Altai Mountains Research Articles

A pollen record from Lake Shuang in the Altai Mountains and its significance for the Holocene evolution of Asian jet streams and the monsoon system

A pollen record from Lake Shuang in the Altai Mountains and its significance for the Holocene evolution of Asian jet streams and the monsoon system

A pollen record from Lake Shuang in the Altai Mountains and its significance for the Holocene evolution of Asian jet streams and the monsoon system

A pollen record from Lake Shuang in the Altai Mountains and its significance for the Holocene evolution of Asian jet streams and the monsoon system

Response of model-based cambium phenology and climatic factors to tree growth in the Altai Mountains, Central Asia

• The principal growth limiting factor shifts from temperature to soil moisture from RU to FY. • Cambial dynamic was bimodal pattern in AL, right-skewed unimodal in FY and unimodal in RU. • The length of growing seasons had a significant positive trends in two sites from Northwest China – Chinese Altai Mountains for the last six decades. • The intra-seasonal growth rate regulated tree growth rather than length of growing season. It is important to study the relationships between tree growth and phenology and climate factors in Central Asia for the sustainable development of forest ecology and the exploration of carbon sink potential in the region in a context of global change. Herein, the process-based Vaganov-Shashkin model was used to simulate tree-ring growth rates, to assess a cambial phenology (start and end of growing season) of larch trees ( Larix sibirica ) based on three sites located on three different latitudes in the Altai-Sayan Mountains in Central Asia over 1960–2018. It was shown that the principal factor limiting growth rates was temperature in RU (located in southern central Siberia), cambial dynamic was unimodal. In RU site, although the length of growing season did not change significantly over the past 59 years, it was correlated with tree radial growth. Moisture was the principal factor limiting the growth rates of AL and FY (located in Chinese Altai Mountains), and cambium dynamics were bimodal and unimodal, respectively. Temperature and precipitation before the start of the growing season lengthen the growing season, but this did not promote the tree radial growth. In conclusion, we determined that the climate-influenced intra-seasonal growth rate regulated tree growth rather than length of growing season in this area. In this study, the VS-simulation showed high potential develop a long-term reconstruction of cambial phenology in the Altai Mountains, which was conducive to a more comprehensive understanding of the exogenous-endogenous factors effects on tree-ring growth.

Floristic novelties of Veronica subgenus Pseudolysimachium (W. D. J. Koch) Buchenau of the Altai Mountain Country and adjacent territories

The article presents new floristic novelties of Veronica L. subgenus Pseudolysimachium (Plantaginaceae) of the Altai Mountain Country and adjacent areas. For the first time, Veronica × grisea Kosachev et A. L. Ebel was collected in the Republic of Altai, V. pinnata L. is indicated for the Novosibirsk Region. In addition, new locations for 7 rare and endemic species of Veronica are given. Point distribution maps are given for most species.

The Attempt of Reading and Interpretation on Some Unread Inscriptions in Mountainous Altai

The Attempt of Reading and Interpretation on Some Unread Inscriptions in Mountainous Altai

A tale of elemental accumulation and recycling in the metamorphosed Keketale VMS-type Pb-Zn deposit, Altai Mountains

The elemental accumulation and recycling in the metamorphosed Keketale VMS-type Pb-Zn deposit of the Altai Mountains are presented in this study. Based on detailed fieldwork and microscopic observation, the formation of the deposit involved syngenetic massive sulfide mineralization and epigenetic superimposed mineralization. Different generations of iron sulfides (i.e., pyrite and pyrrhotite) with contrasting textural, elemental, and sulfur isotopic features were generated in primary mineralization (including hydrothermal iron sulfides, colloform pyrite) and secondary modification (including annealed iron sulfides, oriented iron sulfides, and vein-pyrite). It is revealed that the spatial variation in textures and elements of hydrothermal iron sulfides depends on the inhomogeneous fluid compositions and varied environment in VMS hydrothermal system. Both leached sulfur from the footwall volcanic rocks and reduced sulfur by the TSR process are regarded as important sulfur sources. Furthermore, large sulfur isotopic fractionation and negative δ34S values were mainly caused by varied oxygen fugacity, and to a lesser extent, temperature fluctuation. The epigenetic polymetallic veins that contain sulfides and sulfosalts (e.g., jordanite-geocronite, bournonite-seligmannite, boulangerite) were considered as the products of metamorphic fluid scavenged the metal-rich strata. All things considered, it is indicated that two episodes of fluid with distinct origins were essential for the formation of the deposit. The predominant evolved seawater along with subordinate magmatic fluid mobilized metals from volcanic rocks and precipitated massive sulfides near the seafloor are vital for primary mineralization. The metamorphic fluid remobilized metals (i.e., FMEs: fluid mobile elements, e.g., Pb, As, Sb) from neighboring volcanic and pyroclastic rocks and destabilized them within the fractured zone are responsible for secondary mineralization, which enhances the economic value of the deposit. Accordingly, metal-rich Devonian strata had been successively swept by different origins of fluid, leading to progressively elemental enrichment and the formation of a large deposit. Furthermore, the current study enlightens that FME-bearing veins with economic benefits can be discovered near the metamorphosed VMS deposits.

Petrogenetic studies of Permian pegmatites in the Chinese Altay: Implications for a two‐stage post‐collisional magmatism model

Understanding the petrogenesis of rare‐metal pegmatites is important for understanding ore‐forming processes and their tectonic settings. In this study, we performed zircon U–Pb geochronological and Hf–O isotopic analyses of the Xiaokalasu, Dakalasu, and Yelaman pegmatites in the Chinese Altay orogen. These pegmatites have low εHf(t) values (−0.6 ~ +4.3), two‐stage model ages of 989 ~ 1,293 Ma, and high δ18O values (+6.52 ~ +11.31), indicating that they may have been derived from the anatexis of mature sedimentary rocks in the deep crust, with a small amount of mantle‐derived or juvenile material. Geochronological and Hf–O isotopic data for granitic intrusions in the Chinese Altay Mountains indicate that the εHf(t) values decreased from the Permian to the Triassic, which implies that two‐stage post‐collisional magmatism occurred in this region. During the Permian, the thin lower crust was cold; thus, magmatism likely originated in the deep crust close to the Moho surface and involved intense mantle–crust interactions. During the Triassic, asthenospheric upwelling provided heat to the lower crust, which increased the geothermal gradient and led to the anatexis of shallow crustal material.

A 50 m.y. melting model for the rare metal−rich Koktokay pegmatite in the Chinese Altai: Implications from a newly identified Jurassic granite

The petrogenesis of the world famous Koktokay No. 3 pegmatite in the Chinese Altai Mountains is still enigmatic due to its superenrichment of rare metals and the apparent absence of a parental granite. We present results from a granite apophysis that was recently discovered in the No. 3 pegmatite open pit. Results show that it has low K/Rb (32.35−38.76), Zr/Hf (13.78−23.30), Nb/Ta (1.00−6.02), and extremely low K2O/Na2O (0.12−0.20) ratios, which, together with its mica composition and the occurrences of garnet, indicate that it is a highly evolved muscovite albite granite. Columbite and apatite from the granite apophysis yielded U-Pb ages of 182.3 ± 1.0 Ma and 184.9 ± 4.3 Ma, respectively, which are younger than the Triassic ages (ca. 210 Ma) of the main magmatic stage but fall into the age range of the No. 3 pegmatite series (220−175 Ma). Both the granite and the apatite grains within it share nearly identical rare earth element patterns with the magmatic stage of the No. 3 pegmatite. The whole-rock εHf(t) values (t = 183 Ma) range from −0.11 to +1.32, consistent with those of the No. 3 pegmatite and indicating a similar source. We propose that the Jurassic granite represents a late pulse of magma injected as apophyses from a deep-seated magma chamber (perhaps from the lower crust), which overlapped with the early pegmatite and promoted the rare metal mineralization. The No. 3 pegmatite and the Jurassic granite may represent a continuous magmatic system with a 50 m.y. melting process, generating this unusual giant pegmatite intrusion with abundant rare metals.

Forecast calibrations of surface air temperature over Xinjiang based on U-net neural network

In this study, a deep learning method named U-net neural network is utilized to calibrate the gridded forecast of surface air temperature from the Global Ensemble Forecasting System (GEFS), with forecast lead times of 1–7 days in Xinjiang. The calibration performance of U-net is compared with three conventional postprocessing methods: unary linear regression (ULR), the decaying averaging method (DAM) and Quantile Mapping (QM). Results show that biases of the raw GEFS forecasts are mainly distributed in the Altai Mountains, the Junggar Basin, the Tarim Basin and the Kunlun Mountains. The four postprocessing methods effectively improve the forecast skills for all lead times, whereas U-net shows the best correction performance with the lowest mean absolute error (MAE) and the highest hit rate of 2°C (HR2) and pattern correlation coefficient (PCC). The U-net model considerably reduces the warm biases of the raw forecasts. The skill improvement magnitudes are greater in southern than northern Xinjiang, showing a higher mean absolute error skill score (MAESS). Furthermore, in order to distinguish the error sources of each forecasting scheme and to reveal their capabilities of calibrating errors of different sources, the error decomposition analysis is carried out based on the mean square errors. It shows that the bias term is the leading source of error in the raw forecasts, and barely changes as the lead time increases, which is mainly distributed in Tarim Basin and Kunlun Mountains. All four forecast calibrations effectively reduce the bias and distribution error of the raw forecasts, but only the U-net significantly reduces the sequence error.

Bird Beta Diversity in Sharp Contrasting Altai Landscapes: Locality Connectivity Is the Influential Factor on Community Composition.

Simple SummaryUnderstanding the ecological processes involved in establishing a metacommunity, a collection of small communities linked by species dispersal, could help with biodiversity conservation. In this work, we examine how local community connectivity affects the distributional patterns of various bird species across metacommunities in the strikingly different Altai landscapes. We discovered that connectivity was most important for determining community composition in metacommunities. High beta diversity and a high turnover component in the research region showed that regional-scale conservation efforts should consider overall biodiversity. Although they are not part of the Altai-Sayan biodiversity ecoregion, the riparian and desert landscapes are essential to the birds that reside in the mountain ranges and should be regarded as integral parts of the ecoregion, and high connectivity stepping-stone habitats in these landscapes should be protected.Located on the southwest slope and plain areas of the Altai Mountains in China, this study aims to explore bird composition variation (beta diversity) in mountain landscape (metacommunity M), riparian landscape (metacommunity R), desert landscape (metacommunity D) and across the three landscapes (metacommunity A), and to assess how patch connectivity with environmental and spatial factors influence species distributional patterns across multiple metacommunities. In 78 transect lines over the study area, 9724 detections of 139 bird species were detected. We calculated the beta diversity, its turnover and nestedness components in four metacommunities. We used the variation partitioning method to investigate the relative importance between the environment, spatial variation and locality connectivity in driving bird community composition variation. We found high beta diversities with a small contribution of nestedness components in all four metacommunities. When only a single set of predictors is contained in the model, the predictor that best explains the variation of bird community composition is connectivity in metacommunity M, R and D and spatial predictor in metacommunity A. In all three sets of predictors, 73.8~85.4% of variations of community composition can be explained in the four metacommunities, and connectivity always contributed the most. High beta diversity and a high turnover component imply that regional-scale conservation efforts should be thought of as preserving overall biodiversity. A conservation strategy is to keep stepping-stone habitats with good connectivity in the middle of the riparian landscape. Along with the Altai-Sayan biodiversity ecoregion, the desert and riparian environments are essential for birds residing in the mountainous terrain. Furthermore, they should be regarded as integral parts of the ecoregion.

Decipherment Challenges Due to Tamga and Letter Mix-Ups in an Old Hungarian Runic Inscription from the Altai Mountains

An Old Hungarian Runic inscription from the Altai Mountains with 40 signs has posed some special challenges for decipherment due to several letter mix-ups and the use of a tamga sign, which is the first reported use of a tamga within this type of script. This paper gives a complete and correct translation and draws some lessons that can be learned about decipherment. It introduces sign similarity matrices as a method of detecting accidental misspellings and shows that sign similarity matrices can be efficiently computed. It also explains the importance of simultaneously achieving the three criteria for a valid decipherment: correct signs, syntax, and semantics.

Holocene hydroclimatic change in the Altai Mountains and its impact on human migration

An historical perspective on Holocene hydroclimatic change and its driving mechanisms in arid central Asia (ACA) can provide insights into both the sustainable development of the natural ecosystems of the region and ancient human-environment interactions. Here, we characterize changes in the Holocene (11.3–0 cal ka BP) aquatic ecosystem and hydrologic environment of a glacier-fed lake (i.e., Kanas Lake) in the Altai Mountains, based mainly on sedimentary records of cladocerans and Pediastrum. The low total abundances of cladocerans and Pediastrum during the middle to late Holocene (6–0 cal ka BP) suggest that an oligotrophic environment like that of today had developed mainly due to the increased river runoff. The higher runoff during this period resulted mainly from the increased precipitation that is indicated by climatic records from the sediments of Kanas Lake and other environmental archives in ACA. We conclude that the changes in the Holocene hydrological environment of glacier-fed lakes in ACA on the sub-orbital timescale were mainly modulated by the regional precipitation, and that the increased precipitation and hence availability of water resources greatly intensified the trans-Eurasian dispersal of crops and livestock along the grassland routeway.

Assessment of state of Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Orchidaceae) populations from the Altai mountains of Kazakhstan

Abstract. Sumbembayev AA, Tergenbaeva ZHT, Kudabayeva GM, Tashmetova RS, Genievskaya YA, Szlachetko DL. 2022. Title. Biodiversitas 23: 4385-4399. The article presents the results of studying the current state of populations of a rare species - Dactylorhiza fuchsii in the Kazakhstan Altai. As a result of expeditionary studies, four main regions were identified, which were represented by 12 populations. Floristic plasticity according to the Jaccard coefficient (12-24%) showed a high heterogeneity of the studied populations. The cluster population dendrogram showed a clear dependence of the floristic composition of accompanying species on geographic location in terms of species similarity and difference of communities. External similarity was studied according to 10 morphometric features. The PCA analysis shows that the external structure is influenced by vertical zoning. Pearson's correlation analysis showed a stable direct and inverse dependence of morphometric characteristics on some environmental conditions (0.74-0.95). According to the data ANOVA disperse analysis, among studied environmental factors, soil nutrient richness (N) and humidity (F) had demonstrated the broadest significant effects (P-values from < 2e-16 to 0.001 for N and from 8.02e-09 to 0.02 for F) on plants morphology influencing eight out of ten morphological traits. Distribution regions of D. fuchsii have low vitality, and most populations are characterized as depressed. The results harmoniously complement the fundamental research on the state of D. fuchsii populations throughout the distribution range of the species.

Poetics of the novel “Izgutty Batyr” by B. Zhumabayuly

The article is devoted to the analysis of the poetics of the historical novel “Izgutty Batyr” by the representative of Kazakh literature in China Bayakhmet Zhumabayuly. The study examines the images and characters of all the characters found in the work, provides information about the life and work of the writer. The proximity of the novel’s content to historical reality is proved on the basis of historical sources. In accordance with the specifics and nature of the categories of time and space, the traditions and lifestyle of the people characteristic of the depicted era are described. The work reveals the moods and thoughts of all the people depicted in the novel. On the basis of the application of various methods and techniques of studying poetics, according to literary theory, the harmonious use of artistic means in the writer’s work is determined. The article shows that the author achieves the full realization of the idea by describing the era in which he lived. The relevance of the study and introduction into scientific circulation of works on the analysis of Kazakh literature abroad as a major and urgent problem is substantiated. The main value of the work in question is the depiction of historical figures. This article is the first scientific work on the work of the writer, ethnographer Bayakhmet Zhumabayuly. It comprehensively analyzes the novel “Izgutty Batyr”, which tells about the struggle of the Kazakhs of the Altai Mountains, belonging to the Qing Empire, during the thorough settlement in the period after the 1820s. The article also analyzes some aspects of the work that make an indelible aesthetic impression on readers.&nbsp

Poetics of the novel “Izgutty Batyr” by B. Zhumabayuly

The article is devoted to the analysis of the poetics of the historical novel “Izgutty Batyr” by the representative of Kazakh literature in China Bayakhmet Zhumabayuly. The study examines the images and characters of all the characters found in the work, provides information about the life and work of the writer. The proximity of the novel’s content to historical reality is proved on the basis of historical sources. In accordance with the specifics and nature of the categories of time and space, the traditions and lifestyle of the people characteristic of the depicted era are described. The work reveals the moods and thoughts of all the people depicted in the novel. On the basis of the application of various methods and techniques of studying poetics, according to literary theory, the harmonious use of artistic means in the writer’s work is determined. The article shows that the author achieves the full realization of the idea by describing the era in which he lived. The relevance of the study and introduction into scientific circulation of works on the analysis of Kazakh literature abroad as a major and urgent problem is substantiated. The main value of the work in question is the depiction of historical figures. This article is the first scientific work on the work of the writer, ethnographer Bayakhmet Zhumabayuly. It comprehensively analyzes the novel “Izgutty Batyr”, which tells about the struggle of the Kazakhs of the Altai Mountains, belonging to the Qing Empire, during the thorough settlement in the period after the 1820s. The article also analyzes some aspects of the work that make an indelible aesthetic impression on readers.&nbsp

Influence of Lateglacial meltwater influx from alpine glaciers on the aquatic ecosystem of Kanas Lake in the Altai Mountains, China

Glacier retreat in high altitude areas triggered by anthropogenic warming exerts a profound impact on the ecology of glacier-fed lakes. In this paper, we report on the results of a multi-proxy analysis of a Lateglacial (13.3–11.3 cal kyr B.P.) core obtained from the glacier-fed Kanas Lake in the Altai Mountains, China, to understand the responses of aquatic ecosystems to meltwater influxes. Core intervals with high sand fractions and enriched silicon dioxide and zirconium (~11.5, 11.7, 11.8, 12.2 and 13.0 cal kyrs B.P.) reflect intense meltwater pulses from alpine glaciers. In the core, these pulses generally coincide with low abundance of littoral cladocerans, high abundance of planktonic Pediastrum, and high phosphorus concentrations. Our results suggest that intense meltwater influxes not only brought nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) into the lake and promoted phytoplankton growth, they also generated cold, turbid water masses and restricted the growth of benthic algae and invertebrates. Therefore, we infer that future anthropogenic warming may lead to significant changes in the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems in glacier-fed lakes worldwide.

Common Hamsters in and Outside the City: Some Reflections on Urban Biodiversity, Species Recovery and the EU Habitats Directive

Abstract The Wild or Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) is found across a broad swathe of Eurasia, stretching from Belgium in the West to the Altai Mountains in Russia. Once it was considered a farmland pest. In spite of being a strictly protected species under the EU Habitats Directive since 1994, its populations have continued to plummet throughout the past decades in many Member States such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. This paper analyses the recent case law developments regarding this enigmatic rodent, which paradoxically has featured in no less than three rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU throughout the past decades. The two most recent rulings focus on the protected status of this species in a urban context, since one of the largest populations of common hamsters is currently situated in the Austrian capital of Vienna. There the presence of the protected species interfered with future urban development plans, which presented the Court of Justice of the EU with the opportunity to clarify certain key concepts that are entrenched in the system of strict species protection. This paper outlines the primary lessons that can be drawn from the recent jurisprudence and sketches the unlocked potential that is present in the recent judicial decisions for more effective species recovery, in general, and the future of the common hamster, in particular. The main thread throughout this article is the leeway available to better align the survival of protected species with urban development.

Millennial‐ to centennial‐scale anti‐phase relationship between the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon and its cultural response along the Silk Roads after a great earthquake in southern Altay ~ 3500 cal a BP

AbstractIt is strongly debated whether the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) are in‐phase, anti‐phase or out‐of‐phase, and how hydroclimatic changes in the above two climate systems affected trans‐Eurasian cultural exchanges during the late Holocene. In this study, we establish a 3500‐a‐long paleoclimatic sequence based on high‐resolution analyses of sedimentological and geochemical data of a well‐dated sediment core from Yileimu Lake in southern Altay. High percentages of the >63‐µm fraction and high values of Zr/Rb and Rb/Sr ratios indicate strong transport of weakly weathered, coarse sediments into the depocenter of the lake caused by enhanced surface runoff and catchment erosion associated with a wet climate, and vice versa. High values of Ca and total inorganic carbon (TIC) contents imply increased precipitation of endogenic carbonates in the lake water under intense evaporation associated with a dry climate, and vice versa. This new record indicates two wet intervals at 3500–2300 and 600–100 cal a bp, interrupted by a severe and prolonged dry interval from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp, and a mild dry interval with occasionally wet conditions from 1000 to 600 cal a bp. These results are broadly consistent with other paleoclimatic records in Westerlies‐dominated Asia and are generally anti‐phase with those in the EASM region. We suggest that a strengthening/weakening and southward/northward migration of the Westerlies during a negative/positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) transported more/less water vapor into arid Asia. Meanwhile, a decreasing/increasing El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) superimposed on a southward/northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) triggered a weakening/strengthening and southward/northward movement of the West‐Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), resulting in decreasing/increasing EASM intensity. In addition, the wet climate from 3500 to 2300 cal a bp may have contributed to the development of nomadic herding in the eastern Eurasian Steppe and Altay region, and to the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads. Potentially, intense seismic activities in the Altay Mountains ~3500 cal a bp may have also promoted the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads by forcing the herdsmen to move to the inter‐mountainous basins. The strong EASM intensity from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp in eastern China may have contributed to the creation of the ancient Silk Roads by the Han Dynasty.

Diurnal Impact of Below-Cloud Evaporation on Isotope Compositions of Precipitation on the Southern Slope of the Altai Mountains, Central Asia

Precipitation is an important natural resource relating to regional sustainability in arid central Asia, and the stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes provide useful tracers to understand precipitation processes. In this study, we collected the hourly meteorological data at several stations on the southern slope of the Altai Mountains in arid central Asia, from March 2017 to June 2022, and examined the diurnal impact of below-cloud evaporation on stable isotope compositions of precipitation. During nighttime, the changes in isotope compositions below cloud base are generally weak. The enhanced impact of below-cloud evaporation can be found after around 15:00, and the impact is relatively strong in the afternoon, especially from 18:00 to 22:00. Summer and spring usually have a larger impact of below-cloud evaporation than autumn, and the winter precipitation is generally not influenced by below-cloud evaporation. On an annual basis, the differences in evaporation-led isotope changes between daytime and nighttime are 1.1‰ for stable oxygen isotope compositions, 4.0‰ for stable hydrogen isotope compositions and 4.7‰ for deuterium excess. The period from 2:00 to 10:00 shows relatively low sensitivity to relative humidity, and from 14:00 to 22:00 the impacts are sensitive. Considering the fluctuations of precipitation isotope compositions, the impact of below-cloud evaporation does not greatly modify the seasonal environmental signals.

SUCKING LICE (PHTHIRAPTERA: ANOPLURA) PARASITIZING MONGOLIAN RODENTS WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF HOPLOPLEURA FROM MOUNTAIN VOLES (ALTICOLA SPP.).

The sucking louse fauna associated with Mongolian mammals is inadequately known. We provide a list of 25 species of sucking lice recorded from Mongolian rodents including previously published records, and new records of specimens collected during an expedition to northwestern Mongolia in 2015. Hoplopleura inagakii Ono and Hasegawa and Polyplax cricetulis Chin are newly recorded from Mongolia and 2 new host associations in Mongolia are recorded for Hoplopleura acanthopus (Burmeister). We describe Hoplopleura altaiensis n. sp., from the Gobi Altai mountain vole, Alticola barakshin Bannikov (type host) with an additional specimen from Alticola strelzowi (Kastchenko) (Strelzow's mountain vole). Both sexes of the new species are illustrated with scanning electron micrographs and line drawings. We note small morphological differences in the shape of the female subgenital plate between specimens prepared for scanning electron microscopy versus those prepared for light microscopy following DNA extraction.