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Data on the composition, inner structure, and magma sources of giant batholith in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt are analyzed with reference to the Khangai batholith. The Khangai batholith was emplaced in the Late Permian–Early Triassic (270–240 Ma) and is the largest accumulations (>150000 km 2 ) of granite plutons in central Mongolia. The plutons are dominated by granites of normal alkalinity and contain subalkaline granites and more rare alkaline granites. The batholith is hosted in the Khangai zonal magmatic area, which consists of the batholith itself and surrounding rift zones. The zones are made up of bimodal basalt–trachyte–comendite (pantellerite) or basalt-dominated (alkaline basalt) volcanic associations, whose intrusive rocks are dominated by syenite and granite, granosyenite, and leucogranite. Both the batholith and the rift zones were produced within the time span of 270–240 Ma. Although the rocks composing the batholith and its rift surroundings are different, they are related through a broad spectrum of transitional varieties, which suggests that that the mantle and crustal melts could interact at various scale when the magmatic area was produced. A model is suggested to explain how the geological structure of the magmatic area and the composition of the magmatic associations that make up its various zones were controlled by the interaction between a mantle plume and the lithospheric folded area. The mantle melts emplaced into the lower crust are thought to not only have been heat sources and thus induced melting but also have predetermined the variable geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the granitoids. In the marginal portions of the zonal area, the activity of the mantle plume triggered rifting associated with bimodal and alkaline granite magmatism. The formation of giant batholiths was typical of the evolution of the active continental margin of the Siberian paleocontinent in the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic: the Khangai, Angara–Vitim, and Khentei batholiths were formed in this area within a relatively brief time span between 300 and 190Ma. The batholiths share certain features: they consist of granitoids of a broad compositional range, from tonalite and plagiogranite to granosyenite and rare-metal granites; and the batholiths were produced in relation to rifting processes that also formed rift magmatic zones in the surroundings of the batholiths. The large-scale and unusual batholith-forming processes are thought to have occurred when the active continental margin of the Late Paleozoic Siberian continent overlapped a number of hotspots in the Paleo- Asian Ocean. This resulted in the origin of a giant anorogenic magmatic province, which included batholiths, flood-basalt areas in Tarim and Junggar, and the Central Asian Rift System. The batholiths are structural elements of the latter and components of the zonal magmatic areas.

An important role of the early Neoproterozoic juvenile crustal growth in the formation of the Khangai group of Precambrian terranes in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt was demonstrated by the example of the Holbo Nur Zone of the Songin Block. Magmatic complexes of this zone correspond to different settings of the Early Neoproterozoic ocean: oceanic islands, mid-ocean ridges, intraoceanic island arcs, and turbidite basins. Obtained data on volcanic rocks and associated granitoids constrain a timing of the island-arc magmatic complexes, at least within the interval of 888–859 Ma. The comparison of structures of the Songino and Tarbagatai blocks of the Khangai group of terranes showed that they share many common features in their geology and evolution and may be united into the single Songino–Tarbagatai terrane. This terrane was formed owing to the Early Neoproterozoic (~800 Ma) accretion of the ocean island, spreading, island-arc, and turbidite complexes of the oceanic plate to a stable continental massif represented by the Early Neoproterozoic Ider Complex of the Tarbagatai Block. The involvement of the Dzabkhan terrane into a Khangai collage of terranes is constrained between the formation of the volcanic rocks of the Dzabkhan Formation (~770–755 Ma), which are unknown in the Songino–Tarbagatai terrane, and the Tsagaan-Olom carbonate cover (~630 Ma), overlying both the Dzabkhan and Songino–Tarbagatai terranes. It was proposed that the formation of the Precambrian terranes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt began from the Early Neoproterozoic accretion to the Rodinia supercontinent. The fragmentation of the latter above a mantle superplume at the end of the Early Neoproterozoic spanned also the newly formed fold area. This led to the formation of terranes, which included both fragments of the Paleoproterozoic craton and Early Neoproterozoic structures. Subsequent amalgamation of these Precambrian crustal fragments into composite terranes possibly occurred at the end of the early Baikalian tectonic phase.

The oldest crystalline complexes of the Early Caledonian superterrane of Central Asia were formed in the Early Precambrian. They are exposed in the basement of microcontinents, which represent old cratonic fragments. Among the latters are the crystalline complexes of the Tarbagatai block previously ascribed to the Dzabkhan microcontinent. It was shown that the crystalline complexes of the Tarbagatai block have a heterogeneous structure, consisting of the Early Precambrian and later Riphean lithotectonic complexes. Structurally, the Early Precambrian complexes are made up of tectonic sheets of gneisses, migmatites, and gneiss granites of the Ider Complex that are cut by gabbroanorthosite massif. The Riphean Jargalant Complex comprises alternating hornblende crystalline schists and biotite (sometimes sillimanite-bearing) gneisses with marble horizons. The upper age boundary of the Riphean Complex is determined by the subautochthonous granitoids with age about 810 Ma. The presence of the Riphean high-grade rocks indicates that structures with newly formed crust were formed in the paleooceanic framing of the Early Precambrian blocks of the Rodinia supercontinent by the Mid-Late Riphean. Divergence that began at that time within old Rodinian cratons and caused rifting and subsequent break-up of the supercontinent was presumably changed by convergence in the paleooceanic area.

The succession of magmatic events associated with development of the Early Carboniferous-Early Permian marginal continental magmatic belt of southern Mongolia is studied. In the belt structure there are defined the successive rock complexes: the older one represented by differentiated basalt-andesite-rhyodacite series and younger bimodal complex of basalt-comendite-trachyrhyolite composition. The granodiorite-plagiogranite and banatite (diorite-monzonite-granodiorite) plutonic massifs are associated with the former, while peralkaline granite massifs are characteristic of the latter. First systematic geochronological study of igneous rock associations is performed to establish time succession and structural position of both complexes. Geochronological results and geological relations between rocks of the bimodal and differentiated complexes showed first that rocks of the differentiated complex originated 350 to 330 Ma ago at the initial stage of development of the marginal continental belt. This is evident from geochronological dates obtained for the Adzh-Bogd and Edrengiyn-Nuruu massifs and for volcanic associations of the complex. The dates are consistent with paleontological data. The bimodal association was formed later, 320 to 290 Ma ago. The time span separating formation of two igneous complexes ranges from several to 20–30 m.y. in different areas of the marginal belt. The bimodal magmatism was interrelated with rifting responsible for development of the Gobi-Tien Shan rift zone in the belt axial part and the Main Mongolian lineament along the belt northern boundary. Loci of bimodal rift magmatism likely migrated with time: the respective magmatic activity first initiated on the west of the rift system and then advanced gradually eastward with development of rift structures. Normal granitoids untypical but occurring nevertheless among the products of rift magmatism in addition to peralkaline massifs are assumed to have been formed, when the basic magmatism associated with rifting stimulated crustal anatexis and generation of crustal granitoid magmas under specific conditions of rifting within the active continental margin.

This article presents the first complete data on finds of mammals of the mammoth fauna in the Upper Yana basin (Verkhoyansk region (Verkhoyansky Ulus), Oldzho River)). A list of mammal species from the locality on the Oldzho River is compiled. Eleven mammal species are identified. Bighorn sheep are recorded in the Upper Yana area for the first time. The 14 C age of the locality is over 49 thousand years. Most likely, it was formed during from the onset of the Karginsky (MIS 3) interstadial This geological age is also indicated by a few bones of species such as musk ox and reindeer. The geomorphology of the locality differs from the typical permafrost sections in the north of the Yana–Indigirka Lowland. The bone bed of the Oldzho locality occurs in the yedoma polygenetical deposits of the 50-m terrace. The erosion terrace socle is composed of bedrock sandstones and argillites, weathered to the state of coarse-grained eluvium in the upper part. Neopleistocene deposits are represented by humified loess-like loams with peat interlayers and plant detritus inclusions, which are overlain by a 4–4.5 m thick ice wedge in the upper part of the section. The bone bed lies at the base of loess-like loams. It is quantitatively dominated (in descending order) by the bones of bison, horse, woolly rhinoceros , and red deer. There are all age groups of herbivorous mammals. Predators (cave lion, brown bear, wolf) are only represented by adult individuals. Pathologies of the limb bones of herbivorous mammals, caused by traumatic injuries, were relatively commonly recorded.

Fragments of continental blocks or microcontinents are represented in the Early Caledonian orogenic area of Central Asia (or Early Caledonian superterrane); the largest of these are the Dzabkhan and Tuva-Mongolian microcontinents, with Early and Late Precambrian crystalline basements, respectively. In the linkage zone of these microcontinents, crystalline rocks of the Tarbagatai and Songino blocks that are considered as units of the Early Precambrian ensialic basement of the superterrane are also known. They are composed of strongly metamorphosed rocks formed during the Early Baikalian orogeny about 790 to 820 Ma. U-Pb zircon dating and Nd isotope studies revealed, within the northwestern Dzabkhan microcontinent, the Dzabkhan-Mandal zone of crystalline rocks associated with the Riphean crust-forming process. The age of the gneiss substrate of this zone is estimated as 1.3 to 0.86 Ga. An early episode of metamorphism is dated at about 856 ± 2 Ma. The data available so far indicate a heterogeneous structure of the Dzabkhan microcontinent basement represented by Early Precambrian and Early and Late Baikalian crystalline formations.

The paper reports data on the evolutionary history of magmatism, its conditions, and sources in the process of the development of the Southern Mongolian Hercynides during the pre-accretion, continental-margin, and rifting stages within the time span from the Silurian to Early Permian. The Hercynian continental crust in the southern Mongolian segment of the Central Asian Foldbelt (CAFB) was determined to have grown in the environment of ensimatic island arcs, backarc basins, spreading centers, and oceanic islands or plateaus, with material coming from the depleted and, perhaps, also enriched mantle sources in the open ocean that surrounded the Siberian paleocontinent on the side of the Caledonian margin. This made it possible to recognize the Early-Middle Paleozoic epoch of juvenile crustal growth in CAFB and the corresponding isotopic crustal province with a total area of more than 200 thousand km 2 . The principal differences between the composition and structure of the blocks surrounding the Hercynian regions (Caledonides in the Gobi Altai and Grenwillides in the South Gobi microcontinent) testify that the southern margin of the Caledonian Siberian continent and the Grenvillides of the South Gobi microcontinent had different geological histories and were spatially separated. The structural complex of the Paleoasian ocean, including the terranes of the South Gobi microcontinent, were transformed into a continental block in the latest Devonian-earliest Carboniferous, in relation with accretion processes, folding, metamorphism, and tectonic delamination along the boundaries of structurally heterogeneous domains. The subsequent recycling of the crust by magmatic processes was related to the development of an active continental margin (ACM). The development of an ACM in the Hercynides resulted from and was a continuation of the motions of the continental and oceanic lithospheric plates, i.e., processes that brought about the Hercynian accretion. The evolution history of the ACM was subdivided into two stages: early (a continental-margin stage proper) and late (rifting stage). The rocks of the early stage were produced at 350–330 Ma and compose a differentiated basalt-andesite-rhyodacite complex and related massifs of the granodiorite-plagiogranite and banatite (diorite-monzonite-granodiorite) associations. During the rifting stage at 320–290 Ma, a bimodal basalt-comendite-trachyrhyolite association was formed, along with accompanying alkali granite massifs. In the southern Mongolian segment of the Hercynides, the rocks of the rifting stage compose two subparallel rift zones: Gobi-Tien Shan, which extends along the boundaries of the South Gobi microcontinent, and the Main Mongolian lineament, which marks the boundaries between the Hercynides and Caledonides in the CAFB. The rift structures are made up of alkali granitoids and normal-alkalinity granitoids, which are atypical of rift zones. Their genesis is thought to have been related to crustal anatexis, a process that was triggered by rift-related magmas at an unusual combination of rifting and ACM tectonic setting. The basic rocks of the rift associations have geochemical signatures atypical of continental rifting. They show Ta and Nb minima and K and Pb maxima, as is typical of rocks generated at convergent plate boundaries. Nevertheless, the broad variations in the concentrations and ratios of some major and incompatible trace elements and in the Sr, Nd, and O isotopic composition of the rift basaltoids allowed us to distinguish their high-and low-Ti varieties, which were produced with the participation of three mantle sources: depleted mantle similar to the source of basalts in midoceanic ridges, enriched mantle like the source of basalts in oceanic islands, and the mantle material of the metasomatized mantle wedge. The origin of andesites in the rift zones is explained by the contamination of mantle basaltoid melts with sialic (predominantly sedimentary) material of the continental crust or the assimilation of anatectic partial granite melts.

In this paper, a cellular automation model developed on the basis of Bezier curves with the use of a cellular automation approach for the creation of digital twins for porous nanostructures of different nature is proposed. Some numerical experiments on the creation of digital twins for the synthesized experimental samples of chitosan-based aerogels are carried out. The structural characteristics of the digital copies and experimental samples are compared, allowing us to conclude that the model is correct. The resulting digital twins can be used for predicting the properties of porous fiber materials, in particular, chitosan-based aerogels, to provide the partial replacement of real experiments by computational ones and, consequently, to decrease the expenditures on the development of new materials with specified properties.

Fragments of the crystalline complexes where Vendian metamorphism of moderate and elevated pressure predated Early Paleozoic metamorphism have been established in the accretionary-collisional domain of the eastern segment of the Central Asian Foldbelt (Early Caledonian superterrane of Central Asia). The geodynamic setting of the Vendian (∼560–570 Ma) South Hangay metamorphic belt located in the junction zone of the Baydrag Block and the Late Riphean (∼665 Ma) ophiolite complex of the Bayanhongor Zone is considered. The origination of this belt was related to the formation of the convergent boundary in the framework of the Zabhan microcontinent about 570 Ma ago. At the same time, an island-arc complex was formed in the paleo-oceanic domain. Metamorphism of elevated pressure indicates that Vendian structures with sufficiently thick continental crust were formed in the framework of the continental blocks. Vendian metamorphism is also established in the Tuva-Mongolia Massif and the Kan Block of the Eastern Sayan. These data show that the Late Baikalian stage predated the evolution of the Early Caledonian superterrane of Central Asia. The development of its accretionary-collisional structure was accompanied by Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician low-pressure regional metamorphism. Granulite-facies conditions were reached only at the deep levels of the accretionary-collisional edifice. The outcrops of crystalline complexes in the southern framework of the Caledonian paleocontinent are regarded as fragments of the Early Paleozoic Central Mongolian metamorphic belt.