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Marked by the expansion of ice sheets in the high latitudes, the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation across the Plio/Pleistocene transition at ~ 2.7 Ma represents a critical interval of late Neogene climate evolution. To date, the characteristics of climate change in North America during that time and its imprint on vegetation has remained poorly constrained because of the lack of continuous, highly resolved terrestrial records. We here assess the vegetation dynamics in northwestern North America during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene (c. 2.8–2.4 Ma) based on a pollen record from a lacustrine sequence from paleo-Lake Idaho, western Snake River Plain (USA) that has been retrieved within the framework of an International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) coring campaign. Our data indicate a sensitive response of forest ecosystems to glacial/interglacial variability paced by orbital obliquity across the study interval, and also highlight a distinct expansion of steppic elements that likely occurs during the first strong glacial of the Pleistocene, i.e. Marine Isotope Stage 100. The pollen data document a major forest biome change at ~ 2.6 Ma that is marked by the replacement of conifer-dominated forests by open mixed forests. Quantitative pollen-based climate estimates suggest that this forest reorganisation was associated with an increase in precipitation from the late Pliocene to the early Pleistocene. We attribute this shift to an enhanced moisture transport from the subarctic Pacific Ocean to North America, confirming the hypothesis that ocean-circulation changes were instrumental in the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation.

The article presents the results of studying the bactericidal and disinfecting activity of directed aerosols of the new drug UK-Anolyte in laboratory experiments. It was found that preparation UK-Anolyte has a high bactericidal and disinfectant activity. Bactericidal activity of UK-Anolyte against E. coli bacteria, pcs. 1257, is 0.0976%, and in relation to S. aureus, pcs. 209-P, – 0.1953%. Disinfection of test objects with protein protection was achieved with anolyte at a drug consumption of 130...250 ml/m2 for 3...6 hours.

A synthesis of paleoclimate responses from Lake Baikal during the MIS 11 interglacial is presented based on proxy records from two drill sites 245 km apart. BDP-99 is located in vicinity of the delta of the major Baikal tributary, whereas the BDP-96 site represents hemipelagic setting distant from riverine influence. The comparison of thicknesses of interglacial intervals in these contrasting depositional settings confirms the extended ca. 33-kyr duration of the MIS 11 interglacial. The new BDP-99 diatom biostratigraphic record matches that of the BDP-96-2 holostratotype and thus allows establishing establishes robust correlation between the records on the same orbitally-tuned timescale. The first detailed MIS 11 palynological record from the BDP-99 drill core indicates the dominance of boreal conifer (taiga) forest vegetation in the Baikal region throughout the MIS 11 interglacial, since at least 424 ka till ca. 396 ka. The interval ca. 420–405 ka stands out as a "conifer optimum" with abundant Abies sibirica, indicative of climate significantly warmer and less continental than today. The closest Baikal analog to this type of vegetation in the history of the current Holocene interglacial is at ca. 9–7 ka. The warm conifer phase lasted for ca. 15 kyr during MIS 11 interrupted by two millennial-scale cooling episodes at ca. 411–410 and 405–404 ka. Reconstructed annual precipitation of 450–550 mm/yr during the MIS 11 interglacial is by ca. 100 mm higher than during the Holocene; regional climate was less continental with warmer mean temperatures both in summer and in winter. At both drill sites, the two-peak structure of the MIS 11 diatom abundance profiles reflects the orbital signature of precession in the interglacial paleoclimate record of continental Eurasia. MIS 11 interglacial was characterized by the sustained high level of primary production and accumulation of autochthonous organic matter at both study sites. The responses of paleoclimate-sensitive indices in the mineralogy of the MIS 11 sediments in BDP-96-2 are consistent with those during the Holocene. Illitization of secondary clay minerals in the Baikal watershed was an important process, but it appears to have been subdued during the first half of the MIS 11, apparently due to elevated humidity and muted seasonality of regional climate.

Spectral, photophysical, photochemical characteristics for mononuclear and binuclear dipyrromethenes in complexes with BF2 (BODIPY), bis-BODIPY and bis-helicates ([Zn2(L)2]) are described. The role of substituents (type and location in the ligand) and the medium in which dipyrromethene complexes are placed (solvents, solid-state matrices), the effect of different complexing agents (p- and d-elements) on the photonics of the complexes are discussed. The results of studying the lasing and photochemical properties of complexes under the action of laser irradiation are presented. In addition, for the described complexes the stability in the ground and excited states in protic media are estimated. Based on the analysis of the results discussed possibilities of practical application of these compounds to creating various optical devices.

Lake Baikal basin in the continental interior Asia preserved a unique continuous sedimentary archive of the late Cenozoic; large-scale regional environmental changes of the past were recorded in the composition of fossil diatom flora. Here, the Lake Baikal planktonic diatom biostratigraphy is extended over the Plio-Pleistocene transition, it includes 11 new local diatom assemblage zones (LDAZ) for the time interval 1.25–3.6 Ma. The comparison of the parallel BDP-96-1 and BDP-98 drill core records allows constructing the complete diatom biostratigraphic record at the time of the inception of the Northern Hemisphere glaciations; diatom biostratigraphic zones around Matuyama/Gauss paleomagnetic reversal are correlated with individual stages of marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy. Contrary to previous assumptions, the period 2.8–2.6 Ma in Lake Baikal record was characterized not by a prolonged minimum in diatom abundance but by a distinct maximum in the abundance of small-celled diatom taxa Tertiarius baicalensis and Stephanodiscus binderanus et var. hyalinus, which proliferated in the lake during the interval of relatively warm and humid climate. The Lake Baikal diatom biostratigraphic change at around 1.8 Ma occurs only at a species level of the genus Cyclotella. By contrast, around 2.8–2.5 Ma, spectacular appearances and extinctions occurred at a high taxonomic level of genera (including the genera of Tertiarius, Thalassiobeckia and Stepahanopsis) making the biostratigraphic changes around Matuyama/Gauss reversal more prominent. At least three distinct biostratigraphic boundaries are observed: at 2.69 Ma, 2.65 Ma and at 2.46 Ma. None of these boundaries, however, coincides with the paleomagnetic reversal at 2.58 Ma. Thus the new well-resolved Lake Baikal biostratigraphic record points to the difficulty of assigning a single ‘golden spike’ biostratigraphic boundary around Matuyama/Gauss paleomagnetic reversal in continental Asia.

The Early Holocene paleoclimate in Bosten Lake on the northern margin of the Tarim Basin, southern Xinjiang, is reconstructed through an analysis of a 953 cm long core (BSTC2000) taken from Bosten Lake. Multiple proxies of this core, including the mineral components of carbonate, carbonate content, stable isotopic compositions of carbonate, Ca/Sr, TOC and C/N and C/S of organic matter, are used to reconstruct the climatic change since 8500 a B.P. The chronology model is made by nine AMS 14C ages of leaves, seeds and organic matter contained in two parallel cores. The climate was cold and wet during 8500 to 8100 a B.P. Temperature increased from 8100 to 6400 a B.P., the climate was warm and humid, and the lake expanded. The lake level was highest during this stage. Then from 6400 to 5100 a B.P., the climate became cold and the lake level decreased slightly. During the late mid-Holocene, the climate was hot and dry from 5100 to 3100 a B.P., but there was a short cold period during 4400 to 3800 a B.P. At this temporal interval, a mass of ice and snow melting water supplied the lake at the early time and made the lake level rise. The second highest lake level stage occurred during 5200 to 3800 a B.P. The climate was cool and wet during 3100 to 2200 a B.P., when the lake expanded with decreasing evaporation. The lake had the last short-term high level during 3100 to 2800 a B.P. After this short high lake level period, the lake shrank because of the long-term lower temperature and reduced water supply. From 2200 to 1200 a B.P., the climate was hot and dry, and the lake shrank greatly. Although the temperature decreased somewhat from 1200 a B.P. to the present, the climate was warm and dry. The lake level began to rise a little again, but it did not reach the river bed altitude of the Konqi River, an outflow river of the Bosten Lake.

Oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios in carbonates from the HDP-04 drill core from Lake Hovsgol, NW Mongolia, show an overall covariant relationship suggesting that for the most of the past 1 Ma Hovsgol remained a closed-basin lake. Carbonate δ 18 O ratio is responsive to regional climate change: a ca. +1.5‰ basinwide δ 18 O shift has occurred with the onset of Bolling–Allerod warming ( sensu lato ), followed by a ca. 0.8‰ depletion during the Younger Dryas. The post-glacial δ 18 O shift of the same magnitude is recorded in bulk carbonates, shells of two ostracod species and in wet-sieved fine fraction 18 O shift is nevertheless positive. This argues against changes in local temperature and hydrology as key driving mechanisms. Most likely, Lake Hovsgol δ 18 O reflects a climate-driven shift in the composition of regional precipitation. Tied into a distinct lithologic succession, the radiocarbon-dated late glacial δ 18 O shift apparently represents a ‘template’ of the lake's response to glacial–interglacial transitions: a similar pattern of parallel changes in lithology and carbonate stable isotope composition is observed in at least 10 more intervals in the 1-Ma record, including the MIS 20/MIS19 transition at the Brunhes/Matuyama paleomagnetic reversal boundary. The comparison of carbon stable isotope ratios of untreated and in vacuo roasted bulk sediment with those of detrital carbonates suggests that clastic input of carbonates by lake tributaries does not affect the geochemistry of bulk carbonates in the HDP-04 section. The profiles of bulk carbonate δ 18 O and δ 13 C in the Pleistocene section of the HDP-04 drill core suggest at ca. 15.4 ka, at ca. 100 m below today's level, Lake Hovsgol still stood relatively high as compared with prior extended periods of time during late Matuyama and early Brunhes. Isotopically heavy δ 18 O and δ 13 C ratios during the mid–late Brunhes, particularly, in carbonate crusts and oolites, are suggestive of past episodes of dramatic evaporative 18 O-enrichment of lake waters. Despite the expectation of muted amplitudes of temperature- and precipitation-related isotope signals, the sedimentary record from the sensitive ‘water gauge’ basin of Lake Hovsgol has high potential for providing important constraints on past hydrologic evolution of continental interior Asia during the Pleistocene.

Lacustrine sedimentary strata in the Lake Hovsgol rift basin, NW Mongolia, preserved an important regional archive with new powerful proxies for climate change in continental interior Asia. Two scientific drilling campaigns of the Hovsgol Drilling Project (HDP) recovered the most complete and best resolved mid-late Pleistocene paleoclimate archive in Mongolia. With the basal age of ca. 1 Ma, Lake Hovsgol drill core section complements those obtained previously in the neighboring Lake Baikal, and contains regional paleoclimate proxy records on a timescale comparable to that of marine sedimentary records and the longest Antarctic ice core record. Works in this volume discuss changes in lake chemistry, biota and environment, closely linked with drill core lithology and depositional trends apparent from sediment facies. The current collection of works illustrates the potential of proxy signals in the Hovsgol record and highlights new important constraints on their interpretation. Because of a nearly continuous record of endogenic carbonate accumulation in Lake Hovsgol, a wealth of paleoclimate proxy data is preserved in carbonate mineralogy, elemental geochemistry and stable isotope composition; such a unique long record was not previously available in this part of the world. The repetitive pattern of changes in the lake's water budget in response to the climatic cycles of the Pleistocene is established and constrained by absolute dating and the robust paleomagnetic event/reversal timescale. The new proxy records from the HDP sediment sections are both relevant and timely contributions to the discussion of the nature of paleoclimate changes in continental interior Asia during prior glacial and interglacial intervals of the Pleistocene. These records help establish the early timing of the post-glacial changes in atmospheric circulation and effective moisture budget in the region and resolve the previously proposed scenarios of extreme precipitation gradients during glacial periods. The key primary data presented in this volume make a compelling case for further in-depth studies of the available records and for future deeper drilling into the early Pleistocene and the Pliocene strata in this basin.

Quantitative diatom abundance and species composition was studied in the longest 81-m Lake Hovsgol drill core, HDP-04. Lake Hovsgol diatom biostratigraphy of the past 1 Ma includes 14 local diatom assemblage zones (LDAZ). Planktonic diatom flora of Lake Hovsgol is dominated by members of Stephanodiscus and Cyclotella . A large-scale shift from Stephanodiscus -dominated to Cyclotella -dominated flora occurred in the mid-Brunhes chron. Significant morphological variability of Cyclotella ocellata complex and Cyclotella cf. minuta , as well as the presence of new extinct endemic taxa of genus Stephanodiscus, suggest long speciation and/or adaptation history of diatom flora. The recognition of taxa morphologically similar to the extinct endemic species of Lake Baikal suggests potential correlation ties between Lake Hovsgol and Lake Baikal diatom biostratigraphies around the MIS 17, MIS 25, and, possibly, MIS 15 interglacial intervals. Narrow peaks of diatom abundance in the Lake Hovsgol sedimentary record are episodic and short-lived. These peaks may represent humid optima of past interglacials and/or interstadials, characterized by elevated surface runoff in the Hovsgol basin and relative highstands of the lake.

Repetitive patterns in the records of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and δ 13 C org observed in the Lake Hovsgol sediment section from HDP-04 drill core reflect past changes in productivity of Lake Hovsgol and in the isotopic composition of the lake's carbon pool. Lake Hovsgol productivity proxy signals are interpreted to represent the response of the Hovsgol lacustrine system to glacial–interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene. This interpretation is supported by the apparent orbitally-forced pattern in the TOC, TN and δ 13 C org records of the past 250 ka in the BDP-96-2 drill core from neighboring Lake Baikal. The intervals with independent age control, such as the radiocarbon-dated last glacial–interglacial transition and the paleomagnetic reversals, make it evident that productivity proxy signals are reliable indicators of past cold-to-warm and warm-to-cold climate transitions, as seen from the agreement with the pattern of global climate change in marine δ 18 O records. The Brunhes/Matuyama reversal during the MIS 19 interglacial coincides with a distinct peak of TOC and TN in the Hovsgol record, similar to the signal during the Holocene interglacial. By contrast, the upper Jaramillo reversal in the Lake Hovsgol record occurs in a diatom-free calcareous interval characterized by minima in TOC, TN and by a ‘glacial’-type range of δ 13 C org values. In both Lake Baikal and Lake Hovsgol records, peaks in TOC and TN contents help distinguishing past interglacials and interstadials, and isotopically-heaviest δ 13 C org values help identify past glacial intervals. An age model for the HDP-04 drill core section is proposed based on recognizing the repetitive patterns in Lake Hovsgol productivity and lithologic records as regional paleoclimate cycles of middle to late Pleistocene. Absolute dates and diatom biostratigraphic correlation ties to the Lake Baikal record are used as key controls. In the proposed age model, the interval 81–24 m in the HDP-04 sediment section below the major unconformity is correlated to MIS 27 through late MIS 13, whereas the upper 24 m of the HDP-04 section is suggested to have recovered the sedimentary record of late MIS 7 to MIS 1.

Modeling the bulk sediment XRD patterns allows insight into the environmental and depositional histories of two neighboring rift lake basins within the Baikal watershed. Parallel 14C-dated LGM-Holocene records in Lakes Baikal and Hovsgol are used to discuss the mineralogical signatures of regional climate change. In both basins, it is possible to distinguish ‘glacial’ and ‘interglacial’ mineral associations. Clay minerals comprise in excess of 50% of layered silicates in bulk sediment. The abundance of smectite (expandable) layers in mixed-layer illite–smectites and the total illite abundance are the main paleoclimatic indices in the clay mineral assemblage. Both indices exhibit coherent responses to the Bolling–Allerod and the Younger Dryas. The smectite layer index is not equivalent to the abundance of illite–smectite, because illite–smectite tends to transform into illite. Repeated wetting–drying cycles in soils and high abundance of expandable layers in illite–smectites (>42%) favor the process of illitization. This relationship is clearly shown in both Baikal and Hovsgol records for the first time. The opposite late Holocene trends in illite abundance in Lake Baikal and Lake Hovsgol records suggest that a sensitive optimal regime may exist for illite formation in the Baikal watershed with regard to warmth and effective moisture. The Lake Hovsgol sediments of the last glacial contain carbonates, suggesting a positive trend in the lake's water budget. A progressive change towards lower Mg content in carbonates indicates lowering mineralization of lake waters. This trend is consistent with the lithologic evidence for lake-level rise in the Hovsgol basin. The pattern of mineralogical changes during the past 20 ka is used to interpret bulk sediment and carbonate mineralogy of the long 81-m Lake Hovsgol drill core (HDP-04) with a basal age of 1 Ma. The interglacial-type silicate mineral associations are confined to several thin intervals; most of the sediment record is calcareous. Carbonates are represented by six main mineral phases: calcite, low-Mg calcite, intermediate/high-Mg calcite, dolomite, excess-Ca dolomite and metastable monohydrocalcite. These mineral phases tend to form stratigraphic successions indicative of progressive changes in lake water chemistry. Five sediment layers with abundant Mg-calcites in the HDP-04 section suggest deposition in a low standing lake with high mineralization (salinity) and high Mg/Ca ratios of lake waters. Lake Hovsgol sediments contain the oldest known monohydrocalcite, found tens of meters below lake bottom in sediments as old as 800 ka. This unusual find is likely due to the conditions favorable to preservation of this metastable carbonate.

Bosten Lake is a mid-latitude lake with water mainly supplied by melting ice and snow in the Tianshan Mountains. The depositional environment of the lake is spatially not uniform due to the proximity of the major inlet and the single outlet in the western part of the lake. The analytical results show that the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of recent lake sediments is related to this specific lacustrine depositional environment and to the resulting carbonate mineralogy. In the southwestern lake region between the Kaidu River inlet and the Kongqi River outlet, carbon isotope composition (δ13C) values of the carbonate sediment (−1‰ to −2‰) have no relation to the oxygen isotope composition of the carbonate (δ18O) values (−7‰ to –8‰), with both isotopes showing a low variability. The carbonate content is low (

This paper seeks to arrive at a consistent interpretation of (1) the age model, (2) the grain size record, and (3) seismic reflection data from Lake Hovsgol (a.k.a Khubsugul or Hovsgol), Mongolia, reported by Fedotov et al. (2007, earlier by Fedotov et al. 2002, 2004). In their most recent contribution, the grain size record of the KDP-01 drill core is interpreted as a climatic signal while little consideration is given to lake-level changes and hence to basin-wide changes in depositional setting evident from seismic profiles; also, a nearly linear age model is at odds with the seismic evidence for a major angular unconformity in the sediment strata. The lack of regional seismic stratigraphic analysis has thus led to an improbable interpretation of the Lake Hovsgol sediment grain size record and ultimately to an improbable scenario of Mongolian glaciation history. Using the available seismic profiles, here we show that the drill core penetrated several transgressive/regressive sedimentary sequences and a major angular unconformity. Therefore, the drilled sediment section cannot represent continuous sediment accumulation and the Brunhes age model across the unconformity cannot be nearly linear; the time interval representing a hiatus remains to be determined. The assumed nearly linear age/depth relationship in the upper 23 m above the angular unconformity is also an unlikely relationship, given the evidence of repeated changes in lake level, and hence in the depositional setting and sedimentation rates. We further propose a qualitative reference model for changes in the Lake Hovsgol depositional setting (presented as a step-by-step animation – see supplementary material) based on manually ‘backstripping and rebuilding’ the seismic pattern. We argue that this model provides a useful template of the likely sediment facies changes in the deep axial part of the Hovsgol basin: our crude model in fact captures the major depositional trends in the KDP-01 drill core section located some 10 km NW along the seismic line. We contend that changes in the depositional setting provide the first-order control on sediment grain size in the Hovsgol record. Our study provides important new constraints on the nature of sedimentary proxy records in Lake Hovsgol and on their interpretation as a record of Mongolian glaciation history.

A new experiment of the Hövsgöl Drilling Project was carried out in Lake Hövsgöl in 2004, as part of the international program of scientific drilling in the Baikal Rift. The reported data include a preliminary description of the recovered lake sediments (HDP-04 core), with their compositions and physical properties, and a tentative age-depth model based on the paleomagnetic polarity scale. This is the first evidence that the lithology of sediments deposited for the past ~1 Myr records periodic alternation of carbonate-free diatomaceous mud and carbonate-bearing silty clay. The diatom intervals in the record are interpreted as corresponding to interglacials by analogy with the periodicity known since the Last Glacial. The core bears signature of at least nine lithological change events. The sediment lithology records extremely low stand of Paleo-Hövsgöl (shallow-water facies produced by erosion of older sediments at the point where the today’s lake reaches a depth of 240 m). Correlation of the HDP-04 core data with reflection profiling evidence confirms the presence of quite a large gap in the Pleistocene sedimentary record from the Hövsgöl rift basin. The discovery of alternating carbonate-rich/carbonate-free cycles and evidence for sudden lake level changes impart special importance to the Hövsgöl archive: It can provide a deeper insight into the regional water budget and humidity history than it has been so far possible for the Middle and Late Pleistocene.

Here we discuss paleoenvironmental evolution in the Baikal region during the Holocene using new records of aquatic (diatom) and terrestrial vegetation changes from Hovsgol, Mongolia's largest and deepest lake. We reconcile previous contradictory Baikal timescales by constraining reservoir corrections of AMS dates on bulk sedimentary organic carbon. Synthesis of the Holocene records in the Baikal watershed reveals a northward progression in landscape/vegetation changes and an anti-phase behavior of diatom and biogenic silica proxies in neighboring rift lakes. In Lake Baikal, these proxies appear to be responsive to annual temperature increases after 6 ka, whereas in Lake Hovsgol they respond to higher precipitation/runoff from 11 to 7 ka. Unlike around Lake Baikal, warmer summers between 6 and 3.5 ka resulted in the decline, not expansion, of forest vegetation around Lake Hovsgol, apparently as a result of higher soil temperatures and lower moisture availability. The regional climatic proxy data are consistent with a series of 500-yr time slice Holocene GCM simulations for continental Eurasia. Our results allow reevaluation of the concepts of ‘the Holocene optimum’ and a ‘maximum of the Asian summer monsoon’, as applied to paleoclimate records from continental Asia.

The article considers the problem of fault-tolerant satellite control software design. To provide the control software fault-tolerance the N-version programming based on program redundancy is used. In the paper the peculiarities of the design of control software for communications satellite system are presented. The article suggests the model for the choice of optimal structure of N-version software under resource requirement constraints. To solve the optimization problem it is proposed an algorithm. Numerical example illustrates how fault-tolerant control software for communications satellite system can be designed in order to increase software reliability using N-version programming.

A new composite BDP-96 biogenic silica record over the entire Pleistocene was generated by splicing BDP-96-1 and BDP-96-2 drill cores from Lake Baikal, crosschecked against a similar record from a nearby BDP-98 drill core. A new astronomically tuned age model is proposed based on correlating peak biogenic silica responses with the timing of September perihelia. This target is derived from analysis of regional climate proxy responses during the Holocene, the last interglacial and around paleomagnetic reversals. By resolving virtually every precessional cycle during the Pleistocene, the new age model represents a major improvement compared with previously reported Lake Baikal timescales. The astronomically tuned ages of the Pleistocene paleomagnetic reversals are consistent with published dates. The minimal tuning approach we used (precession only) has also aligned high signal power in a narrow obliquity band, confirming the strong presence of orbital forcing. There are also strong ca 100-ka scale cycles, but these are not aligned with the orbital eccentricity. Despite the location of Lake Baikal in a continental interior that is highly sensitive to insolation forcing, the tuned biogenic silica record reveals a consistent phase difference of −32° (ca 4 ka) relative to insolation in the obliquity band. An inherent lag embedded in a continental proxy record, not driven by global ice volume, is an intriguing finding. Another new observation is that long-term changes in sedimentation rates in Lake Baikal appear to be related to the amplitude of orbital forcing; both amplitudes and sedimentation rates undergo significant changes during MIS 24-MIS 19 interval corresponding to the Middle Pleistocene Transition. With potential for linking continental and marine climato-stratigraphies, the new Baikal record serves a new benchmark correlation target in continental Eurasia, as an alternative to June 65°N insolation and ODP-correlated timescales.

Results of hydrochemical and stable isotope measurements during the ice-breaking period on Lake Baikal indicate an apparent lack of relationship between measured δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and phytoplankton below the trophogenic layer. While planktonic values of −31.7 to −33.5‰ are within a typical lacustrine range, the δ13C values of DIC turned out to be very negative, from −28.9 to −35.6‰. These isotopic values of DIC appear to be associated with oxidation of methane that accumulated during winter ice cover period. At the time of sampling, however, the observed depletion did not affect the phytoplankton/DIC fractionation relationship, because the difference between phytoplankton and DIC (−20 to −22‰ in surface waters) lies within the expected range of the fractionation coefficient. By analogy with small lakes, we explain this lack of relationship by the time lag between peak productivity and peak methane oxidation. Our interpretation of the Baikal DIC isotopic signature is consistent with methanogenesis in bottom sediments and with the known presence of widespread unstable gas hydrates and active methane seeps on the lake floor. Our findings suggest that methane is an important component of the Baikal carbon cycle, that late winter concentrations of methane in Baikal under ice may be 3–4 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported values for summer, and that the lake may be emitting a significant amount of methane to the atmosphere.

Detailed diatom zonation in the Lake Baikal holostratotype section BDP-96-2 is extended over the interval 0.85–1.25 Ma and compared with diatom assemblage composition from the new BDP-99 drill core. Interglacial diatom assemblages at these two sites over 220 km apart are of similar composition, and the same complete and continuous succession of diatom zones is observed in both drill cores over the 0–800 ka interval. We propose a correlation of Baikal diatomaceous intervals with the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy and with European climato-stratigraphic divisions of the early Pleistocene. We then use the diatom succession in BDP-96-2 to demonstrate evidence for disconformity in BDP-99 and to establish an approximate age model for this section. Diatom assemblages characteristic of the top of the Matuyama reversed polarity interval and the upper part of the Jaramillo normal polarity subchron are not found in the BDP-99 section below the disconformity boundary. The lack of diatom zones corresponding to the MIS 21-27 of the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy in BDP-99 section suggests that the estimated age span of missing sediment interval in BDP-99 is ca 150–160 ka. The unusual diatom assemblage of cosmopolitan species during MIS 33 in both BDP-96-2 and BDP-99 drill core sections is indicative of abrupt ecological changes in the time interval 1.12–1.08 Ma.

A study of 15 gravity cores reveals consistent patterns of lithologic change throughout the Lake Hovsgol basin. Sediments of the last glacial are composed of calcareous clayey silt with an admixture of coarse material from sand to gravel. During the last deglaciation, a basin-wide deposition of finely laminated carbonate mud took place and was ultimately succeeded by the deposition of diatomaceous clayey ooze during the entire Holocene interval. Diatom productivity in Lake Hovsgol during the early Holocene was higher than today, but declined by ca. 6.6 cal ka BP. Sedimentation rate estimates for post-glacial section range from 1.5 to over 6.7 cm/ka for different parts of Lake Hovsgol. Rates appear to have decreased in the late Holocene. The last glacial maximum (LGM) corresponded to a dramatic low stand of Lake Hovsgol on the order of 100 m below today's level, as reflected by littoral facies retrieved in cores from intermediate depths. Age dating of plant fragments in these sediments suggests that lake level started rising no later than 15.4 cal ka BP. By the beginning of the Holocene, Lake Hovsgol evolved from a low-level closed basin lake to an overflowing freshwater lake. The observed dramatic lithologic change and evidence for lake-level change suggest that Lake Hovsgol may in fact serve as a sensitive ‘water gauge’ in continental interior Asia and that the Hovsgol sedimentary record preserves reliable proxies for past changes in effective moisture balance in the Lake Baikal catchment area.

The sedimentary record from Lake Baikal (Siberia, Russia) has been an important source of information about paleoclimatic variability in the northern hemisphere and dynamics of continental rift development. A lack of reliable chronology has, however, been a major obstacle to fully utilizing the Baikal archive for time scales beyond about 4-5 Myr. In this paper we use the distribution of 10Be to establish a new chronology for the longest core drilled in Lake Baikal so far. The 10Be-based chronology spans the last 8 Myr and provides better constraints on sedimentation rates and consequently on an east-west tectonic extension in the lake, which has been apparently coeval with other rifts in Asia that are related to the Tibetan plateau uplift. Our data also show higher 10Be flux in the sediment section older then 5 Myr compared with the younger period. This can be explained partly by warm and humid climatic conditions of the Miocene and partly by a high cosmic ray flux to the Earth resulting from possible low geomagnetic field intensity during that time.

Sedimentary sections from Lake Baikal in Siberia and Lake Hovsgol in Mongolia show that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), planktonic/benthic diatoms, chrysophyte cysts, sponge spicules and zooplankton remains did not accumulate in the lake sediments. The combined data suggest a drastic lowering of photosynthetic production and perhaps the collapse of the ecosystems of both lakes due to significant environmental changes during the LGM. Both lakes were almost uninhabited during the LGM. Starting from ∼12,000 to 13,000 14C years ago, the planktonic communities redeveloped and primary production increased in both lakes. As a result, Holocene sediments contain abundant and well-preserved planktonic/benthic diatoms, stomatocysts, sponge spicules and zooplankton remains. The ecosystem stress in Lake Baikal during glacial time appears to be due to a decrease in nutrient loading from the watershed, lowering of surface water temperature, and very low transparency of water and ice. We believe that endemic species in Baikal survived during glacial ecological catastrophes in refugia that could have been a source of species that invaded and repopulated Baikal after intense and long glacial winters. The ecosystem stress in Lake Hovsgol during glacial time appears to be due primarily to drastic lake level falls, and changes in water chemistry. At the beginning of the Holocene, Lake Hovsgol was reoccupied again by cosmopolitan species probably from surrounding small lakes and rivers. In addition to the LGM results, we also show that Lake Baikal planktonic diatom species diversity during the last 350 ka is closely related to solar insolation fluctuations caused by the 23 and 41 ka cycles of the Earth's precession and obliquity. Our results also indicate that Baikal's planktonic diatom species diversity, as measured by the Shannon–Weiner index, correlates with the oxygen isotope record that represents changes in global ice volume.

Changes in the concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases constitute an important part of global climate forcing. Here we present the first continental evidence for climatically caused changes in a methane gas hydrate reservoir. The organic carbon stable isotope record from Lake Baikal during the past 130 000 years registers regular emissions of isotopically light carbon by the occurrence of distinct negative shifts of 3–5‰ at every major orbitally forced cold-to-warm climatic transition during the past 130 000 years, including marine oxygen isotope stage boundaries 6/5e, 5d/5c, 5b/5a and 2/1. We conclude that these emissions were associated with decomposition of sedimentary clathrates, widespread in the Baikal basin. Among potential hypotheses to account for these methane episodes, the most probable appears to be hydrate dissociation due to deglacial warming of lake water. We estimate that as much as 12–33 Tg of methane could have been released with each episode. By recording the systematically recurring episodes of massive methane clathrate decomposition closely linked with the northern hemisphere temperatures during major orbital warmings, the new Baikal δ13C record provides further evidence for the potential involvement of clathrate reservoir in rapid deglacial rises of atmospheric methane levels.

The large difference in carbon and oxygen isotope data from the marine record between marine oxygen isotope stage 12 (MIS 12) and MIS 11, spanning the interval between about 480 and 380 kyr ago, has been interpreted as a transition between an extremely cold glacial period and an unusually warm interglacial period, with consequences for global ice volume, sea level and the global carbon cycle1,2,3,4. The extent of the change is intriguing, because orbital forcing is predicted to have been relatively weak at that time5. Here we analyse a continuous sediment record from Lake Baikal, Siberia, which reveals a virtually continuous interglacial diatom assemblage, a stable littoral benthic diatom assemblage and lithogenic sediments with ‘interglacial’ characteristics for the period from MIS 15a to MIS 11 (from about 580 to 380 kyr ago). From these data, we infer significantly weaker climate contrasts between MIS 12 and 11 than during more recent glacial–interglacial transitions in the late Pleistocene epoch (about 130 to 10 kyr ago). For the period from MIS 15a to MIS 11, we also infer an apparent lack of extensive mountain glaciation.

Paleoproductivity records from Lake Baikal indicate that the last interglaciation in southeastern Siberia lasted ca. 12,000 yr from 127,000 to 115,000 yr B.P., was punctuated by a climatic oscillation about 120,000 yr ago, and ended abruptly with a rapid onset of regional glaciation during marine isotope substage (MIS) 5d. The Siberian equivalent of the MIS 5e–5d transition appears to lead the post-Eemian cold pulses in Europe and in the central North Atlantic by 5000 to 8000 yr. The Baikal record also registers a pronounced cold event during early MIS 5c, which correlates with the Montaigu event in pollen records from France. In Siberia, the climatic deterioration during the MIS 5d was a full-scale glacial pulse unlike the short, moderate cooling during the Montaigu event.

A new method is proposed for modelling complex X-ray diffraction patterns effectively. The method is based on the calculation of the interference function of the onedimensional disordered crystals with finite thickness. First, we calculated the diffraction effects from structures of individual mineral phases with different layer defects modelled according to the Reynolds’ algorithm. To fit the theoretical to the observed XRD patterns more accurately, we then used a specially developed optimization procedure. This iterative procedure selects the optimal set of chemical and structural parameters (probability and domain size) and yields consistent solutions.The composition of the clay component in bottom sediments of Lake Baikal relates strongly to glacial/interglacial climate cyclicity. Besides changes in the relative abundance of illite and illite/ smectites between glacial and interglacial periods, significant differences are observed in the crystal chemistries and structures of layered minerals. A change from chlorite during glacial periods to chlorite-smectite during interglacials is probably indicative of the weathering processes in the watershed. Changes in the degree of ordering, in domain size and grain-size distribution of illitesmectites imply differences in genesis of this mineral phase in different palaeoenvironments. These findings further strengthen the case for using clay minerals in the sedimentary record of Lake Baikal as palaeoclimate indicators.One of our findings was that none of the fractions separated by Stokes’ settling is representative of the bulk sample for either the glacial or interglacial intervals. For the interglacial sample, illitesmectite was concentrated in the

By correlating the pronounced interstadial-type diatom peak with MIS 3, the high-resolution and well-dated record BDP-93-2 from the Selenga Delta area of Lake Baikal complements the classical long paleoclimatic records from Academician Ridge, which lack the pronounced MIS 3 warm signal. This correlation helps to resolve the age model controversies related to this interstadial interval. The content and C/N ratios of total organic carbon, as well as its stable isotope composition and diatom abundance, reveal high-frequency oscillatory variations reflecting the more unstable conditions of MIS 3 interstadial in the Lake Baikal region as compared with the Holocene interglacial. An important part of the regional climatic instability during the past 75,000 yrs BP revealed for the first time in the Baikal record is the recurrence of the abrupt erosional events leading to the deposition of the detrital carbonate material at the hemipelagic BDP-93 site. There were at least five such events: at MIS 5/4 transition, in the middle of MIS 4, and three during MIS 3. Stratigraphic and AMS-radiocarbon age models allow the Baikal erosional carbonate events to be confidently correlated to the intervals of Heinrich layers in the North Atlantic. This correlation suggests a surprisingly strong climatic teleconnection of the remote mid-continent Baikal location with the Dansgaard–Oeschger events and the bond cycles in the North Atlantic region.

Records of the tectonic and climatic evolution of continental interiors are important for understanding the dynamics of the Earth's climate system, evolutionary processes within the terrestrial biosphere, and human origins. Sediment drill cores recovered from Lake Baikal provide essential records not only for comparison with oceanic records of marine processes, but also benchmarks which can be used to help interpret other continental records including other lake archives scheduled to be drilled in the near future. Drilling of Lake Baikal made it possible for the first time to have a continental archive with the same scientific and chronostratigraphic integrity as marine records to address critical questions of the Quaternary and Pliocene. The Lake Baikal drilling project (BDP) rapidly progressed from piston coring and seismic reflection studies to conducting the first scientific drilling in 4 short years and to very deep drilling in over 8 years. BDP has taken advantage of the harsh Siberian winters by using the frozen surface of Lake Baikal as a drilling platform. The positioning of the drill sites was selected using seismic and piston coring surveys. By continuously improving the drilling operations and technology, BDP has achieved new core recovery and depth records over the last ten years and become the world's leader in pioneering the recovery of high-quality, extremely long lacustrine sediment sequences from deep water. The success of BDP came at a time of growing interest in lake drilling among members of the paleoclimate community with few recent large-scale coordination efforts to draw upon. At the organizational, technological and financial levels, some recent changes are favorable for the development of a global lake drilling initiative, which could become as successful and efficient as the ocean drilling program.

A unique diatom biostratigraphy of the Brunhes chron in Lake Baikal revealed by detailed studies of pelagic diatom paleo-assemblages, indicates that dramatic changes in insolation during the past 800 ka BP produced surprisingly rapid diatom speciation and extinctions. The orbitally-tuned age model allows the diatom assemblages to be compared with individual marine isotopic stages and substages during the Brunhes. Most of the interglacial periods are characterized by explosive speciation and appearances of new pelagic planktonic diatom species. In contrast, most of the glacial periods are characterized by spectacular extinctions. Three broad periods characterized by different degrees of stability in the pelagic diatom assemblages are distinguished during the Brunhes chron in the Lake Baikal sedimentary record: MIS 19–15e, MIS 15a–11 and MIS 9–5. these periods are apparently associated with the long-term changes in the amplitude of precessional insolation variations. Examination of individual interglacial periods further reveals the sensitivity of the Baikal ecosystem to the regional energy balance: virtually every precessional insolation peak during the early Brunhes is characterized by a unique and peculiar paleo-assemblage. For the first time the siliceous microfossil record has demonstrated such a high degree of sensitivity to insolation forcing of regional climate. Despite the dramatic changes in the pelagic plankton driven by extreme climatic changes, diatoms never went fully extinct during any glacial period. Although greatly or completely renewed during each subsequent interglacial, the pelagic diatom assemblage still managed to return dominated by the new Baikal endemic species. The diatom assemblage observed in modern Lake Baikal, despite being mostly endemic, has formed during the past 50–100 ka and is therefore rather young. These results demonstrate the remarkable capacity of this large freshwater system to sustain the dynamic stability on the large time scales.

The new 600-m drill core BDP-98 from the Academician Ridge of Lake Baikal recovered a continuous sedimentary record of the past 10 Ma. The entire section is represented by lacustrine sediments, which gradually change from distal deltaic facies at the bottom of the section to fine undisturbed hemipelagic sediments of the upper 300-m interval. The entire 10-Ma lacustrine section contains abundant diatoms, thus allowing extension of Plio-Pleistocene diatom and biogenic silica records into the Miocene. Above the Matuyama/Gauss paleomagnetic reversal boundary, the BDP-98 record contains clearly delineated glacial/interglacial lithologic cycles. Below this boundary the diatom signal is quite different: average diatom contents are higher and variations are of lower amplitude. Although most likely paleoclimatic in origin, these variation presumably reflect past changes in the moisture regime of southeast Siberia under conditions of warm subtropical climate during the Miocene and Early–Middle Pliocene. The continuous BDP-98 drill core, which covers the hiati present in the composite continental sections of the Baikal region, is a key section for reconstructing the Neogene–Quaternary climatic evolution of continental Asia. The BDP-98 section also places several important time constraints on the rifting history of Lake Baikal by providing reliable correlation of lithological and physical properties of the drill core sediments with calculated positions of the acoustic reflection boundaries interpreted from multichannel seismic studies. The lithologic composition indicates that, on the stable block of Academician Ridge where the BDP-96 and BDP-98 drill sites are located, acoustic reflection boundaries are not associated with major erosional events, but instead result from changes in sediment density and composition. Several lithologic indices further suggest that significant changes have occurred in the physics and chemistry of Lake Baikal waters, affecting the carbonate equilibrium and oxygen regime of Baikal.

The records of diatom abundance, clay fraction content and magnetic susceptibility from Lake Baikal drill core BDP-96-1 reflect the climate-driven Plio-Pleistocene evolution of the Lake Baikal sedimentation system. In addition to the dramatic variations in the proxy records in response to the Northern Hemisphere ice ages, the Baikal record also indicates climatic deterioration from 2.8 to 2.5 Ma BP with evidence for an early Siberian glaciation around the Matuyama/Gauss paleomagnetic reversal boundary. The drill core data also allow correlation of this early glacial interval with the basin-wide seismic sequence boundary B10, which marks the unconformity produced by the active neotectonic phase in the Baikal rift zone. At the BDP-96 drill site, however, the strong B10 acoustic reflection was produced not by an erosional boundary, but instead by deposition of glacial clay layers. The paleomagnetic age scale of BDP-96-1 constrains the upper age of the Neobaikalian uplift/subsidence phase in the Baikal-Sayan region at ca. 2.5 Ma BP. The coincident timing of the paleoclimatic and tectonic events recorded in Lake Baikal sediments suggests a close causal link between regional tectonics and climate and indicate that the late Pliocene uplift contributed to the initiation of the early glaciation in southeast Siberia between 2.8 and 2.6 Ma BP by creating an elevated terrain with lower snowline, favorable for alpine glaciation, and by changing the heat balance of the region.

This work presents a detailed, orbitally tuned biogenic silica record of continental paleoclimate change during the Brunhes chron. The Brunhes/Matuyama boundary lies within the warm isotopic stage 19 in Baikal, and the boundaries between eight lithological cycles correspond to terminations in the marine oxygen isotope record. The high amplitude and resolution of climatically driven changes in BioSi content in Lake Baikal sediments permits tuning of almost every precessional cycle during the Brunhes and reveals the structure of interglacial stages. For example, the last three interglacial stages (MIS 5, 7, and 9) clearly consist of five substages (a, b, c, d, e) corresponding to precessional insolation peaks. Abrupt and intense regional glaciations in Siberia during substages 5d and 7d were driven by extreme insolation minima. During substage 9d cooling was more gradual in response to more moderate forcing. The impact of strong glaciation is also observed in the middle of stage 15, where full glacial conditions appear to have lasted for over 30,000 yr during substages 15d, 15c, and 15b. Marine oxygen isotopic stage 11 appears to be the warmest period during the Brunhes in the Lake Baikal record, with at least three substages.A new hypothesis is presented regarding the response of the Lake Baikal BioSi record to insolation forcing. Based on the mechanism controlling modern diatom blooms, biogenic silica production is hypothesized to be dependent on changes in the heat balance of the lake and consequently on changes in the thermal structure of the water column. This mechanism is also sensitive to short-term sub-Milankovich cooling events, such as the mid-Eemian cooling, the Montaigu event during substage 5c, and a cooling which appears to be analogous to the Montaigu event during substage 9c. The continuity of the Lake Baikal paleoclimate record, its sensitivity to orbital forcing, and its high resolution make it an excellent candidate for a new “paleoclimatic stratotype” section for continental Asia.

Three new extinct taxa of the genus Stephanodiscus Ehrenberg (S. williamsii sp. nov., S. princeps sp. nov., S. yukonensis var. antiquus var. nov.) and four new extinct species and two new extinct varieties of the genus Cyclotella (Kutzing) Brebisson (C. iris var. insueta var. nov., C. tempereiformica sp. nov., C. distincta sp. nov., C. comtaeformica sp. nov., C. comtaeformica var. spinata var. nov. and C. praeminuta sp. nov.) are described from Upper Cenozoic lacustrine sediments of Lake Baikal (boreholes BDP-96-1 and BDP-96-2). The narrow biostratigraphic ranges of the new taxa warrant their use as index-fossil species for defining a diatom zonation, for accurate correlation and age control of Lake Baikal sediments. The comparative morphological analysis of the newly described Cyclotella taxa allowed us to trace the evolution of morphological features in these diatoms through time. The short time intervals during which the Stephanodiscus taxa existed in ancient Baikal imply that these species were unable to adapt to rapidly changing paleoecological and paleolimnological conditions caused by abrupt Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.

Detailed siliceous microfossil records (diatoms and chrysophyte cysts) from the BDP-93-2 borehole with resolution of ca 30–120 years were obtained from Lake Baikal sediments to test the sensitivity of the Lake Baikal system to minor climate changes during the Holocene. Our new results demonstrate that the Subboreal period is characterized by the highest accumulations of diatom frustules and chrysophyte cysts in Lake Baikal sediments. The siliceous microfossil record suggests that the Holocene climatic optimum in this interior part of Asia corresponds to the Subboreal period 2.5–4.5 ka and not to the Atlantic period 4.6–6 ka. Although quite different from Holocene reconstructions for the European part of Eurasia, the Holocene sedimentary record from Lake Baikal shows good correlation with palynological and soil climatic records from southeast Siberia and Mongolia where similar responses of the terrestrial biosphere are also documented. A distinctive monospecific lamina of Synedra acus diatom species, coincident with the maximum of chrysophyte cyst accumulation during the Subboreal period, argues for the possible short-term changes of the trophic state of Lake Baikal from oligotrophic, with a cold-water diatom assemblage, to eutrophic with a thermophilic monospecific diatom flora. Comparison of diatom and cyst responses provides a key to distinguishing the humidity from temperature response in future studies of high-resolution records of Lake Baikal.

The δ 13 C record of total organic carbon in the Lake Baikal core BDP-93-2 over the last glacial/interglacial transition shows remarkable correlation with atmospheric CO 2 fluctuations and the negative isotopic shift of 3.5–4‰ in response to the global increase in paleo- p CO 2 level. With rapid evolution of the Lake Baikal carbon cycle from full glacial to full interglacial modes, however, the p CO 2 signal in the Baikal δ 13 C sedimentary organic matter is inundated by the basin-wide productivity signal, in the Holocene. The Baikal diatom abundance record, as a paleotemperature proxy, lags behind the GISP2 ice core δ 18 O temperature proxy record by ca. 1 ka, possibly reflecting the response time of the Baikal ecosystem to major climatic transitions. There is no lag associated with the pronounced Younger Dryas cooling, however, suggesting a different forcing mechanism, with a short response time, for this abrupt climatic event in continental interior Asia. The phase difference observed between the diatom abundance and δ 13 C proxies in Lake Baikal core BDP-93-2 suggests their independent responses to different forcing mechanisms, further justifying their importance for paleoclimate reconstructions from Lake Baikal records.

The paleoclimatic record from bottom sediments of Lake Baikal (eastern Siberia) reveals new evidence for an abrupt and intense glaciation during the initial part of the last interglacial period (isotope substage 5d). This glaciation lasted about 12,000 yr from 117,000 to 105,000 yr B.P. according to correlation with the SPECMAP isotope chronology. Lithological and biogeochemical evidence of glaciation from Lake Baikal agrees with evidence for the advance of ice sheet in northwestern Siberia during this time period and also with cryogenic features within the strata of Kazantzevo soils in Southern Siberia. The severe 5d glaciation in Siberia was caused by dramatic cooling due to the decrease in solar insolation (as predicted by the model of insolation changes for northern Asia according to Milankovich theory) coupled with western atmospheric transport of moisture from the open areas of Northern Atlantic and Arctic seas (which became ice-free due to the intense warming during preceeding isotope substage 5e). Other marine and continental records show evidence for cooling during 5d, but not for intense glaciation. Late Pleistocene glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere may have begun in northwestern Siberia.

The sedimentary record of biogenic silica from Lake Baikal in south-central Siberia suggests that this region of central Asia was impacted by two major cooling episodes at 2.8 to 2.6 and 1.8 to 1.6 million years ago. The spectral evolution of this continental interior site parallels the evolutionary frequency spectra for various marine oxygen isotope records. In the Baikal record, the 41,000-year obliquity cycle is particularly strong from 1.8 to 0.8 million years ago; variance in the 100,000-year eccentricity band increases during the past 0.8 million years. The expected precession frequency of 23,000 years is highest during the past 400,000 years. The modulation of the predicted 23,000- and 41,000-year insolation forcing by the 100,000- and 400,000-year eccentricity bands indicates that the transfer of variance from the precession and obliquity frequencies to the eccentricity part of the spectrum occurred in the Eurasian continental interior, as well as in tropical and high-latitude ocean sites.

The Yellowstone supervolcano erupted roughly 640,000 years ago, covering much of North America in a thick coat of ash. Material ejected from the volcano devastated the surrounding area, and particles injected into the atmosphere changed the Earth's climate. Over the past 18 million years the Yellowstone hot spot has powered a series of similar eruptions. In southern Idaho, the 640-kilometer-long Snake River Plain traces the path of the Yellowstone hot spot over this period.

This chapter presents a conceptual framework for understanding the impact of glacial/interglacial climate changes on the carbon cycle of Lake Baikal. To do so, we bring together evidence from mass-balance estimates, from the carbon and nitrogen compositions of plankton, particulate organic matter and the surface layer of bottom sediments, and watershed soils and riverine sediments, as well as from Lake Baikal organic sedimentary records of the last glacial/interglacial transition and of the last climatic cycle to 130 Ka BP. The goal of this synthesis is to offer new ways of examining organic carbon paleoproductivity records.

Five boreholes, drilled in different geological structures of Lake Baikal by the International Baikal Drilling Project, allowed us to obtain unique paleoclimatic records, which can be regarded as being representative of continental Asia. One of the most sensitive paleoclimate proxies in the sedimentary core is the number of diatoms, and correspondingly the amount of biogenic silica. The major and trace elements, the magnetic susceptibility, the clay mineral composition, and a number of other parameters also reflect changes in the environment and the climate.

The sedimentary record of Lake Baikal reveals details about the climatic response of continental Asia during the interval 423-362 Ka BP, corresponding to marine oxygen isotope stage MIS 11. The MIS 11 record in Lake Baikal is marked by two plateaus of high biogenic silica content corresponding to MIS 11.3 and 11.2. The middle part of MIS 11 (substage 11.2) exhibits the highest biogenic silica accumulation, reflecting the warmest regional climate, of the last 450 Ka. These interglacial conditions in continental Asia were uninterrupted for about 32 Ka, making MIS 11 the longest interglacial in Siberia, greatly exceeding the duration of interglacial conditions during MIS 5e, 7e and 9e. This extremely long and warm interglacial period of MIS 11.3-11.2 in Siberia ended abruptly with dramatic cooling at 394-390 Ka BP. This cooling resulted in brief mountain glaciation in Siberia due to the amplified response of continental Asia to insolation forcing. The cooling during MIS 11 produced irreversible change in the climate of continental Asia as suggested by diatom succession and by biogenic silica accumulation. Diatom species composition further reveals more complex structure of MIS 11 and makes a strong case for insolation control of diatom production in Lake Baikal.

On the basis of the diatom analysis of lacustrine sediments recovered by the BDP-98 drill core in the depth interval 600-221 m, eight successive periods in the development of the Lake Baikal diatom flora during the late Miocene have been distinguished. They differ by the specific generic and species composition of the diatoms, and clearly reflect the sedimentation conditions in the ancient paleobasin (the gradual facial changes from distal deltaic sequences to fine hemipelagic deposits). The late Miocene diatom flora of Lake Baikal is characterized by the presence in its composition of the biochronologically important extinct genus Mesodictyon Theriot & Bradbury, and by the evolutionary appearance, blooming, and extinction of the new genus Mesodictyopsis Khursevich, Iwashita, Kociolek & Fedenya, gen. nov., as well as by the occurrence of new freshwater extinct taxa of Alveolophora, Concentrodiscus, and Actinocyclus. Moreover, the extinct species are typical not only within the centric diatom genera mentioned above, but also within certain pennate ones.

We discuss laser pulse propagation with the self-similar shape in a medium with instantaneous nonlinear absorption. We consider two cases of the laser pulse propagation. First one corresponds to problem of laser-induced plasma generation in silica under action of TW laser pulse. The second one corresponds to femtosecond laser pulse propagation in medium with nanoparticles of noble metals. In both cases the mode of the self-similar shape of pulse is of interest. We discuss also a physical mechanism of non-linear acceleration or slowing-down for laser pulse propagation in a medium with nanoparticles. The last phenomena are important, in particular, for a problem of data processing of all optical method. We used analytical approach for considered problem as well as computer simulation.