Large Massifs Research Articles

Complex structure of the center Oktyabr’sky deposit, Norilsk district, Russia

The PGE-Cu-Ni Oktyabr’sky deposit, related to the Kharaelakh intrusion, contains the largest sulfide ore bodies in the world. Various models have been proposed to explain its formation based on the mineralogical and textural characteristics of the sulfide ores. However, the underlying structure of the intrusion, critical to understanding the deposit’s formation, has not been well studied until now. For the first time a 3D model of the center deposit with C-3 and C-4 orebodies representing its main part has been created. The model reveals that the intrusion in this area is a thin plate, rather than a tubular or honolithic body, as previously assumed. This morphology does not support the idea of ore formation by in situ reaction between primary magma and host rocks. Instead, sulfides were transported by magma from a deeper zone in the chamber. Within this area, two pulses of magma were identified, forming the Northern and Southern intrusive branches. They are similar in inner structure; however, some differences exist. The rocks of these intrusions are identical in terms of their major components but differ in metals (Cu/Ni ratios, Co, Zn, and V contents), which is particularly reflected in the composition of the chalcopyrite group of minerals. The picritic gabbro-dolerites presented in both intrusive bodies crystallized under similar conditions, namely, T and fO2, with an accuracy of the applied methods (±15 °C and ± 0.4 lgfO2, respectively) from two portions of magma that differ from those of the taxitic gabbro-dolerites. Therefore, the Oktyabr’sky deposit has a more complex structure in its central part than has been previously reported. Considering earlier published data from the western and eastern parts, it can be concluded that the Karaelakh intrusion consists of several intrusive bodies rather than a single large massif that should be consider in future models.

Dating post-LGM aeolian sedimentation and the Late Palaeolithic in Central Yakutia (northeastern Siberia)

Central Yakutia is a large region in northeastern Siberia characterized by extensive permafrost, large river valleys, mountain glaciers, and large massifs of aeolian sands; the geological history of the region is complex and, at present, poorly constrained. In recent years, it has been shown that aeolian sands cover up to 60% of large parts of Central Yakutia. This paper presents the results of luminescence dating of aeolian sedimentation at the Diring Yuriakh Palaeolithic site located in the middle reaches of the Lena River. Field studies identified several thick units of aeolian sand, which cover an old deflation surface with Late (Duktai culture) and Early Palaeolithic (Diring culture) artefacts. The reliability of the OSL chronology was assessed by comparison of ages based on the optically stimulated luminescence from quartz and the infra-red stimulated luminescence from potassium-rich feldspars; these age pairs are in good agreement, implying that at least the quartz grains were sufficiently bleached before sedimentation. We obtained OSL ages that reflect three periods of accumulation between the LGM and the Holocene: ∼21 ka, 15-14 ka, and 12.5–10 ka. These periods of accumulation broadly coincide with global cooling episodes during the Last Glacial Maximum, the Older Dryas, and the Younger Dryas, with some extension into subsequent warmer intervals, whereas the intervening intervals without preserved sediments are taken to reflect dune stability during warmer periods. The sand on the terraces, sourced from alluvial bars in the river channel, was blown up the valley slope during cold and dry periods when the vegetation cover was sparse. When the climate warmed, the vegetation took some time to spread, and so the accumulation of aeolian sand on the high terraces continued into the warm periods. We also infer periods of deflation (wind erosion) that occurred before 21 ka and between 20 and 15 ka, presumably due to increased aeolian activity and localized remobilization of sediment. The new OSL chronology shows that the younger artefacts located at the cape of Diring Yuriakh, belonging to the Late Palaeolithic Duktai culture, are older than 15 ka. The new ages also show that the post-LGM aeolian sand sequences at Diring Yuriakh are correlated with the regionally developed subaerial Dolkuma Formation.

იელის ყვავილების ტექნო-ქიმიური გამოკვლევა

Azalea plant belongs to the Rhododendron family (Ericaceae), which includes approximately 130 species, about 20 of which are found in the Far East, Siberia and the Caucasus. It is a perennial plant and is distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, the mountains of East Asia and North America. Large massifs of the Azalea plant are found in the wild in Georgia, Ukraine and the Krasnodar Krai (Russian Federation). Plants of this species are rich in various natural compounds: flavonoids, tannins, pigments, toxins, triterpenoids, essential oils and others. The Azalea plant is investigated in order to receive the absolute oil and concrete from its flowers. The influence of solvent, time of flower gathering and flowers crowns components (stems, bowls) on concrete and absolute oil outcome and quality are investigated. According to the research, Azalea extraction is advised to be conducted with petrol in room temperature conditions (18-230C); Azalea flowers should be gathered in the first part of a day during the beginning of blooming period and massive blooming; Azalea flowers should be processed with the stems and bowls – entire raceme. The concrete yield from Azalea flowers in average is 0,33%, and absolute oil yield from concrete in average – 64,5%. The Azalea flower’s concrete organoleptic and physic-chemical properties are studied and it is established that concrete quality indexes totally satisfy concrete demands. Research results were taken into account while working out the Azalea flower processing technology.

A 3D crustal shear speed model of the Auckland volcanic field, New Zealand, from multi-component ambient noise tomography

We present a 3D shear-wave speed model of the crust in the intra-plate Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF), that provides new depth information on the basement geology and is a step towards determining lithospheric controls on volcanism of the AVF, within the Zealandia continent. Beneath the AVF, our model finds a mid-crustal contact of the upturning ophiolite-rich Dun Mountain-Maitai Terrane (DMT), and the western end of the accretionary Waipapa (Caples) Terranes which are dominated by terrigenous sedimentary rocks. Westward and at depth, the DMT presents as a high-speed, thick, and horizontal part of the Gondwana-ward verging syncline seen in the DMT elsewhere in New Zealand. Along the western side of the Junction Magnetic Anomaly (which indicates the presence of the DMT), a major vertical discontinuity probably marks the contact between the horizontal DMT and the Waipapa (Caples) Terranes. The Waipapa (Caples) Terrane contain a large wedge-shaped low-speed zone tapering eastward and extending NNW-SSE alongside the DMT. In addition, the model identifies a sharp vertical discontinuity at the eastern edge of the AVF that extends from the near-surface through the low-speed wedge. We interpret this discontinuity as a relatively young subvertical fault with a significant downthrow to the west. It appears to be a reactivation of a fault zone inherited from the break-up of Gondwana. The model also imaged the largest massif of crystalline ultramafic rocks in the DMT that causes the Takapuna Gravity Anomaly and the NE striking Port Waikato-Mangatangi cross-fault system. The strike directions of the faults mirror a rhombic-rectangular fault grid inherited from the breakaway of Zealandia from Gondwana.The shear speed model was produced using frequency-time analysis of multi-component Rayleigh wave Green's functions, reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion of group arrival times, and the inversion of dispersion relations for shear speed as a function of depth. Plain language summaryA 3D model of shear wave speeds in the crust provides new information on the geological structure beneath the Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF). The field is positioned above the contact between ocean floor rocks of the Dun Mountain-Maitai Terrane (DMT) in the west with fast wave speeds and a prominent wedge-shaped low-speed zone in the sandstone-dominated Waipapa/Caples Terrane in the east. The model images a fold structure of the DMT similar to that seen throughout New Zealand and at depth delineates the contact as a major sub-vertical discontinuity. A second vertical discontinuity just east of the AVF is very abrupt, is also oriented NNW-SSE and is probably caused by faulting. The model has also imaged the NE-oriented Port Waikato-Mangatangi cross-fault system in the south of the region and the large massif of coarse-grained intrusive rocks in the DMT that causes the previously recognised Takapuna gravity anomaly.

Ближний Восток И.А. Бунина и Африка Н. С. Гумилева: путешествия по «карте» литературных школ

The article traces a number of links between two relatively different individual poetics. The poetics demonstrate an unexpected proximity in their authors’ lyrical musings and travelogue representations of journeys in the Middle East and in the neighboring North-Eastern Africa. In this spatial perspective the researcher may see how events and realities, very similar at first sight (starting with almost literally coincidental, “ritual”, scenes of sailing off from the Odessa port to Istanbul), can remarkably match or, on the contrary, completely disagree regarding the techniques of their representations, whereas the very set of these techniques turns the journeys not into simple movement on a geographical map but rather into journeys through the figurative “map” of literary techniques and artistic worldviews. From a source study perspective, the researcher must pay attention to the large massifs of Bunin’s and Gumilyov’s lyrical verses that create a context for both eastern travelogues - The Temple of the Sun (1907-1911) by Bunin and The African Diary (1913) by Gumilyov. Landscape-describing narratives written in the first person of the observing I are deeply rooted in the fruitful soil of the lyrical I self-presenting confessional reflections. Two theoretical problems are in the focus of the present paper. The first is the problem of subjectivity, i.e. the attitude of the first person instance, which plays a crucial role in both travelogue and lyrical verses, to the represented or thinkable object. These relations, specifically emphasized in the post-classical epoch, affect the motif-semantic level of the text structure as well as the genre poetics of this text. The second problem is the genre poetics. They are traced using the distinctive examples of verses by Bunin and Gumilyov and fragments of their travelogues. Thus, against the background of the western travelogue, which, since Karamzin’s times, signified for the Russian author a penetration into a space of high canon, Bunin’s trips to Palestine seem to be an inversion since in the Middle East Culture has crumbled under the pressure from the inexorable Nature. However, Gumilyov’s experiment is even more radical. Regarding all the relative advantages of sovereign Abyssinia, which in this respect differed so much from almost all the other African lands controlled by the world empires, the Abyssinian history and current life were anyway extremely distant from the experience of a European - so that they consequently provoked different, as compared to Bunin, principles and techniques of writing. In particular, this refers to shortages in a personal actualization of the cultural trace and hence to the conspicuous deficit of elegiac forms of self- and world-perception. The analysis is based on a number of diagnostically important coincidences in both poets’ representations of their artistic objects - the mental image of life as a unified whole, the nature-describing image of a leopard (a panther), situations of sailing off from Russia, reflections of the ethnographic exotic Other. The crucial observation of this work lies in Bunin’s reinforcement of an elegiac mode of his text organization. This elegiac accent echoes two emotions tightly bound with each other - the feeling of an irretrievable loss and a sharply, here and now, experienced complicity. Both of them preordain motifs of trace and personal link with the represented objects. Moreover, the cultural and sometimes religious character of these objects (a tomb, an ancient temple, places of Christ’s earthly life) make personal feeling of this link even stronger. On the contrary, the predominantly natural character of Gumilyov’s Africa turns on a number of different, non-elegiac, techniques of displaying the lyrical (in verses) and ethnographic-describing (in travelogue) I. Hence, on the foreground, one can see a ballad, an experimental replacement of the traditional lyrical I with a substitution completely rooted in local ethnography (“Abyssinian Songs”), and Eurocentric Orientalism. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Integrated geological-geophysical characterization of the zone of the Kherson—Smolensk transregional tectonic suture — deep long-lived magma- and fluid-conducting channel

The transregional Kherson—Smolensk suture has been established to be located between large meridional faults of the crystalline crust of the Ukrainian Shield (USh) in a strip of 50—70 km width and separates two microplates of different composition of the Precambrian basement. It is traced by subcrustal mantle heterogeneity in the lithosphere and a change in the relief of the main geodynamic boundary. The suture controls the USh large multiphase magmatic massifs and manifestation of the basic mafic magmatism in the Dniepr-Donets Depressin (DDD), which age decreases from south to north from the Early Proterozoic in the shield to the Devonian in the depression. On both sides of it, the crystalline crust differs in a set of parameters including a zone of low velocities in the area of the Novokonstantinovsky ore field of the USh to the east of the Kherson—Smolensk suture, where from DSS data its maximum thickness is 10—15 km in the upper crust. It appears to bea source of abiogenic hydrogen manifestations recorded by mining operations on this field. The Kherson—Smolensk suture, being a transregional mantle feature, unites the existing hydrocarbon manifestation in the USh with the promising hydrocarbon areas of the DDD. The inhomogeneities of the crystalline crust and the uppermost mantle give strong evidences to classify reasonably the transregional tectonic suture Kherson—Smolensk as a powerful mantle long-lived magmatic and fluid-conducting channel. Ores hows and modern degassing of methane are related to it, with methane beingmain greenhouse gas.

A new subspecies of Bembidion sanatum (Coleoptera: Carabidae) endemic to the Mendeleev Volcano (Kunashir Island, Russia)

Bembidion (Peryphanes) sanatum iwanai ssp. n. is described from the solfatara fields of the Mendeleev Volcano (Kuril Archipelago: Kunashir Island). It slightly differs from the nominative subspecies by body proportions, as well as the relatively narrow external intervals of the elytra and their microsculpture, yet showing stable distinctions in endophallus armature (basal part of lamina 1 is rounded, vs. angular in the nominative subspecies) and in the spermatheca duct (5–6 convolutions, vs. 7–8 in the nominative subspecies). Endemism of insects on the island’s large volcanic massifs of Kunashir Island is discussed.

From hot to cold? – Hydrothermal activities as a source for icy-debris flows on Dryas Mons, Terra Sirenum, Mars

During an extensive grid-mapping campaign on Mars' southern hemisphere, we have detected so-called sheet flow deposits, which are defined by distinctive lobate fronts, thin and mostly planar layers, and faint sub-parallel surface lineations. They originate from the high plains of Dryas Mons, a large massif of impact and tectonic origin, and follow the topographic gradient down into the adjacent basins. Their sources often coincide with steep and multi-layered outcrops. This work addresses the formation of these deposits, and if they are related to the unique tectonic and endogenic environment of Dryas Mons. We applied photogeological mapping, age determinations by crater counts, as well as topographic and heat flow measurements in order to reconstruct the evolution of these landforms. The calculated ages (mid to late Amazonian), their location in the mid-latitudes, as well as some specific morphologies like lobate flow fronts are typical for standard viscous-flow features on Mars. In contrast to such viscous-flow features, the sheet flow deposits occur isolated in the Dryas Mons region. Aside from that, major other landforms, typical for viscous-flow features are lacking, like sublimation pits, brain terrain or arcuate deformations. Considering these similarities and differences, we suggest that both landforms viscous-flow features and the sheet flow deposits of Dryas Mons were formed by the involvement of volatiles; however, at varying amounts and by different emplacement processes. As the formation of the sheet flow deposits is located in an area with one of the highest heat flow values planet-wide, we calculated if the heat flow could be a potential trigger for the release of outcropping volatile-rich layers. However, our calculations have shown that the heat flow is still insufficient to enable near-surface melting. Instead, we suggest that the volatiles originate from deep layers affected by magmatic and/or intrusive activities in a tectonically active environment. These conditions led to melting and mobilisation of the volatiles by advective hydrothermal processes. Thus, the volatiles migrated upward along hypothesized deep-seated fault systems, formed by Noachian/Hesperian impacts and tectonic activities, until they reached conductive layers outcropping at Dryas Mons, enabling them to drain. After their release to the cold Amazonian atmosphere, this mixture of volatiles and solids partially froze, resulting in a comparatively high viscosity, and hence, a slow and laminar (non-turbulent) movement. This flow behaviour might have led to the formation of the lineations at their surface along shear zones. Hence, we suggest that the sheet flow deposits may have originally formed as slowly moving icy debris flows during the mid- to late Amazonian.

Тhe impact of alcohol abuse on the development of non-communicable diseases (analytical review)

The harmful use of alcohol is a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes and others. In addition to morbidity, alcohol abuse increases mortality, especially at young ages. An important characteristic is the frequency and amount of alcohol consumed by a person. The more often and more a person abuses alcohol, the higher the risk of developing NCDs and the mortality rate. Purpose of the study: analysis of publications of the World Health Organization and scientific publications of foreign researchers on the influence of alcohol on the development of non-communicable diseases.Materials and research methods. Content analysis of documents of the World Health Organization and foreign studies on the assessment of the impact of alcohol In total, 48 documents of international organizations were analyzed, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-IARC) and the World Bank, as well as 211 scientific publications. Of these, 19 documents were selected, which included materials from WHO, UN, IARC and the World Bank on the impact of alcohol abuse on health, and 63 scientific publications on this topic. Selection criterion: the content in the documents of materials that adequately describe the impact of alcohol abuse on health as a risk factor for the development of various diseases.Results. An analysis of the documents and publications presented revealed a large massif of evidence that the harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in the development of a number of noncommunicable diseases, an increase in mortality and disability at earlier stages of life, and the development of a link between harmful use of alcohol and a number of mental and behavioral disorders.

PLATINUM METAL MINERALIZATION OF THE SOUTH URALS MAGMATIC COMPLEXES: GEOLOGICAL AND GEODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMATIONS, PROBLEMS OF THEIR GENESIS, AND PROSPECTS

In the South Urals, we have identified and investigated two platinum-bearing formations – ophiolite chromitebearing complexes, and the Khudolaz differentiated mafic-ultramafic complex with sulfide Cu-Ni mineralization. The ophiolite chromite-bearing complexes include fragments of the upper mantle and lower crust of the Paleouralian Ocean, which were induced by collision onto the edge of the East European platform. The origin of the Khudolaz complex is related a mantle plume activity. Here, we review and compare the main features of platinum-metal mineralization (PMM) in these two formations.The article presents the results of mineralogical and geochemical studies of PMM associated with chromite and sulfide Cu-Ni ores. In association with chromitites, two types of PMM are distinguished: (1) predominating refractory platinoids in chromitites of the mantle unit of the section, and (2) predominating platinum and palladium in chromitites of the transitional wehrlite-clinopyroxenite complex. Compositions of platinum group minerals (PGM) and relations between their elements and host minerals suggest that the minerals of the ophiolite chromite-bearing complexes are of a restite origin, while the Khudolaz complex results from a combination of magmatic processes and solid-phase redistribution of material. Palladium (michenerite, froodite, merenskyite, borovskite, sudburyite) and platinum (sperrylite, moncheite) minerals are found in magmatic sulfide ores of the Khudolaz complex, which were subjected to hydrothermal metasomatization. Texture observations using electron microscope and optical (reflected light) images, as well as LA ICP MS analyses of sulfides suggest late- and post-magmatic crystallization of PMM in three phases: (1) immiscible metalloid or highly fractionated residual sulfide melts trapped in sulfides; (2) segregation of isomorphic impurities of platinum group elements (PGE) and chalcogenide elements from sulfide solid solutions; and (3) interaction of hydrothermal fluids with soluble sulfides.Prospective for PMM are extended bodies of disseminated chromitites in marginal dunites of the Kraka and Nurali massifs, and wehrlite-clinopyroxenite complexes of the same massifs containing PGE (above 500 ppb). In the Khudolaz complex, promising PMM bodies are low-metasomatized parts of sulfide ore bodies (1 ppm of ΣPGE and above) located in the largest massifs, Severny Buskun and Zapadny Karasaz. Exocontact zones of these intrusions are also promising for PMM.

Tectonic and magmatic factors of Li-F granites localization of the East of Russia

We have investigated tectonic and magmatic factors of Li-F granites localization of the East of Russia. The study is based on the ideas of Far Eastern geologists about the deep structures of intraplate activity. A model of a source structure with mantle heat sources and ore-forming magmatic complexes was used. We carried out a special metallogenic analysis of the East of Russia as applied to the rare metal-tin-bearing formation of subalkaline leucogranites, including Li-F ones.
 Source structures are the main factor in the tectonic and magmatic development of the East of Russia, localization of ore-forming granites and the formation of rare-metal-tin ore regions. On deep layers of source structures there are areas of the mantle and earth's crust decompaction, heat, magmas and fluids sources, as well as granitoid cryptobatholiths. Relatively large massifs of leucogranites, small intrusions of tin monzonitoids and Li-F granites are concentrated near the modern surface. The source structures correspond to the rank of the ore region. The source structures in the South of the region are: Badzhalskaya, Miao-Chanskaya, Ippato-Merekskaya, Hogdu-Lianchlinskaya, Arminskaya, etc.; in the North: Pevekskaya, Kuiviveem-Pyrkakayskaya, Kuekvun-Ekiatapskaya, Iultinskaya, Telekayskaya, Central Polousnaya, Omsukchanskaya, etc. Three types of ore regions have been identified according to the degree of source structures and Li-F granites erosion.
 We have also outlined the patterns of source structures evolution and their place in the geological history of ore-bearing granites. A classification of source structures and its comparison with the classifications of regional intrusives and metallogenic subdivisions are proposed. It has been established that, despite the diversity of tectonic, geological and petrological settings in the East of Russia, the intrusions of Li-F granites are regulated by the same tectonic and magmatic factors. The tectonic and magmatic factors of Li-F granites localization in the East of Russia are identified and classified as geophysical, orogenic, geoblock, magmatic, metasomatic and disjunctive.

Mineralogy of spessartine-quartz rocks of the Sikhote-Alin

Research subject. The article is devoted to the study of spessartine-quartz rocks of the Triassic chert formation of the Sikhote-Alin. The research objects involved the outcrops of spessartine-quartz rocks of the Gornaya and Shirokaya Pad areas from Malinovka and Olga ore districts (in the Samarka and Taukha terranes respectively). Materials and methods. The selection of stone materials was performed manually. The diagnostic of minerals was performed using the microscope in transmitted and reflected light and carried out by the determination of their composion. The polished sections of the minerals were investigated at the FEGI FEB RAS using JXA8100 microanalysers. Results. Spessartine-quartz and manganese silicate rocks occupy the same position in the section of the Triassic deposits of the Taukha and Samarka terrains. This indicates a synchronous accumulation of sediments (protoliths of these rocks) in a single sedimentary basin. The rocks formed by contact metamorphism in the Late and Early Cretaceous large granitoid massifs. This process is manifested in the presence of a variety of such minerals, as spessartine, members of the ilmenite-pyrophanite series, titanite, monazite, bastnesite, allanite, apatite, zircon, baddeleyite, torianite and others. The rocks under study also include such rare minerals, as cheralite, greyite and a rare variety of fluorine-aluminous titanite. Conclusion. The occurrence (during contact metamorphism of siliceous-rhodochrosite rocks) of spessartine-quartz or manganesesilicate rocks composed mainly of pyroxenoids, was determined by both the relative amounts of carbonate and clay matter, as well as the concentrations of Ba and alkalis in the initial sediments.

Растительность меловых обнажений Подуральского плато и сопредельных территорий

Растительность меловых обнажений Подуральского плато и сопредельных территорий

Hydrogen as an indicator of geodynamic processes in coal-bearing strata

Formulation of the problem. The problem of developing and implementing exploration technology that will ensure the protection of mine workings and prevent catastrophes in the development of coal deposits is especially relevant now, when the issue of environmental protection and safety at coal mines is very acute. Analysis of recent research and publications. The idea of degassing of the Earth as a global process of its self-organization was developed by V.I. Vernadsky in a number of works published in 1911, 1912, 1924. This concept has had and continues to have a powerful growing influence on modern Earth sciences. The idea of the key role of hydrogen in degassing of the Earth is developed in the works of V.M. Larin, F.A. Letnykov, А.А. Marakushev, V.V. Khmelyovska, A.V. Shcherbakov, N.D. Kozlova, Yu.A. Kolyasnikov, V.M. Shestopalov, V.I. Starostenko, A.N. Ponomarenko. The purpose of the article is: analysis of the current state of coal mining in Ukraine and in the world as a whole; substantiation of the possibility of using the technology of safe search for hydrogen in minefield development zones. Presentation of the main research material. The new development of safe exploration technology for coal deposits, proposed by the authors, will allow to track in advance, to identify places of possible manifestations of gas-dynamic phenomena and to make operational decisions to eliminate them. The technology is based on the use of exploratory gas-geochemical methods for mapping the places of gas-hydrogen accumulations and together with a set of geological and geophysical methods allows to allocate areas of possible emergency processes in the development zones of mine fields. On a large massif of field work of areal and profile surveys, the feasibility of using search technology has been proven to justify the use of advance degassing wells to prevent uncontrolled explosive processes and technical disasters. The proposed technology has been tested at numerous mining sites in the process of exploration and environmental research in areas of operating and developed mine fields. Conclusions. For the first time in the world practice, new approaches were proposed and substantiated to change the safety paradigm of coal mining, which will prevent the manifestations of unpredictable GDP and the associated material and human losses. Analysis of the results of a complex of fundamental and applied research at coal mining facilities allows, according to the proposed technology, to identify and map the studied areas of abnormal hydrogen concentrations, their characteristics and use it as reliable markers for operational decisions for safe mining by laying advance degassing wells, which will ultimately make emergency GDP impossible. The expediency of application of the proposed technology for substantiation and allocation of geodynamic active and stable zones and blocks promising for industrial exploration of hydrocarbons, determining the locations of possible manifestations of GDP and complex making operative decisions for safety of mining works is proved. And, unfortunately, the research carried out by scientists and the results obtained have not yet found worthy support from the President of Ukraine, state line ministries, commercial structures and the Academy of Sciences.

LANDSCAPE-ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSERVATION VALUE OF FORESTS IN THE KOSTOMUKSHSKY STRICT NATURE RESERVE AND KALEVALSKY NATIONAL PARK (A SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS)

This paper recapitulates very briefly on the results on many years of landscape-based research into the structure and change of forests in the Kostomukshsky Strict Nature Reserve (Zapovednik) and the Kalevalsky National Park, which has been administratively merged with the former (occupying nearly 1240 km2 in total). Forests cover, respectively, 90 and 80 % of land in these protected areas. They are the key biotic component that shapes and maintains the environment of these ecosystems. The studies were based on an original classification and map of landscapes designed according to the zonal-typological principle. Both areas lie within a tectonic-denudation, hilly-ridge (with a complex of glacial landforms) moderately paludified landscape, with a prevalence of pine habitats. Within this landscape we have distinguished, mapped and described geographical localities (or local landscapes) – its largest morphological units (several thousands of hectares on average). As opposed to geographical landscape, geographical locality features not just a prevalence but a predominance (> 90 % of the area) of certain landforms, of the same genesis, with very narrow variation in open mire and paludal forest percentage, as well as an obvious prevalence of pine or spruce stands. Three and four types of localities have been identified and described for the strict nature reserve and the national park, respectively. Their descriptions are roughly structured as follows: 1) general landscape characteristics of the area (geological-geomorphological features, paludification, soil cover); 2) forest massif structure (dominant composition and types of forest, their ratios and spatial arrangement); 3) genesis and natural dynamics of forests. We specifically highlight the conservation significance of the zapovednik’s and park’s forests inside the protected areas network. Overall, the structural dynamic organization of the massifs constituting the forest cover has been demonstrated to vary substantially, and in some types of localities even strikingly. Almost all the forests have emerged in the sites burnt by forest fires of varying intensities at different times in the past. We argue that the forest cover can only continue to develop in a natural way if the natural fire regime is maintained or lightning-ignited fires are allowed to propagate. This way, the forest cover can exist in a steady dynamic equilibrium, governed only by global climate fluctuations. The zapovednik and the park have preserved within their territories pristine, chiefly pine, forests, which constitute the largest massif in the west of the Eurasian boreal zone. Hardy any of such forest has survived in the extensive land span west of this area and to Norwegian fjords. These forests have formed in Fennoscandia’s most common and widespread type of geographical landscape. The significance of these areas as components of the protected areas network and a key element of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia is demonstrated.

Proterozoic Granitoid Magmatism at the Southwestern Margin of the Siberian Platform in the Tectonic History of the Angara–Kan Block

The large massifs of ancient granitoids of the South Yenisei Ridge are divided into three complexes that differ in the geological, geochemical, and geochronological features. The Tarak massif consists of two complexes of different ages: the S–A-type porphyritic granitoids (collisional) of the Tarak complex (1.84 Ga) and the A-type subalkaline granites (anorogenic) of the Telkun complex (1.76 Ga). The magmatic crystallization of gneiss granites of the Posolnenskii complex is interrelated with the late stage of metamorphism and falls into the age interval between the above two complexes (1789.8 ± 8.9 Ma). Metamorphic transformations of the enclosing formations are recorded by the presence of small bodies of charnockitoids with dates of 1.84 and 1.73 Ga.

Fe-Ti-V Deposits of Eastern Siberia: Their Similarities and Differences

Fe-Ti-V deposits related to the basic-ultrabasic intrusions are widespread within eastern Siberia, in its northern and southern parts. Two large massifs are located in the Kodar-Udokan trough Siberian Platform, and in the Taimyr Peninsula. They are the Chineysky intrusion and the Dyumtaleysky massifs consequently. The problem of ore origin includes an estimation of parental melt composition and its evolution. To solve it, we have studied the internal structure, composition of rocks and ores from these massifs. The Chineysky lopolith has a thickness of 2.5 km and consists of four rock groups formed during different stages. Layering is a typical feature of the second group of rocks enriched in titanomagnetite. Economic Cu-Ni sulfide mineralization (Cu/Ni=10-100) concentrates within the lower boundary of the massif and includes the endo-and exocontact ore. Chineysky massif consists of basic rocks with typical crustal characteristics (Ta-Nb negative and Pb positive anomalies). The Dyumtaleysky intrusion represents a tabular body of 600 m in thickness. It consists of two groups of rocks - gabbro (upper zone, 300 m) and peridotites (lower zone, 300 m). It was suggested that they were formed at two stages. The upper zone is characterized by thin layering which is similar to the layering of the Chineysky massif. Sulfides are concentrated within the massif (between upper and lower zones) and in its endocontact zone. The mineralization consists of chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, millerite, cubanite; Cu/Ni= 1-0.5. In contrast to the rocks of the Chineysky massif, the rocks of the Dyumtaleysky intrusion are characterized by patterns without Ta-Nb anomaly. Gd/Yb ratio demonstrates the origin of these two massifs from different magma sources: shallow for the Chineysky intrusion and deep (with garnet) for the Dyumtaleysky one. Thus, Fe-Ti-V deposits could be formed from different magmas but contain the same type of ores because the leading process of ore formation is a multiple fractional crystallization.

Phenological Features of (Mamestra Brassicae L. 1758) Development in Agrocoenosis of Cabbage in the Kamin-Kashyrskyi District (Volyn Region, Ukraine)

The animal world of Ukraine is characterized by a large variety of species. Among the lepidoptera there are a lot of pests whose larvae cause significant damage to agriculture. In the paper, we investigated the seasonal and perennial dynamics of vegetable crops pests’ population of Mamestra brassicae in the agrobiocenoses of white cabbage. The basis of our study was the investigation of the relative quantity of the pest larvae, we demonstrated the damage to plants, as well as the periods of intensive emergence of the imago and the number of generations per year. In future, this will enable the development of effective ecologically sound methods for controlling the number of species of white cabbage pests in the conditions of Kamin-Kashyrskyi district of Volyn region. Kamin-Kashyrskyi area has a flat terrain and is characterized by a warm temperate continental climate with sufficient amount of moisture, the presence of impoverished sod-podzolic soils. The area is mostly plain, with large marsh massifs, which are favorable conditions for the existence of Mamestra brassicae, as this species is moisture-loving. Observation of biocenotic connections in the agrobiocenoses of white cabbage and stationary research on the development of protection, testing and implementation systems was carried out during 2017-2018 at the garden sites of Kamin-Kashirsky district during the entire vegetation period of the plants. White cabbage is damaged throughout the period of vegetation, however, the damage that appear after emergence of seedlings and planting of seedlings into the soil are dangerous due to their consequences. In the second half of summer and in autumn, the larvae of Mamestra brassicae caused significant damage to cabbage plants in the gardens of Novi Chervyshcha. Within this area, Mamestra brassicae develops two generations per year, causing tangible damage to the agrocoenosis of cabbage of different sowing dates. The contamination of cabbage by the larva of the first and second generations approximately accounts to 24%, where 2-3 larvae live on one plant. The massive emergence of the imago occurs in the middle of May the first half of June while the average daily temperature is +20°С to +22°С. The first egg laying was recorded at the end of May, which the female lays in groups, 20-80 units on the underside of the leaves, and the embryonic development lasts 6 to 8 days. Pupae hibernate in the soil, at a depth of 8-12 cm. Significant damage to white cabbage plants was caused by the larvae of the first generation in June and early July, and of the second generation in August and early September. They intensively feed at night and at dawn, and in the daytime there is a decline in mobility and nutritional activity. Second-generation larvae often bite into cabbage heads where they make holes and pollute them with their liquid excrement, which leads to a decrease in crops. The use of microbiological drugs Dimilin and Insehar are some of the most effective ways to get rid of Lepidoptera, including larvae of Mamestra brassicae, which provide protection of cabbage plants by 93-97%.

Оценка деформаций вертикальных стволов вблизи открытых горных работ

At the joint development of the deposit by open and underground methods, the deformation of the underground mine shaft may occur. Its size and direction significantly depend on the procedure of conducting mining operations in the open pit in comparison with the works on the shaft sinking. In this case, the maximum permissible deformations of the shaft are determined by its design and set in the relevant regulatory documents. The article is mainly devoted to the methodology for assessment of mutual influence of the open-cast workings and the vertical shaft. Usually, the permissible distance from the pit edge to the underground mine shaft is estimated by the position in the massif of the «fault potential surface» with a set normative coefficient of the margin stability. Such a surface can always be built at any stage of the development of the open pit mined space considering the underground work among other things. In the case, the set maximum depth of the open pit, when the open pit finishes its operation, the intersection of the «fault surface» with the day surface determines the certain curve on the latter. This limits the area around the open pit, in which the location of the shafts is considered unacceptable. Although in this case the safety margin of the pit walls can have the significant value equal to the normative one or greater, the deformation of the shafts may become unacceptable for their functioning. Disadvantage of this approach is the fact that the «radius» of this zone significantly depends on the used method of building the «fault surface», which is repeatedly shown by the calculations. The approach proposed in the article is oriented to considering the peculiarities of deformation of the entire massif in the vicinity of the open pit, taking into account its possible real collapse as the limit state is reached, when the large massif deformations are actually realized. In considering the deformation processes in the massif, in particular in the vicinity of the shaft, the order of the workings formation is of great importance. In this case, the shaft can only be deformed by those works on the open pit deepening that are performed after creation of the shaft or any part of it. If the shaft is sinking after deepening the open pit, then the mined-out space of the open pit in no way affects the deformation of the shaft, since it is being sinked already in the deformed massif. If the open works and the shaft sinking are simultaneous, then the solution to the problem is divided into a series of consecutive steps, each of which considers either some element of the open work or the shaft deepening. Final decision is obtained as a result of summing up the decisions at each step.

Early permian age of nepheline syenites of the Korgere-Daba massif (Sangilen highlands, Tuva)

This paper reports on geochronological U–Pb studies of baddeleyite from nepheline syenite of the Korgere–Daba alkaline massif, which is the largest massif within the Sangilen Highlands (Tyva). The established age of rocks, 295 ± 1 Ma, indicates that, in the Early Permian, undersaturation by silica magmatism occurred in the region in addition to the alkaline-granite magmatism (Ulug–Tanzek, etc.). This age furthermore points to the need to make corrections in the conceptions of a petrophysical type for the Devonian Sangilen complex, which is traditionally distinguished in this region. Until now, the Korgere–Daba massif has been considered in this regard.