Sea Straits Research Articles

Scale-dependent influences of environmental, historical, and spatial processes on taxonomic and functional beta diversity of Japanese bat assemblages.

This study investigated the relative influences of environmental, spatial, and historical factors, including the island-specific history of land connectivity, on bat assemblages in the Japanese Archipelago. We collected bat distribution data from 1408 studies and assigned them to Japan's First Standard Grid (approximately 6400 km2). Japanese bat assemblages were analyzed at two scales: the entire Japanese Archipelago comprised 16 islands and exclusively the four main islands. At first, we calculated taxonomic and functional total beta diversity (β total) by Jaccard pairwise dissimilarity and then divided this into turnover (β repl) and richness-difference (β rich) components. We conducted hierarchical clustering of taxonomic beta diversity to examine the influence of the two representative sea straits, Tsugaru and Tokara, which are considered biogeographical borders. Variation partitioning was conducted to evaluate the relative effects of the three factors on the beta diversity. Clustering revealed that the Tokara Strait bordered the two major clades; however, the Tsugaru Strait did not act as a biogeographical border for bats. In the variation partitioning, shared fraction between spatial and historical factors significantly explained taxonomic and functional β total and taxonomic β repl at the entire archipelago scale, but not at the four main islands scale extending only Tsugaru Strait but not Tokara Strait. Pure environmental factors significantly explained functional β total at both scales and taxonomic β total only at the four main islands scale. These results suggest that spatial and historical factors are more pronounced in biogeographical borders, primarily structuring assemblage composition at the entire archipelago scale, especially in taxonomic dimension. However, current environmental factors primarily shape the assemblage composition of Japanese bats at the main island scale. The difference in results between the two scales highlights that the primary processes governing assemblages of both dimensions depend on the quality of the dispersal barriers between terrestrial and aquatic barriers for bats.

Znaczenie Morza Czarnego dla relacji turecko-sowieckich w latach 1939-1946

The Black Sea and the Black Sea Straits during World War II and immediately after its end had a huge impact on the formation of Turkish-Soviet relations. Already at the beginning of the war, Moscow tried to force Ankara to revise the Montreux Treaty. Soviet pressure depended on the war situation and resurfaced as the Allies began winning the war. In 1945, Turkey, fearing a lack of support in the event of a conflict with the Soviet Union, was ready to make concessions, and in the following year Moscow began to boldly demand a revision of the Montreux Treaty in its notes in such a way that the straits would be decided by the Black Sea states, and the security guards Turkey and the Soviet Union were to become the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Ankara could only have been saved by Western support during this period - and in the longer context by the outbreak of the Cold War.

Russia/USSR – Türkiye/Turkey: Legacy of “Friendly Neutrality”.Goals of Soviet Policy towards Turkey

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the Soviet leadership’s approaches to the implementation of the goals of the Soviet foreign policy towards Turkey, legacy of which remains until nowadays. The Soviet-Turkish relations in the 1920-s were built up on the basis of common political interests shared between two neighboring states existing in a similar geopolitical environment. The common goal for the Republic of Turkey and the USSR was to overcome international isolation and ensure national security. The Soviet government’s approach to determining the role and place of Turkey in the security system near the borders of the USSR was outlined by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin, who saw the Soviet-Turkish cooperation as one of the tools for ensuring the security of the Soviet borders in the south and southwest. One of the key issues in the Soviet-Turkish relations was the issue of the Black Sea straits. Considering the straits a "gateway" for an attack on the southern borders of the USSR, the Soviet government tried to revise the regime of the straits in a more favorable way for the country. the resolution of which in 1936 at the conference in Montreux did not suit the Soviet government completely. It was assumed that strong economic ties with the USSR and mutually beneficial security cooperation would become an effective instrument for deterring the Turkish leaders. During the Great Patriotic War, the goals of the USSR’s policy towards Turkey were to prevent it from being drawn into the war on the side of the antagonistic alliance, as well as to further revise the Montreux Convention in a more favorable direction for the Soviet leaders. The 1939–1946 attempts to put pressure on Turkey on the straits issue caused Turkey to withdraw from the orbit of the Soviet influence and led to almost two decades of hostile and tense relations between the two countries. After the death of I.V. Stalin, particularly in Khruschev’s era, the Soviet approach was characterized by a search for ways to improve Soviet-Turkish relations. The main instrument of this was expansion of the Soviet-Turkish trade and economic cooperation, due to which the foundations of today's highly developed bilateral Russian-Turkish relations were laid.

Control of the Black Sea Straits: The Kerch Incident

This article addresses regional security in the EU’s South-Eastern neighbourhood. The current Russia–Ukraine relations represent a critical point within the historical power competition over the Black Sea straits between Russia–Türkiye and Russia–NATO. The Black Sea has three geopolitically significant straits. Two are controlled by Türkiye – the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. One is currently controlled by Russia – the Kerch Strait, connecting the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. The unresolved regional security crises include the Kerch Strait incident from 2018, in which Russian vessels implemented military action against Ukrainian vessels.This study is inductive. It addresses the Kerch Strait incident as a security crisis of two contrasting perspectives – first, that of maritime security and international law, and second, the psychological drama triangle – a model of interpersonal dependency, which I apply to international relations. These two approaches lead to a better understanding of ongoing processes. First, the maritime law perspective shows the inapplicability of international maritime law due to opposing vital security interests of the participants. Second, the psychological perspective suggests an alternative explanation of recurring crises in international relations. The findings suggest two solutions. First, based on international maritime law, the Kerch incident could be resolved only if Russia and Ukraine agree on the ownership of Crimea and its territorial waters. However, their differing perception of security threats is an obstacle to such resolution. Second, the drama triangle of human interaction examines interpersonal conflict in which the victim has to interrupt the cycle of victimisation. Applying this psychological model to IR suggests that Ukraine, if in the victim role, should aim self-empowerment to minimise dependencies on dominant international actors.

The Eastern Question in the Views of the Russian Liberals of the Early 20th Century

The study deals with the attitude of Russian liberals of the early 20th century to the Eastern question, which occupied a special place in international politics and whose aggravation became one of the factors leading to the World War I. Various political forces in Russia developed their own variants of its solution, realizing that the fate not only of the country, but of the whole world largely depended on the projects they proposed. The analysis of the liberals’ ambiguous perception of the Russian government’s actions in the Balkans, their attitude to the South Slavs, to the problem of the Black Sea Straits, and to the confrontation between the great powers united in alliances, i.e. all aspects of the Eastern question, will allow us to reconstruct and understand the liberals’ understanding of the connection between foreign policy and Russia’s internal development, national interests, and ideological values. Looking at the views of the liberals of the early 20th century on the Eastern question reveals not only the peculiarities of its perception by the ruling elite and representatives of the legal opposition, but also the roots of the growing alienation of the country’s elite from the people. It was this alienation, which intensified during the war years and manifested itself, among other things, in the different perceptions of the importance of the Eastern question by the authorities, the liberals, and the people, that led to the fall of the first liberal Provisional Government in the spring of 1917. As a result, the people tired of the war and unable to understand the meaning of Russia’s struggle for foreign lands, came to support the Bolsheviks, who exposed the “imperialist plans” of the Provisional Government and advocated peace without annexations and contributions. The paper touches upon the problem of the liberals’ attitude not only to the government’s foreign policy, but also to Russian statehood, the conceptual reasons for their transition from a restrained peace-loving position and the desire to prevent war to its unconditional support. The authors identify the ideological and foreign policy factors that influenced this liberal transit. The main attention is paid to the understanding of representatives of various liberal movements of the Eastern question, which, without exaggeration, took a central place not only in their foreign policy program, but also in the project of internal transformations, which envisaged the creation of Great Russia as a result of its solution. The study identifies and analyzes the innovations introduced by the liberals in the interpretation of the Eastern question under the influence not only of the changing international situation, political and economic modernization of Russia, which was becoming a “Duma monarchy,” but also of the development of the ideology itself; the peculiarities of its perception by representatives of various liberal currents in the country are examined.

Modelling secondary circulations in stratified bi-directional flows: A potential mechanism for flux transfer from lower to upper fluid layers

Results are presented for new laboratory-scale numerical simulations of bi-directional stratified flows generated within an idealized trapezoidal sill-channel topography, focussing on the lateral (or secondary) flow structure across the channel both in non-rotating and rotating frames of reference. The simulations utilise the non-hydrostatic Bergen Ocean Model (BOM), a three-dimensional general ocean circulation model. The results from the BOM simulations are verified by large-scale experimental data obtained in the LEGI Coriolis rotating platform in Grenoble, within which velocity and density fields for bi-directional stratified flows were measured through particle image velocimetry (PIV) and micro-conductivity density probes, respectively. The BOM simulations reproduce the main dynamic flow patterns and structure of the large-scale exchange flows generated through the trapezoidal sill-channel, with the lower layer saline intrusion flux shown to reduce, due to partial blockage, as the upper freshwater flow is increased (i.e. net barotropic forcing). Non-rotational BOM simulations show upward (and downward) flow along the centreline of the trapezoidal sill-channel in the upper (and lower) layers, with symmetrical counter-rotating circulation cells forming both above and below the density interface. By contrast, equivalent BOM simulations within a rotating frame of reference show the secondary flow circulation in the lower dense water layer to be dominated by Ekman dynamics, while two co-rotating cells are formed in the upper freshwater layer above the inclined density interface. In these rotational cases, significant upward and downward velocities (i.e. strong upwelling and downwelling) are generated adjacent to the inclined sill-channel side walls (in comparison to non-rotating cases). This secondary flow effect may be especially relevant for exchange flows in estuaries, fjords, deep-ocean channels and sea straits, where the channel width exceeds the Rossby radius of deformation and, thus, Earth rotation effects become important dynamically. In particular, any potential vertical transport pathway associated with this upwelling and downwelling at the inclined channel side slopes may have strong managerial implications in coastal areas, whereby tracers (e.g. contaminants, salinity, reduced DO waters, fine sediments) can be transferred from deep waters to the near surface.

Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Thermohaline Structure of Waters in the Antarctic Sound

The sea straits of the Antarctic Peninsula region are characterized by intense currents, the presence of sea ice and large icebergs, strong tides, and many other factors that form the thermohaline structure of the waters in this region and its temporal variability. The existence of local ecological communities depends on the thermohaline properties of the waters in the straits that determines the relevance of this work. From this point of view, the Antarctic Sound, which connects the Bransfield Strait with the western part of the Weddell Sea, stands out in particular. Based on new field data, a description of the thermohaline structure of this strait is given. Unique data from autonomous sensors installed on marine mammals were used for the first time and made it possible to track changes in the waters throughout the year. The transitional seasons, as well as the general boundaries of the thermohaline characteristics of the waters in the strait, have been determined. The spatial, seasonal and interannual variability of the thermohaline structure of the waters in the strait was studied on the basis of data over the last 40 years.

The Rebirth of Empires: Contest and Cooperation of Russia and Türkiye in the Black Sea Region(Political and Historical Analysis)

Introduction. Modern Russia and Türkiye are dynamically developing geopolitical centers actively participating in the formation of a new model of international relations. The purpose of the research is to determine how historical models and patterns of interaction of the two states have influenced on current cooperation and their possible clash in the near future and compare their main resource opportunities for obtaining the status of a power in the new world order. Materials and Methods. The study is carried out within the framework of the paradigms of classical geopolitics using system, geopolitical, civilizational and historical approaches. The authors consider the historical experience of Russian-Turkish relations in the form of the interaction of imperial systems. Results. It’s seen that although Russia and Türkiye can be seen as historical antagonists, their imperial nature is based on Eurasian spatial projects that influence their contemporary foreign policy. Despite the12 Russian-Turkish wars, the powers have never posed an existential threat to each other and have had unprecedented periods of political rapprochement, while at the same time they have faced the existential challenges from the united West. Now, having a significant space for cooperation in the economic and geopolitical sphere, Russia and Türkiye clash in three key regions: the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, the Black Sea region, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The central issue of interaction is the problem of the functioning of the Black Sea straits. The issue was updated after the start of the Special Military Operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, when Ankara, on the basis of the Montreux Convention, blocked the straits for all warships that benefits Russia. Discussion and Conclusion. The sovereign revival of Russia and Türkiye is a reason for an extremely unstable climate of bilateral relations, within which a positive agenda is currently being formed due to the personal factor of the two presidents: painful issues to be postponed for future. This state of affairs requires a qualitative scientific examination of the historical and political experience of the interaction of the two powers and modeling of future bilateral relations.

Genetic variation and population structure of a widely distributed damselfly (Ischnura senegalensis).

Ischnura senegalensis Rambur, 1842 is among the most widespread damselfly species in the world. Unlike dragonflies with strong migration abilities, I. senegalensis have limited dispersing abilities. Gene flow among I. senegalensis populations may be greatly influenced by anthropogenic disturbance, fragmented suitable habitats, sea straits, or even global warming. In this study, to investigate the genetic diversity of I. senegalensis populations, we sequenced and collected 498 cytochrome oxidase I sequences across the Old World. Haplotype network analysis showed 51 haplotypes and I. senegalensis could be grouped into four regions (Afrotropical region, Oriental region, main Islands of Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands), each of which contains different dominant haplotypes. Based on molecular variance analysis, we found that populations from the Afrotropical region have quite a low gene flow with the Asian populations (except Yemen). Furthermore, rice cultivation may aid the dispersion of I. senegalensis in the oriental region. Populations from the Ryukyu Islands show the highest genetic diversity, which may be due to the geological separation among islands. Our results prove that I. senegalensis has great genetic diversity among different populations across the world.

A terminal Messinian flooding of the Mediterranean evidenced by contouritic deposits on Sicily

ABSTRACTThe evolution of marine gateways and sea straits exerts major control on bottom current depositional systems. A well‐known interval in geological history characterized by frequent changes in marine connectivity is the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97 to 5.33 Ma) when the Mediterranean allegedly experienced major (>1 km) sea‐level drawdown followed by a catastrophic marine replenishment at the base of the Zanclean. Controversy exists around the timing and mode of this event as unambiguous flood deposits have so far never been drilled or recognized in outcrops. In the Sicilian Caltanissetta Basin (Italy), the Messinian/Zanclean boundary is directly underlain by the Arenazzolo Formation. This 5 to 7 m thick sandy sedimentary interval may reveal a genetic link with the abrupt refilling of the Mediterranean, but at present a detailed study to understand its origin is lacking. In this work, the Arenazzolo Formation at Eraclea Minoa has been studied by a multi‐method approach, employing detailed facies description, grain‐size analyses, petrographic analyses and palaeocurrent analyses. Palaeogeographical reconstructions and facies associations show that the Arenazzolo Formation sands were deposited on the northern flank of the Gela thrust front by persistent bottom currents, flowing parallel to the regional slope physiography, during a transgression. It is hypothesized that these currents are associated with the active circulation of surface and intermediate water masses coeval with a terminal Messinian flood, when basin margins overtopped and a reconnection between western and eastern Mediterranean was created. The Arenazzolo Formation is a unique example of a contouritic deposit formed by bottom currents that establish during the reconnection of major isolated water bodies.

Modern approaches to research and development of underwater floating constructions

New transport facilities such as floating underwater tunnels present a major scientific challenge. No such structure has been built all over the world; design, at best, ends at the technical and economic assessment stage. The scientific basis development for designing these structures began in the 1990s, mainly in Norway, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. A submerged floating tunnel is a structure, also known as the «Archimedes Bridge», in terms of design is an underwater artificial structure attached to pontoons on the surface of the water (zero buoyancy structure) or secured from emersion by anchor devices (positive buoyancy structure). The lack of any construction experience makes the synthesis problem of optimal solutions very relevant. There are many approaches to the underwater floating tunnel calculation and a certain paradigm for their study has not been established. For Russia, the use of floating tunnels is relevant in connection with the construction of the northern latitudinal passage and the crossing of large Siberian rivers near the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Significant deep-water obstacles are the Caspian Sea, Baikal, reservoirs of Siberian rivers, and sea straits. The review article discusses the foreign experience of scientific design basics development of such tunnels and provides a structure classification based on draft designs. Foreign publications devoted to various research and development aspects of underwater floating tunnels are considered. The problems solved in current works devoted to the study of floating tunnels can be conditionally divided into three groups. The first group of tasks concerns the justification of the use of the structure in the organization of intersections, the second group of tasks concerns the floating tunnels design calculation for various effects and their combinations, and the third group of tasks combines two related areas: the search for new methods for calculating and optimizing structures.

Fathoming the warm waters: The Russian Mediterranean adventure in the age of Napoleonic wars, 1798-1807

The French advances in Europe during the age of the Napoleonic wars, as well as Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian expedition, paved the way for a previously unthinkable alliance between the Russian and Ottoman empires. Both militarily and ideologically, France had become a threat to both monarchies, so in late 1798, for different reasons, the interests of both monarchies coincided. As a result of the defensive alliance between St. Petersburg and the Sublime Porte, the Russian fleet was granted passage through the Black Sea Straits, and the joint Russian-Ottoman naval fleet launched a military expedition against the French in the Mediterranean. The Ottoman-Russian forces subsequently ousted the French from the Ionian Archipelago off the west coast of continental Greece, and Russia gained de facto control over the Ionian Islands and established a naval base in the Adriatic Sea, where it stayed until 1807. The present article draws from a variety of published and unpublished primary sources to analyse and briefly outline the circumstances behind the creation of the Septinsular Republic on the Ionian Islands and the short-lived Russian residency in the Central Mediterranean during the discussed period.

Channel, dune and sand sheet architectures of a strait-adjacent delta, Rifian Corridor, Morocco

Abstract Sea straits are elongated zones where geographical constriction can amplify marine currents. Sediment deposits that formed in sea straits are relatively well studied and robust models of tidal strait depositional systems have been developed. However, models of strait-adjacent systems remain uncommon. In this study, we present such a model which is based on detailed outcrop descriptions of Miocene deposits that formed adjacent to the Rifian Corridor, an ancient sea strait that existed in what is now northern Morocco. The kilometre-scale outcrops at the Ben Allou locality (30 km north of Fez, Morocco) contain a succession of claystones, siltstones and sandstones that formed under a sea strait-adjacent process regime characterized by marine current constriction, tidal amplification and reduced wave activity. Detailed descriptions of the sandstone's sedimentary architectures reflect a development from mud drape-bearing sand sheets in the proximal regions of the system to stacked cross-strata and channel forms nearer to the basin depocentre. In the deep, distal reaches of this system, sediment grain sizes are generally fine (silt and clay) and are sparsely interbedded with sandy turbidites. These results confirm existing models which show that proximal strait-adjacent deposits tend to be tide dominated, and wave and fluvial influence can be overprinted by tidal processes. Some insights into the formation of tidal dunes are discussed. For example, it is shown that compound tidal dunes may not be preserved differently than simple tidal dunes, which is relevant for predicting sedimentary architectures and fluid flow properties of ancient tide-dominated successions.

Османсько-російське дипломатичне протистояння в період Другої Балканської війни 1913 р.

On the basis of British, German, French, and Russian documents, the origins, course, and consequences of the diplomatic struggle between the Russian and Ottoman empires caused by St. Petersburg’s gross interference in international relations in the Balkans have been studied. It is shown that Russia actively, though unsuccessfully, made enormous diplomatic efforts during the First Balkan War of 1912–1913 to persuade the Bulgarian army to relinquish control of Adrianople, which was under Ottoman control at the time because it viewed Bulgaria as its immediate competitor in the potential struggle for control of Constantinople and the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. After all, the capture of these strategically located Ottoman territories was one of the main directions of Russian policy for several centuries. The article considers how the Russian autocracy, on the contrary, already tried to prevent the return of Adrianople to Ottoman control during the Second Balkan War by seeking allies among European powers, no longer wanting to strengthen the sultan’s position near the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, considering these territories as its potential prey. All the tools of St. Petersburg’s pressure on the Ottoman government were analyzed, including threats to carry out a naval operation in the Black Sea Straits or seize part of Turkey’s Asian possessions, and to urge Russia’s ally France to abandon further lending to the Ottoman Empire. It has been proven that such an inconsistent and rather aggressive Russian policy in the Balkans led to the fact that the Ottoman Empire, like Bulgaria, actively sought allies to resist this encroachment, quickly became closer to Germany, and later entered the First World War on its side. It is noted that looking for partners to resist this Russian expansion, the Ottoman government later cooperated quite successfully with the Ukrainian liberation movement, especially the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine, which was represented in Constantinople, and officially declared support for the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people against tsarist autocracy. Furthermore, it is emphasized that both Russia’s partners in the Entente (France and Great Britain) and its potential rivals in the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) categorically did not accept Russia’s attempts to expand to Ottoman Constantinople, the Bosporus, the Dardanelles and beyond to the Eastern Mediterranean, as it would radically upset the balance of power in Europe and the Middle East and, in general, destabilize international relations to which the great powers were not yet ready.

Estimating crossing success of human agents across sea straits out of Africa in the Late Pleistocene

According to the Out-of-Africa theory, humans originated in Africa and from there expanded into Eurasia. Besides entering Eurasia via a terrestrial route, humans may have used sea straits. These routes would have shaped the subsequent expansions in Eurasia. Sea straits, in particular, are an additional option for entering Eurasia. However, the chances of sea crossings into Eurasia have not yet been quantified. Here, we apply an agent-based model for human water crossing to quantify the crossing success for the Gibraltar Strait, the Sicily Strait, and the Bab-al-Mandab Strait during the Late Pleistocene. The environment of the model consists of geographic explicit reconstructions of the sea straits, including water temperature, current speed and direction, along with terrestrial data of resource distribution and topography. We tested five behavioral scenarios of water movement skills of Late Pleistocene modern humans in a cold phase, represented by the Last Glacial Maximum, and a warm phase, represented by the Last Interglacial. We quantified the impact of water movement skills and climate on the crossing success by the crossing success rate (CSR). Our results show that Africa could be left via the Bab-al-Mandab Strait without specific rafting technology. At low sea level, even passive drifting was sufficient to cross the strait. In contrast, the Gibraltar- and Sicily Strait were barriers to humans without rafting technology.

A ship navigation information service system for the Arctic Northeast Passage using 3D GIS based on big Earth data

ABSTRACT Research on Arctic passages has mainly focused on navigation policies, sea ice extraction models, and navigation of Arctic sea routes. It is difficult to quantitatively address the specific problems encountered by ships sailing in the Arctic in real time through traditional manual approaches. Additionally, existing sea ice information service systems focus on data sharing and lack online calculation and analysis capabilities, making it difficult for decision-makers to derive valuable information from massive amounts of data. To improve navigation analysis through intelligent information service, we built an advanced Ship Navigation Information Service System (SNISS) using a 3D geographic information system (GIS) based on big Earth data. The SNISS includes two main features: (1) heuristic algorithms were developed to identify the optimal navigation route of the Arctic Northeast Passage (NEP) from a macroscale perspective for the past 10 years to the next 100 years, and (2) for key sea straits along the NEP, online local sea-ice images can be retrieved to provide a fully automatic sea ice data processing workflow, solving the problems of poor flexibility and low availability of real sea ice remote sensing data extraction. This work can potentially enhance the safety of shipping navigation along the NEP.

Historical background and consequences of the kanal Istanbul construction

The security and stability of the Black Sea Region is vital for the interests of Russia. The current status of the Black Sea Straits, which is regulated by the 1936 Montreux Convention, generally ensures this security. A destabilizing factor for the region may become Turkey’s desire to strengthen control over the Straits and the construction of an alternative channel, which will be under Turkish jurisdiction and which will not be subject to the Montreux Convention. The construction of the Kanal Istanbul in the context of global instability and the existence of serious contradictions between Western countries and Russia can lead to an imbalance of forces in the Black Sea region. In this regard, this article provides a brief historical overview of how Russia has defended its vital interests in this region over the centuries, as well as how the control over the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean by the different actors was influencing the balance of power in the region. In addition, for a better understanding of the military, political, economic, and ecological consequences of the construction of the Kanal Istanbul the article analyzes the current situation around this project using a matrix of interests. Consequently, by studying the historical and modern processes taking place in the Black Sea region, and also considering the importance of this region for the security and economic well-being of Russia, the author came to the conclusion that the future status of the Kanal Istanbul should be included in the Russian-Turkish agenda.

THE BLACK SEA & TURKISH STRAITS AFTER 2023: THE END OF LAUSANNE & PROSPECTS FOR TURKEY’S FUTURE AS REGIONAL POWER

Turkey always caught the attention of the world not only at the time of the Ottomans but even after their demise the geo-strategic location of its territory gives it a significant position in world politics. The only sea opening for five Eurasian states and juncture of Europe and Asia made it a game-changer in the future just like in the era of the Cold war when NATO immediately installed nuclear weapons and directed to the former USSR from the Incirlik US military Air Base in 1962 and change the entire situation. Similarly, the Black Sea and Turkish Straits played a very important role not only for host nations but for many others. The research is intended to understand the importance of the region for them and the world and what future changes can occur due to the end of the international peace treaty of Lausanne after completing 100 years. Turkey has a very glorify past which they are claiming to get again after 2023, thus respective easy also envisioned the prospects of their claim as well as enlightened the challenges which Ankara has to face during this process.

Spatial distribution and behavior of dissolved selenium speciation in the South China Sea and Malacca Straits during spring inter-monsoon period

Spatial distribution and behavior of dissolved selenium speciation in the South China Sea and Malacca Straits during spring inter-monsoon period

Discovering the opposite shore: How did hominins cross sea straits?

Understanding hominin expansions requires the comprehension of movement processes at different scales. In many models of hominin expansion these processes are viewed as being determined by large-scale effects, such as changes in climate and vegetation spanning continents and thousands or even millions of years. However, these large-scale patterns of expansions also need to be considered as possibly resulting from the accumulation of small-scale decisions of individual hominins. Moving on a continental scale may for instance involve crossing a water barrier. We present a generalized agent-based model for simulating the crossing of a water barrier where the agents represent the hominin individuals. The model can be configured to represent a variety of movement modes across water. Here, we compare four different behavioral scenarios in conjunction with a set of water barrier configurations, in which agents move in water by either paddling, drifting, swimming or rafting. We introduce the crossing-success-rate (CSR) to quantify the performance in water crossing. Our study suggests that more focus should be directed towards the exploration of behavioral models for hominins, as directionality may be a more powerful factor for crossing a barrier than environmental opportunities alone. A prerequisite for this is to perceive the opposite shore. Furthermore, to provide a comprehensive understanding of hominin expansions, the CSR allows for the integration of results obtained from small-scale simulations into large-scale models for hominin expansion.