern part of Orenburg region using a seismological network is proposed and justified. Seismic events with a magnitude of ML> 2.0 are confidently recorded on this territory as well as subsidence of land surface reaching 50 cm per year. According to long-term monitoring of seismic events in the eastern part of the Orenburg region, a repetition schedule of seismic events was constructed. It allowed us to make a conclusion of the reason for increased geodynamic activity in this region is high technogenic load on geological environment. To study abnormally high seismic activity in the East Orenburg region, it is necessary to create a seismological network of 3-4 seismic stations in the territory of seismic activity in the Gaysky and Novooorsky districts near the cities of Orsk and Gai, Iriklinskaya State District Power Station and Iriklinskoye Reservoir. This will help to identify seismic activity causes and sources, level of danger, help to develop measures for reducing seismicity and increase the security of specific objects of society, industry and energy.

The first results of the multidisciplinary expedition onboard research vessel “Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov” in the Barents Sea in August-September 2018 are given. On 41 stations the hydrophysical sounding was carried out, sampling of the bottom sediments was done using both grab and gravity corer. As a result of geophysical investigations the areas with the signs of modern dangerous natural processes were identified. Four seismic bottom stations were installed in the Pechora Sea.

Results obtained by the International Arctic marine expedition (SWERUS-C3) in June to October of 2014, using advanced seismoacoustic equipment, confirmed the wide distribution of potentially hazardous exogenic geological–geomorphological natural processes on the eastern Arctic shelf of Russia. In Arctic seas, serious hazards are represented by ice exaration and its consequences must be taken into consideration when developing oil and gas fields on the shelf. Many areas with anomalous gas saturation of sediments and gas seeps established in the region under consideration may represent global hazard: further increases in methane emissions may represent global risks. The minimization of these and other geological risks in constructing different technogenic objects on the shelf should be a first-priority task in the economic development of the Arctic region.