The importance of pre-excavation permafrost detection within ancient burial mounds in the Altai by geophysical methods is hard to overestimate. There was no way of detecting small quantities of frozen ground or ice under stone mounds, and this is a topical issue in Russian archeology. Frozen mounds, which retain organic matter owing to natural processes, are an exceptional source of information about historical and cultural processes in the Early Iron Age. Pre-excavation geophysical prospecting is especially important in the context of global warming, which might destroy a whole layer of cultural and historical information. The integrated geophysical studies conducted in recent years focused on a group of archeological sites of the Pazyryk culture whose burial constructions are very likely to contain frozen artifacts. As a rule, such burial mounds are located at a considerable altitude and contain permafrost, which creates unique conditions for the preservation of artifacts. Such localities include the Ukok high plateau (southern Altai) and the northwestern part of Mongolian Altay. Systematic field studies were conducted on the Ukok Plateau in 2003 and 2007 and in the adjacent territory of Mongolian Altay in 2005 and 2006. The following geophysical methods were used: vertical electrical sounding (VES), electrical tomography (ET), shallow frequency scanning, georadiolocation, magnetic susceptibility measurements, gamma-ray spectrometry, and chromatography. The field works were planned with a heavy reliance on the 3D mathematical simulation of electric and EM fields, which is meant for a realistic estimate of the possibilities of geoelectrics and the best ways of its application to burial-mound studies and data interpretation. The excavations conducted in 2006 in northwestern Mongolia within the Altai Mts. confirmed the geophysical prediction of permafrost at all the sites identified by the geophysical studies in 2005. In one of the mounds, they yielded a unique intact tomb of a Scythian warrior.

Electromagnetic soundings with controlled and natural sources (TEM and MT, respectively) integrated with IP and geochemical surveys have been tested for petroleum exploration in West Siberia. The TEM method, with loop sizes smaller than the depth to the target, provide high resolution, sufficient penetration depth, and data locality. The MT method sounds deeper earth and can place constraints on the Paleozoic basement structure and its electrical properties. The petroleum implications of IP and geochemical data are associated with secondary alteration (mineralization) of rocks over oil traps.

Актуальность настоящего исследования связана с получением первых результатов комплексных геохимических исследований природных вод бассейна реки Витим в западных районах Патомского нагорья. Учитывая широкий спектр выявленных в изучаемом регионе месторождений полезных ископаемых (золота, железа, титана и свинца), возникает два прикладных аспекта применения выполненных исследований. Первый связан с адаптацией гидрогеохимического метода поисков рудных месторождений, а второй – с оценкой антропогенного влияния при разработке месторождений полезных ископаемых и эксплуатации горно-обогатительных предприятий на окружающую среду. Цель: выявление геохимических особенностей вод бассейна р. Витим и оценка возможных источников поступления элементов в воды. Методы. Полевое опробование проведено в соответствии с общепринятыми методиками. Химико-аналитические исследования выполнены методами титриметрии, ионной хроматографии и масс-спектрометрии с индуктивно связанной плазмой. При анализе информации широко применялись методы математической статистики. Оценка степени концентрирования химических элементов в природных водах проводилась путем расчета коэффициентов концентрации (Kki) и водной миграции по А.И. Перельману (Kx1). Результаты. Приводятся первые данные комплексных гидрогеохимических исследований природных вод бассейна реки Витим (Патомское нагорье). По химическому составу преобладают SO4-HCO3 Mg-Ca, HCO3 Mg-Ca воды с величиной общей минерализации от 10 до 298 мг/дм3. Они характеризуются рН от нейтральных до слабощелочных (6,6–8,0), окислительными условиями геохимической обстановки с Eh от +155,5 до +215,9 мВ и содержаниями O2 раств. oт 4,9 до 8,4 мг/дм3. Рассчитанные коэффициенты водной миграции химических элементов в изученных водах (средние) выстроились следующим образом в порядке убывания: очень сильная интенсивность миграции Se236>I37>Br26>сильнаяSb4,5>Mo3,9>Sr3,7>B1,0> средняя Zn0,60>Li0,58>P0,41>Ba0,39>As0,32>Cu0,30>Y0,28>Sc0,27>Si0,24>Mn0,23>Rb0,22>Ni0,19>Be0,18>Ge0,16>Co0,16>Cr0,13> слабая (инертная) интенсивность миграции>Fe0,075>V0,062>Ga0,049>Al0,029>Ti0,012>Nb0,015>Zr0,009. Профиль выявил сложнопостроенное гидрогеохимическое поле, на которое основное влияние оказывают природные факторы.

The results of experimental and methodological seismic and electrical exploration of near-field time-domain electromagnetic sounding (NFTDES) along the profile crossing the productive formation of сoal seams in the Gorlovsky anthracite basin (Doroginskoye deposit, Shadrinsky block) are presented. The possibility of studying coal-bearing series at depths up to 300-350 m is noted. The obtained CDP time cross sections indicate the possibility of displaying some elements of the structure of thick anthracite seams in the wave field, that allowing for reconstruction of their folded features. Using the first arrivals of longitudinal waves (at distances up to 800 m), seismic tomography allows scientists to reconstruct in detail the velocity structure of the near-surface part of the section to depths of 120-150 m and to identify low-velocity local objects corresponding to the upper edges of the thickest coal members in the weathering crust and in the upper part of Permian deposits. The resolution of velocity profile decreases at a given length of the traveltime graph with a further increase in depth to 300 m.

Results of measurements of fast decaying induced polarization (IP) on Quaternary clay samples in comparison of the geochemical data executed on a site in Western Siberia are discussed. The higher clay chargeability was observed in zones with abnormal contents of aromatic hydrocarbons. Conclusions are made, that higher concentration of hydrocarbons in Quaternary clay and their abnormal chargeability can be attribute to oil-and-gas deposits at depth. It is supposed to use near-surface IP measurements for contouring the epigenetically changed rocks above deposits of hydrocarbons.