Olkhon Island Research Articles

Priority directions in the design of a youth culture and leisure center in Khuzhir settlement

We consider the relevance and importance of creating a youth culture and leisure center in the rural locality of Khuzhir. To this end, the results of sociological surveys among the population of the Olkhonsky District and young people of the Russian Federation, who form the main target audience of the youth center, were used. The research also involved a review of electronic sources and publications on the design of culture and leisure centers in the settlements of the Baikal coastal area, statistical data on tourism activities in the area of Olkhon Island and additional education initiatives in Russia, sociological surveys among Olkhon population and residents of the Russian Federation and CIS countries. A review of project proposals for the organization of leisure, culture, and education institutions in rural areas of Pribaikalye was carried out. All these findings were used to identify the main requirements to a youth center in Khuzhir. The analysis of priority areas in the field of additional education specified at the end of 2022 in Russia and the Siberian Federal District was used to determine a set of functions to be performed by the center. The results also formed the basis for the selection of similar objects of domestic and foreign experience for analysis and determination of the most optimal architectural and planning solutions of the designed center. The key stages in the organization of a youth culture and leisure center in Khuzhir were determined taking the needs of the target audience into account.

Neolithic burial of a dog on Olkhon Island (lake Baikal)

In 2022, archaeological activities were conducted to clarify the boundaries of the multilayer Unkhrug 1 site located on Olkhon Island (Lake Baikal). In the lowest layer of one of the test pits, a burial of an ancient dog in an artificial pit was found with the remains of a red deer. This find is very rare for the Neolithic of the Baikal region. A morphometric study of bone remains, a comparative analysis with other skeletal materials, and radiocarbon and isotope analyzes were conducted. The data obtained made it possible to establish the individual characteristics of the buried dog and its possible diet. An individual burial with a ritual meat part of a red deer carcass inside indicates the special significance of this individual for the Neolithic inhabitants of Olkhon Island.

Challenging the phylogenetic relationships among Echinococcus multilocularis isolates from main endemic areas

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a rare but severe disease that affects more than 18,000 people worldwide per year. The complete sequencing of the mitochondrial genome of Echinococcus multilocularis has made it possible to study the genetic diversity of the parasite and its spatial and temporal evolution. We amplified the whole mitochondrial genome by PCR, using one uniplex and two multiplex reactions to cover the 13,738 bp of the mitogenome, and then sequenced the amplicons with Illumina technology. In total, 113 samples from Europe, Asia, the Arctic and North America were analyzed. Three major haplogroups were found: HG1, which clustered samples from Alaska (including Saint-Lawrence Island), Yakutia (Russia) and Svalbard; HG2, with samples from Asia, North America and Europe; and HG3, subdivided into three micro-haplogroups. HG3a included samples from North America and Europe, whereas HG3b and HG3c only include samples from Europe. In France, HG3a included samples from patients more recently diagnosed in a region outside the historical endemic area. A fourth putative haplogroup, HG4, was represented by only one isolate from Olkhon Island (Russia). The increased discriminatory power of the complete sequencing of the E. multilocularis mitogenome has made it possible to highlight four distinct geographical clusters, one being divided into three micro-haplogroups in France.

West coast of Lake Baikal as a habitat for baikal seal Pusa sibirica in summer season

Using of the known rookeries on the western coast of Lake Baikal (including Olkhon Island and the isles in the Small Sea Strait) by baikal seal Pusa sibirica is assessed for modern conditions of anthropogenic pressure. All locations with geomorphological and lithological patterns suitable for rookeries are examined. For these purposes, the data from scientific literature were reviewed and the shores were researched visually with binoculars (from research boats) and from small UAVs, with particular attention to the historically known rookeries. Many new locations potentially suitable for haulouts and rookeries were found. However, the disturbance factor is significant for using these locations by seals — the most of known rookeries are visited sporadically by few seals in the short time between the floating ice disappearance and the beginning of the tourist high season. These rookeries were considered as «endangered» ones. When there is an urgent need (as in early summer 2020), seals come ashore in many locations, particularly on Olkhon Island, but don’t form new (not existed previously) rookeries. The threat of loss of the coast as a summer habitat for a significant part of the baikal seal population is possibly underestimated.

Comprehensive Assessment of the Use of the Territory of Olkhon Island (Baikal National Park)

Olkhon Island is a business card of the Irkutsk region and one of the most visited sites. Being a source of attraction for tourists, the island began to demand social development of the territory both in terms of individual and collective development, as well as in terms of housing and communal services and road infrastructure. In this regard, a comprehensive assessment of the use of the territory as an object of attraction for an increasing number of people, both for recreation and permanent residence, is required. The article presents an ecological and socio-economic assessment of the use of the territory of Olkhon Island, which is part of the Baikal National Park. The data on the current state, development and capacity of the island's road network are presented. The assessment of the recreational impact on the most popular tourist route of the Baikal National Park “North of Olkhon Island” was carried out. The issues of waste management, both in settlements and on tourist routes, are considered. The problem of cattle grazing on steppe landscapes is considered and analyzed. According to the results of the study, the proportion of anthropogenic impact on the ecosystems of Olkhon Island was determined, the main risks in the complex development of the island's territory were identified and recommendations were given to reduce the impact on the territory

The Problem of Waste Management in the Development of Tourist and Recreational Activities in Protected Areas (Baikal National Park, Olkhon Island)

The Problem of Waste Management in the Development of Tourist and Recreational Activities in Protected Areas (Baikal National Park, Olkhon Island)

Squirrels (Rodentia, Sciuridae) of the Early Miocene Tagay fauna in Eastern Siberia

The Tagay vertebrate fauna (Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia) dated to the late Early Miocene yielded a diverse association of sciurine rodents, including flying squirrel Hylopetes sp., tree squirrels Sciurus cf. lii, Sciurus sp., and Blackia cf. miocaenica, and a numerically dominant small marmotine Miospermophilus debruijni. The presence of flying and tree squirrels indicates the presence of wooded biotopes. The record of Blackia is remarkably distant (more than 4000 km) from the nearest synchronous records in western Asia (Anatolia) and Eastern Europe thus implying a continuous distribution range of this genus stretching through the middle latitudes of the Holarctic and likely marking the continental belt of temperate forests in late Early Miocene. Marmotines of North American origin document direct faunal communication between temperate faunas of the Old and New Worlds at that time.

URANIUM IN THE WATER OF THE BAIKAL ECOSYSTEM

The analysis of distribution of uranium concentrations in the water of conjugated components of Baikal ecosystem in the water of Baikal, tributaries, Angara headwaters and in underground water from the wells on Olkhon island and in south-western coastal part of Baikal has been carried out. The significant differences of the maximum uranium contents in the ground water of the Baikal and its inflows and the close average and median values of the element in the water of the Baikal and the Angara River flowing into it were determined. The data on uranium distribution fix the influence of geological and geochemical peculiarities of the structure of the Baikal ecosystem and its surroundings and the climatic and catastrophic (earthquakes, seismo-geodynamic activation etc.) events which take place in the region. An analysis of changes in the concentration of uranium in the water of Lake Baikal in relation to the seismic process was carried out on the example of strong earthquakes (M ≥ 5) in the region of Lake Baikal.

DEFICIENCY OF RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS IN NATURAL LANDSCAPE COMPONENTS AS A CAUSE OF GEOPHYGY AMONG UNGULATES ON OLKHON ISLAND

The actuality of the work lies in the systematic study of the causes of geophagy from the viewpoint of the rare earth hypothesis. From the original results of complex geological-hydrobiogeochemical studies carried out on Olkhon Island (Lake Baikal). ), it follows that the phenomenon of geophagy among wild and domestic ungulates on the island is due to a deficiency of light rare earth elements (LREE) in plant foods and natural waters. The deficit is associated with a low concentration of LREE in the composition of the most common metamorphic terrigenous-carbonate rocks, deluvium and soils on the island. The similar geochemical specificity of landscapes can be the cause of LREE imbalance in the hormonal system of the body. Hormonal stress causes animals to regularly and periodically consume kaolinite clays of weathering rocks enriched with the necessary elements.

Deficiency of Rare-Earth Elements in Natural Landscape Components as a Cause of Geophagy among Ungulates on Olkhon Island

Deficiency of Rare-Earth Elements in Natural Landscape Components as a Cause of Geophagy among Ungulates on Olkhon Island

Disarticulated Nomos

The significance of the state of the water of the sacred Lake Baikal in Buryat Indigenous society on Olkhon Island is so great that it is accompanied by a series of canons. These are rooted in certain folk narratives that define the lake as the giver of life, saviour, and maker of meanings. However, environmental narratives produced by the Russian media regarding ecological challenges, influenced by the government’s shaky environmental policies, have presented Baikal as shifting from being a centre of good to a centre of evil. This image has resulted in a transformation of the normative universe among Olkhon’s Buryats, leaving them with a semantic change in their religious life and diminishing the sense of responsibility in Buryat society towards the lake.

Ritual Hitching Posts Serge Among the Buryats in the 21st Century

The article deals with a little-studied topic with the aim of studying localization of Buryat ritual hitching posts serge in the space from Ust-Orda district to Cape Khoboy on Olkhon Island in the 21st century. The article is based on the field observations and materials, literary and electronic sources. The hypothesis of the study was proved – in conditions of globalization and active increase in international tourist flows, the Buryats are expanding the boundaries of their own sacred world to create a specific system of protective mechanisms against intensive foreign cultural influence. Sacred objects contribute to the preservation of the fragile ecology of the region. One of the key methods used in the article is ideographic method, which is supplemented with analysis and generalization. There are three entrance signs/complexes, in which the central place is given to ritual hitching posts on the section of the R-418 highway from Irkutsk to the border of the Olkhonsky district. On this section of the road there is a barisa, a ritual complex, with three serge. In the Olkhon region, nine serge are located at the mouth of the river Angi near Mount Yordo where the Yordyn Games are held. On the island of Olkhon near the cape Burkhan, 13 ritual hitching posts have been erected in honor of the “13 northern noyons”, occupying a special place in the shamanic pantheon of Buryats. There is a ritual hitching post serge on Cape Khoboy. The researched cult objects were established in the 21st century by the decision of the population and are all-Olkhon, and possibly all Buryat. The innovative character of the ritual hitching posts lies in their considerable size and in their installation in places where they were not previously installed, thus expanding the sacred territory. These considered Olkhon serge, despite of their increased size, retain their authenticity, in contrast to the stylized serge standing on the entrance steles. A new organization of the socio-cultural space with the help of ritual hitching posts indicates that the ethnic culture has been transforming into a national one.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL VELOCITY STRUCTURE OF THE CRUST IN CENTRAL LAKE BAIKAL FROM LOCAL SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY

This work deals with the importance of studying seismicity and deep structure of the Earth’s crust in the region of the Baikal rift zone. The study presents a three-dimensional velocity structure of the Earth’s crust in the central part of Lake Baikal, obtained from the results of tomographic inversion of the travel times of P- and S-waves from more than 800 seismic events. Synthetic tests provide substantiation for the resolution of the tomographic inversion algorithm. The seismic structure of the crust was obtained to a depth of 35 km and has a direct relationship with the geological structure. The three-dimensional distributions of seismic P- and S-wave velocity anomalies are in good agreement with each other.The sharp contrast between the anomalies may indicate a difference in the material composition of the basement of the Central Baikal basin. At a 15-km depth below the Selenga River delta, there is observed a strong low-velocity anomaly which confirms the presence of a thick sedimentary cover therein. In the basement (at depths of 20 km or greater), to the northeast of the intersection between the Delta fault and the Fofanov fault, there occurs a high-velocity anomaly elongated towards the Olkhon Island. This anomaly is probably related to a rigid block in the earth’s crust. The same depths, on the western side of the Baikal-Buguldeika fault, show a reduced Vp/Vs ratio: 1.56–1.65 versus 1.70–1.75 in the adjacent areas. This indicates another type of basement rock composition and the presence of consolidated matter there.Besides, there has been made a more accurate hypocenter determination for further comparison between seismic events and active fault structures. For the central part of Lake Baikal, the distribution of seismicity mainly corresponds to depths of 10–22 km. The situation is different below the Selenga Delta – the only area where seismicity is observed at depths greater than 22 km, – which can be attributed to complex fault interactions.The velocity anomalies discussed herein are confined to reliably identified active faults and correlate well with the distribution of seismicity and gas hydrate structures.

Scientific Support of Gully Rehabilitation in Protected Landscapes

Abstract—The experience of scientific support of work on the rehabilitation of the gully on the Cape Burkhan on the Olkhon Island (south of Eastern Siberia, Lake Baikal) is considered in this article. Cape Burkhan is a unique natural monument with a recognizable landscape and a high-status tourist attraction, which is exposed to a high recreational impact. The processes of linear erosion develop in this area most intensively due to the characteristics of the lithological and geological structure and morphological parameters. The anthropogenic factor has the greatest influence on the activation of dangerous geomorphological processes, including erosional ones. As a result of the study, the comprehensive analysis of the territory was carried out: initial conditions, causes, and factors of vegetation and soils degradation, activation of erosion processes. Various approaches to the technological and biological stages of gully rehabilitation were analyzed. Detailed recommendations have been developed to reduce the recreational impact on the relief and carry out restoration work. The proposed approaches to rehabilitation can be used on other gullies on Olkhon Island and the Priolkhonskoe plateau.

Сайтинские боги в шаманизме бурят: семантика образов и функции

The article examines the semantics and functions of the deities known in the Buryat shaman pantheon of the Baikal region as “Saitani Burhad” (Saitin gods). The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the last quarter of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. The research is based on historical, ethnographic, ethnolinguistic, folkloristic, mythological and archaeological materials. Structural-functional and cultural-semantic analyses used to identify the semantics of the image of each Saitin deity in the pantheon showed their conditionality by the process of personification, which correlates with one of the structural components of the white shamanism of the Buryats, defined by its origin as female shamanism. They include shamanic trance, silver as a sacred metal in the sphere of white shamanism, the process of invoking gods and ancestral spirits with the help of chants, the ritual attire of the shaman, as well as the rite of sacrifice and its attributes. The study of the image and functions of the mythological ancestors of the Buryats of the Hori tribe, represented in the pantheon of the Saitin gods with the functions of intermediary spirits between earthly people and the White heavenly gods of the “Western Tengri”, reveals their commonality with the worldview, cosmogonic myths and cosmological representations of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Southern Siberia, Central Asia and the Yakuts. The origins of this community go back to the culture of the Iranian-speaking peoples of the Eurasian steppes of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, who revered the creator God, whose name is formed from the root aar/aya. The analysis of the ethnogonic myth of the Khori-Buryats as the plot of the cosmogonic myth correlated with the seasonal rituals of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples showed that historically the bearers of these beliefs were a social community with the totemic cult of the Scythian Deer-Sun and Swan-Sun Bird. Taking into account the correlation of images and events in the Khori myth with petroglyphs in the Sagan-Zaba Bay and Aya Bay on the northern shore of Lake Baikal, the origin of the Saitin gods among the population of the Baikal region can be correlated with the tile graves on Olkhon Island and the northern coast of Lake Baikal.

Разработка Листвянского, Бугульдейского и Ольхон-Приольхонского мониторинговых полигонов на Байкале: обзорное изучение микроэлементов и изотопов U в речных и подземных водах

The results of prospecting studies of trace elements and activity ratio 234U/238U (АR4/8) in surface waters and groundwaters from the Listvyanka, Buguldeyka, and Olkhon-Priolkhonye polygons of integrated monitoring, organized since 2020, are presented. At the Listvyanka polygon, wide interval of АR4/8 from 1.67 to 2.5 is obtained for groundwater in the Bolshie Koty village, at the Buguldeyka and Olkhon-Priolkhonye polygons that are located in the zone of the Primorsky fault – an interval of AR4/8 from 1.25 to 2.70. These values is general characteristic of large active faults of the central Baikal Rift Zone. Water from the Buguldeyka River differs in terms of both trace element compositions and AR4/8 values from those of its tributary Kurtun due to location of these rivers basins in rocks of the exposed basement of the Siberian Platform and its sedimentary cover, including evaporate carbonate sediments. On the Olkhon island, determined is groundwater that differs in elemental composition from the deep Baikal water.

Счетные жетоны из старобурятских погребений Приольхонья

The history of the accumulation of materials on counting jetons of the 17th–18th centuries obtained from the burials in the Olkhon region (western coast of Lake Baikal from Cape Elokhin to the Buguldeika village, including Olkhon Island) is considered. Based on the study of literary sources, available archival and collection materials stored in the funds of the Irkutsk State University (excavations of V. V. Pavlutskaya in the 1980s), 8 burials from the Old Buryat cemeteries were identified, in which counting jetons were recorded (more than 244). For the first time, counting jetons from the accompanying inventory of the burial ground Todakta IV are introduced into scientific circulation in full. A generalization and analysis of all currently found counting jetons of the Olkhon region are carried out and their general classification is proposed. To determine the images on some counting jetons and establish the names of the masters who made them, A. A. Pushkarev’s research was used. It was possible to identify 129 jetons with varying degrees of completeness. Among them, according to the plots on the front side, the portrait theme (chest profiles of monarchs) occupies a leading place. There is a variety of plots on the reverse side of the jetons: heraldic signs, an ancient warrior, a park with a fountain, a three-masted ship, a tree under the sun. Most of the counting jetons are marked with the seal of the master Johann Christian Reich (109). There are also works of Johann Friedrich Weidinger (7), Albrecht Hoger (4), Johann Jakob Ditzel (4), Johann Adam Vogel (3) and Cornelius Lauffer (1). Taking into account the periods of activity of these masters, it is possible to outline the chronology of the use of certain plots for decorating jetons. In the first half of the 18th century (along with heraldic signs marked in the 17th century) images are often found: a sailing ship and a tree under the sun; in one case, an ancient warrior was recorded (in combination with the image of Louis XV). The themes of coats of arms and ships were encountered in the second half of the 18th century. In the Old Buryat burials of the Olkhon region, counting jetons originating from different workshops are found together. The latest of them were made in the workshop of Johann Christian Reich, which is probably associated with the intensification of the export of jetons to Russia and Siberia in the second half of the 18th century.

A synthesis of fauna, palaeoenvironments and stratigraphy of the Miocene Tagay locality (Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Eastern Siberia)

We report about the Early Miocene Tagay fauna of Olkhon Island, the largest island of the Baikal Lake. The Tagay fauna is of high scientific importance because of the diversity of fishes, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, manifold birds and mammals. The lithology, geochemistry and the fossil record along the Tagay-1 section allow reconstruction of various palaeoenvironments, i.e. open water, shallow lakes with adjacent wetlands, riverine woodlands, and also forested and dry habitats. The fossil record, lithology and geochemical sediment-analyses suggest a temperate palaeoclimate with short humid and dry periods. The small mammal record and the magnetic polarity pattern of the upper part of section Tagay-1 correlate with the subchrons C5Cn.2r – C5Cn.1r of Chron C5C and the late Burdigalian Stage of the Geologic Time Scale (GTS2000). The corresponding age range of the Tagay fauna is ~16.5 to ~16.3 Ma.

Sediment geochemistry of the section Tagay-1 at Olkhon Island (Lake Baikal, Eastern Siberia): a contribution to palaeoenvironmental interpretations

The Miocene Tagay section in the north-western part of Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, provides a unique window into past life in northern Asia. To aid palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, we carried out whole-rock geochemical analyses of 17 sedimentary layers of this section. The aim of this geochemical approach is to examine the element variations as a response to climate change during formation of the Tagay section deposits with a focus on the hydrological regime of the catchment and in-lake processes. Our results establish that temperature and climate conditions during the formation of sediments of section Tagay-1 were fairly stable, no abrupt climatic changes occurred. The palaeoclimate was temperate, however, it had a cyclic nature: wet and semiarid epochs of different intensity and duration alternated. The basal part of the sediment sequence is dominated by terrigeneous material, mainly by surface runoff, so the sedimentation was fed by erosion products of the weathering crust. During sedimentation of this lower part (layers 17–9), the palaeo-lake level and salinity stayed practically unchanged. The drawdown of the palaeo-lake and increasing salinity started in the higher middle part (layer 8), and reached the minimum water level and maximum salinity in layers 7–6. Sediments of the layers 8–6 accumulated in an arid climate. After deposition of layer 5, the water level began to rise, and during formation of layer 3 it fell again. The highest sedimentation rate was in layers 12–5, these are also the layers with the highest enrichment of biogenic elements (layers 12, 7–5) and where carbonate deposition took place. The observed changes in element behaviour are related to hydrological changes in the catchment (precipitation), lake level status, and evaporation, and are ultimately driven by climate.

Palaeomagnetic data from the late Cenozoic Tagay section (Olkhon Island, Baikal region, Eastern Siberia)

One of the most important fossil fauna localities in the Baikal region is the Tagay section. It is located on the shore of Tagay bay at the northwestern coast of Olkhon Island in the Baikal Lake and consists of two different exposures, Tagay-1 and Tagay-2. The Tagay-1 section exposes predominantly lake sediments of Miocene age and contains a faunal complex. The Tagay-2 section is composed of slope wash and subaerial sediments of Early Pleistocene (Calabrian?) age with remains of small mammals. A total of 95 samples for palaeomagnetic studies were taken in both sections. Magnetic susceptibility (MS), its frequency dependence (Fd) and anisotropy were measured from all samples. The stable component of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) was obtained using stepwise alternating field (AF) demagnetization. The magnetic polarity pattern was constrained for the Tagay-1 section. It includes an extended zone of reversed polarity, complicated by three normal subzones of minor rank. Palaeontological data allow correlation of the Tagay-1 pattern with the magnetic chrons C5Dn to C5Cn.1n (late Burdigalian – early Langhian). Palaeomagnetic directions in the upper part of the Tagay-2 section are randomly distributed due to intensive slope-wash processes resulted in mechanical perturbation of the sediments. The lower part of Tagay-2 section demonstrates only reversed polarity, although the scatter of directions is quite large due to landsliding. This reversed interval may be correlated with the Matuyama chron between Cobb Mountain and Olduvai subchrons. Synchronous increase of MS and Fd values in palaeosols suggests a pedogenic (or “Chinese”) mechanism influencing magnetic properties of the Tagay-2 section under warm palaeoclimatic conditions.