Social-Ecological Change on the Mongolian Steppe: Herder Perceptions of Causes, Impacts, and Adaptive Strategies

Pastoral people in rangelands worldwide are experiencing uncertainty due to a combination of climatic, economic, and political stressors. Our study seeks to create a full view of the drivers, impacts, and adaptations to change for livestock herders in rural Mongolia, making use of herder traditional knowledge and select instrumental data. Interview respondents described undesirable trends in livestock herds, pasture, wildlife, and their livelihoods in three sites in northern, central, and eastern Mongolia from 1995 to 2015, including decreased lake levels. There was more agreement for precipitation trends than for temperature. We developed a systems model based on herder descriptions of the sequence and prominence of interacting drivers of change. Finally, we describe measures herders are taking to adapt to these changes, such as more frequent livestock movement. We present a transdisciplinary view of social-ecological change and applications for more regionally focused governance in an era of climate uncertainty.

Paleogeographical Researches in Pacific Geographical Institute

Представлены результаты работы лаборатории палеогеографии и геоморфологии ТИГ ДВО РАН в 2017–2020 гг. Приведены новые данные по изучению развития материковых и островных геосистем юга Дальнего Востока и реакции их компонентов на короткопериодные климатические изменения позднего плейстоцена–голоцена. Палеоэкологические изменения с высоким временным разрешением восстановлены в среднегорье Восточного Сихотэ-Алиня. Новые данные получены по развитию геосистем побережья Японского моря, определена роль зональных и азональных природных факторов в их развитии. Выделены этапы развития ландшафтов платобазальтового рода. Реконструированы обстановки осадконакопления и формирования пойменных ландшафтов Приханкайской равнины. Сделаны детальные реконструкции хода развития островных ландшафтов для юга Приморья. Для юга Дальнего Востока проведен синтез изменений ландшафтов в последнее интенсивное потепление – малый оптимум голоцена (VII–XIII вв.). Проанализировано проявление природных катастроф и их пространственно-временной масштаб. Продолжены работы, направленные на оценку цунамиопасности на побережье восточного Приморья. Для Курильских островов выделены наиболее сильные цунами, которые могут быть рассмотрены как кандидаты в мегацунами. Внимание уделено трансформации ландшафтов при освоении территории юга Дальнего Востока древним человеком. Геоархеологические исследования проводились также во внутриконтинентальных районах (Западное Забайкалье, Восточная Монголия). The authors present the results of the researches of the laboratory of paleogeography and geomorphology of PGI FEB RAS in 2017–2020. New data include the study of the development of continental and island geosystems of the South Far East and the response of their components to short-term climate changes in the Late Pleistocene-Holocene. Paleoecological changes with a high temporal resolution have been restored in the middle mountains of the Eastern Sikhote-Alin. New data were obtained on the development of geosystems of the coast of the Sea of Japan, the role of zonal and azonal natural factors in their development was determined. The stages of development of landscapes of the platobasalt genus are highlighted. The conditions of sedimentation and formation of floodplain landscapes of the Khanka Lake plain were reconstructed. Detailed reconstructions of the island landscapes development for the south of Primorye have been made. For the south of the Far East, a synthesis of landscape changes in the last intense warming – Medieval Warm Period of the Holocene (VII-XIII centuries) was made. The manifestation of natural disasters and their space-time scale were analyzed. The investigations aimed at assessment of the tsunami hazard on the coast of eastern Primorye were continued. For the Kuril Islands, the most powerful tsunamis have been identified, which can be considered as candidates for megatsunami. Transformation of landscapes and a human impact on landscapes were also discussed. Geoarchaeological studies were also carried out in the intra-continental regions (Western Transbaikalia, Eastern Mongolia).

New lead isotope data on Cretaceous volcanic rocks of Mongolia: the sources and the origin of the magmatic melts

<p>The Eastern Mongolia Volcanic Area (EMVA) and the Gobi-Altai Volcanic Area (GAVA) are large parts of the Late Mesozoic volcanic-plutonic belt which is located in northeast Asia. The main value of the EMVA and the GAVA was formed during the Cretaceous. Previous research devoted to Cretaceous volcanic rocks of both volcanic areas has focused mainly on its geochemical features of main and trace components, and Nd – Sr isotope composition (Bars et al., 2018; Dash et al., 2015; Sheldrick et al., 2018; Sheldrick et al., 2020). At the same time, the published data on the Pb isotope composition of volcanic rocks of the EMVA and the GAVA is too scarce (Sheldrick et al., 2018; Sheldrick et al., 2020). However, the Pb isotope characteristic can be a key to the understanding of parent melts sources of the EMVA and the GAVA rocks.  Therefore, the goal of the presented work is a more extensive study of the Pb isotope systematics of the Cretaceous volcanic complexes within the EMVA and the GAVA.</p><p>Obtained data on Pb isotope characteristics of the EMVA volcanic rocks demonstrate the role of the upper crust terrigenous component (UCC) in magma generation. The role of the UCC in the EMVA formation is consistent with the Nd – Sr isotope composition and elevated LILE contents in rock samples. In contrast to the EMVA the Pb isotope features of the same aged GAVA rocks (135 – 120 Ma) with the enriched Nd – Sr composition point to the role of the lower crust component in their formation. Thus, there is a difference between the sources of the coeval rocks of two volcanic areas reflecting the difference in the melts source composition between the two areas.</p><p>The Late Cretaceous rocks of the GAVA (about 90 Ma), as well as the Early Cretaceous rocks of the EMVA, lie nearby a field of lithospheric mantle xenoliths on the Pb isotope ratios diagram. In turn, the obtained Pb isotope data on the lherzolite xenoliths as well as that on paleooceanic complexes of Mongolia reveal the obvious difference of Pb isotope composition of the lithospheric mantle of the region from that of the Paleo-Asian ocean mantle. The observed difference can be explained by the metasomatic alteration of the suboceanic mantle during accretion and subduction processes before the EMVA and the GAVA formation. Thus, the conclusion about the key role of the metasomatized lithospheric mantle in the GAVA Late Cretaceous rocks formation can be made.</p><p>The study was supported by the RFBR (20-05-00401).</p><p>KEYWORDS: Eastern Mongolia, Gobi-Altai, Cretaceous volcanic rocks, lead isotope composition.</p>

USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TO CREATE GEOGRAPHICAL BASES FOR THEMATIC MAPS

The development of science always depends on technological progress. Cartography is rapidly changing and developing with the introduction of new computer technologies, such as GIS and remote sensing of the Earth. Recently, there have been qualitatively new types of cartographic products, in particular 3D terrain models, which in cartography are becoming a universal, optimal and operational method for displaying terrain. The article discusses a method for creating a three-dimensional digital terrain model in the form of an irregular triangulation network based on SRTM data and GIS technology on the example of the Khenti aimag of Eastern Mongolia.

Восприятие археологических памятников представителями народности дариганга

The article discusses the local perception of the two archaeological sites that create the native land of Dariganga ethnic group in Sukhbaatar province of south-eastern Mongolia. The first site is a complex of four stone statues at the south-eastern foot of Dari Mountain in Dariganga county of Sukhbaatar province. The second one is a complex of eight tombs with two stone statues at Tavan Tolgoi Mountain in Ongon county of Sukhbaatar province. These two sites and relics found in them are highly respected by the Dariganga people who claim to be the descendants of the people buried in these tombs, thus disagreeing with the researchers’ assumption that Dariganga ethnic group were not indigenous inhabitants of the area.The article gives a detailed description of the archaeological sites and relics as well as the oral stories and believes connected with them.

A review of weevils of the genus Ceutorhynchus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), associated with woodland draba, Draba nemorosa (Brassicaceae)

A brief review of, and a key to eight Palaearctic species of the weevil genus Ceutorhynchus Germar, 1823 associated with the spring and summer ephemeral crucifer Draba nemorosa (Brassicaceae) are given. Two new species related to Ceutorhynchus unguicularis C.G. Thomson, 1871 are described: C. kerzhneri sp. nov. from Primorskiy Territory and Kunashir I., and C. melniki sp. nov. from Zabaikalskiy and Primorskiy territories and eastern Mongolia.