The prospects of the Tomtor ore field for manganese mineralization were assessed. It was found that of all the bedrock of the ultramafic alkaline carbonatite complex of the Tomtor massif, ankerite carbonatites and ankerite-shamosite rocks of the ore group are the most enriched in manganese. The manganese maximum absolute concentrations are confined to the ferruginous weathering crusts according to ankerite varieties of the carbonatite complex. The detection of high manganese contents at significant intervals in the hypergene complex allows researchers to identify and predict the presence of sites with industrial concentrations, that creates real prospects for revealing deposits of iron-manganese ores with unique reserves here.

The Yuryakha productive horizon is one of the most promising objects for a significant increment in the hydrocarbon resource base in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Its low reservoir properties and compound distribution of the improved reservoir zones are noted. The analytical review of scientific notations about the relationship between petroleum potential of deposits and basement highs is carried out. The absence of lithological varieties in deposits and their thicknesses is shown on the basis of facies analysis of the Yuryakha Formation sections above basement highs and beyond. The influence of basement highs on the productivity of the Yuryakha Horizon is assumed to be limited by creating conditions for the development of secondary processes that potentially increase the void space. It is concluded that the search for zones of improved reservoirs in the Yuryakha formation based on paleogeographic reconstructions is a more promising direction than the justification of point sites with secondary changes.

The analysis of data published and obtained during field work allowed to determine the stratigraphic position of the Eldakh carbonate massif allowed researchers to determine. Based on the findings of trilobites and analysis of their distribution intervals, it was found that the stratigraphic position of most of the massif (up to 135 m from the section beginning) corresponds to the Kounamkites zone of the Amginian Stage of the Middle Cambrian of the General Stratigraphic Scale. The upper section part may be of a younger age and can correspond to the Triplagnostus gibbus overlying zone. Most of the Eldakh Horizon, the volume of which is equal to the Eldakh massif (formerly the Eldakh Formation), should be compared with the middle of the Amginian Stage, namely with the Kounamkites zone and, possibly, with bottoms of the Triplagnostus gibbus zone. Previously, the stratigraphic position of this regional subdivision of the Altai-Sayan folded region was determined by the upper part of the Amginian and bottoms of the Mayan of the Middle Cambrian.

The paper deals with determined petrographical features and conditions of metamorphism of basite dikes in the Khatyminskaya diaphthoresis zone (Amginskaya melange zone of the Aldan-Stanovoy Shield), represented by metamorphosed rocks of the Precambrian Medvedev complex and non-metamorphosed dolerites. Comparative analysis of the basite chemical composition was performed. It was found that the rock metamorphism of the Medvedev complex in the diaphthoresis zone proceeded in conditions from granulite to greenschist facies, accompanied by characteristic changes in mineral associations and rock chemical composition. The transition from granulite metamorphism to amphibolite facies metamorphism was carried out along a metamorphic gradient of 10°C/km (from amphibolite to epidote amphibolite facies with its high values). Diaphthoresis zone is characterized by the presence of metamorphosed basites of the Medvedev complex with the age of 1.9 Gya and non–metamorphosed dolerites 1.87 and 1.75 Gya, probably determines the age limits of the Khatyminskaya zone 1.9–1.75 Gya diaphoresis. Metamorphic gradients and the presence of dolerite dikes indicate the formation of zone in an extension setting at the stage of transition to the platform mode.

An approach is proposed to determine the salinity of formation water by approximating diagrams of spontaneous potential logging (SP) by analytical functions. The method is based on the representation of SP diagrams in the form of a superposition of sigmoid functions. Their parameters are associated with the geoelectric parameters of the medium, and are also used to correct SP signals depending only on the salinity of formation water and the degree of the reservoir layer clay content. The clay content is taken into account by a method based on the assumption of a monotonous dependence of formation water salinity on the depth. The applicability analysis of some sigmoid functions to take into account a wide range of geoelectric conditions is carried out. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is shown on synthetic SP diagrams calculated using a numerical modeling algorithm, as well as on practical data of SP logging materials in the intervals of sandyclayey reservoirs in West Siberia.

The paper deals with the presented results of geothermal studies of Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits within the Vilyuy hemisyneclise and adjacent territories. Features of geothermal zoning of oil-and-gas deposits are determined by the cryogenic stratum developed everywhere here, structural plan and heat flow magnitude. The lowest values of heat flow (up to 35 MW/m2) are typical for the western and south-western regions of the Vilyuy hemisyneclise, the largest (up to 50 MW/m2 or more) values are сharacteristic of central and eastern ones. The thickness of the cryogenic stratum naturally increases with a distance from the Lena River valley, where a through talik is developed, in a north-western direction, where it exceeds 1000 m; the thickness of the cryogenic stratum is 600–650 m in the central regions of the hemisyneclise. Two types of vertical geothermal zoning have been determined. The first type with low geothermal gradients (0.49–1.40 °C/100 m) was revealed in the southern, north-western and north-eastern margins; the second one (more than 2 °C/100 m) – throughout most of the studied region. The thermal regime of Cambrian rocks is significantly influenced by disjunctive tectonics, which is expressed in an increase in the values of current reservoir temperatures in the south-east of the research area (more than 180–190 °C).

The results of studying the surface graphitization of diamonds by optical and scanning electron microscopy in various experimentally realized conditions are presented: at 2–4 GPa, 1450–1550 °C in carbonate medium and at 1000 °C and atmospheric pressure in a flowing medium of wet argon. It is determined that a dense optically opaque shell is formed on diamond crystals in a carbonate medium. As a result of an oxidation in wet argon, the surface graphite forms an unequal translucent film on diamond crystals. The represented conditions at high P-T parameters in a carbonate medium simulate the presence of diamonds in metamorphic complexes of ultrahigh pressures, and the wet argon medium simulates the presence of impact diamonds in astroblemes.

The paper analyzes multispectral remote sensing data to identify surface scattering halos of potentially toxic elements in the area of the Kounrad mine dumps (Pribalkhashye, Central Kazakhstan). As a result of processing the satellite imaging data, spectral indices were obtained that characterize the material features of the studied surface deposits. The obtained results allowed specifying the necessary elements of the geological structure of the territory, to identify areas of probable accumulation of toxic elements, which are of the main interest for subsequent lithological and geochemical studies. In particular, indices were obtained that characterize the general geological structure of the territory. Including its structural and tectonic elements and probability indices of the spatial distribution of three different types of substances identical to those contained in the dumps of the Kounrad mine were constructed. Using the obtained data, two main types of anomalies, both natural and anthropogenic, were identified in the area around the mine and its dumps, which in some places spatially overlap. The obtained results served as a base for integrating heterogeneous data into a single information system (GIS). The high efficiency of the used techniques demonstrated. In addition, it is confirmed not only by both the comparison of the results obtained in the control areas, and by subsequent lithological and geochemical studies.

Geochemical typification of oils and condensates of the Geophizicheskoye and Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye (Khanaveyskaya area) fields (The Gydan Peninsula, West Siberia) was carried out. According to the obtained geochemical information (carbon isotope composition, molecular parameters of genotype and maturity) and its comparison with published materials on the geochemistry of organic matter, it is shown that hydrocarbon accumulations of these fields were formed due to the oil-and-gas generation in the Jurassic source rock strata. The oil of the Geophizicheskoye field from the Akh Formation is generated by the mature organic matter of the Bazhenov Formation. Other samples of the studied collection from Cretaceous accumulations are characterized by mixed facies-genetic type, i.e. they are formed both due to the mixed organic matter of the Lower – Middle Jurassic oil-and-gas source rock and by mixture of hydrocarbon fluids migrating into traps from various Jurassic oil-and-gas source rocks. Judging by genetic indicators of the С5–C8 hydrocarbons composition, at least the light (gasoline) fraction of the condensate from Middle Jurassic strata of the Geophizicheskoye field was generated predominantly by the terragenic organic matter of the Lower – Middle Jurassic. Low concentrations or absence of n-alkanes and acyclic isoprenanes indicate the development of biodegradation processes of the initial and middle stages in shallow Aptian-Albian-Cenomanian accumulations.

The paper assesses fugitive emissions of greenhouse gases from the petroleum and coal industries of the Novosibirsk region. The authors compiled a database for calculations and justified the choice of conversion factors for greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources. The dynamics analysis of production, primary processing and transportation of raw materials in oil and gas and coal industries of the Novosibirsk region was carried out, location map of the main industrial facilities and pipelines was compiled, the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions were identified, and the uncertainty ranges of calculations were presented. It is shown that the main source of fugitive emissions in the region is an open-pit coal mining and its subsequent transportation. Moreover, a significant amount of emissions is created during gas transportation via main pipelines and gas distribution.