Wind power development in Eastern Kazakhstan threatens migration of eagles

On the basis of data obtained from ARGOS/GPS and GPS/GSM tracking of 34 eagles (4 Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis) from Central KZ, 1 Steppe Eagle from Southern Ural region, 22 Steppe Eagles, 5 Eastern Imperial Eagles (Aquila heliaca) from the ASR and 2 Greater Spotted Eagles (Aquila clanga) from the from the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion), we have defined the main flyways, terms, and other parameters of migration of eagles through Eastern Kazakhstan. We have outlined the borders of the migration corridor and estimate the number of migrants passing through it. The study highlights the importance of the Karatau ridge for eagles from the vast territories of Russia and Kazakhstan. But we are also concerned about the development of wind farms with horizontal-axis wind turbines that expose ultimate danger for raptors in the Karatau migration corridor. One of them already exists – the Zhanatas Wind-Power Station. Here we calculated the possible negative impact on the eagle population from the existing and projected wind farms of the Karatau ridge and give our recommendations for neutralizing the damage from the development of the electric power industry in Karatau.

Probabilistic Inverse Method for Source Localization Applied to ETEX and the 2017 Case of Ru-106 including Analyses of Sensitivity to Measurement Data

In recent years, cases of unexplained, elevated levels of radioactive particles have demonstrated an increasing need for efficient and robust source localization methods. In this study, a Bayesian method for source localization is developed and applied to two cases. First, the method is validated against the European tracer experiment (ETEX) and then applied to the still unaccounted for release of Ru-106 in the fall of 2017. The ETEX dataset, however, differs significantly from the Ru-106 dataset with regard to time resolution and the distance from the release site to the nearest measurements. Therefore, sensitivity analyses are conducted in order to test the method’s sensitivity to these parameters. The analyses show that the resulting source localization depends on both the observed temporal resolution and the existence of sampling stations close to the source. However, the method is robust, in the sense that reducing the amount of information in the dataset merely reduces the accuracy, and hence, none of the results are contradictory. When applied to the Ru-106 case, the results indicate that the Southern Ural region is the most plausible release area, and, as hypothesized by other studies, that the Mayak nuclear facility is the most likely release location.

“Chinese” greenhouses in Russian rural space (case of Chelyabinsk Region)

The focus of this article is the problem of formation and development of “Chinese” greenhouses in 2009–2020. The development of migrant infrastructure in rural areas virtually has not been analysed yet by scientists. The purpose of this study is to trace the formation and evolution of ideas about “Chinese” greenhouses among residents of a large Russian region using the example of Chelyabinsk. The source base of the article includes media materials, interviews and archival documents. The regional press is an important source for the analysis of public opinion regarding the “Chinese” greenhouses and concentration of migrants in rural locations. In the sum-mer of 2019, the author gathered a collection of interviews with residents of areas where the “Chinese” green-houses were operating. Documents from the Chelyabinsk regional archive made it possible to supplement the overall picture of the Chinese migration to the Southern Ural region. The complexity of the study object required the use of a combination of methods. These included free informal interviews, content and discourse press analy-sis, and historical imagology. Our study shows that the formation of temporary economic facilities in rural areas has been perceived by the population as an irreversible ethnicization of space. This caused an increase of anxi-ety. In the media discourse and in collective mentality of the inhabitants, the ideas of “Chinese” greenhouses cre-ated images of “expansion” and numerousness of Chinese migrants. Around the greenhouses, a complex of notions of threats was formed (seizing and “spoiling” of land, tax evasion, low-quality vegetables, etc.). The con-cept of “Chinese” greenhouses has incorporated a large number of meanings that are understandable without further explanation: from the organization of rural space to a set of markers defining closed locations. Today there are practically no “Chinese” greenhouses in Chelyabinsk Region, they remain as a media, but not a spatial object. What was left out of sight of most observers is the temporality of the greenhouse complexes, the lack of any infra-structure for their long-term existence. Therefore, even theoretically, the “Chinese” greenhouses could not de-velop into full-fledged settlements (Chinatowns) in rural areas.

TUFURS OF THE SOUTHERN URAL REGION - PERSPECTIVE OBJECTS FOR INCLUSION IN THE LIST OF SPNA OF THE ORENBURG REGION

The article discusses the distribution features, morphological structure and mechanisms of formation of thufur fields of the southern pre-Urals, in order to justify their inclusion in the list of specially protected natural territories of the Orenburg region.

NEW ASSOCIATIONS OF THERMOPHILOUS OAK FORESTS OF LATHYRO PISIFORMIS-QUERCION ROBORIS SOLOMESHCH ET GRIGORIEV IN WILLNER ET AL. 2016 IN THE SOUTHERN URAL REGION

New plant communities of thermophilous oak forests of the associations Omphalodo scorpioidis-Quercetum roboris ass. nova hoc loco and Lasero trilobi-Quercetum roboris ass. nova hoc loco. belonging to the alliance Lathyro pisiformis-Quercion roboris Solomeshch et Grigoriev in Willner et al. 2016 are described. These plant communities are floristically affluent and contain a large number of meadows-steppe and forest fringe species. In the territory of the Southern Ural region, these communities have the fragmented range and limited to relatively small patches near the tops of ridges and on the steep southern slopes of mountains and hills. Based on the comparison of floristic composition of these communities and other syntaxons of oak forests early described in the region, the combinations of diagnostic species of new associations are proposed.

New Data on the Chronology and Development of Cattle Breading During the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Southern Ural Region

Introduction. The article considers the features of cattle breeding and consumption of meat products in the Eneolithic cultures (the Samara culture) and the Early Bronze Age cultures (the Repin stage of the Pit Grave culture) on the territory of the Southern Urals (the Samara Trans-Volga region). The paper specifies the chronology of these cultures on the base of radiocarbon dating. The main site for the study was Turganik settlement located in the Southern Ural region (Orenburg region). Methods. More than 800 m2 of the settlement area was excavated. There were six paleosoil layers. Four upper layers were empty, without artifacts. The sixth layer contained Eneolithic finds. The fifth layer contained finds of the Early Bronze Age. The archaeozoological collection was analyzed in accordance with the methodological scheme developed by E.E. Antipina. For radiocarbon dating collagen was treated from bone samples on the base of the standard procedure and radiocarbon activity was measured by Quantulus 1220 low background scintillation counter. Analysis and Results. As a result 32 radiocarbon dates were obtained on animal bones and on organics from pottery of different types from different cultural layers of Turganik settlement. The Eneolithic complex includes ceramics, flint and bone tools. The paper specifies the finds of developed and later stages of the Samara culture. The artifacts of the second stage of the Samara culture were dated to 4900–4500 cal BC. The artifacts of the later stage belong to the period of 4300–3800 cal BC. We suggest that from the Early Eneolithic local people practiced cattle breeding without agriculture. Hunting played a secondary role and fishing was poorly developed. Beef was the main food in the people’s diet during the Eneolithic period. The Early Bronze Age assemblage includes ceramics of the Repin stage of the Pit Grave culture, stone macro-tools, flint arrowheads, items made of bones and copper, slags and scarps of copper ore. The technological analysis supported that ceramics belong to the Pit Grave culture. The layer age is from 3800 to 3300 cal BC. During the Repin stage the role of sheep breeding was increased and consumption of sheep meat prevailed in comparison with the Eneolithic period. This is an evidence of the transition to the nomadic form of stock breeding.

Trace Element Compositions and Defect Structures of High-Purity Quartz from the Southern Ural Region, Russia

Quartz samples of different origin from 10 localities in the Southern Ural region, Russia have been investigated to characterize their trace element compositions and defect structures. The analytical combination of cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy and spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and trace-element analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) revealed that almost all investigated quartz samples showed very low concentrations of trace elements (cumulative concentrations of <50 ppm with <30 ppm Al and <10 ppm Ti) and low abundances of paramagnetic defects, defining them economically as “high-purity” quartz (HPQ) suitable for high-tech applications. EPR and CL data confirmed the low abundances of substitutional Ti and Fe, and showed Al to be the only significant trace element structurally bound in the investigated quartz samples. CL microscopy revealed a heterogeneous distribution of luminescence centres (i.e., luminescence active trace elements such as Al) as well as features of deformation and recrystallization. It is suggested that healing of defects due to deformation-related recrystallization and reorganization processes of the quartz lattice during retrograde metamorphism resulted in low concentrations of CL activator and other trace elements or vacancies, and thus are the main driving processes for the formation of HPQ deposits in the investigated area.