Investigation of the Enrichment and Accumulation of Normal Pressure Shale Gas in Anchang Syncline Outside of Sichuan Basin

Gas shales from the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation in Anchang syncline in northern Guizhou area of Sichuan Basin are stable in distribution and can be classified as type I shale gas reservoir with great resource potential. The exploration and development of shale gas in Anchang syncline have achieved great progress. However, the enrichment rule and accumulation pattern of shale gas in Anchang syncline are still not clear at the present. Gas pressure in the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formations shales in Anchang syncline is normal. The maximum tested gas production in the field ranges from 18,000 to 58,000 m3/d. However, gas production of shale wells varies greatly even in the same platform. In order to understand the shale gas enrichment and accumulation and improve the effective development of shale gas in this area, comparative analyses on the geological characteristics and preservation conditions of gas reservoirs in several typical wells were carried out from the perspective of geology, petrophysics, geophysics, and well logging. Results show that shale gas in Anchang syncline has the characteristics of accumulating in both deep central position and gently wings. Tectonic preservation condition is the key factor to high gas production in Anchang area. The hydrological conditions, syncline structure, fault distribution, and cap rock quality comprehensively control the gas pressure and gas bearing capacity of shale reservoir. According to these factors, an accumulation model of shales with normal gas pressure is established: syncline controls the distribution of gas reservoir; fault controls the boundary of the reservoir; preservation conditions controls gas capacity. The results are benefit for the rolling exploration and development of shale gas in Anchang area, and are important for the development of normal pressure shale gas in northern Guizhou area.

THE DOUBLE CREMATION BURIAL WITHIN THE URBAN INSULAE: HEROON OF ARCHAIC BORYSTHENES?

В ходе раскопок архаического поселения на о. Березань в устье Днепро-Бугского лимана в 1970 г. была сделана важная находка, значению которой ранее не уделялось должного внимания. Экспедицией ИА АН УССР под руководством В. В. Лапина раскрыто двойное захоронение - кремация. Два ионийских сосуда, использованные в качестве урн для помещения праха, и аттическая чаша на ножке, послужившая в качестве крышки одного из них, позволяют датировать погребение концом VI или рубежом VI-V вв. до н. э. Понимание контекста захоронения затруднено плохой сохранностью окружающих архаических строительных остатков - они в значительной степени уничтожены при строительстве на этом месте большого комплекса построек в IV в. до н. э. Однако установлено, что двойное погребение находилось на значительном удалении от некрополя, в центральной части городского квартала, и всего в 18 метрах от общественного здания - т. н. «дома с апсидой». Возможно, здесь был расположен героон. Раскрытые В. В. Лапиным погребения вполне могли бы принадлежать кому-то из лидеров колонистов, основавших и построивших на Березани урбанизированное поселение несколькими десятилетиями ранее - в начале третьей четверти VI в. до н. э. Захоронение с двойной кремацией своей датировкой приблизительно совпадает со сменой строительных фаз II-A и II-B в периодизации Березанского поселения. Завершение фазы II-A отмечается пожарами, разрушениями и последующими перестройками, прослеженными в разных частях памятника. Нельзя исключить того, что гибель двух человек, погребенных неподалеку от «дома с апсидой», также была связана с этой катастрофой, причины которой пока не установлены. During the excavations of an Archaic period settlement on the Berezan island in the mouth of the Dnieper-Bug silted estuary in 1970 an important find was made that was not given due consideration. The expedition of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences led by V. V. Lapin discovered a double cremation burial. Two Ionian vessels (Fig. 3) used as urns with ashes and an Attic footed cup that was used as a lid of one of these vessels suggest that the burial dates to the end of the 6th c. BC or the end of the 6th - early 5th cc. BC. Understanding the burial context is hampered by poor preservation conditions of archaic buildings debris which were mostly pulled down during construction of a group of buildings in the 4th c. BC. However, it has been found that the double burial was located at a long distance from the necropolis in the central part of the city blocks, only 18 m away from the public building, the so called house with an apse (Fig. 2). Maybe, a heroon was located there. The burials uncovered by V. V. Lapin probably belonged to one of the colonists’ leaders who had founded this urban settlement on the Berezan island several decades before, i.e. in the early third quarter of the 6th c. BC. Chronologically the double cremation burial almost coincides with the replacement of construction phases II-A and II-B according to the Berezan settlement periodization. The end of construction phases II-A was marked by fires, collapse of buildings and subsequent rebuilding traced in various parts of the site. We cannot exclude that the death of two individuals buried not far from the house with the apse was also linked to this disaster by factors not yet identified

AND SETTLEMENTS AT THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC RAKHAT SITE (LAYER 2) IN SOUTHEASTERN KAZAKHSTAN

История изучения верхнего палеолита Казахстана начинается с 1940-х гг. К сегодняшнему моменту открыты единицы стоянок с погребенными культурными останками. На некоторых из них в разное время фиксировались уровни обитания с остатками поселений, содержавших углубленные очаги, кострища, прокалы и т. д. Но подробные публикации этих материалов отсутствуют. Неудовлетворительная сохранность органических останков и продуктов горения в лессовидных суглинках мешали полноценному изучению и уверенной интерпретации различного рода объектов. В 2019 г. на стоянке Рахат удалось обнаружить культурные слои (слои 1-3) с каменными находками и археологическими объектами в виде ям различной функциональной принадлежности. В статье делается попытка обследовать и структурировать объекты с выделением жилой площадки в наиболее информативном культурном слое 2. В совокупном единстве каменный инвентарь из слоев 1-3 стоянки Рахат находит аналогии среди памятников начала эпипалеолита Ближнего Востока и Средней Азии (кебаран, ранний зарзиан, ~20-18 тыс. л. н.). The history of studies related to the Upper Paleolithic in Kazakhstan began in the 1940s. Very few sites with buried human remains have been discovered so far. Some sites reveal occupation layers with remains of settlements and traces of sunken hearths, fire pits, calcined fragments, etc., dating to different periods. However, there are no relevant publications of these materials. Poor preservation conditions of organic residue and combustion products in loess-like loams prevent scholars from studies of all aspects of various objects and offer their interpretation with confidence. Excavations conducted at Rakhat in 2019 revealed occupation layers (layers 1-3) with stone finds and archaeological objects such as pits of various functions. The paper attempts to explore and present these objects in a structured mode in order to identify a dwelling site in occupation layer 2, which is the most informative. Stone tools coming from Rakhat layers 1-3 find analogies among the sites dating from the early stage of the Epipaleolithic of Near East and Central Asia (Kebaran, early Zarzian, ca. 20 000-18 000 years ago).

Species identification of Australian marsupials using collagen fingerprinting

The study of faunal remains from archaeological sites is often complicated by the presence of large numbers of highly fragmented, morphologically unidentifiable bones. In Australia, this is the combined result of harsh preservation conditions and frequent scavenging by marsupial carnivores. The collagen fingerprinting method known as zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) offers a means to address these challenges and improve identification rates of fragmented bones. Here, we present novel ZooMS peptide markers for 24 extant marsupial and monotreme species that allow for genus-level distinctions between these species. We demonstrate the utility of these new peptide markers by using them to taxonomically identify bone fragments from a nineteenth-century colonial-era pearlshell fishery at Bandicoot Bay, Barrow Island. The suite of peptide biomarkers presented in this study, which focus on a range of ecologically and culturally important species, have the potential to significantly amplify the zooarchaeological and paleontological record of Australia.

Type collections of plants and fungi in Ukraine: realities and prospects

For the stability of the nomenclature of biological organisms an important condition is the presence and preservation of type specimens of the described taxa. The type specimens of plants and fungi typically are accumulated and stored in herbaria of specialized scientific institutions (e.g. botanical gardens and universities) or natural history museums. In Ukraine, there are nearly 80 herbaria of various volumes of collections but only 22 of them have type materials of taxa of different ranks, which were described from the territory of Ukraine and the world. The article includes a quantitative assessment of type materials of Ukrainian herbaria and emphasizes their role in regional and global biodiversity surveys. On the basis of own research of the Ukrainian herbarium fund, the estimation of preservation conditions of type specimens of plants and fungi and their collections in Ukraine is given, and the prospects of functioning of these collections are considered.