Northwestern Caucasus Research Articles

Nouveau site du Paléolithique Moyen dans le Caucase Central (résultats préliminaires des études complexes)

The newest studies of the Caucasus Paleolithic indicate movements of human groups between the northern and southern, and western and eastern parts of this region. In the Baksan river valley in the north-central Caucasus, there is known a large source of obsidian, which was transported to sites in the north-western Caucasus already in the Middle Paleolithic. However, no stratified Middle Paleolithic site was known in the source area until 2016 when we discovered here the first cave site of Saradj-Chuko cave. The article presents the first results of a comprehensive research of this site. The Saradj-Chuko cave is located just 6–7km from the important obsidian source that represents the only source of obsidian, which was highly valued in the past, in the Northern Caucasus, and about 70km from the Elbrus volcanic peak. A comprehensive study in Saradj-Chuko cave began in 2017. A small (∼8 sq. m) excavation was dug next to the 2016 test pit. We report a detailed description of the materials excavated from the main Middle Paleolithic occupational Layer 6B. The study of the lithic assemblage allows us to make a preliminary conclusion that Layer 6B represents an active habitation level where Neanderthals were engaged in intensive flaking of obsidian and usage of tools made predominantly from obsidian for butchering and consumption of hunting game. The laminar character of the stone industry distinguishes the Mousterian industry of the north-central Caucasus and probably the entire Terek river basin from the Eastern Micoquian industry that is represented in factually all Middle Paleolithic sites in the north-western Caucasus (Kuban river basin), as well as makes the Mousterian of north-central Caucasus similar to the Mousterian industries known in the north-eastern Caucasus and the Southern Caucasus. We suggest cultural connections and contacts among Neanderthal groups from these regions during the Middle Paleolithic period.

Changements des paramètres métriques des éclats et interprétation du développement du débitage laminaire au Paléolithique supérieur du Caucase du Nord-Ouest (selon les matériaux de la grotte Mézmaiskaya)

Even the earliest Upper Palaeolithic industries of Caucasus are characterized by a developed laminar technology of bladelet and microbladelet production. The article presents an analysis of metric parameters of laminar flakes from the Upper Palaeolithic and Epipaleolithic layers of Mezmaiskaya cave (North-Western Caucasus). The results reveal similarity of the size characteristics of laminar flakes from layers 1A1/1A2 and 1A2 (28.6–33.0ka BP), layer 1A1 and the lower horizons 8–9 (15.3–25.2ka BP) of layer 1–3, and the upper horizons 1–2 of layer 1–3 (12.0–12.5ka BP); it is shown that the change in flake size and proportion obeys a certain regularity: flake average width increased, while relative thickness decreased from the earlier to later layers. Variability of flake sizes also reduces from the lower layers 1A1/1A2, 1A2 towards the upper horizons of layer 1–3. A correlation between metric parameters of a flake and the type of striking platform was identified: flakes with a punctiform platform have smaller average sizes than flakes with a flat platform. The analysis allows drawing a preliminary conclusion that metric characteristics of bladelets from horizons 1, 2 of layer 1–3 are most similar to experimental bladelets struck with a hand pressure technique. The number of bladelets having metric parameters corresponding to the hand pressure technique increases from the earlier to later industries. To confirm the hypothesis about a possible change of flaking technique at the turn of the late Upper Palaeolithic and Epipaleolithic additional research is needed.

The Most Ancient Tin Bronzes in the North-Western Caucasus. New Data

The Most Ancient Tin Bronzes in the North-Western Caucasus. New Data

ОЦЕНКА КАЧЕСТВА ПЛОДОВ СОРТОВ ГРУШИ В ПРЕДГОРНОЙ ЗОНЕ СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДНОГО КАВКАЗА

ОЦЕНКА КАЧЕСТВА ПЛОДОВ СОРТОВ ГРУШИ В ПРЕДГОРНОЙ ЗОНЕ СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДНОГО КАВКАЗА

A New Genus and Species of Scombrid Fish (Perciformes, Scombroidei, Scombridae) from the Lower Oligocene of the Caucasus

A new genus and species of scombrid fish Caucombrus histiopterygius gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Oligocene (Lower Maikopian, Pshekha regional state) of the north-western Caucasus (Russia) and Abkhazia (rivers Belaya, Pshekha and Gumista). The new taxon differs from the other known Scombridae, both fossil and Recent, by the high and sail-like first dorsal fin. Osteological characters of Caucombrus gen. nov. indicate its relationship with the Spanish mackerels (subfamily Scomberomorinae). It is assumed that either C. histiopterygius gen. et sp. nov. or the related species of Caucombrus gen. nov. inhabited the Mid-Oligocene sea basin in the territory of the Rhine Graben (Germany).

The Mountain Jews, the Uryms, the Cherkesohays: the North- Western Caucasus Non-Muslim Groups Typology in the middle of 19th century

The article describes three the North-Western Caucasus minor groups – The Mountain Jews, the Uryms (Mountain Greeks), the Cherkesohays (Mountain Armenians). These groups analyzed by non-subethnic, but as “network communities”. They had to tendency to consolidation, but had disappeared in result (grouping). The author explored the Typology of their communication with aboriginal peoples and the process of cultural landscape creation in the context of Russian Imperial Paradigm.

Earthworm Populations (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) in the Basin of the Middle Reaches of the Bol’shaya Laba River (Northwestern Caucasus, Buffer Zone of Caucasian Nature Reserve)

The species composition and structure of the population of earthworms in the forest and meadow formations in the basin of the middle reaches of the Bol’shaya Laba River are studied for the first time. The species of the Crimea and Caucasus are unusually rare. The erosion topography in combination with significant precipitation results in increased heterogeneity of habitats and in the formation of specific taxocenoses with respect to a hydromorphic or automorphic soil regime. The Crimean–Caucasian subendemic Dendrobaena schmidti, which is the dominant on the northern macroslope of the Great Caucasus, is replaced in automorphic soils by the Easteuro-Asian D. tellermanica, a nemoral-steppe parthenogenetic species, which is well-adapted to a high-amplitude regime of temperature and humidity. Hydrophilic and non-frost-hardy species become numerous in hydromorphic soils. The relationship between the structure of earthworm populations and the soil water regime is illustrated well by the abundance ratio of morpho-ecological forms, among which no anecic are registered. The necessity to protect middle-mountain ecosystems of the northwestern Caucasus as a refugium of Mediterranean earthworm species is shown.

Fauna of Odonata of the Adygheya Republic (North-Western Caucasus)

Fauna of Odonata of the Adygheya Republic (North-Western Caucasus)

Volcanism and Settlement of the Northern Slope of the Central Caucasus in the Middle Paleolithic: New Data from Saradj-Chuko Grotto

The problem of the settlement of the territory of the Northern Caucasus in the Paleolithic and its dependence on volcanic activity factors, climate, and shift in ecological niches is very relevant in modern domestic and foreign studies. Previous research at Mezmaiskaya cave in the northwestern Caucasus revealed that volcanism significantly affected the Middle Paleolithic population of this region and the disappearance of the Neanderthal population. In 2016, the first stratified Middle Paleolithic site was discovered in the Elbrus region (Republic of Kabardino–Balkaria), on the northern slopes of the central Caucasus. This site was called Saradj-Chuko grotto. This region is fundamentally important for understanding the dynamics of the Northern Caucasus settlement in the Paleolithic because it is located at the crossroads between the northern and southern slopes. The only obsidian outcrop in the Northern Caucasus is located also here. Obsidian is a volcanic raw material that was highly valued by ancient people in that period and transported by Neanderthals hundreds of kilometers. We have investigated the chemical composition and morphology of minerals in 76 samples of the ZZ0 longitudinal section in Saradj-Chuko grotto. As a result, traces of volcanic activity were revealed in 2 (6A and 4) out of 11 layers. It has been found that volcanism in the Middle Paleolithic affected the settlement of the Elbrus region and most likely the entire northern slope of the central Caucasus. Specifically, layer 6A (where ash was found) overlaps layer 6B (the level of active habitation in the grotto). After the eruption recorded in layer 6A, the Neanderthals only occasionally visited the cave. Preliminary conclusions are made about a possible source of ash in these layers of Saradj-Chuko grotto. The materials were analyzed in a wide context of the currently known data on the presence of ashes in other sites of the Caucasus.

On a Finding of the Southern Palaearctic Ladybird Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi) (Coleo ptera, Coccinell idae) in Moscow Province

In the Balashikha Urban District of Moscow Province, a ladybird, Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi), predator of the cabbage whitefly (= celandine whitefly) Aleyrodes proletella (L.), was collected in May 2019 on celandine, Chelidonium majus L., in a coniferous forest. This southern Palaearctic ladybird had been previously known from natural habitats in Russia only in the Northwestern Caucasus.

Spatial Organization of the Vegetation and Landscapes of the Sub-Mediterranean Forest and Woodland Belt on the Abrau Peninsula (Northwestern Caucasus)

The article describes patterns in the spatial organization of landscapes and vegetation on the Abrau Peninsula within the Utrish State Nature Reserve and the adjacent territory. The use of ecological and topological profiling and large-scale mapping of the vegetation and landscapes made it possible to evaluate the spatial diversity of unique sub-Mediterranean ecosystems with respect to geological and geomorphological conditions, including the elevation, exposure and steepness of the slopes, as well as climate and sea effects. The specificity of the environmental conditions at different altitudes is reflected in the structure of phytocenotic diversity, which leads to the formation of two altitudinal sub-belts of the coastal belt and a change in typological composition of forest, woodlands, and shrub communities at different levels of phytocatenas.

Unknown Strong Earthquakes of The North-Western Caucasus in Holocene and Long-Term Seismic Regime

Unknown Strong Earthquakes of The North-Western Caucasus in Holocene and Long-Term Seismic Regime

Deep structure of the Anapa flexural-rupture zone, Western Caucasus

In the period from 2007 to 2017 complex geological and geophysical studies were carried out in the three largest flexural-rupture fault zones in the North-West Caucasus (Anapa, Akhtyrka and Moldavan). The micro-seismic sounding (MSM) was used as the main geophysical method. Studies with the help of MSM allowed us to identify the features of the deep structure of the earth’s crust in the study area and to associate them with specific tectonic structures on the surface.The binding was carried out by harmonizing the results of the MSM and the parameters of the section of the sedimentary cover and crustal boundaries according to the drilling data and the work previously performed by the reflected wave method (MOVZ). It was found that the Anapa flexure and longitudinal tectonic zones have clear deep roots, and also separate the pericline of the North-Western Caucasus from the Taman Peninsula and from the lowered blocks of the Northern slope of the folded system.Faults in the study area are divided into: (1) deep faults of the Caucasian stretch, penetrating into the lower crust and even to the upper mantle, and (2) near-surface faults, do not extend to the depths beyond the thickness of the sedimentary cover. The seismogenic role of these tectonic disturbances in the studied seismically active region has been determined.

Spatial distribution of the epigeic species of earthworms Dendrobaenaoctaedra andD. attemsi (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) in the forest belt of the northwestern Caucasus

Evaluation of the spatial distribution of 2 ecologically similar, but different, in terms of their spatial ranges, earthworm species, D. octaedra and D. attemsi, in the belt forests of northwestern Caucasus were based on our own natural data and using geographic information system (GIS) modeling of modern potential distributions. The quantitative records of earthworms were collected in beech, deciduous, dark coniferous, coniferous-deciduous, and pine forests (1028 geographic locations). Of the most important microsites inhabited by the epigeic earthworms, 2 (plant litter and deadwood) were examined. It was demonstrated that there was high correlation of the 2 species with the humidity of the habitat and the presence of deadwood at different stages of decomposition, especially for D. attemsi, which lives mainly in deadwood in all of the forest types. The high correlation of these species to coniferous-deciduous forests and dark coniferous forests was demonstrated on both the basis of the field data analysis and the GIS modeling results.

Deep Structural and Tectonic Features of Focal Zones of 21st Century Earthquakes in the Northwest Part of the Greater Caucasus

The article summarizes the available and newly collected data on the near-surface and deep structure and modern geodynamics of key regions of the northwest part of the Greater Caucasus. Models of the fault-block structure of this orogen and the nature of seismogenic displacements along the faults on its northwest pericline have been developed. The reasons for the abrupt change of the fold-block structure in the area of the Anapa seismogenerating flexural-fault zone are clarified. Detailed models of the near-surface and deep structure were constructed for a number of the most important seismogenerating structures in the Northwestern Caucasus that caused the Lower Kuban-II earthquake on November 9, 2002, with M = 4.7, and the Su-Psekh event on December 10, 2012, with Mw = 4.3, as well as the Pshekh earthquake on November 15, 2004 in Krasnodar krai with M = 4.6. Three-dimensional geodynamic and seismotectonic models of seismogenerating structures were constructed based on the results of field geological and geophysical surveys.

Local Population of Eritrichium caucasicum as an Object of Mathematical Modelling. III. Population Growth in the Random Environment

In the former two parts (Logofet et al., 2017, 2018), we reported on a matrix model for a local population of Eritrichium caucasicum, a herbaceous short-lived perennial, at high altitudes of north-western Caucasus. The model was constructed and calibrated in accordance with the observations on permanent plots in the period 2009–2014. The temporal variability of the data predetermined the temporal variations among the vital rates of the local population, too,—the elements of the “annual” matrices that project the vector, x(t), of the stage structure observed at the year t to the similar vector observed at the year t + 1. Quantitative measure of the local population fitness was calculated as the dominant eigenvalue, λ1(G), of the matrix G—the pattern-geometric average of five annual matrices—and it turned out to be greater than 1, i.e., gave a positive forecast of the population viability. After the expansion of the time series with the 2015–2017 data (presented in this article), the forecast has reversed, although the corresponding offset in λ1(G) has not been more than 16%. An alternative mode of prediction is based on the (upper and lower) estimates of the stochastic growth rate (λS) of the population in a random environment, which has been formed in the model by a random choice from 8 annual matrices distributed equally probable and independent of the choice made at the previous step. All the estimates of λS turn out to be lower than λ1(G), hereby confirming the negative viability prediction; however, a too simple model of the random environment needs further development and links to potential changes in the local habitat.

Deep Structure of the Anapa Flexural–Rupture Zone, Western Caucasus

In the period from 2007 to 2017 complex geological and geophysical studies were carried out in the three largest flexural-rupture fault zones in the North-West Caucasus (Anapa, Akhtyrka and Moldavan). The micro-seismic sounding (MSM) was used as the main geophysical method. Studies with the help of MSM allowed us to identify the features of the deep structure of the earth’s crust in the study area and to associate them with specific tectonic structures on the surface.The binding was carried out by harmonizing the results of the MSM and the parameters of the section of the sedimentary cover and crustal boundaries according to the drilling data and the work previously performed by the reflected wave method (MOVZ). It was found that the Anapa flexure and longitudinal tectonic zones have clear deep roots, and also separate the pericline of the North-Western Caucasus from the Taman Peninsula and from the lowered blocks of the Northern slope of the folded system.Faults in the study area are divided into: (1) deep faults of the Caucasian stretch, penetrating into the lower crust and even to the upper mantle, and (2) near-surface faults, do not extend to the depths beyond the thickness of the sedimentary cover. The seismogenic role of these tectonic disturbances in the studied seismically active region has been determined.

Isotopic Composition of Nitrogen and Transformation of Nitrogen Compounds in Meadow-Alpine Soils

Isotopic composition of nitrogen in soils can be an informative indicator of N transformation processes and sources of N nutrition of plants, but data on δ15N of labile N compounds are scarce. It is shown that N transformation in meadow-alpine soils (Leptic Umbrisols) of the northwestern Caucasus (Teberda Reserve, Karachay-Cherkess Republic) leads to well-expressed differences in isotopic signatures of different N compounds: δ15N of extractable organic matter > δ15Ntotal > δ15N– $${\text{NH}}_{{\text{4}}}^{ + }$$ > δ15N– $${\text{NO}}_{{\text{3}}}^{ - }.$$ The range of δ15N in this sequence reaches 25‰. Differences in δ15N within the same pool of N in soils of different alpine ecosystems, as well as seasonal dynamics of δ15N– $${\text{NH}}_{{\text{4}}}^{ + },$$ are much less pronounced (the range of δ15N is 2–4‰). The values of δ15Ntotal and δ15N– $${\text{NH}}_{{\text{4}}}^{ + }$$ positively correlate with N mineralization and nitrification and demonstrate the accumulation of heavy N isotope in soils of the alpine ecosystems with more active N transformation processes. Obviously, nitrification is the key process controlling the isotopic signature of N– $${\text{NH}}_{{\text{4}}}^{ + }.$$ The role of N mineralization in the fractionation of N isotopes is less obvious, and 15N accumulation in the extractable organic matter can be related to the significant content of “heavy” microbial N in extractable organic N pool.

Recent mountain-building at the boundary juction of the North-Western Caucasus and intermediate Kerch-Taman Region, Russia

In this paper the recent evolution of marginal segment of the North-Western Caucasus orogen in its junction to Kerch-Taman periclinal trough was studied. Geomorphological analysis included geological, tectonophysics data and digital elevation models was carried out. The North-Western Caucasus torn-folded morphostructures that had their extension in intermediate Kerch-Taman region westward to North-Western Caucasus mountain structure are both established to be developed in uniform regional compression settings. The prevailing horizontal compression direction changed from N–E in the North-Western Caucasus to the meridional one in Taman region, which was expressed in the reorientation of the axes of the folded morphostructures and geophysical anomalies from N–W to the latitudinal direction. The separation of the compressional vectors occurred in Pliocene-Quaternary period. Pre-Pliocene fault structures of N–E strike in this area were replaced with meridional Anapa-Dzhiginka and Abrau active fault zones.We compared Abrau zone with Anapa-Dzhiginka zone and established the faulting in Abrau zone became more dynamic in Pliocene-Quaternary stage, we revealed clear signs of vertical amplitude droppable-sliding kinematics of 500–600 m of normal fault deformation in Abrau zone during this stage. Abrau zone is the Greater Caucasus western boundary zone.The possible reasons for the restructuring of regional structural geometry and lateral transition activity of the faults transverse to the Northern-Western Caucasus orogen, are considered.

Оценка вероятных экономических и социальных ущербов от опасных природных процессов на Северо-Западном и Центральном Кавказе

Оценка вероятных экономических и социальных ущербов от опасных природных процессов на Северо-Западном и Центральном Кавказе