Climatology of transport and deposition of atmospheric substances of different intensity on the southern Primorye territory by using the meteorological reanalysis data and observations at EANET monitoring station

The article presents an analysis of air masses and precipitation transport to the area of EANET monitoring station in Russian Primorsky Krai (Primorskaya) during the warm seasons (June–October) for the period 2013–2018. The relative contributions of chemical compounds transfer from marine or continental regions were defined. The probability of sulfate and nitrate concentration values in precipitation was calculated separately in line with backward trajectory sectors. Obtained information is used for estimating contributions of marine and continental sources into wet deposition fluxes onto the Russian Far East areas.

Growth and survival of the hatchery larvae of pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas under different concentrations of microalgae and salinity in conditions of southern Primorye

Growth and survival rates for larvae of pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) hatched in artificial conditions are estimated for the stages of development from D-veliger to pediveliger. The experiment was conducted in the Mariculture Center located on Popov Island (Peter the Great Bay, Japan Sea) for 2 regimes of feeding and water salinity of 26 and 32 ppt. Microalgae Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros muelleri and Phaeodactylum tricornutum cultivated in the Mariculture Center were used as a feed in both regimes, in different concentrations. The maximum concentration was 4-fold higher than the minimum one: daily doses of food were 20 and 5 thousand cells/mL for veligers, 40 and 10 thousand cells/mL for early veliconkhes, and 80 and 20 thousand cells/mL for late veliconkhes, respectively, whereas 80 thousand cells/mL for all larvae in transition to pediveliger stage. Statistically significant difference of the growth rate was found for cases with different food concentration (p < 0.05). The larvae with better feeding had higher growth rate under salinity of both 26 and 32 ppt. Besides, the lowered salinity (26 ppt) had some positive effect for growth in the regime of better feeding. Survival rate of the larvae from D-veliger to pediveliger was high under all regimes of the experiment and was estimated for the minimal diet as 77.4 and 64.7 % under salinity of 26 and 32 ppt, respectively, and for the maximum diet as 81.2 and 80.7 % under salinity of 26 and 32 ppt, respectively. According to the experiment results, deficit of food at early stages of the oyster larval development affects negatively on their growth but does not have significant impact on their survival.

Practical Application of the Mineralogical Mapping Method for Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous Deposits of Southern Primorye (Russian Far East)

Highly ordered mixed-layer formations of chlorite–smectite (corrensite) and mica–smectite (rectorite) were found in the volcanogenic–sedimentary rocks of Southern Primorye. They have shown a rather narrow “living” time interval (Cretaceous–Paleogene). The associations of corrensite and rectorite with chlorite, mica, kaolinite, and laumontite have great value in labeling. Their study would determine the time and thickness parameters of sedimentation conditions, the nature of the transformation stages, the physicochemical and climatic parameters of the accumulation of the depositional material, and the geological history and stratigraphic construction of Mesozoic–Cenozoic volcanogenic–sedimentary rocks of the Primorye Region.

Leptochiton subrugatus sp. nov. (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from low boreal waters of northern Pacific

The genus Leptochiton Gray, 1847 is a paraphyletic group of small, pale, and usually deepwater chitons. They lack some of the morphological shell characters that are important in the systematics of Polyplacophora, and species identification within this genus is challenging. One species complex in the North Pacific includes at least 11 species that were historically synonymized or confused with Leptochiton rugatus (Carpenter in Pilsbry, 1892). Scrutiny of ecological and biogeographical patterns has helped to separate species lineages within this clade and support morphological diagnoses. Based on morphological and molecular studies, a new species is described that was previously confused with both Leptochiton assimilis (Thiele, 1909) and Leptochiton rugatus. This new species is widely distributed in the summer-warmed bays of the southern Primorye, Moneron Island, Northern Japan, Kunashir, and the Yellow Sea. This species is at least ~8% different in the COI barcode region from Leptochiton rugatus s.s. Morphological differences between the new species and closely related species are presented.

Upper pliocene diatom complexes and its significfnce to establish lower boundary of quarter (South of the Far East)

An analysis of the evolutionary distribution of diatoms in the outcrops of the Late Cenozoic shows that, upon reaching the level of the Annensky Horizon (Gelazian stage), the extinct species disappear almost completely. A predominance of the alluvial type of sedimentogenesis and reduction in the lake basins areas are clearly registered for deposits of the diatom zone Aulacoseira praegranulata var. praeislandica f. praeislandica. A cooling in the Late Pliocene with the pronounced temperature minimum at the level about 2,58 million years is fairly bright reflected in the ecological structures of diatomic associations (upper complex): the benthic arcto- and north-boreal flora predominates. Of that time, a total absence of the pollen of the broad-leaved species is also characteristic and paleo-landscapes become close to the Eopleistocene ones. From this moment on, the coexistence and expansion of the polar ice sheets begin (transition of planet from the “Green house” mode to the “Ice house” mode) which determine the formation of the modern climatic system of the Earth which emphasizes the globality of the palaeoclimatic event. From the lithological point of view, the bottom of the red rocks strata of the Annensky Horizon corresponding to the Gelazian stage bottom (2,58 million years) coincides with this boundary in the southern Primorye. The age changes of the Quarter boundary to this chronostratigrahic level is well founded.

First record of noctuid moth Callopistria aethiops Butler, 1878 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Southern Primorye as an example of the East Asian species penetrating in Russian fauna

An East Asian-Oriental noctuid species Callopistria aethiops Butler, 1878 is recorded from Russia for the first time. The trend of invasions of the southern Macroheterocera species into the Russian Far East has existed at least during last century but is noticeably increased during last 20 years.