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We have studied the hydrolytic behavior of Y³⁺ and trivalent ions of rare earth elements in aqueous solutions at 25 ^oC. The stepwise stability constants of hydroxide complexes were measured by spectrophotometry, using m -cresol purple and 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol as pH indicators at an ionic strength no more than 0.0005. The results showed that at pH ranging between 6.0 and 11.0 in freshly prepared solutions of REE trichlorides, lanthanides are presented as Ln ³⁺, Ln(OH)²⁺, Ln(OH)₂⁺, and Ln(OH)₃⁰. The plots of the formation constants of monohydroxo complexes of 4 fⁿ ions M³⁺ versus atomic number Z deviate from smooth ones and consist of four convex curves. This phenomenon is also observed in normalized spectra of REE concentrations in natural objects and is known as the tetrad effect. The obtained data give an insight into the relationship between REE complex formation and REE fractionation in geochemical processes and can be used for physicochemical modeling of geochemical systems.

This study is concerned with the typochemical features of heavy-concentrate platinum from diamond placers of the Mayat-Vodorazdel’nyi site in the Anabar River basin. Platinum occurs there as Fe–Pt solid solutions (ferroan platinum of Ru–Rh specialization, ~90%), as well as minor Pd– and Ir–ferroplatinum. Among PGE minerals, Os–Ir–Ru alloys and chengdeite are revealed. Inclusions of PGE minerals are thoroughly studied, and the scales of their spread, the composition of mineral phases, and the relations between them are determined. Ruthenium-containing high–Rh ferroplatinum bears a lot of inclusions of Rh–S composition: Rh-containing PGE thiospinels and sulfides and arsenides of Rh, Ru, and Pt. In low–Rh platinum, mineral inclusions are much scarcer and usually form other parageneses. The mineral compositions in the system Rh–S–Ru indicate the existence of a long isomorphous series Rh₃S₄–Ru₃S₄, with the content of Ru₃S₄ reaching 15 at.%.

Analysis of petrochemical and geochemical information on rocks and primary melt inclusions from olivines of meimechite-picrite associations of different ages in Siberia (Maimecha–Kotui province), Primorye (Sikhote–Alin), and Kamchatka was made. It showed that the rocks, despite their similar appearance and identical structural patterns, differ considerably in the contents and distribution of incompatible and rare-earth elements and in the composition and evolution trends of parental high-temperature highly magnesian melts.

Data are provided on the new Ordovician stage standard of the International Stratigraphic Chart: Tremadocian, Floian, Dapingian, Darriwilian, Sandbian, Katian, and Hirnantian. Graptolite and conodont zonal and infrazonal successions are used for a precise estimation of the chronostratigraphic position of the boundaries of the previous and newly proposed Ordovician regional stratigraphic units (horizons) in the western Altai-Sayan Folded Area. The chronostratigraphic position of the boundaries of most of the Ordovician formations showing a wide lateral distribution in southern Siberia has been described in detail in terms of the new stage standard of the General Stratigraphic Scale of Russia.

The new-generation regional stratigraphic chart of the Siberian Platform was accepted by the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee of Russia in April 2013. Two main supplements to the chart of 1979 were made: (1) the new scale of stages, accepted by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2008, was presented for the Ordovician System along with the previous British standard and (2) the nomenclature of the regional stratigraphic units is supplemented by the Mukteian Horizon, which occupies an intermediate position between the Vikhorevian and Volginian Horizons. The first substantiation of the necessity of viewing this stratigraphic interval as an independent horizon was made in 1980, after it had become possible to use well cores for a more precise definition of the paleontologic characteristics and boundaries of the Vikhorevian Horizon, originally detected from several isolated sections in the Irkut amphitheater with an indistinct boundary with the overlying Volginian Horizon. Recent data, particularly those from drilling, permit a more complete paleontological substantiation of the Mukteian Horizon, consideration of its distribution in different structure-facies zones, and correlation of type sections.

Analysis of all available geological, geophysical, and field data on some gas condensate fields discovered within the Khapchagai megaswell (Vilyui syneclise of the Siberian Platform) as early as the 1960s shows the presence of oil rims in Lower Triassic (horizon T₁-III in the Srednevilyuiskoe and Tolonskoe gas condensate fields and horizon T₁-Kh in the Mastakhskoe gas condensate field) and Lower Jurassic (horizons J₁-I and J₁-II in the Mastakhskoe gas condensate field) deposits. The C₃ oil reserves in these rims are estimated at several tens of millions of tons of oil. The results are indicative of the oil potential of the Lower Mesozoic deposits not only of the Vilyui syneclise but also of the Lena-Vilyui petroliferous province as a whole, which was always characterized as a gas-bearing province in summary reports.

The article presents a novel procedure of finding the water-oil ratio in a saturated porous medium by dielectric spectroscopy. Based on the study of experimental measurements of dielectric permittivity and the dielectric loss factor, it has been established that the dielectric spectrum in the kHz and MHz frequency range of the electromagnetic field in a porous medium saturated with fresh water is a characteristic symmetrical curve, whose symmetry may be distorted when oil is introduced into the system. The type of symmetry, degree of distortion, and corresponding physical mechanisms of polarization enable one to find the water-oil ratio without resorting to the mixture formulae traditionally used for finding the water-oil ratio in Maxwell-Wagner relaxation.

The paper presents new software and stepwise modeling techniques for inversion of TEM data affected by fast-decaying induced polarization (IP). The software and the methods have demonstrated high efficiency when applied to detection of unfrozen ground zones (taliks) in the Pyakyakhinka oilfield and to petroleum exploration in the southern Siberian craton.

The forms and location patterns of geologic hazards induced by earthquakes in southern Siberia, Mongolia, and northern Kazakhstan in 1950 through 2008 have been investigated statistically, using a database of coseismic effects created as a GIS MapInfo application, with a handy input box for large data arrays. The database includes 689 cases of macroseismic effects from M_S = 4.1–8.1 events at 398 sites. Statistical analysis of the data has revealed regional relationships between the magnitude of an earthquake and the maximum distance of its environmental effects (soil liquefaction and subsidence, secondary surface rupturing, and slope instability) to the epicenter and to the causative fault. Thus estimated limit distances to the fault for the M_S = 8.1 largest event are 40 km for soil subsidence (sinkholes), 80 km for surface rupture, 100 km for slope instability (landslides etc.), and 130 km for soil liquefaction. These distances are 3.5–5.6 times as short as those to the epicenter, which are 150, 450, 350, and 450 km, respectively. Analysis of geohazard locations relative to nearest faults in southern East Siberia shows the distances to be within 2 km for sinkholes (60% within 1.5 km), 4.5 km for landslides (90% within 1.5 km), 8 km for liquefaction (69% within 1 km), and 35.5 km for surface rupture (86% within 2 km). The frequency of hazardous effects decreases exponentially away from both seismogenic and nearest faults. Cases of soil liquefaction and subsidence are analyzed in more detail in relation to rupture patterns. Equations have been suggested to relate the maximum sizes of secondary structures (sinkholes, dikes, etc.) with the earthquake magnitude and shaking intensity at the site. As a result, a predictive model has been created for locations of geohazard associated with reactivation of seismogenic faults, assuming an arbitrary fault pattern. The obtained results make basis for modeling the distribution of geohazards for the purposes of prediction and estimation of earthquake parameters from secondary deformation.

The paper summarizes data on the Pleistocene combustion metamorphic complexes of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin. Paralava and clinker samples are dated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the combustion metamorphic rocks permit reconstructions of the succession of renewed activity of ancient faults in the Salair zone and age estimates for the evolution of the present-day drainage network. Cross sections of burned rocks from the western margin and center of the Kuznetsk Basin are compared. The geologic factors of coal ignition risks are analyzed. On the western margin of the Kuznetsk Basin, paleofires occurred in steeply dipping thick seams with predominant crushed vitrain-clarain coal, which has a high oxygen and methane adsorption capacity. Highly denuded high-temperature combustion metamorphic complexes are most often localized in the arches of slightly broken anticlines. Oxygen was supplied to the coals during the Late Cenozoic renewed fault activity and the subsequent erosion of the sediments. The natural fires in the area were a result of external rather than spontaneous ignition. The paleofire depths (up to 200 m) indicate that they occurred in a warm and dry climate. In the center of the Kuznetsk Basin, dispersed fire foci appeared in seams of self-igniting coals with the erosion propagation of the current drainage network. The combustion metamorphic complexes here are partly eroded and consist mostly of clinkers with a low degree of alteration. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and geological data indicate that the earliest large-scale combustion events on the western periphery of the basin occurred in the Eopleistocene (1.3–0.9 Ma). The oldest ⁴⁰Ar/ ³⁹Ar age of a coal fire episode (1.7 ± 0.3 Ma) might be the upper age boundary of the altitude differentiation of topography, which corresponds to the renewed activity of the Tyrgan and Afonino-Kiselevsk faults. The later coeval combustion events on the western margin (0.2 ± 0.1 Ma) and in the center of the basin (0.13–0.02 Ma), most probably, occurred during the Kazantsevian interglacial, which gave rise to the present-day drainage network.