Home – Home – Jornals – Combustion, Explosion and Shock Waves 2014 number 2

The Phanerozoic within-plate magmatism and the related deposits of Siberia are reviewed. The formation of post-perovskite at about 2.5 Ga in the Earth’s interior and the isotope characteristics of within-plate igneous rocks have shown that plate tectonics and deep geodynamics started to operate at about 2–2.5 Ga. The assembly and breakup of supercontinents under the effect of the superplumes formed in layer D″ is considered. Thus, the supercontinent-superplume cycles spanning about 700 Ma are recognized in the Earth’s history. The manifestations of the within-plate magmatic activity are found throughout the whole Phanerozoic. It was demonstrated earlier that between 570 and 160 Ma, the Siberian continent drifted within the African hot mantle field or large low shear velocity province (LLSVP). At least four plumes, excluding the superplume leading to the breakup of Rodinia at 750 Ma, interacted with the Siberian continent. The superplume leading to the breakup of Rodinia was also responsible for the origin of ultramafic intrusions with carbonatites hosting rare-metal (Nb, Ta, REE) mineralization as well as ultramafic-mafic intrusions with Cu–Ni–Pt mineralization localized along the rift zones. The plumes originated in other Phanerozoic cycles formed most likely at the lower-upper mantle boundary, where most of the stagnant slabs are accumulated. Those plumes were responsible for the origin of within-plate igneous rocks. The granitic batholiths formed in the centers of zonal area surrounded by rift zones containing abundant rare-metal intrusions with rare-metal mineralization. Gold, tin, base metal, and porphyry copper deposits are also related to these zonal area. The studies have shown that the formation of folded zones and related deposits which surround these zones as well as the structures of cratons and their metallogenic specialization should be considered in terms of both plate tectonics and plume tectonics.

A Middle Paleozoic tectonothermal event in the eastern Siberian craton was especially active in the area of the Vilyui rift, where it produced a system of rift basins filled with Devonian-Early Carboniferous volcanics and sediments, as well as long swarms of mafic dikes on the rift shoulders. Basalts occur mostly among Middle Devonian sediments and are much less spread in Early Carboniferous formations. The dolerite dikes of the Vilyui- Markha swarm in the northwestern rift border coexist with the Mirnyi and Nakyn fields of diamond-bearing kimberlites. The voluminous dikes and sills intruded before the emplacement of kimberlites. The Mir kimberlite crosscuts a dolerite sill and a dike in the Mirnyi field, while a complex dolerite dike (monzonite porphyry) cuts through the Nyurba kimberlite in the Nakyn field. Thus, the kimberlites correspond to a longer span of Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism. The basalts in Middle Paleozoic sediments have faunal age constraints, but the age of dolerite dikes remains uncertain. The monzonite porphyry dike in the Nyurba kimberlite has been dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method, and the obtained age must be the upper bound of the dike emplacement. The space and time relations between basaltic and kimberlitic magmatism were controlled by Devonian plume-lithosphere interaction.

The evolution of Late Paleozoic granitoid magmatism in Transbaikalia shows a general tendency for an increase in the alkalinity of successively forming intrusive complexes: from high-K calc-alkaline granites of the Barguzin complex (Angara-Vitim batholith) at the early stage through transitional calc-alkaline-alkaline granites and quartz syenites (Zaza complex) at the intermediate stage to peralkaline granitoids (Early Kunalei complex) at the last stage. This evolution trend is complicated by the synchronous development of granitoid complexes with different sets and geochemical compositions of rocks. The compositional changes were accompanied by the decrease in the scales of granitoid magmatism occurrence with time. Crustal metaterrigenous protoliths, possibly of different compositions and ages, were the source of granitoids of the Angara-Vitim batholith. The isotopic composition of all following granitoid complexes points to their mixed mantle-crustal genesis. The mechanisms of granitoid formation are different. Some granitoids formed through the mixing of mantle and crustal magmas; others resulted from the fractional crystallization of hybrid melts; and the rest originated from the fractional crystallization of mantle products or the melting of metabasic sources with the varying but subordinate contribution of crustal protoliths. Synplutonic basic intrusions, combined dikes, and mafic inclusions, specific for the post-Barguzin granitoids, are direct geologic evidence for the synchronous occurrence of crustal and mantle magmatism. The geodynamic setting of the Late Paleozoic magmatism in the Baikal folded area is still debatable. Three possible models are proposed: (1) mantle plume effect, (2) active continental margin, and (3) postcollisional rifting. The latter model agrees with the absence of mafic rocks from the Angara-Vitim batholith and with the post-Barguzin age of peralkaline rocks of the Vitim province.

Comparative study of geological and isotope-geochemical features of the Early Paleozoic granitoids of the Khamar-Daban Ridge and Olkhon Island located in the Baikal region has revealed their close age and composition. Besides, they were referred to as syncollisional S -type formations derived from gneiss-schistose substratum of metamorphic sequences. Granitoids of the Solzan massif in the Khamar-Daban Ridge, as well as the Sharanur complex on Olkhon Island, occur in the autochthonous and allochthonous facies. They primarily consist of migmatites, plagiogranites, gneiss granites, and K-Na-granites. The igneous rocks of the Sharanur complex include subalkaline granosyenites and quartz syenites spatially proximal to K-Na-granites. In the north of the island we investigated alkaline syenites which might be related to the Budun massif of basic rocks. On Olkhon Island in the Tashkiney valley, the surveyors recognized the geochemical type of pegmatoid rare-metal granites bearing beryllium mineralization. As was found, they are distinguished from Be-muscovite and spodumene pegmatites of the Khamar-Daban by high Rb, Cs, Sn, Nb, Ta, and W but low Li concentrations, which is probably due to Li-enrichment in the protolith of the Kornilova Formation relative to the Olkhon sequence. This points to the inheritance of the protolith composition at all stages of syncollisional granite formation. The geochemical study has shown similarity of calc-alkaline and subalkaline granitoids of the Khamar-Daban Ridge and Olkhon Island and their affinity in age and average composition of the regional continental crust. In addition, it has revealed the evidence for the existence of the Olkhon-Khamar-Daban block occurring as a single terrane in the Baikal region.

The Heven lava plateau in the Hövsgöl field of the South Baikal igneous province formed in the Early-Middle Miocene between 20 and 15.5 Ma. It consists of Early Miocene hawaiites and trachybasalts and Middle Miocene basanites erupted, correspondingly, during two major events in its history. The Heven alkali-basaltic lavas are compositionally similar to their counterparts from other volcanic fields in the southern flank of the Baikal rift system and are richer in Ba, K, Pb, and Sr than oceanic island basalts (OIB). The basanitic, hawaiitic, and trachybasaltic magmas were generated at pressures from 25 to 15 kbar and at temperatures in the range from 1434 to 1358 ºC. The magma sources occurred at 74 to 41 km in asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle and were ~200 ºC hotter than the ambient lithospheric mantle in the surrounding areas and the continental geotherm. The crystallization history of dark-colored began with liquidus highly magnesian olivine and Cr-spinel, and then several other parageneses formed successively as pressures and temperatures decreased: Ol + Cpx and Ol + Cpx+ + TiMgt ± Pl phenocrysts and subphenocrysts, Cpx + TiMgt + Ilm + Pl microphenocrysts, and finally interstitial Ne + Kfs alkali aluminosilicates. There were two crystallization stages with different mineral chemistry trends. The chemistry of minerals changed as the rising magmas first reached the crust-mantle region and then moved to shallow depths, erupted, and solidified. The generation of the Heven hawaiite-trachybasalt and basanite magmas was controlled by the depth of the reservoirs and the melt fraction in garnet-bearing asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle associated with progressive and regressive dynamics of the lower heterogeneous mantle plume consisting of PREMA and EMI components.

We present new data on the geologic position, chemical composition, and isotope characteristics of the Early Cretaceous granitoids of the Samarka terrane, Sikhote-Alin’, formed on a transform continental margin. Geological and geochronological data show that these granitoids were generated at two stages of magmatism: in the first half (Hauterivian-Barremian, 130–123 Ma) and second half (Albian-Cenomanian, 110–98 Ma) of the Early Cretaceous. Granitoids of the first stage form an autonomous (free of basic precursors) unimodal melanogranite-granite association and are characterized by normal alkalinity with domination of K over Na, low contents of Ca, and elevated contents of Al₂O₃. By composition, these are S–granites with a model Nd age of ~1.3 Ga. Granitoids of the second stage are of more diverse petrogeochemical types. They show wider variations in K/Na and Shend Index are richer in Ca and, sometimes, Sr, and are poorer in P than the granitoids of the first stage. Their compositions form a continuous trend from S– to I–granites, and their model Nd age is ≤1.2 Ga. Comparison of the petrochemical, trace-element, and isotope characteristics of the Early Cretaceous granitoids and upper-crustal rocks (sandstones and siltstones of the turbidite matrix of a Jurassic accretionary prism and basalts from the inclusions in it) of the Samarka terrane and the coeval garrboids has shown that the potassic S–granitoids formed at the early (Hauterivian-Barremian) stage of magmatism as a result of the anatexis of upper-crustal sedimentary rocks. At the late (Albian-Early Cenomanian) stage, the intrusion of mantle magmas led to a temperature increase in the lower crust, which favored more active anatexis, involvement of high-melting substrates (oceanic basalts) in the granite formation, and interaction of mantle and crustal magmas. This resulted in a great diversity of granitoids (from S– to I–type).

The authors analyze the geodynamic settings of large fields of spodumene pegmatites hosting Li and complex (Li, Cs, Ta, Be, and Sn) deposits of rare metals within the Central Asian Fold Belt. Most of the studied fields show a considerable time gap (from few tens of Myr to hundreds of Myr) between the spodumene pegmatites and the associated granites, which are usually considered parental. This evidence necessitates recognition of an independent pegmatite stage in the magmatic history of some pegmatite-bearing structures in Central Asia. The Precambrian-Late Mesozoic interval is marked by a close relationship between the large fields of spodumene pegmatites and extension settings of continental lithosphere. They occur either as (1) zones of long-lived deep faults bordering on trough (rift) structures experiencing the tectonic-magmatic activity or as (2) postcollisional zones of shearing and pull-apart dislocations. Thus, large fields of spodumene pegmatites might serve as indicators of continental-lithosphere extension. Important factors favoring the formation of rare-metal pegmatites both in collision zones and continental-rift settings are the presence of thick mature crust dissected by long-lived, deeply penetrating (down to the upper mantle) fault zones. They ease the effect of deep sources of energy and substance on crustal chambers of granite and pegmatite formation.

The mineral and geochemical compositions of noble-metal (first of all, gold) deposits of the Fennoscandian, Siberian, and Northeast Asian orogenic belts are considered. These deposits are of several types: Au (disseminated Au–sulfide and Au–quartz), Au–Bi, Au–Ag, Au–Sb, Ag–Sb, Au–Sb–Hg, and Ag–Hg. They formed in different geodynamic settings as a result of the active motion of crustal tectonic blocks of different nature. Subduction processes (both at the front and at the rear of continent-marginal and island-arc magmatic arcs) resulted in Au–Ag, Ag–Sb, Ag–Hg, Au–Sb–Hg, and Au-Bi deposits. Collision events gave rise to Au and Au–Bi deposits. Intraplate continental rifting and formation of orogenic belts along the boundaries of block (plate) sliding led to the origin of Au and Au–Bi ores in association with Au–Ag, Au–Sb–Hg, and complex ores. In all cases, the formation of noble-metal mineralization was accompanied by magmatism of different types and metamorphism. Because of this diversity of ores, there is no single concept of the genesis of noble-metal mineralization. Several competing models of genesis exist: hydrothermal-metamorphic, pluton-metamorphic, plutonic, activity of mantle fluid flows, and multistage concentration with the leading role of sedimentary complexes.

Data are presented on chromitites from the northern and southern sheets of the Il’chir ophiolite complex (Ospa–Kitoi and Khara–Nur areas). The new and published data are used to consider similarities and differences between ore chrome-spinel from the chromitites of the northern and southern ophiolite sheets as well as the species diversity of PGE minerals and the evolution of Pt mineralization. Previously unknown PGE minerals have been found in the studied chromitites. Ore chrome-spinel in the chromitites from the northern sheet occurs in medium– and low–alumina forms, whereas the chromitites from the southern sheet contain only medium-alumina chrome-spinel. The PGE minerals in the chromitites from the southern sheet are Os–Ir–Ru solid solutions as well as sulfides and sulfoarsenides of these metals. The chromitites from the northern sheet contain the same PGE minerals and diverse Rh–Pt–Pd mineralization: Pt–Ir–Ru–Os and isoferroplatinum with Ir and Os–Ir–Ru lamellae. Areas of altered chromitites contain a wide variety of low-temperature secondary PGE minerals: Pt–Cu, Pt–Pd–Cu, PdHg, Rh₂SnCu, RhNiAs, PtAs₂, and PtSb₂. The speciation of the PGE minerals and multiphase intergrowths is described. The relations of Os–Ir–Ru solid solutions with laurite and irarsite are considered along with the microstructure of irarsite-osarsite-ruarsite solid solutions. Zoned Os–Ir–Ru crystals have been found. Zone Os_82-99 in these crystals contains Ni₃S₂ inclusions, which mark off crystal growth zones. Different sources of Pt mineralization are presumed for the chromitites from the northern and southern sheets. The stages of PGE mineralization have been defined for the chromitites from the Il’chir ophiolite belt. The Pt–Ir–Ru–Os and (Os, Ru)S₂ inclusions in Os–Ir–Ru solid solutions might be relics of primitive–mantle PGE minerals. During the partial melting of the upper mantle, Os–Ir–Ru and Pt–Fe solid solutions formed syngenetically with the chromitites. During the late-magmatic stage, Os–Ir–Ru solid solutions were replaced by sulfides and sulfarsenides of these metals. Mantle metasomatism under the effect of reduced mantle fluids was accompanied by PGE remobilization and redeposition with the formation of the following assemblage: garutiite (Ni,Fe,Ir), zaccariniite (RhNiAs), (Ir,Ni,Cu)S₃, Pt–Cu, Pt–Cu–Fe–Ni, Cu–Pt–Pd, and Rh–Cu–Sn–Sb. The zoned Os–Ir–Ru crystals in the chromitites from the northern sheet suggest dissolution and redeposition of Os-Ir-Ru primary mantle solid solutions by bisulfide complexes. Most likely, the PGE remobilization took place during early serpentinization at 450–600ºC and 13–16 kbar. During the crustal metamorphic stage, tectonic movements (obduction) and a change from reducing to oxidizing conditions were accompanied by the successive transformation of chrome–spinel into ferrichromite–chrome–magnetite with the active participation of a metamorphic fluid enriched in crustal components. The orcelite–maucherite–ferrichromite–sperrylite assemblage formed in epidote–amphibolitic facies settings during this stage. The PGE mineral assemblage reflects different stages in the formation of the chromitites and dunite–harzburgite host rocks and their transformation from primitive mantle to crustal metamorphic processes.

The gold distribution in 32 pyrite samples and some samples of other ore minerals is studied using the method of statistical samplings of analytical data for single crystals. The samples were recovered from deposits of different genetic types within the largest gold provinces of Russia and Uzbekistan. The contents of uniformly distributed gold and the ratios of its structurally to superficially bound forms have been determined. According to the Au-As diagram for the chemical states of gold, uniformly distributed gold in pyrite is chemically bound in the overwhelming majority of cases. The previous experimental data suggest that it is partly incorporated into pyrite and partly into the structures of nanosized nonautonomous phases on the surface of the pyrite crystals. Micro– and nanoparticles of native gold might appear during postgrowth transformations of these phases. Data on the other ore minerals suggest that the dependence of the content of uniformly distributed gold on the size or specific surface area of the crystal and the superficial position of its considerable part are common to the ore minerals. It is shown for pyrite that the observed features are commonly found at deposits of different genetic types, only with differences in the slope and determination coefficients of the dependences. The size dependences of the contents of gold and other elements in pyrite are genetically significant, because they give an insight into the ore–forming processes. The data on structurally bound gold permit comparative evaluation of gold concentrations in ore fluids forming gold deposits of different genetic types.

When prospecting ore deposits in the Trans-Baikal region, the endogenous geochemical fields (EGF) are taken as the main search element, as was proposed by L.V. Tauson. Such fields are classified into: geochemical fields of dispersion (GFD), concentration (GFC), and removal (GFR). With regard to their formation conditions, they are subdivided into magmatic (associated with magma chambers), intratelluric (associated with activity of intratelluric emanations), hydrothermal-metamorphic (vadose-thermal solutions), metamorphogenic, and sedimentary-metamorphogenic. Magmatic EGF are divided into three groups: magmatic, pneumatolytic, and hydrothermal stages. This study identified their polygenetic origin and association with ore-magmatic systems. The geochemical fields of ore zones, fields, and deposits result from the late and postmagmatic processes; they also include the EGF of host rocks and those which altered at the pre-ore stage of the natural system development. In ore deposits, the EGF are responsible for the supply and redistribution of elements through the ore formation process. The fields were divided into EGF of poor concentration (contrast coefficient CC normalized after background up to 10), mean (CC > 10–100), and intense (CC >> 100). The EGF intensity progressively increases at the hierarchy stage: “host rock-pre-ore metasomatite-syn-ore hydrothermalite-orebody-ore pillar”. To summarize, the fields, ore districts, zones, and deposits are characterized by diverse patterns of dispersion, concentration, and removal. The specific features of composition, structure, and zonal distribution of elements in geochemical fields are exemplified by some gold-bearing zones of the Trans-Baikal region. The paper reports new approaches to investigating these natural formations. The authors promote transition from the generally accepted evaluation of a halo separation to the volumetric survey of endogenous geochemical fields (GFD, GFC, and GFR included) of ore deposits and ore-magmatic systems, in general. The acquired evidence supports the assumption that endogenous geochemical fields should be regarded as a complete system differentiated in space and time, preserving specifics and pattern of the internal structure.

The author’s goal is to clarify the reasons for an unusual phenomenon: although many Russian university entrants would like to make a career in jurisprudence, the state policy does not approve this choice. In fact, legal colleges and universities do not encounter difficulties searching for the entrants dreaming of getting a lawyer diploma despite serious problems for the young specialist in finding a legal job. Moreover, legal education is fee-paying almost everywhere. Meanwhile, the state policy is oriented to reduce the number of legal specialists by means of closing down the law departments and declaring as inefficient the legal educational establishments in Russia (mostly, private colleges and universities). It even puzzles, because the state itself bears neither expenses no responsibilities for the young specialist’s career (nowadays there is no assignment of young specialists in Russia). Having studied the specificity of legal education in the context of traditionally formed methods of coordination between the state and its citizens in Russia, the author has come to an unexpected conclusion: the persistent desire of entrants to study law is due to the fact that there is a need for defending their individual freedom with legal methods.

The XXIst century is the century of changes and innovations. The meaning of vocational education is transformed. Today the university education is not equivalent to a long-term prospect of life success. The labor market’s demands for professional and qualified workers are changing very quickly. The need for the human resources, capable of self-adaptation to new problems, is increasing. Education is being actively modernized (LLL, educational constructivism, educational connectivity, knowledge triangle). The philosophical and research issues of vocational education, according to the author, are cross-cultural and interdisciplinary. There is also the demand for the formation of an effective, marketable education. There are presented an analysis of the trends in education development, interaction of classical and virtual education (Coursera, Skillshare, Twitter ...), and the forecasts of supply and demand in the labor market and in the educational market. An increasing role of “Startups” and “Greenfield technologies” is described.

The author carries out a system analysis of the quality of domestic higher education in modern Russia. In the article the indissoluble interrelation of indicators of the quality of preschool, school and higher education is shown; the main reasons for the decrease in the quality of education at all the above stages are established. The following statement is proved: the modern educational reforms, in contract with the declared positive purposes, promote formation of a destructive paradigm of the quality of Russian education, which contradicts the concept of national security of our country and is directed on decomposition of the Russian society and its sharp polarization.

The article is dedicated to providing guidelines for the methods of assessing the professional competence of the agriculture specialists in the Altai Territory. The topicality of the subject increases with the increasing of the role of cadres in the enterprises, since the evaluation of the level of professional competence of the specialist at each stage of additional professional education is a very important and necessary part of the professional activity of the employee. At that, the introduction of the voluntary public certification for the specialists and managers of agricultural enterprises can significantly streamline the process. The authors carried out some work to provide guidelines for assessing the professional competencies of agricultural workers at different stages of professional activities; most importantly, in the context of agriculture being today a strategically important industry.

In line with the Bologna agreements, the Russian education is adopting new educational standards. In this regard, the author of the article suggests upgrading the system of methodical preparation and introducing an integrated training module for the Bachelors of teacher education. The article describes a mechanism for integration of the structure and content of several educational disciplines: «Modern means of assessment of learning outcomes», «Use of modern information and communication technologies in the science education», «Integrative approach to studying natural sciences at school» and «Theory and methods of teaching biology». As a result, there is introduced in the Bachelor Degree program a new discipline, «Methods of education (biology)».

In connection with the adoption of the Law “On Education”, we have taken the path of modernizing the educational system. The author analyzes the current state of the elementary professional education system, its role and importance in solving the personnel training problems. The article describes the concept of educational standard, its functions and reasons for implementation of the Federal National Educational Standards. The content of education in the elementary vocational school, an important part of which is the students’ general education, has undergone significant changes. There are distinguished the provisions of the Law on Education of December 29, 2012 that relate to the reforming process of professional schools.

The aim of the article is to identify the trends in vocational education in the region. According to this aim, an analysis has been conducted of the changes from the beginning of market reforms to the present. It has been found that due to diminishing of the number of students in the institutions of primary and secondary vocational education, and the growth of the higher education institutions, in the vocational education in the region there is being formed a tendency of discrepancy in the size and structure of training. This leads to a shortage of mid-level professionals and skilled workers. At the regional level, we need to strengthen measures aimed at enhancing the prestige of working professions and specialties of vocational education. The authors used a novel approach that allowed considering the problem from the standpoint of the development of private property.

The authors analyze the current situation concerning the directors of agricultural enterprises and show the need for establishing of a system of management of the process of professional growth of agricultural directors. The authors formulate the requirements for this “system” and set out their vision for its structure and content. The purpose of the work is ensuring the efficiency of agricultural production through the systematic growth of professionalism of the managers of agricultural enterprises. There are considered in detail the basic elements of the system and the professional support of the managers of agricultural enterprises, while making emphasis on the individual approach to each manager to ensure sustainable growth of professionalism and motivation to innovate and improve the production efficiency.

The article deals with the content-related components and the objectives of the professional education in modern Russia. The author claims that the activities of educational institutions should be oriented to the formation of “homo creator” in the era of post-industrial modernization. It is argued that for this purpose in the Federal State Educational Standards there should be consolidated the disciplines of the basic part of all educational cycles, increased the number of the academic subjects of the variable part (mainly the “courses by choice”) and strengthened the research component of the curriculum. The author emphasizes that homo creator is not the “all-round developed person”, but it is the person whose constitutive feature is the personal independence.

The article examines the current topical problems of modernization of the education system and the development of modern Russia in the context of globalization. There is substantiated the necessity of the correspondence of the reforms to the historical traditions of the country and the type of society. The authors support the assertion that the limit of the reforms degenerates. As a result, “the reform < ... > inevitably turns into its opposite, i.e., a kind of counter-reform”. The authors develop methodological principles associated with the idea formulated above. The central idea is that the study of the limits of reforms has become very topical for ensuring Russia’s national security.

The author analyzes a serious pedagogical problem of intensification of the learning process in higher education with the use of modern educational technologies, in particular, the technologies of the problem-modular training. There are discussed the possibilities of creative educational technologies. On the background of the new Law on Education, establishing and adopting of the new Federal Educational Standards, the problem of modularity of learning appears in a slightly different light: not only as an innovation, not only as a form or method of enhancing teaching and learning process, but also as a complete and perfect means for changing the approach to teaching, the pedagogical view of one’s work and the work of students of higher education. The work of teacher will undergo significant changes; students’ independence will significantly increase. The approach to the methods of obtaining and evaluating knowledge will change as well. The independent work of the student and the creative work of the teacher can become the basis for a real change in Russia’s system of vocational education.

The article describes various aspects of education in the humanities as related to the complicated situation in the Russian educational space. Education is considered as “the making, the formation of man”; and the goal of liberal education is defined as “the basics of the inclusion into the system of social relations”. Revealing the importance of education in the humanities, the author raises the issues related to the reform of the entire education system and, in particular, in vocational education and indicates that “direct focusing on a specific narrow profession instead of forming socially active, free-thinking and capable of self-realization personality leads to the low-level results”. Further arguments are related to the role of liberal education in shaping the culture of the specialist. Insufficient efforts in this direction, the author believes, are “the result of distortions of the education strategy”, on one hand, and, on the other, the result of “the state’s withdrawal from participation in the educational process”. The author perceives two ways out of this situation: 1) the humanities and social sciences should be introduced by the state in a directive fashion, and 2) the continuity of education should be ensured.

The responsibility of authorities in the new conditions of development determines the future of each country and the planet as a whole. Taking into account the impact of global issues on the education system, the state should have a clear idea about the required features of education in the new conditions of globalization. There is a growing awareness of the fact that mankind, concerned its survival, is increasingly drawn to the problems of education (upbringing), its development and improvement. It is being decided today whether the new century is going to be humane or aggressive, educated or ignorant. The state must take drastic measures to refurbish the educational process and provide it with information channels; must care about upbringing, physical and mental health of students, enhance the connection between manufacture and science and promote the impact of education on overcoming the demographic crisis in the society. However, is it always the case that the immediate and remote consequences of some powerful innovations are being thought through?

In the article, there are indicated the basic features of globalization. The author shows the positive and negative influences of this process on the Russian education. Besides, there are considered the most significant problems in education and the directions of their solving. The main feature of Russia is indicated: geographically it realizes the connection between the West and the East. The author concludes that it is necessary to consider the geopolitical features of Russia in the education system. Modernization of education in our country cannot and should not occur only by acceptance of the standards of the West and submission to it. Studying the system of education of the East is of interest. It is also important to take into account the achievements of the domestic scientific schools.

The article analyzes the specific features of the individual mentality in terms of its influence on the student’s integration into the educational space. The inclusion of the individual into the educational process is determined and regulated by her mental features, thus making relevant the issue of forming and functioning of the individual’s mentality. In this connection the analysis of the structure of the individual’s mentality, its structural levels, components and their interrelation is conducted. This makes possible revealing the peculiarities of its determination. The importance is indicated of the individual’s mentality in the educational process in light of her cognitive and perceptive capabilities, as well as its objectification on the behavioral level. Mentality is viewed as a condition of the individual’s entry into the social environment as well as a factor of its transformation. There are considered the functions of mentality (transitivity, activity), which expose multifacetedness of its social value.

Today, the modular system of teaching is gaining more and more popularity in education, because it reflects to a greater degree the process of development and the result of acquiring of knowledge. The purpose of the paper is to substantiate the effectiveness of the modular system of teaching. The objectives are to characterize the modular system of teaching, justify an innovative model of teaching within the advanced training and identify the advantages of the modular system of teaching. According to the conducted studies, the modular principle promotes realization of the methodological approach in the process of participants’ learning, since, in the conditions of unequal readiness to the knowledge acquisition, it provides selectiveness, the distribution of new information by doses and its accretion to the basic knowledge.

Analytical dependence for the diffusion flame lift-off length with fuel jet discharge into the atmosphere is obtained in criterial form. The dependence can be used to determine the limiting parameters at which blow-off occurs and describe the lift-off length variation under pre-blow-off conditions, and it correlates well with earlier generalizations of experimental data. The experiments on the combustion of propane-butane and natural gas confirm the correctness of the proposed form of the analytical generalization, show the marked influence of the external shape of the gas nozzle on the lift-off parameters, and indicate that the blow-off of the turbulent diffusion flame is slower than the characteristic combustion time.

A skeletal mechanism of inhibition and quenching of methane flames by addition of trimethyl phosphate was developed. It includes a mechanism of methane oxidation consisting of 19 elementary steps involving 15 species (including N₂), and four elementary reactions involving three phosphorus-containing species (PO₂, HOPO, and HOPO₂). The developed skeletal mechanism adequately predicts the burning velocity of flames with added inhibitor over a range of equivalence ratio of 0.7–1.4 and can be used to model fire suppression.

Additional data on parameters of detonation of monofuel components that ensure positive energy release during decomposition are reported. Being added to a combustible mixture, such substances can initiate the development of instabilities directly on the detonation wave front. In this case, energy release in the mixture proceeds in two stages. Both the basic and bifurcation structures arise in a jump-like manner (spontaneously), which disagrees with the hypothesis of gradual enhancement of weak perturbations usually used in numerical simulations of cellular structures.

This paper gives the results of a comparative analysis of methods of simulating airflow for specified flight conditions at the inlet of a high-speed scramjet engine using test facilities with combustion heating of the working fluid. Conditions of the adequacy of the compared heating methods were determined from the obtained values of the engine thrust.

Experiments with combustion of diluted liquefied petroleum gases used as a fuel premixed with air are performed. From the experiment results, one can see that low-heat-value gases are capable of stable burning in a porous media burner. Distributions of species concentrations and flame temperature are measured. Based on these data, the flame is found to be most stable if the equivalence ratio is equal to 0.8. To improve the burner performance, experiments with different characteristics of porous media are performed. Optimal parameters of porous media are confirmed by subsequent numerical simulations. It is demonstrated that the properties of combustion in the porous media burner are superior as compared to those in the free flame burner.

Combustion of mixtures of a narrow fraction of ammonium perchlorate (AP) with hydrocarbon binders and combustion catalysts diethylferrocene and 1,1'-bis(dimethyloctyloxysilyl)ferrocene, as well as nano-sized Fe₂O₃ is studied. It is shown that the efficiency of ferrocene compounds from the viewpoint of increasing the burning rate depends on the oxidizer/fuel ratio in the propellant and on the place of the leading reaction of combustion. In composites with a high oxidizer/fuel ratio whose combustion follows the gas-phase model, the catalyst efficiency is rather low. In systems with a low oxidizer/fuel ratio where the contribution of condensed-phase reactions to the burning rate of the system is rather large, the catalyst efficiency is noticeably greater, and it is directly related to the possibility of formation of a soot skeleton during combustion. The close values of the catalytic activity of ferrocenes and Fe₂O₃ in the case of their small concentrations in such compositions testify that the main contribution to the increase in the propellant burning rate is made by Fe₂O₃ formed due to rapid oxidation of ferrocene on the AP surface and accumulated on the soot skeleton. Thermocouple measurements of propellants with a low oxidizer/fuel ratio are performed, and it is shown that the temperature of their surface is determined by plasticizer evaporation. A phenomenological model of combustion of the examined propellants is proposed.

Theoretical basis and practical ways to improve the accuracy of measuring the burning rate of energetic condensed systems by a microwave technique are considered. An analysis is made of the factors that reduce the measurement accuracy, in particular, edge effects, the non-evanescence of the waveguide, change in the effective diameter of the waveguide due to incomplete burning of the reinforcing composition, intrachamber pressure, curvature (roughness) of the burning surface. The components of the systematic measurement error are determined, the measurement error is calculated, and a numerical correction method for reducing the error to 4.5% is proposed.

Optical methods in infrared (IR) and visible (VIS) ranges for detection of combustion zone propagation in solid high-energy materials, such as pyrotechnic compositions inserted into pyrolytic graphite (pyrographite) tubes and ignited at one end by a CO₂ laser beam are presented. The pyrographite tube is used as a thermal management transducer enabling detection of combustion zone movement because of unique thermal conductivity anisotropy of pyrographite resulting in low thermal conductivity of the tube along its axis and high thermal conductivity along the tube radius. In the first method, an IR thermal camera is applied for detection of heat zone movement induced on the external side surface of the pyrographite tube by the combustion zone travelling inside the tube. According to the second method, a VIS camera and a thermochromic layer covering the external side surface of the pyrographite tube are used for visualization of heat zone movement registered as the color change boundary traveling along the thermochromic layer. The change in color of this layer is caused by its thermochromic substance response to heat delivered by the heat zone. As thermochromic substances, leuko dyes or chiral-nematic liquid crystals are used. These methods seem to be particularly promising for continuous measurements of burning rates of solid high-energy materials, such as solid rocket propellants and pyrotechnic compositions.

Interaction of heterogeneous cellular detonation propagating in a plane channel with a cloud of inert particles is numerically studied. It is demonstrated that the presence of inert particles alters the detonation wave structure and its velocity.

A method of preparing nanosized titanium dioxide by gaseous detonation by using ethanol, hydrogen, and oxygen as an explosion source and titanium tetrachloride as a precursor is described. The results indicate that the rutile phase content of the obtained products is high, and the pure rutile phase can be produced by adding a small amount of hydrogen. Most of the particles obtained under the two different synthesis conditions are spherical (or sphere-like) with small and even particle sizes, generally about 30 nm, and has a very good size dispersion.

A model of a reacting two-phase medium consisting of a gas and incompressible particles, which takes into account the collisional dynamics of random motion of particles, is presented. Molecular-kinetic approaches of the theory of granular media are applied. Shock wave patterns are analyzed, and conditions on strong discontinuities in the two-phase mixture are obtained. Two types of discontinuities are identified: without and with generation of the random energy on the shock wave. For shock waves of the second type, the amplitude of the particle concentration is independent of the wave propagation velocity. The model is verified against the results on the velocity of sound measured in mixtures ejected from a high-pressure chamber of a shock tube.

Based on numerical methods and theoretical analysis, the influence of the tunnel wall surface conditions on the methane–air explosion is evaluated. A rough tunnel wall causes stronger turbulence in the methane–air explosion. In a straight tunnel where some part of the space is filled with the methane–air mixture, the turbulence intensity varies with distance along the tunnel axis: it is higher in the methane–air premixing region and also in the far region of air shock wave propagation; between these regions, the turbulence intensity is lower. In the methane–air premixing region, the effect of turbulence is manifested as a significant increase in the explosion pressure. In the far region of air shock wave propagation, turbulence makes the shock wave strength decrease, but its effect is indistinctive among others. In the original methane–air premixing region, the explosion pressure of the methane–air mixture in a tunnel with rough walls is higher than that in a tunnel with smooth walls. However, the air shock wave beyond the premixing region in a tunnel with rough walls is weaker than that in a tunnel with smooth walls.

Initiation of detonation in a fuel–air mixture flow formed in an annular cylindrical combustor 306 mm in diameter is studied. The source of detonation initiation is the detonation wave entering the annular channel from a plane–radial vortex chamber, a jet of products, or a low-power heat pulse. It is demonstrated that continuous spin detonation (CSD) can be ensured by all these methods. Its formation is accompanied by a transitional process with a duration up to 10 ms, which is associated with violation of injection of the species (initiation by the detonation wave) or with the time of evolution of tangential instability in CSD (jet or spark initiation). Transfer of detonation to a flow of fuel–air mixtures with low chemical activity (propane–air, methane–air, kerosene–air, and gasoline–air mixtures) by the initiating detonation wave formed within fractions of a millisecond by a low-energy pulse or as a result of self-ignition of the hydrogen–air mixture in the plane–radial vortex chamber is realized. It is found that organization of CSD in these mixtures requires combustors with greater (than 306 mm) diameters. A possibility of CSD in kerosene–air and gasoline–air mixtures with low chemical activity by means of air enrichment by oxygen ahead of the combustor entrance is demonstrated.