(Table 2) Distribution of phytoliths in selected samples from DSDP Site 90-591

Phytoliths are described from deep sea sediments at Site 591 in the southwestern Pacific. Their regional distribution is related to the arid and semiarid regions of Australia, from where they were blown by westerly winds into the Tasman Sea area. The stratigraphic record ranges from the middle Miocene, at about 14.4 m.y., until the early Pleistocene. A distinct increase in frequencies observed during the Pliocene and a maximum at about 2.5 m.y. coincide with important trends in paleogeography and paleoclimatology: the development of the Antarctic ice cap, the northward drift of the Australian Plate, and the generation of arid conditions on the Australian continent.

(Table 1) Activity of strontium-90 in waters of the Northeast Atlantic at the end of 1965 and the beginning of 1966

In 1965-1966 R/V Mikhail Lomonosov conducted studies on concentrations of artificial radioactive products in the Northeast Atlantic. Concentration of strontium-90 at the end of 1965 and the beginning of 1966 was higher than the average level for the ocean and reached about 53 dpm/100 l in the surface layer. The most intense transport of artificial radioactive products out of the Irish Sea was detected in the northern and northeastern directions along the Hebrides and the Orkneys. In addition to radioactive fission products from nuclear weapons tests, radioactive wastes of atomic industrial facilities discharged into the ocean are an important source of radioactive contamination of some regions of the world ocean.