ECOLOGICAL-GEOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON CONTENT IN SOILS OF THE TAIGA ZONE OF THE LOWER AMUR REGION AND NORTHERN SAKHALIN (FAR EAST)

The background content of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in the most common soils of the Lower Amur region and Northern Sakhalin was determined. About 300 samples taken from the surface layers and horizons of 8 typical soil pedons were analyzed. The accumulative nature of TPH distribution in the soil profile was established, and their highest content was revealed in the organogenic horizons. The soils of eluvial landscapes (Podzols, Spodic Cambisols, Fulvic Cambisols) contain a smaller amount of TPH compared to the soils of accumulative landscapes (Histosols, Fluvisols). The maximum content of TPH was found in the Spodic Hyperalbic Technosols. The content of TPH in the anthropogenic abrasives of the Lower Amur region is estimated as acceptable, the level of pollution in the anthropogenic abrasives in Northern Sakhalin varies from low to very high. The results obtained on the background content of TPH can used for assessing of soils pollution and in conducting ecological monitoring studies.

EARLY SYMBOLISM AND EARLY FORMS OF RELIGION OF THE PEOPLES OF THE LOWER AMUR REGION

The purpose of the article is, firstly, to determine the territorial and chronological boundaries of the formation of early symbolism and early forms of religion in the basin of the Lower Amur, and secondly, to explicate early beliefs and practices in the context of modern theories of religion. The territorial boundaries of early symbolism and early forms of religion are located in the Lower Amur region within the boundaries of the distribution of the Osipovskaya and Mariinskaya archaeological cultures. These cultures belong to the Early Neolithic and are located in chronological intervals of 13,000-10,000 years ago ( Osipovskaya culture ) and 10,000-9,000 years ago ( Mariinskaya culture ). The oldest beliefs and practices archaeologically recorded in the Lower Amur region are the gender cult, zoolatry and thanatology. The gender cult is represented by its male and female varieties. Zoolatry is manifested primarily in the forms of bear cult, ichthyolatria (worship of fish) and ornitholatria (worship of birds). Thanatology reveals itself in thanatocracies - the funeral practice of inhumation of the body with the ritual use of fire and buried objects. Gender cult and zoolatry are objectified in the objects of mobile art. Thanatology is objectified in the burial complex.