Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2012 number 2

The Late Cenozoic geodynamics of the Alpine-Himalayan belt comprised the collision between continental-lithosphere plates and blocks and the effect of the Neotethyan active residual asthenosphere, which reached the northern margin of the belt after the ocean had closed. From the late Eocene to the early Pliocene, strong deformation, lateral migrations of flaked plates, metamorphism, and magmatism (they all consolidated the crust) took place in the lithosphere with the participation of mobile asthenospheric components. In the Pliocene-Quaternary, the asthenosphere beneath the consolidated crust partly replaced the dense mantle lithosphere with remaining paleoocean mafic rocks, which subducted into the mantle. Phase transformations and deformations in the subducting metamafic slabs caused mantle earthquakes. The less compact metamafic rocks experienced metamorphic softening under the effect of the asthenosphere and incorporated into the Earth's crust. The upper-mantle and lower-crust softening led to a drastic intensification of uplifting and the formation of mountain ranges. Recent volcanism is also attributed to the activity of the Neotethyan asthenosphere.

An experimental study of serpentine decomposition at high pressure (4.5 GPa) was carried out to elucidate if water can be preserved in the system in the form other than structural admixtures in minerals. This problem is of interest because it is water that plays a leading role in the melting in a subducted slab and a mantle wedge. To estimate the possible content of an aqueous fluid in deep-seated rocks, a BARS pressless split-sphere apparatus was used in complex with thermobarogeochemistry and gas chromatography.
It has been established that the serpentine decomposition is accompanied by the release of water, which concentrates in inclusions in the produced minerals (olivine and orthopyroxene) and their interstices. Chromatographic analysis with a stepwise heating of samples showed that most of the released water is localized in the interstices, and the rest is conserved in fluid inclusions in the minerals. The produced solid phases conserve 0.13 to 2.43 wt.% fluids as inclusions, with water amounting to 0.1-2.06 wt.%. The content of inclusions determined by microscopic examination falls in this region. Since the mobility of the fluid conserved as inclusions in the olivine and orthopyroxene is significantly lower than that in the interstices, this fluid might be better preserved in olivine-containing rocks subsided to depth.

Djerfisherite, a Cl-bearing potassium sulfide (K₆Na(Fe,Ni,Cu)₂₄ S₂₆Cl), is a widespread accessory mineral in kimberlite-hosted mantle xenoliths. Nevertheless, the origin of this sulfide in nodules remains disputable. It is usually attributed to the replacement of primary Fe-Ni-Cu sulfides when xenoliths interact with a K- and Cl-enriched hypothetical melt/fluid. The paper is devoted to a detailed study of the composition and morphology of djerfisherite from a representative collection (22 samples) of the deepest mantle xenoliths - sheared garnet peridotite, taken from the Udachnaya-East kimberlite pipe (Yakutia). Four types of djerfisherite were distinguished in the mantle rocks on the basis of morphology, spatial distribution, and relationships with the rock-forming and accessory minerals in the nodules. Type 1 was found in the rims of polysulfide inclusions in the rock-forming minerals of the xenoliths; there, it was younger than the primary sulfide assemblage pyrrhotite + pentlandite ± chalcopyrite. Type 2 formed rims around large polysulfide segregations (pyrrhotite + pentlandite) in the xenolith interstices. Type 3 formed individual grains in the xenolith interstices together with other sulfides, silicates, oxides, phosphates, and carbonates. Type 4 was present as a daughter phase in the secondary melt inclusions which occurred in healed cracks in the rock-forming minerals of the xenoliths. Along with djerfisherite, the inclusions contained silicates, oxides, phosphates, carbonates, alkaline sulfates, chlorides, and sulfides. The results indicate that djerfisherite from the xenoliths is consanguine with kimberlite. Djerfisherite both in the sheared-peridotite xenoliths from the Udachnaya-East pipe and in different xenoliths from other kimberlite pipes worldwide formed owing to the interaction between the nodules and kimberlitic melts. Djerfisherite forming individual grains in the xenolith interstices and melt inclusions crystallized directly from the infiltrating kimberlitic melt. Djerfisherite bounding the primary Fe-Ni ± Cu sulfides formed by their replacement as a result of a reaction with the kimberlitic melt.

We present results of geochemical studies and isotope dating of eclogites and associated rocks from the Kuru-Vaara quarry, Belomorian Belt, Northeastern Baltic Shield. The southern and northern eclogites are similar in geochemical features. Their protoliths were primitive, mainly high-Mg basalts of oceanic genesis derived from a primitive mantle source rather than from a depleted mantle source characteristic of modern MORB. The post-eclogitic intrusive rocks show obvious evidence for crustal contamination. The eclogite-hosting tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses form a coherent series including high-Al and low-Al varieties. The trace-element data show that the TTG series formed through the hydrous partial melting of the southern eclogites in the presence of garnet and amphibole in the field of the rutile stability (>15 kbar).
Zircons from the southern eclogites exhibit features of their strong re-equilibration by coupled dissolution-reprecipitation processes but have locally preserved patches with a primary magmatic zoning. The geochemistry of the patches points to the oceanic provenance of protolithic zircons; their isotope dating (SHRIMP-II) yielded a concordant age of 2821 ± 21 Ma. Zircons from the trondhemite gneiss with geochemical features of Archean adakite were dated at 2805 ± 11 Ma, which evidences the syn-eclogitic origin of theTTG melts. The concordant age of high-pressure zircons from the northern eclogites is 2722 ± 21 Ma, close to the age of the earlier studied Gridino eclogites.
The overview of the isotopically dated eclogite bodies show the presence of at least three temporally distinct groups of eclogites in the Belomorian Belt, ~2.86-2.87, ~2.82-2.80, and ~2.72 Ga, which is in good accordance with the known isotopic age for majer crust-forming events in the belt. This, in turn, implies a close genetic relationship between the eclogites and the TTG origin, which might be consistent with the model of the short intermitted events of subduction of the thickened Archean oceanic crust.
The presence of HP/UHP elcogites of different ages and the structural style of the Belomorian Belt permit it to be assigned to megamelange belts.

According to geological, petrological, geochemical, and geochronological studies, the Haraa Gol terrane in the western Hentiyn Mts. is dominated by two rock assemblages of different ages, associated with the initiation and development of the island arcs and marginal spreading seas of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean. The Late Cambrian, Early Ordovician, and Middle Ordovician were marked by the effusion of basalt and basaltic andesite and the formation of gabbro and gabbro-dolerite in back-arc spreading basins. In the Late Silurian-Devonian, after a short pause, tectonomagmatic processes were activated, with the formation of differentiated island-arc volcanics, gabbro, and granitoids. Their absolute ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age is given in the paper. The model age of the T _Nd (DM) protolith of the Haraa Gol igneous rocks corresponds to the composition of the Mesoproterozoic juvenile crust.

The magnetotelluric (MT) profile traverses the southeastern edge of the Siberian craton and the adjacent Paleozoic Ol'khon collision zone, both being within the influence area of the Baikal rifting. The processed MT data have been integrated with data on the crust structure and composition, as well as with magnetic, gravity, and seismic patterns. Large resistivity lows are interpreted with reference to new geothermal models of rifted crust in the Baikal region. The northwestern and southeastern flanks of the profile corresponding to the craton and the collision zone, respectively, differ markedly in the crust structure and composition and in the intensity of rifting-related processes, the difference showing up in the resistivity pattern. The high-grade metamorphic and granitic crust of the craton basement in the northwestern profile flank is highly resistive but it includes a conductor (less than 50 ohm·m) below 16-20 km and a nearly vertical conductive layer in the upper crust. The crust in the southeastern part, within the collision zone, is lithologically heterogeneous and heavily faulted. High resistivities are measured mainly in the upper crust composed of collisional plutonic and metamorphic complexes. Large and deep resistivity lows over the greatest part of the section are due to Cenozoic activity and rift-related transcrustal faults that vent mantle fluids constantly recharged from deeper mantle.

Using the materials from the catalogue of seismic events in the Siberian region, we estimated the impact of man's activity on natural seismicity. Local man's intervention into natural processes has been studied by the examples of commercial explosions during the quarry mineral mining in the Kuznetsk Basin and the exploitation of the railroad site along the shore of Lake Baikal. Seismic emission is shown to change with time under the impact of powerful monochromatic vibrators on the environment.

The study presents the result of continuous temperature monitoring in a 300 m deep borehole located on the Pacific coast of Kunashir Island. Temperature variations at 20-240 m depths with periods from a few tens of minutes to a few tens of days and amplitudes of thousandths to tenths of degree are found to result from three main causes: tidal variations of groundwater level in the borehole, natural convection in the borehole, and nonperiodic and spatially heterogeneous changes of the pore pressure resulting in an anomalous subsurface fluid regime and generating crossflow between the different aquifers through the annular space. Joint analysis of temperature and seismic data revealed that shallow-focus (up to 30 km) earthquakes with M > 5 occurred southeast of the seismic station created more expressed temperature response at 240 m depth. This response has the form of a 0.05-0.3 K temperature drop, which precedes a seismic event within a period of a few hours to a few days. Tidal analysis of borehole temperature measurements can be used to calculate the strain sensitivity, and the method of borehole temperature monitoring can be used to investigate the tectonic regime of the Earth's crust.

The paper discusses importance of historical studies devoted to the Russian experience of exploration and development of the Arctic Zone and the Northern Sea Route from the ancient times to the present day. History of high-latitude regions of Russia is presented as an integral part of the grandiose process of Russian colonization of Eurasia and creation of the largest country in the world.

The main task of this article is to reveal and investigate the heritage of M.V. Lomonosov demonstrating his role in initiating the Arctic and Northern studies. The undertaken research allowed presenting to the scientific community a thesis about the significance of the area to the development of the Russian state and formation of scientific foundations of the northern sea navigation.

This article clarifies the role of the alcoholic drinks in trade relations between Chukotka native inhabitants, American entrepreneurs and Russian Cossacks at the end of the XIX century — the beginning of the XX centuries. Having analyzed economic behavior of trade participants, as well as state policy directed against alcoholizing of the native population in the most remote part of the Russian empire, the author concludes that alcohol played a special role in trade relations in the Chukotka peninsula, and that it was an integral part of trade relations absorbed into local culture.

The paper analyzes the first scientific forecast of the Siberia's Arctic regions petroleum potential and geological exploration results in the 1920–1940s. It shows the role of Glavsevmorput (Chief directorate of the Northern Sea Route) in organizing the Arctic oil exploration. The author presents conclusions made by geologists on the petroleum potential of the Arctic region as well as their arguments for further geological exploration in other regions.

The article considers activities of the Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.N.Saks as one of initiators of integrated Arctic studies in the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the course of conducting scientific research he obtained important results in such fields as stratigraphy, paleontology, paleobiogeography, sedimentology, paleogeography, paleoclimatology and petroleum geology.

The paper addresses a problem of integrated study of demographic development of the Yamal-Nenets district in the 1960–1980s. For the first time in historiography the author presents data on changes in structure and population dynamics in Yamal, basic vital rates; he also uses mass sources to design times series estimating birth rate and death rate, nuptiality and divorce rates, migration processes (in general and from the point of view of rural and urban population). The research shows correlation between demographic processes in Yamal and general political, social and economic situation; gives the original periodization of the population development in the district.

The paper deals with international research initiatives devoted to studying the indigenous peoples of Yakutia, living in the Arctic regions. It is noted that scientific studies resulted in defining two oppositely directed factors which affected the activity of indigenous peoples — the desire to strengthen the role of the elements of traditional way of life along with growing influence of various modernization and assimilation processes.

The paper analyzes contradictions in social and economic development in the northern areas of the Tyumen Region; shows the need for conceptual shift in determining goals and prospects of its development. Special attention is paid to areas of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District (YNAD) where unique gas fields were discovered after the Great Patriotic War. The author studies the industrialization's effect on other spheres of activities in the region, shows how the old traditional culture of the northern population conflicted with the new industrial culture; describes methods of settling this conflict; considers prospects for the Yamal's development in the 2010s, the role of the peninsula in the Federal Project «Industrial Urals — Polar Urals», social and environmental aspects of the new stage of the Arctic Zone's industrial development.

The paper addresses a problem of rule-making activities of the Russian government as an instrument of evaluation of the Arctic region policy. The author shows changing nature of the government's rule-making activities since early 1990s; increasing number of legislative acts dealing with the Arctic region; shifting priorities from solving concrete social and economic problems to general issues of national security and military strategic task of strengthening the state boundaries.

This article analyzes the level of military science development among Russian soldiers and Siberian Tatars as well as the military factor's role in defense of southern boundaries of Western Siberia from the Turkic and Mongolian nomads in the end of the XVI — first third of the XVII centuries when there was a real threat of the Siberian Tatar Khanate's restoration. The author considers the role of the Tatar nobility and military groups of service Tatars in defending the southern borders of Russian possessions in the steppe areas of Western Siberia. The fact that some Tatars remained faithful to the Russian state allowed local authorities to succeed in resisting numerous attacks of the Turkic and Mongolian nomads during this period of history.

The article analyzes different variants of critical study of official acts as primary historical sources by the Russian historians in the first half of the XIX century. The main attention is paid to scientific work of the less well known historians: A.Z. Zinoviev, V. Vinogradov, A.F. Fedotov and others. The author considers their scientific theories concerning the Russian official acts as historical sources; shows the prominent German scholar  A.-L. Schloezer's impact on the Russian historians. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate what was new in studying the official acts as historical sources in the Russian science of the first half of the XIX century.

The article deals with the problem of recruitment in Russia. It shows how recruits were sent to the military recruitment office (rekrutskoye prisutstviye), which was responsible for their delivery. The author studies the routes followed by the parties of recruits in Siberia as well as points of their destination.

The article characterizes activities of intelligentsia which influenced the processes of modernization in the agricultural sector in Western Siberia: dissemination of agricultural knowledge among farmers; introduction of effective methods of livestock-breeding and field-crop cultivation, organization of agricultural societies, artels, co-operatives. Rural intelligentsia in the region contributed in initiating some positive changes in the economic activities of the peasantry.

The paper highlights the role of the official and unofficial periodicals in Western Siberia as an instrument of interaction between the local society and judicial authorities. It shows that owing to the printed media such interaction was differently directed. The author describes distinctive features of the articles which dealt with the judicial bodies, their addressees and addressants. The author determines goals pursued by the participants of this communication process: informing the local population about administered justice, explanation of its limitations, as well enlightenment and education. The author notes evolution of this form of communication between the local population and judicial authorities (via periodicals) in the wake of legal reforms.

The paper investigates the mass political work of the Red Army political organs and party organizations in the West Siberian military district in the final stage of the Civil War and the early years of the postwar period. The author exposes main forms and methods of this work, shows their evolution depending on the tasks formulated by the military command and Soviet authorities at the local level.

The paper deals with the famine of 1946–1947 in Western Siberia and its impact on the demographic subsystem of the society. The post-war crisis resulted in the negative change in fertility, nuptiality and mortality dynamics, as well as in the structural characteristics of mortality. Demographic processes stabilized after the famine ended.

The paper considers the problem of social and psychological adaptation of prisoners of war who returned from the USSR and were interned in the postwar Germany. The author concludes that adaptation was painful due to the post-traumatic stress syndrome and diseases they had in camps , so it complicated their life in the postwar period. This article is written on memoirs published in Germany as well as on unpublished manuscripts sent to the author by the former German prisoners of war.  Moreover, the author also used some works by contemporary Russian scholars.

The paper traces evolution of M.V.Nechkina's views on the scientific heritage of the Russian historian V.O. Kliuchevsky. The author analyzes published works by M.V. Nechkina Russian History from the Standpoint of Economic Materialism (Historiographic Essay), Vasiliy Osipovich Kliuchevsky. History of Life and Scientific Work. Based on M.V. Nechkina's diaries the author reconstructs the plan of her unpublished monograph about V.O.Kliuchevsky written in the 1920s.

The article deals with organization and operational use of the shock units in Admiral Kolchak's Russian army. The author concludes that despite their pompous name these military units demonstrated low military efficiency and did not perform the assigned tasks.

The article deals with activities of a punitive agency — the Special troika in the Siberian OGPU Plenipoteniary, headed by a prominent chekist L.M. Zakovskiy and founded in February 1930 with the purpose of organizing a mass terror in villages swept by the broad anti-government protests. The paper analyzes the personal staff of the Special troika, stages of the repressive and punitive activities as well as statistics indicating that in the first months of 1930 troika acted with cruelty, similar to the period of1937–1938.

The paper considers the work of governmental, scientific, research and development organizations in the sphere of rocket industry. The author analyzes organization of production of surface-to-air and sea-launched missiles in Siberia, as well as spacecrafts, rocket fuel and many other kinds of equipment, including electronic and semi-conductor devices.

The paper highlights the main directions of the Siberian museums adaptation to globalization: museumification of the material and non-material heritage with the purpose of preservation of regional identity, ethnic and cultural tourism development; formation of the modern discourse of science, culture and education providing the efficient socio-cultural adaptation of population; using information technologies for integration into the socio-cultural space and international museum community

Changes in the content of triterpene alcohols of dammaran series in the leaves of Betula pendula Roth along the zonal-climatic trasect from the northern to the southern limit of the range of this species in the Trans-Ural region was studied for the first time. It was shown that the populations from the northern and southern regions differ in the amount of triterpenes. A connection between the content of triterpene alcohols in the leaves of Betula pendula with climatic parameters was revealed. In this situation, the amplitude of intra-population variability of triterpene content is essentially lower than that of inter-population variability, which is the evidence of the promising character of population selection on the basis of this biochemical index.

Approaches to the use of bioindication methods for estimation of the ecological conditions of water ecosystems under pollution with hydrocarbons are discussed. The consequences of the transboundary pollution of the Amur River ecosystems with benzene derivatives after a technogenic accident at a petroleum chemical plant in China are considered for the example of responses of microbic complexes and the accumulation of toxic substances in fish.

Forest litter is the most significant component of forest biogeocoenosis for the studies of the behavior of chemical elements and artifical radionuclides during forest fire events. The ubiquitous distribution of forest litter, active biogeochemical processes that occur in it due to permanently incoming organic matter, high depositing properties with respect to chemical components preciрitated from the atmosphere align forest litter as the natural objects playing an exclusive role of biogeochemical barrier at the routes of element migration in forest ecosystems. Investigation of the distribution of chemical elements in forest litter and the degree of its burning out during forest fires allow us to distinguish a group of elements that migrate from the sites of fire and to determine the degree of their carry-over quantitatively.

Stable nitrogen isotopes (δ ¹⁵N) were measured in the organic matter (OM) of the thallii of vagrant lichen Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis collected across the altitudinal gradient, from 1550 to 3250 m a.s.l. in the steppe and highland meadows in the Khangai Plateau, Mongolia. On the regional scale (all sites), a correlation between δ ¹⁵N values and the altitude range is absent. However, in the steppes at low and medium altitudes (Eastern Khangai) OM is depleted in ¹⁵N with increasing altitude from 1550 to 2300 m a.s.l. Also in the highland meadows of Central Khangai, OM is depleted in ¹⁵N with increasing altitude. According to our own data, the results obtained at a local scale do not always correspond to those on the regional scale.

Data on beryllium content in the ash and air-dry mass of the organs of Pinus sylvestris were obtained. The certain regularity in the distribution of beryllium in needles and branched over years was revealed. It was established that beryllium is an element of strong accumulation for Pinus sylvestris under the conditions of the region under investigation, but its role in the general cycle of matter is of minor importance.

The ability of 128 plant species from 44 families and 28 genera of the Far East flora to accumulate lead was investigated. A substantial range of deviation was revealed for lead content in the assimilative organs of plants: 0,81-25,67 mg/kg of the dry matter. The major regularities of metal accumulation in the plants of different  systematic taxons and biomorphological groups were established. Plants were grouped on the basis of the intensity of lead accumulation, and metal concentrating species were determined. Species promising for phytoindication and phytoremediation of the urban environment are recommended.

Results of monitoring studies of mine dumps in the area of uranium deposit in South Yakutia are presented. The complex application of biological, biochemical and geochemical methods allowed us to reveal mass transfer of radionuclides and heavy metals in the system radioactive dumps - soil - plant and their influence on seed progeny of Duschekia fruticosa (Rupr) Pouzar.

Informaiton about changes in the state of plants under the action of waste materials from oil and gas well-boring (WB) and about the transfer of toxic elements from soil to vegetative organs is presented. It was established that the growth and productivity of plants are stimulated if the concentration of WB in oligotrophic substrates is up to 20 %, without the transfer of individual elements into vegetative organs.

Novel data are discussed concerning tritium content in surface, ground and underground waters in the area the accidental pacific underground nuclear explosion “Kraton-3” in August 24, 1978. Early studies on the object “Kraton-3” were mainly devoted to the determination of surface contamination in the taiga landscape at the moment of the explosion, and the further redistribution and migration of radionuclides from contaminated areas under the influence of exogenous and biogenic processes. For the first time, an issue was considered whether the underground source of radioactivity is opened. Basing on the analysis of radioecological and geochemical data, a conclusion is drawn that there occurs a significant delivery of radionuclides from the cavity of the explosion to the surface of the earth.