Home – Home – Jornals – 2009 number 2

Attention is given to the diversity and abundance of bumble bees in the city of Novosibirsk and its environs. The species list of Bombus Latr. and Psithyrus Lep. is given for the observation territory specifying their relative abundance. B. pseudobaicalensis Vogt, 1911, B. saltuarius (Skorikov, 1931), Ps. barbutellus (Kirby, 1802), Ps. norvegicus (Sparre-Schneider, 1918) and Ps. sylvestris (Lepeletier, 1832) are the first records for the Novosibirsk region. The seasonаl dynаmics of number and diversity of these insects are investigated.

Since 1916 the fish rotan (Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877) had widely distributed in the North-West of Eurasia. Since 1973-1976 populations of rotan are detected in the basin of the Irtysh: at the territory of Chelyabinsk Region in lake Peschanoye (Mertvoye) in the basin of the Tobol river flowing into the Irtysh. In 1975 this fish was introduced in a pond in the city of Chelyabinsk. Additional information about uncontrolled translocations of rotan was obtained. These translocations led to the appearance of new populations of rotan. Analysis of the spatial-temporal dynamics of detection sites reveals a correlation between earlier findings and highway network, while later findings correlate with the river network. In 2006, we performed special inspection of isolated and flood-land water reservoirs (n = 77) within the boundaries of the Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Omsk and Tyumen Regions. Up to present, the expansion of this unwanted invader has spread over the major part of the Tobol river basin. The northern population in the floodplain of the Tobol was detected in the vicinity of the town of Tobolsk in the former riverbed with the coordinates 58°02' northern latitude, 68°10' eastern longitude. Rotan is also known from the basins of other tributaries of the Irtysh: Ishim and Om, as well as from upper Irtysh. Exit of expansion into the middle part of the Irtysh river is possible. Rotan expansion threatens the floodplain water bodies of middle Irtysh. This fish species is a carrier of diseases, it competes for food with other fish species, actively consumes young fish of commercial species, so it is necessary to take into account the data on its distribution in the tributaries of the Irtysh when analyzing the dynamics of fish populations of the Irtysh. Biology of rotan allows assuming that this fish would affect functioning of natural focuses of dangerous helminthosis of Opisthorchis felineus.

Cytophysiological compensations of the rapid response for short-term single ambient temperature rise in the birds of Columba livia species, according to the hypothesis of «energy need», are realized in hepathocytes due to the development of the metabolic depression which is expressed as a decrease in the activity of the enzymes involved in Krebs cycle and their cytoplasmic forms. The activity of G-6-FDG increases, as the index of the adaptive metabolic plasticity, activation of the antioxidant system. The flow of metabolites is observed to switch from the aerobic route of glucose oxidation to the anaerobic one, the process of programmed cell death on the way of apoptosis is activated, the fraction of hepathocyte population at the G0 stage increases, while the fraction of hepathocytes at M stage of the cell cycle correspodns to the corresponding index in the intact individuals.

Results of the investigation of the number, time budget, and use of territory during the nesting period by little brown crane in Yakutia (at the western periphery of the habitat on the left bank of the Indigirka) for 1998-2007 are presented. The density of population of this species here is much lower than that in the north-east of Chukotka and in Alaska, which is depicted in the specific behavior of broods. During more than 10 years, the number of this crane species increased more than 20 times.

Features of the nesting biology of four species of birds nesting in tree hollows are investigated under the conditions of a city: common starling (Sturnus vulgaris L)., great tit (Parus major L.), common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus L.) and pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca Pall). Under urban conditions, number of eggs in a nest of a redstart is significantly larger, while for great tit and pied flycatcher it is significantly smaller; differences between the populations of starling are unessential. Successfulness of reproduction for the birds nesting in tree hollows is significantly higher in a city and exceeds the reference value for all the species by 10-20 %. The number of baby birds per a reproduction attempt is also higher in the city for all the species. Starling population in the city exceeds the reference population in the successfulness of reproduction mainly due to a decrease in the fraction of neglected eggs. The leading reasons of an increase in the reproduction success of other species at the urban territory are weakened pressure of predators and a decrease in the fraction of neglected broods.

Originаl data obtained in the routing accounts of birds in the central part of the Lena plateau, a region only scarcely investigated in the ornithological aspect, are presented. Characterization of the summer population of birds in different habitats at watersheds, in valleys and along riverbanks is given.

The facts of Vespertilio murinus discovery in the forest and forest-steppe zone of West Siberia (on the territory of the Khanty-Mansy District and Kurgan region) are given. Arrival time is determined; place of living, reproduction peculiarities and other aspects of the species ecology are revealed.

Data characterizing the dendroactivity of brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) were collected in the Yarsky District of Udmurtya, in the Pechora-Ilych (Republic of Komi) and the Sayan-Shusha state reserves. The tree stands at all the examined taiga grounds consist of hardwood and coniferous tree species. The fraction of hardwood species in local tree stands varied from 10 to 76 % (the average value being 35 %), conifers are represented by 4-5 species. Publications describing bear-affected trees (BT) in the amount of more than 50 species are also analyzed. On the basis of the original information, the data on the fractions of different tree species among the BT were compared with the fraction of the same species in local tree stands. Student statistics was used. It was concluded that the dendroactivity of brown bears is selective: the objects of activity become mainly coniferous trees, among them abies and spruce. These animals may also mark hardwood species but they do not do so if there is a choice.

In ten pairs of the red-backed vole, C. rutilus, rearing their first litters, both direct and indirect parental activities were studied under laboratory conditions during the observation period (21 days from parturition) divided into 4 rearing stages: days 2-6, 7-11, 12-16 and 17-21, respectively. There were pronounced sex differences in total time spent in the nest as well as in time spent by adults alone in the nest. Besides, duration of pup grooming by females was much greater than that by males; rates of nest construction and manipulations with nest material were also found to be much greater for females than for males. The rate of paternаl activities in five of ten pairs under study was revealed to be very low, and litters of these pairs actually received a maternal care only. Thus, there are different contributions from C. rutilus females and males into breeding, and this species can be considered as the one with almost exclusively maternal care. These findings are consistent with the published data concerning the use of space and social organization of the red-backed vole. Parental behaviour of C. rutilus is discussed in comparison with that of other arvicoline rodents.

Results of the analysis of spatial nonuniformity of the communities of small mammals at the West Siberian Plain and the Altay in comparison with the communities of аmphibia, reptiles and birds are presented.

This study was conducted at Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm, Gansu Province, North West China between June 2004 and January 2005. Focal sampling and all occurrence surveying was used to record the behavior of 42 female captive alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) in the lead up to the 2005 breeding season. The frequencies of 12 behavior categories were recorded and the behavioral patterns compared between successful breeding females (n = 28) and barren females (n = 14). Results indicated that, during non-mating season (August to October), females which were barren in the following season, demonstrated more affinitive and self-directed behavior as compared to successful breeding females. Tail pasting behaviour was expressed only by successful breeding females, and was observed only within the mating season (November to March). These findings have important implications in captive breeding programs and improving musk deer farming throughout China.

Data of previously performed investigations on the origin of the gray Ukrainian cattle and relatives in European countries are considered. Literature data on the biodiversity of exterior, phenotypic and productive indices of ecotypes and breed groups of gray Ukrainian cattle under different ecological and geographical conditions are presented. The proper experimental data on the differentiation on a number of genetic-biochemical systems of different groups of gray Ukrainian cattle bred under different ecologic-geographic conditions are presented.
The analysis of the literature and experimental data shows that the level of average heterozygosis to a greater extend reflects the properties of ecological conditions of animal reproduction than their belonging to different breeds.

In this work we consider an experimentally observed effect of significant increasing of the residual heat in metal targets at their irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses in an ambient gas in respect to the vacuum conditions. Numerical modelling of heating of a platinum target by femtosecond laser pulses in argon under normal conditions has been performed taking into account gas breakdown in the focussing region of the laser beam in front of the target. The applied model is based on a combination of a thermal model describing heating and phase transitions in irradiated samples and a hydrodynamic model to describe motion of the ambient gas perturbed by laser irradiation as a result of multiphoton ionization. The hot ambient gas is shown to heat efficiently the irradiated sample. The hydrodynamic processes in the ambient gas play an important role in heating.

The mathematical model of water vapor condensation was developed for the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. This model describes a chain of reactions providing formation and decay of water clusters with consideration of accompanying energy transfer processes. One-dimensional expansion of water vapor into vacuum from an evaporating spherical surface was studied numerically within the range of parameters, corresponding to the flows transitional by the Knudsen number. The influence of condensation on the gas-dynamic pattern of the flow, including the parameters of the Knudsen layer, is discussed.

Gas-dynamic mechanisms of the shock-wave structure restructuring is investigated in a transonic flow around an airfoil at a pulsed-periodic energy supply. It is shown that it does not reduce only to the effects of the low-density wake forming behind the energy source on the shock wave but represents a combination of several factors, of which the "explosion" character of the disturbance development is determining.

An analysis of the losses of heat into the walls of settling chamber in a hypersonic hot-shot tube has been performed. Tests without diaphragm rupture showed that the fall of settling-chamber pressure during the operating flow regime in the tube was the consequence of the transfer of heat from working body to wall; this has allowed us to evaluate the heat-transfer coefficient α and the inner-surface temperature of the wall T_w. An empirical formula relating the coefficient α with the pressure and working-body temperature in the settling chamber in the range of pressures and temperatures 160 to 540 bar and 700 to 3400 K was obtained. Using the gained dependences of α and T_w on pressure and temperature, we have developed a physical model for calculating the working-body characteristics in the tube with allowance for enthalpy losses. We found that by the hundredth millisecond of the operating regime the disregard, in such calculations, of the wall heat flux in the first settling chamber resulted in overestimation of the stagnation temperature in the test section in comparison with similar calculations made without allowance for the heat losses by 6−18 % in terms of the full-scale temperature for aircraft flight in Mach number range 5 to 8. The developed calculation procedure has been tested in experiments without diaphragm rupture.

An experimental study of spectral characteristics of unstable flow in the mixing layer of supersonic axisymmetric underexpanded jets with Mach number M_a = 1 is reported. The destabilization of the flow is related to the formation, in the mixing layer of the jets, of disturbances in the form of streamwise vortical structures of the Taylor ⎯ Goertler type. As a result, in the mixing layer there forms an azimuthally non-uniform stationary distribution of total pressure. The Fourier transform of azimuthal sweeps of non-uniformity in pressure distributions was used to calculate the amplitude-wave spectra. An analysis of the spectral characteristics has allowed us to evaluate the longitudinal increment of amplitude growth of the disturbances and their dependence on the wavenumber and on the nozzle pressure ratio. The range of wavenumbers in which the streamwise vortical structures grow in amplitude is identified.

The main principles and methods of developing the single-layer monolithic compliant coatings for turbulent drag reduction are presented.

In the present study, the distribution of circumferential velocity components of carrier flow in separation elements of air-centrifugal classifiers of powder materials has been experimentally examined. The study was carried out for variously contoured separation channels, and also for various conditions of a carrying agent (air) input in a separation zone. Optimal conditions for particle separation throughout the whole volume of the separation element can be organized by making the channel contour diverging towards the center of rotation. The experimental data gained in this study supplement the mathematical model for the aerodynamics of turbulent carrier flow in the shaped rotating separation elements of air-centrifugal classifiers and make an analysis of the separation-zone flow possible.

Measured data for the temperature of a porous spherical surface to which an evaporating binary liquid mixture was supplied are reported. In the experiments, solutions of ethyl and methyl alcohols in water, and also solutions of acetone in water, were used. The concentration of mixture components was varied throughout the widest possible range of X_L = 0−1, and the temperature of dry air flow past the sphere was in the range t₀ = 15−300 °C. In the present study, a strong influence of the composition of the mixtures on their adiabatic evaporation temperature was established. In the heat- and mass-transfer process, the air temperature is also of paramount importance. An experimental correlation is obtained which generalizes data on adiabatic evaporation temperature in a broad range of component concentrations and temperatures for the experimentally examined binary liquid mixtures.

The investigation of the influence of additional water injection in a classifier on the particle separation process characteristics has been performed on the basis of numerical modelling. It has been shown that the increase in water injection velocity leads to the increase of both the cut size and the minimal value of separation curve. The change of the injector opening size influences only the minimum value of the separation function not altering the cut size at the specified water injection velocity.

Wave processes in chemically active multicomponent media: liquid ⎯ gas bubbles ⎯ liquid drops have been studied experimentally. Existence of detonation waves in multicomponent (bubble-drop) media has been proved. Structure of detonation waves in bubble-drop and bubble media is qualitatively identical: detonation waves are solitary waves with pulsation profile the pressure behind which is close in value to the one in unperturbed medium. Propagation velocity of detonation waves in bubble and bubble-drop media drops with the increase in medium gas phase concentration and with the decrease in carrier liquid viscosity. Presence of liquid drops decreases detonation wave velocity compared with bubble medium that does not contain liquid drops. Detonation wave propagation in multicomponent media causes gas bubbles fragmentation as well as fragmentation of individual liquid drops.

Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of "ozone-safe" refrigerant R134а in liquid state within the range of temperatures 295.9−354.9 K and pressures from the liquid ⎯ vapor equilibrium line up to 4.08 MPa have been studied by high-frequency thermal-wave method. The experimental uncertainties of temperature, pressure, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurement errors were estimated to be 0.1 K, 3 kPa, 1.5 and 2.5 %, respectively. Values of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of liquid R134а on saturated line have been calculated. Approximation dependences for thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity within the whole studied range of temperatures and pressures as well as on the saturated line have been obtained.

The critical regimes of heat exchange at a laminar steady flow of a pseudo-plastic liquid in the initial interval of a coaxial duct are investigated with regard for both dissipative and chemical sources in the Arrhenius representation [5] under the conditions of an insignificant variation of the concentrations of reacting substances.

Here we consider one-dimensional heating of a layer of gray semitransparent medium by an outer source of radiation and convection. The sample boundaries reflect, absorb (radiate), and transmit radiation. It is shown that heating dynamics and character of temperature fields depend significantly on optic parameters of the boundaries.

The work of a pulsed aerosol system for fire fighting is modelled, which is designed for fire fighting at oil storages and at the spills of oil products, whose vapors were modelled by gaseous methane. The system represents a device for separate installation, which consists of a charge of solid propellant (the gas generator) and a container with fine-dispersed powder of the flame-damper substance. The methane combustion was described by a one-stage gross-reaction, the influence of the concentration of vapors of the flame-damper substance on the combustion process was taken into account by reducing the pre-exponent factor in the Arrhenius law and was described by an empirical dependence.
The computational experiment showed that the application of the pulsed aerosol system for fire fighting ensures an efficient transport of fine-dispersed aerosol particles of the flame-damping substance and its forming vapors to the combustion zone; the concentration of particles ensures the damping of the heat source.

An exergy analysis of possible regimes of energy supply to the air flow in the ramjet duct is carried out. A condition for the supply of a given heat amount to supersonic flow and a condition of the passage across the sound velocity are obtained for a duct with variable cross-sectional area. An analysis of the flow in a model ramjet duct at a pulsed-periodic energy supply is carried out. For a clear demonstration of possible schemes of heat supply in such a duct, a diagram in the temperature-exergy coordinates is proposed. A duct configuration in which the heat supply to supersonic flow is realized with regard for the limitation of the gas static temperature is proposed.

Fundamental principles of complex exergy analysis of new boiler technologies within power-generating units of thermoelectric power stations are set out. Results of analysis are stated.

Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of 1,2-acetylenedithiol isomers were carried out. The MP2(full), DFT(B3PW91, MPW1PW91), G3, G3B3, and CBS-Q methods were used. According to the calculations, the most stable isomers were 1,2-dithiet, thiiranethione, and trans-1,2-dithioglyoxal. The necessity of including basis set functions with a large angular momentum in calculations was confirmed. The relatively high stability of 1,2-dithiet was attributed to the aromaticity of its four-membered ring. It was noted that the carbon-carbon bond in the three-membered rings of the cis- and trans-isomers of thiirenethiols was unusually short.

The molecular structure of 2-nitroguanidine and its 1-methyl, 1-ethyl, and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl derivatives was studied by quantum-chemical methods. The results were compared with X-ray data. Using a basis larger than 6-31G and polarization functions and including electron correlation in calculations did not improve agreement with experiment. The major reason for this is the considerable effect of the crystal field on the geometrical parameters of the molecules.

The geometrical, electronic, and thermodynamic parameters of three known isomers of dinitrogen trioxide N₂O₃ were calculated by the density functional theory DFT/B3LYP method using the 6-311++G(3df) basis. The structure of the new isomer, NONO₂, was calculated. From the calculation of vibrational frequencies it follows that the structure of NONO₂ has a local potential energy minimum and corresponds to the stationary state of the N₂O₃ isomer. The molecular structure of NONO₂ is characterized by a substantial negative charge on the NO₂ fragment and positive charge on the NO fragment. The electronic structure of the isomer can be characterized as nitrosonium nitrite, which can be oxidized to nitrite and participate in nitrosylation in accordance with the biogenic characteristics of the NO_x intermediate, assumed to be formed in biological systems during the oxidation of NO.

The computation of vibrational dynamics of semiconductor Co₆₇Zr₃₃ glassy alloy has been reported for the first time that uses a different theoretical model potential formalism with Wills-Harrison (WH) form. Various local field correction functions are used to study the screening influence. The thermodynamic and elastic properties are also estimated from the elastic limits of the phonon dispersion curves (PDC). The dispersion frequency with respect to the wavenumber is found to be influenced by the dielectric screening due to the conduction electrons. Values obtained using the S-local field correction function and BS approach tend to be greater than other values calculated.

The saturated vapor of lutetium tribromide was studied in the simultaneous electron diffraction and mass spectrometric experiment at 1161(10) K. Along with the monomer molecular forms, the vapor contained an insignificant (up to 3 mol.%) amount of dimers. The parameters of the effective configuration of the monomer molecule were determined. The internuclear distance r_g(Lu-Br) is 2.553(5) Å, and the effective bond angle ∠_g(Br-Lu-Br) is 115.3(10)°. The temperature-averaged r_g parameters were calculated by the B3LYP method using the potential functions obtained by scanning the PES along the vibration coordinates and compared with similar experimental values. It was shown that the geometrical model of the LuBr₃ molecule of D_3h symmetry was consistent with the experimental data. The dependence of the r_g parameters of the LuBr₃ molecule on the vapor temperature was studied theoretically.

The saturated vapors of ErCl₃ and YbCl₃ were studied in a simultaneous electron diffraction and mass spectrometric experiment at 1165 K and 1170 K, respectively. In the vapors of these compounds, we found up to 3 mol.% dimers along with the monomers. The parameters of the r_g effective configuration of the monomer molecules were determined. For ErCl₃ and YbCl₃, the internuclear distances r_g(Ln-Cl) were 2.436(5) Å and 2.416(5) Å, and the bond angles ∠_g(Cl-Ln-Cl) were 117.0(10)° and 117.2(10)°, respectively. The equilibrium configurations and vibration frequencies of the monomer and dimer molecules were calculated by the HF, B3LYP, and МР2 methods using the combination of the ECP_D energy-consistent quasirelativistic core potential, including 4f electrons [Kr4d¹⁰4fⁿ], and the contracted [5s4p3d] valence basis set for Er and Yb atoms and the MIDIX [4s3p1d] basis set for Cl atoms. The parameters of the effective r_g configuration of the monomer molecules corresponding to the temperature of the experiment were calculated. The difference between the calculated equilibrium r_е(Ln-Cl) and temperature-averaged r_g(Ln-Cl) distances was found to be 0.001-0.002 Å and did not exceed the error of the r_g(Ln-Cl) parameter determined in the electron diffraction experiment. The experimental parameters of the r_g structure were shown to be consistent with the idea about the planar equilibrium geometrical configuration of ErCl₃ and YbCl₃ molecules.

The infrared spectra of the homogeneous and heterophase melts and glasses of the K,Ca/NO₃ system were studied. The effects of finely disperse Al₂O₃ powder additions on the structural dynamic properties of K,Ca/NO₃ were revealed. The temperature dependence of the parameters of the vibration bands corresponding to the inner vibrations of was studied. A model of structure and a mechanism of charge transfer in heterophase nitrate glasses were suggested.

The thermodynamic activation parameters of hindered rotation of the CF₃ group in the 4-nitrophenyltrifluoromethylsulfone radical anion in DMF were determined from the temperature dependence of the EPR line widths and spin density distributions calculated by the U-B3LYP method in the 6-31+G* basis set. In the range 293 > T > 199 K, the activation energy of hindered rotation E_F depends on the temperature and changes in the range 9.67 < E_F < 18.95 kJ·mol^-1; the changes in the activation enthalpy and entropy are 7.23 < ΔH^≠ < 17.30 kJ·mol^-1 and −53.45 < ΔS^≠ < -11.37 J·(mol·K)^-1, respectively. Based on the suggested method for evaluating the inner product of the g tensor and the tensor of anisotropic hfi with the ¹⁴N nucleus for nitrobenzene radical anions in the liquid state we calculated the correlation time and determined the activation energy of rotational diffusion of the 4-nitrophenyltrifluoromethylsulfone radical anion in DMF, E_r = 20.175±0.54 kJ·mol⁻¹.

The electron energy loss extended fine structure (EELFS) spectra were obtained from the pure nickel surface (M_2,3 EELFS) of a stoichiometric NiO film (NiM_2,3 and OK EELFS spectra) and the "nonhomogeneous" oxide film on the surface of nickel Ni-O (NiM_2,3 and OK EELFS spectra). The amplitudes and intensities of electron transitions for the core levels of atoms were calculated with regard for the multiplicity of electron impact excitation of the corresponding core levels of atoms. The corresponding normalized oscillating terms were isolated using the results of calculations based on the experimental EELFS spectra. Agreement between the experimental and calculated (on Ni and NiO test objects) data showed that the theoretical approaches used and the calculated data for describing the EELFS spectra are good approximations. Using the results of calculations and the parameters of secondary electron elastic scattering (FEEF-8 data) we obtained the atomic pair correlation functions from the experimental normalized oscillating parts of the EELFS spectra by Tikhonov's regularization method.

TEM, XRPA, and EXAFS studies showed that pyrolysis of [Ru(dipy)₃](Cl)₂ formed planar, two-dimensional, nanoparticles of ruthenium metal, stabilized in the carbon matrix.

Suspensions of illite clay minerals samples of three different origins (American illite from Montana, It(Mo), Tunisian glauconite from Gafsa, It(Ga), and Tunisian illite - chlorite mixed layer from El Hamma, It(Ha)) were prepared. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Electron Scanning Microscopy (SEM) and surface area measurements were used to characterize the three illite samples having different extent of isomorphic substitution. The layers have a permanent negative charge due to isomorphic substitutions and pH dependent charges on the surface hydroxyls on the edges. Surface speciation of these samples was investigated using continuous potentiometric titration and mass titration curves between pH 4 and 11 at 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 M NaCl solutions at ambient temperature. The two methods revealed point of zero charge (PZC) of the amphoteric edges sites approximately similar to the purified samples, in the range ~7.5-8.5, ~8.2-8.7 and ~ 9.0-9.3 for
It(Mo), It(Ha) and It(Ga), respectively. The PZCs of freshly prepared dispersions are higher than those reported in the literature indicating basic character of these samples (pH of equilibrium suspensions in distilled water were ~7.9-9). In the present study, the focus was on the surface charge characteristics. A simple SCM model approach is presented to explain the illite H⁺ adsorption data. Surface weak acidic sites and surface ionization constants were calculated from titration data using regression methods. Sites with pKa^int₁ values of 6-6.7; 5.4-5.8; 6.1-6.6 and sites at pKa^int₂ values of 9.2-9.9; 10.2-10.4; 9.3-10 for It(Mo), It(Ga) and It(Ha), respectively, were assigned to amphoteric Al-OH and/or Fe-OH and Si-OH groups on the edges of illite samples.

The structure and composition of the CuCrS₂ powder synthesized by sulfidation of a mixture of oxides Cu₂O:Cr₂O₃ = 1:1 at 850°C and cooled to room temperature at a rate of 60°C/min were studied by X-ray powder diffraction and differentiating solution. A rhombohedral CuCrS₂ phase (space group R3m) was found, which was stoichiometric in composition and had disordering in the copper sublattice because copper was arranged at the tetrahedral and octahedral sites with occupancy 10% at the latter. The structure of CuCrS₂, in which the octahedra were occupied by copper atoms at room temperature, was found for the first time; in known structures, the copper atoms occupied only the tetrahedral sites, while the probability of octahedral occupation appeared around 400°С (order−disorder transition). The partially disordered CuCrS₂ phase is intermediate on the route to complete ordering. The quickly cooled CuCrS₂ powder is unstable; after the second heating to 500°C with prolonged annealing at 390°C→180°C→80°C→25°С, its transition to the stable state was accompanied by liberation of 2-4 wt.% Cu₉S₅. The real composition of ternary sulfide after isolation of the Cu₉S₅ phase is discussed using the data of the structural method, differential dissolution, and magnetic measurements.