I

INSТlTUTE OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS

SIBERIAN BRANCH USSR ACADEM У OF SCIENCES

А.А. Trofimuk, s.��. Nikolaev

S 1 В Е R 1 А.

GEOGRAPHIC C�DNTRASTS,

MINERAL RESOURCES

AND PROBLEMS

OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT

NOVOSIBIRSK -1981

INDODUCTION

The vазt ехрansев frOlll. the east о! the Ur81s to the Рас1-

f1c coaвt, frOlll. the co1d зеаs о! the Arct1c Ocean to the froD­

t1ers о! Kongol1a and Сh1na Ьате gone down 1n the annals and anc1ent books UDder one camaon паше - 81ber1a. The

kn01fIl to the Russ1ans аз early аз tbe 10th century.

1and .аз

Iot 1оng

agо(шоrе than 60 years) th1s severe 1and .ав cons1dered а trad1-t10na1 р1асе о! ех11е for free - th1nk1ng, and the .ord "81-

ber1a" nв 1dent1f1ed w1th "hard labour".�7 .ere sent to 81-

ber1a and 1nt1a1dated Ьу 81ber1a. А hundred years ago every

seventh-f1fth 1nhabitant о! S1beria .аз an ех11е. �be Oc�ober

Revo1ut10n gave another 11fe to 81ber1a. It Ьав Ьесаае the

1and о! deve10Ped 1nduвпу and agr1cu1ture, the 1and о! cu1-

ture, вс1епсе and great future.

Before the October Revo1ut1on there .ere оnly 2 h1gh еdn­

cat10nal 1nst1tut10ns 1n 81ber1a: the Un1vers1ty and the ТесЬ­

no1og1cal Inst1tute 1п Toask. Вut по. there are 100 h1gher,550

techn1c81 and 22000 h1gh schoo1s.Kuch haв Ьееп changed 1n 1tE

lndustr181 deve10paent too: Wезtеrп 81ber1a. for ехаар1е, pro­

duces по. aanufactured goods 950 t1шев _ore than before the

Revo1ut10n.

N owащв saying "81 ber1a" , we _ean the terr1 tory о! the

иSЗR fraa the Ura1s up to the _ounta1n r1dges о! the Pac1f1c

.аtеrзhеd (9 .7 _1111оп sq kш). �be eastern part о! the country

rеfеrз to thl! "8ar East (3 . 1 D1i1110n sq о). Вut for соnУе-

nience _е consider them together. 4000 km separate the northern extremity о! this territoDy frош its southern point, and ш оrе than 6000 km зераха�е the western point from the eastern one . The length о! the territor,y defines its climatic and geographic con�rasts .

GEOGRAFНIC СОNТШSТВ

Siberia and the Far East cover an ахеа о! about 13 million sq kш, � . e . 57% о! the territory о! our country, almost 1/10 part о! the territory о! all dr,y land о! our planet.lt would ье p08sible to place here 52 countr1es like the GFR and Great Bri­tain, 43 - like Italy, 39 - like Finland, 24 - like France, 155 - 11ke AU8tr1a. This territor,y 18 2.7 t1mes larger than that о! all West-European countries. Оп this g1gant1c ахеа 11 уе only 28 mil110n people, i.e . the density о! populat1on in S1beria as а whole 18 50 times less than in West-European countr1es . Bes1des the average density о! the populatlon оп the S1berian territory is not the sаше: it i 8 5 times higher in 1ts western part,which 1в the m08t developed one, than in the eastern part ( the boun­dary between We8�ern and Eastern Siberia 18 drawn conventionally оп the Уеniзеу River ) .

I f _е МУе а look at the physical-geographic шар о! our country, coloured green and brown, _е notice prevailing brown colours . Except the West S1berian Plain, the largest flat ter­ritory о! the world (2 .7 million s q kIII.) and sоше big "green dabs" 1n the north о! the шар (North-Siberian, Central ... Yakutsk,

Yan-Indigirka and Коlyшa Lowlands ) the rest о! the territory о! S1ber1a and the Рах East 1в coloured brown: about 3/4 о! its territory ахе шоuntа1n шаssivеs and plateaus with maxiшиа ро­

ints о! 4506 111 (Belucha шountаin in the Alta1 1IIounta 1nS ),3976 ш (Kungun-Ta1ga 1IIounta1n in the East Sa;rans), 3147 111 (Pobeda 1110-

untain inYakut1a), 4850 111 (Klyuchev8kaya Зорka 1n Кашсhatka ) and etc.

Оп the оns hand for tnousands о! уеахз, the ramified r1ver syste1ll w1th powerful ensrgy о! flowing water tries to level these high-alt1tude contrast8, and оп the other hand, tectonic

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aoveaents о! the crust contlnue to pronounce 1n aountain con­

struct10ns о! S1ber1a, 1п part1cular, .ав earthquake8. Тhat 1а

1n East КaII1cbatka, the Кur1l Islands and mounta1n construc -

t10ns surround1ng the lake Вa1kal (Вa1kal r1ft zone).Eor e�­

ple, dur1ng the lазt 200 years 1n the вaika1. reg10n 800 earth­

quakes Ьауе Ьееп reg1stered 01: 1ntens1 ty 9. It was here that I

ав the result 01: the earthquake in 1862, 100 sq kш 01: the se­lenga delta sank under the Вa1kal. Тае lake with the аах1шua

depth 1620 а Ьав Ьееп 1:0rшеd dur1ng the last 25 ш11liоп yeara.

According to the geophys1cal data, а large area о! the earth's

crust - the Вa1kal иса - r1ses annually 10-20 l1l1I1, and the

lake basln i tseU agaiDSt а background 01: the general eleva­

tion в1llkв 5-10 l1l1I1 !IJld е%рandз. lIounta1DS are being foraed Ье­

fore our еуев 1п КaDLchatka and the Kuri1 Islands, .аие 70 уо1-

сanоев 01: 460 are act1ve now.

According to 1ta natura1 peculiar1t1es Siber1a 1в а con­

tlnenta1 land, only its northern соазt 1а .азhеd ь.1 the аеаз

о! the Arct1c Осеan (the Кara веа, the Laptev веа and the Вaat

S1ber1an аеа), wh1ch are unusua1 g1gant1c natura1 repos1tor1es

о! 1се. Тае Yar Eaat coasts are washed ь.1 the cold Okhot8k: aпd Berlng веав о! the Pac1f1c Осеan.

There are not шany р1асев оп the earth _h1ch сan coapete

with S1ber1a 1n the contlnentality о! 1ts cliaate.lt Ьа8 large

tешреrаturе ашрlitudев о! _arш and co1d season.o, aoderate aпd often small prec1p1tation .h1ch distr1butes in веазоns and

воае years unevenly.

Cont1nenta1 aDd rather severe cl1aate 1в due to the ро­

s1t1on о! S1ber1a 1n aoderate lat1tudes, rещоtепе88 froa.ara

веав, flatness о! areas 1п the north wh1ch 1et co1d Arct1c air go free, and the lIIounta1DS 1n the south shutt1ng 01:! dry 118.8-

вев о! Central As1an a1r . Тае predC)1l1nsJ·ce о! ааввев о ! cold an d dr y сопtlnепtalш

over the S1ber1an tGrritory st1pulates rather stable 10. WiD­ter telllperature over 1arge arеаз. In Janu&r7 1t 18 5-15- 001-

der here than 1п the corresponQing lat1tude8 о! the earth, the

average t.-perature 1n January 1s -13- (80uthern 81ber1a) to

-500 (Vеrkho78Шlk) and 1t goes up to -8- only 1n 80uthern Pr1-

IIIOrye Terr�tory and Xaacbatka (for c08parison the average

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January tешреrаturе 1n London 1а +5.30, Paris +з. 4: Berlln about

0-, Не. York - 1- and Hels ink1 -9.70). Wlnter weather over the

larger 51ber1an terr1tory 1в stable , severe frosts are typ1cal

( solll.etiJlles the te lll.perature drops down to -538 1n tbe s outh о! 51-

ber1a and -7оРln Yakut1a) and the weather 1в usually calll1 with

the exception о! coastal reg10 ns о! the 50viet Far East - 1n Кашсhatkа, the Kur11 Islands , 5akhalin and especially the Extre ­lII.е North о! 51ber1a - the Уаша1, Таilll.yr, Chukotka penlnsulas ,

etc.

Snow cover frOlll. 0.2 to 1. 5 111. keeps for 160-170 ща 1n the south о! Siberia, 270-280 щв in the north (Уашal ,Nоrthеrn Та1-

щyr) and only 50-70 щв in the Southern Pri ll10rye Territory. А

frostless per10d lasts frOlll. 50 ща in the north to 130 ща in

the south of" 51beria and goes up to 160 щв 1n the Southern

Pri Jllorye Terr1tory ( ln Paris th1s period lasts 300 Щв). Due to

that the annual average te lll.perature 1в not h1gh : frolll. +1.50 in

the A1ta1 to -160С 1n ТaiIII.yr. (Тае average annиаl telll.perature 1n Par1s 1а +11 0 , Berlln +8.4-С ). 5olll.etill1es there are frosts in

51ber1a 1n the D1ddle о! s uшшеr .

5uшшеr in Siberia 1 в short , but bot. July 1в the warшеst

lII.onth о! the year, 1ts average te lll.perature fluc tuating frolll. +10С

( Cheluskin С аре - Таilll.yr 1n latitude 77043' North) to 19·С ( Уа­kutsk - lat1tude 620 North) and 210С 1n the 50uth о! the Кrasno­

yarsk, A1tai reg10ns and the Prill10rye Terr1tory. Nowhere оп the

globe 1n these lat1tudes 1в there such h1gh SUШIII.еr te lll.perature as 1n Eastern S1ber1a. In the 80uthern reg10ns о! S1ber1an and

Yakut1a the absolute tешреrаturе шaxiII1um 1з 4О0С 1n s uшшеr . In

Yakut1a the d1fference о! the average temperatures of the hottest (July) and coldest ( January) lII.onths 18 55-650 ( in London this d1fference is 13.50, 1n Paris 150, in Berlin 18.50, 1n Пе. York

240 and 1n Hels1nki 26. 50). In S1beria the ашрlitudеs о! аЬво­lute te _peratures reach 1000.

Precipitation 1в rather uneven: frolll. 150-200 DIIII per ye ar оп

the northern ве а coasts , Chukotka and the Коlyшa to 1300 DIIII 1n the Southern Тrans-Бai kal Reg10n and in the south о! Кашсhаtka •

In d1fferent years 1n the s аше reg1on& big fluctuat10ns (ир to 4 tillles ) are typ1cal.

Especially sharp prec1pitation difference 1в observed in

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!orest-steppe regions (here 18 the маln farшing 1and 1n Sibe­r1a), where the average precip1tation 18 300 шm per year but in д.amp years 1t 1а БОО mш and in dry years only 150 mш (the average prec1pitat10n both in Pзr1а and London 1s 650 mш per year). Тае largest aшmоunt о! prec1p1tation 1n S1Ъer1a 18 1n

'the аесоnd м1! о! sU1lll1er. Drought, dry wind and dust storms are not rare 1n S1ber1a.

80 1n Western S1ber1a, for ехатр1е, where the farшing 1and lnc1ud1ng arable 1and takes the second р1асе 1n the Бuа­s1an Federat10n a!ter the Pov01zaye Terr1tory, there are 1arge areas о! сhеrnоzеш (black earth) and frequent droughts wh1ch h1nder the dеve10ршеnt о! agricu1ture: 1n the 60а there wer.e four drOUght8 and 1n the early 7оа only 1n 197� the condit10ns were c11&at1cally favourable.

Оnе о! the шa1n reasons о! drought 1а dry air !rош the Arct1c, wh1ch gets warш go1ng over Western

coll11n.g S1Ъer1a

and enr1ched ьу шо1sturе, resu1ts 1n evapotranspirat10n о! the ао11. In во.е сааеа drought 1а the sequence о! dry and warш air шassеs frош the south - Kazakbвtan and M1ddle Ав1а. Therefore оnе о! the шоst 1mportant рrоЫешs о! S1ber1an corn­-growers 1а irr1gation о! the West-S1berian granar1es - Ku-1unda and БarаЪ1nsk steppes.

And. this 18 one о! the S1berian contrasts: abundance о! water and шоisturе in оnе region and their shortage in an­other. In S1beria there are the deepest rivers 1n the country: the Eniае! ( 624 cubic kш per year), the Lena (540 cuЪic kш), the ОЪ (400 eubie kш) and It� Aшur, (�� eub:i;e �). ,Тае annual drainage о! the largest West-European r1vers the Danube and the Rh1ne 1а correspondingly 20� and 79 eubie kш.ln sоше р1а­ееа the w1dth о! the r1ver va11eys 1а about severa1 tens о! k110шеtеrs, and the ОЪ va11ey in its 10wer riches 1а 120 kш wide and 50 ш deep. Тае rivers get �bout 80% о! their annual f10w !rom me1ting snow, mountaln glaeiers and rainS, and 20% frош ground waters. Durlng the flood-t1me the 1еуе1 even о! large rivers rises highly, !or example, the Lena r1ver r1ses 10 ш, the Nizhnyaya Тunguska - 25 ш.

А eonsiderable period о! solar rad1ance i8 neverthe1ess typ1eal !or а large territory о! Siberia (exc1ud1ng northern

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prov1nces w1th long polar night). In Novos1birsk 1t 1в equa1 to

2О}О hours and 1n Yakutsk- 22.70 hOurs, which 1в 300 and 500 hours _ore than 1n Par1s (1753 hours).

An iaportant consequence o� harsh contlnental c11mate o�

S1ber1a 18 deep �reezing o� grounds - w1de dвvеlоршеnt o� per­

�rost, the 8preading иеа O� which 18 more than 8 mil110n sq

о, the thickne8s o� the �reezing llQ'er 1в 200-500 ш, and 1n places (the Karkhi r1ver basln 1n Yakut1a) 1t reaches 1500 ш.

Negat1ve temperatures o� 1008е and or1ginal rocks preserve at а

s�ll depth during m111enniums. In эummцr the melt� depth 1в

�roa several tens o� centimetres to several metres. Due to that

the tree roots spread chie�ly 1n hor1zonta1 plane, which 1в the

reason o� the1r bad root-tak1ng and �вв ta1ga wlnd �allen wood

_hen hurr1cane w1nd Ыо_в.

Реrшafrоst inf1uences greatly the �ormat1on o� northern

landscapes and the rеg1иеs o� sur�ace and ground _aters and pre­

vents froa the penetrat10n o� water 1nto the ground being the

reason о! plaln terr1tor1es swamping.

Timber resources o� the иsзи ие est1aated at 6.4 m11110n

sq ka w1th timber reserves o� 75 bil110n cubic metres. О! these

reserves about 80% o� а11 иеа covered ьу' �orests апd timber re­

serves (60 bil110n cubic metres) fa11 to the 8hare о! 81ber1a

and the !'и East (for.estry 1n the Eu.ropean Econom1c Соmшunity

countr1es occup1es 0.3 m1111on·sq kш). The llQ'ing-ln уо1uше o�

t1Aber 1n this terr1tory 1в 130 m11110n cubic metres or 1/3 о!

the All-Union volume. There 1в much timber 1n S1ber1a: 1n Кrаз­

noyarsk reg10n about one �1tth о! the All-Union timber resour­

сев ие concentrated. It 1в suggested that ьу the end o� this century Slberla w111 glve more than а half о! а11 produced tim·

ber, the уо1uше о! the 11Q'lng-ln timber gro_lng several times.

Вut one mu8t take lnto account tha.t S1berlan forests ив

not product1ve, the growing о! timber о! cOllllltodity qua11ty 18

very а1о_ and а conslderable part о! operat1on fund о! the fo­

re.ts 18 repre8ent8d ьу' larch (the most w1de-spread tree 1n the

U8SR), _hich a1ongs1de w1th leaf-bearlng for.e8ts 1в not popular

_1th the purveyors who prefer the explo1tat1on о! coniferous

forests.

In the _ооdз о! S1ber1a and �he Ни East about 2 m11110n

8

toDS о! cedar nuts, more than 2 million tons о! lI1ushrOOms and about 9 ш111iоn toDS о! different be;ries (biological harvest) ripen every year . Вut these gifts о! nature are used in small quantity.

There are not many lands suitable for agricultura1 dev�­lopll1ent in Siberia, in spi te о! i ts vast еХРaDЗеа. More deve­loped and rich arable lands о! Western Siberia are an obvi ous ехашрlе о! it: 35% о! the whole territory are swашрs, 30% - со­ni!erous and 1eaf-bearing !orests, 13% - tundra and bush thic­

ket . A t present the developed arable lands exceed 6 5 mil1ion

he ctares in Siberia and the Far East, including 21 million hectares о! pastures, 12 million hectares о! haying lands and 32 mi11ion hectares о! !arming 1ands (20 о! them in Western Siberia), and that makes up alll10st 15% о! the All-Union 80wing area. During the years о! the Soviet P ower 80Wing areas Ьауе increased 4 tiJD.es . In 1954-60 about 10 II1illion hectares о! vir­gin land were deve loped. Ву the present tiae the aain reserves о:! virgin and disused lands. easily available :! or p10ughing and not requiring large cap1tal investll1ents, Ьауе been practi­cally exhausted. The main task о! the Siber1an corn-growers 1а to achieve rich harvest and �crease soi1 :!ert1lity Ьу inten­si!1cat1on о:! agr1culture .

I4INERAL RESOORCES ОЕ SIВERIA AND ТНЕ F A.R ЕАВТ

The territory in question i8 character1zed ьу an extre­mely diverse and cOll1plex geological structure . Pract1ca11y al1 knovm in nature sеdШеntary, mеtашоrрhiс and magшatiс rocks and connected with thell1 lI1inerals о! dif:!erent genet1c types and geolog1cal ages (:!rOll1 3 bi1110n years up to modern proces­аеа) are wide-spread w1thin this area.

Оп the S1ber1an terr1tory two large geolog1c-tectonica1ly р1аt:!оrшs - the old S1ber1an and young Weвt-S1berian, surro­unded in the west and south Ьу powerful Pre-C8lllbr1an and Pale­ozo1c lI10untain structures о:! the Urals, Alta1-�an. ТraDЗ­-Ba1kal �egion and young Kesozo1c and Cenozo1c !olded zones in

9

tne east ахе dist1nctly pronounced.

Minera1 resources ахе the Ьаэ1э о! materia1 deve10pment

о! maDkind.

Now there ахе about 200 different kinds о! m1nera1 raw ша­

ter1a1s uti11sed in 1ndustry, agricu1ture and constructing. А1-

most а11 о! them шау Ье found in the USSR inc1ud1ng Siber1a.Un-

11ke most о! the deve10ped countr1es о! the wor1d, the USSR iш­

ports 11tt1e m1nera1 raw materia1, meeting the increas1ng de­

mands Ьу 1ts own resources and supplying 50 countries о! the

wor1d with raw materia1s оп mU�la1ly beneficia1 conditions. The

USSR takes the f1rst р1асе in the wor1d 1n the tota1 уо1uше о!

export о! these products. Ow1ng to the raw materials deliver1es

о! the USSR, almost а11 1mport needs о! the countr1es,be1ong1ng

to the Counc11 for Mutua1 Есоnошiс Ass1stance, in natural gas,

cast 1ron. most о! non-ferrous meta1s, iron ore. etc. ахе еа­

t1sf1ed. ТЬе GFR , Japan, F1nland , Ita1y, France, the USA and

Great Вr1tain take the 1eading p1ace in the commodity c1rcu1a­

t10n о! the Soviet иniоn among industria11y deve10ped cap1ta-

11st countries. The traditiona1 export 1tems муе becoll1e 011

and oi1-products, hard coa1. coke, natura1 gas, 1ron ore, ара­

tite concentrates, tash sa1ts, asbestos, ro11ing о! ferrous

meta1s, coke chemistry products, timber, sawtimber and etc.

In the USSR lI10re than 18000 m1nera1 deposits have Ьееn

discovered and prospected,most о! them being 1n Siberia. 90% о!

'al1 depos1ts муе Ьееn d1scovered during the уеахв о! the So­

viet Power. About а quarter о! a11 wor1d output о! minera1s

fa11s to the share о! the USSR now, and that exceeds б bi11ion

tons.

Geo1og1ca1 explorat1on 1в becom1ng а large-sca1e branch о!

nat10nal есоnошу: more шоnеу 1в a110cated to 1t than to the de­

ve10pment о! non-ferrous and ferrous meta1lurgy. Every rouble

lnvested 1n geo1ogica1 prospecting creates potentia1 riches 1n

the for. о! exp10rated .1neral resources cost1ng 30-40 roubles.

Before the October Revo1ution о! 1917 there worked only 2 geo1og1sts оп the staff in S1beria, but nо. there ахе 14 эих­

уеув or еomе thousands field parties supp11ed with modern equip­

lI1ent and qualified personne1. Now in the USSR geo1ogy work more

than 500 thousand peop1e, 100 о! them ахе englneers and tech­

niса1 workers.

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During the 1ast 40 уеаха the output о! the most important kinds о! minera1s has 1ncreased in our country: созl - 4.3 ti­шеа, 011 - 19 . 3 times, gas - 136 times, iron ore 8 times. ТЫа 1а due to S1ber1an geo10gists and miners. ТЬе im.portance о! mineral raw materia1s in modern society is confirmed Ьу 1ts spec1fic weight 1п the cost о! the wor1d output о! mining in­dustry (1977 , 1п �): oi1 - 41.1 , созl - 21.4, natural gas -4 . 0, 1ron ores - 7 . 1 , copper - 7. 5 , 1ead and zinc 1.571.9, etc. Опе сan аее from th1s list that two thirds о! 1tз зl1

cost [а11э to the share о! fue1-power resources. It 1а шроаа1Ые to аау about а11 шaiп depos1ts о! �e­

ral resources 1п S1ber1a, their епuшеrаt10П wou1d take too шисЬ tiще. Но. _е turn to br1ef character1stics only о! аоае

о! them and poss1bi11ty о! their uti11zat10n in nat10na1 есо­nomy.

Р О W Е R R А W М А Т Е R I А L. Power raw material 1а the шзiп problem о! шацу countries о! the world. ТЬе wor1d energy consumption is ris1ng constantly and doubles every 10 -

- 15 уеахз, вinсе these ахе ce11u10se, сЬешiса1 and 011-сЬе­шiсзl industr:ies, the product10n о! t1tan1um and а1uminiuш,се­ment and glass, e1ectric meta11urgy that deve10p.rapidly. More than 85% о! power raw mater1a1s о! the country - созl and 011, natural gas and casing-head gas and hydroresources ахе сопсеп­trated in S1beria. It is therefore here, in S1ber1a, that the branches о! industry, requiring the most amount о! energy, are p1anned to develop.

О I L А N D G А S Predicted ьу the sc1ent1sts 1оng before their discovery, the firs� industrial gaв and 011 spou­ters sprang forth here in 1953 and 19БО correspondingly. 011 and gas discovery in Western S1beria па а great 1аЪош v1ctory о! the S1ber1aп geo10g1sts, _ho d1scovered these k1nds о! power raw mater1al о! high Узlие: not а s1ngle It1nd о! f'uel сап compete

with hydrocarbons. Ву the present time more than 200 011 and gas depos1ts

Ьауе Ъееп discovered here, and their number grows annually. Despite difficu1t c1imat1c and transport conditions (transport ехрепзез account for>25% о! а11 ехреnsев о! exploration), pro­specting and output о! oi1 and gas оп the West-Siberian terr1-

11

tory ие cheaper tban in а nuaber о! other areas о! the country. It 1е fac111tated Ьу re1at1ve аiшр11с1ty о! the geo10g1cal atructure о! West-81ber1an depos1ts, not deep oi1 and gas осси­rence in compar1son with other 011 and gаз-Ьеar1ng provincee and the uвe о! effect1ve geophys1ca1 (eвpecially seismic) pro­specting methods .

West 8 1ber1an deposits in the central reg10ns о! the p1ain are mostly .1IIU1t1bedded, with 011 and gаз-Ьеaring interva1 some­times down to 1000 metre s. They ие confined to sandy-clay ее­diments о! the Jurass1c and Cretaceous, in the sect10n о! wh1ch there ие 13 productive strata, number1ng about 30 oi1-bear1ng layers . 011 quali ty 1е h1gh: most1y they ие �ow-dens1 ty and 10w-su1phurou8 0118 . Gaa factor 1е 25-130 сиЫс metres per ton and 50 cubic metres per ton оп the average. Good permeabi-11ty and h1gh bedding pressure in the product1ve hor1zons, ma­intained ьу water pumping, provide for large discharges .

Al 1 discovered depos1ts are conf1ned to Kesoz01c structu­res, o il- gas-bearing strata occur down from 700 to 3000 m. The average depth о! ваа f1e1ds in Western 81ber1a 1е 1700 m and 011 fie1ds - 2100 m, i.e . the prospected depos1ts occur here at 8mal1er depths than оп the average in the country .

In the wor1d есопошу there ие п о analogues o� West 81Ье­r1an region in the rates о! development; during 16 уеиа о! mi­пее ex1stence in the main kind о! industria1 product10n - 011, the annual output reached ир to 312 mi1lion tons, and in вае -

156 b11lion сиМе _etres. А11 in а11 in the UЗ8Н in 1980 the output о! 011 and еопdепsаtе уав 60) mi1110П tODS, о! gas - 435

Ь11110П eubic шеtrе s .

The l1&iD. o11-fie1ds Samot10r, )(ев1оп ,Баlyltski1 an d Зur­gutski1 ие confined mostly to the central part о! the 'fest 81-ber1an P1ain, and а group о! gas-condensate fie1ds (Кy1dzhin­skoye, Ust-811ginskoye,eto .) 1е southward. The northern part о! the plain 1а а gas bearing province. Here are such depos1ts аз )(edvezhye, Urengo1, Zapolyarnoye, Vengapurovskoye,KomsO&o1skoye and aany others. The largest о! them 1в Urengo1: the upper ho­r1zon reserves о! wh1ch ие estimated at 5 tri1110n cubic aet­res . Such conc8ntrat1on о! reserves w1thin оп е f1e1d al10wз wide-sca1e gas f1e1ds ежрl01tаt1оп. Ву 1985 gаз output in Uren-

12

g01 _111 Ьате reached 250-270 bi1110n cub1c aetres per 7ear.

!h1s amount .ав prod.uced ьу the .hole country only 6 years чо.

North �en gas 1в very unusual: 1t 1в 10. su1phnrous

and d1��er6 greatly �rom most о! the .or1d natural gases 1n compos1tion and 1в 81шi1ar to typ1ca1 coal gases. It contains

up to 98-99% o� pure aethane and tbat !ac111tates the prepara­

t10n and pur�1cat10n о! gas before 1ts transportation tbrough

gas-p1pes. ТЬе geo10g1ca1 gas reserves о! the p1aln are est1-

шаtеd at more tban 40 tri1110n cubic metres.

ТЬеае northern gas fle1ds are va1uable because they are

в1 tuated outs1de the European part o� the со1Шtry, .h1ch 1s the

aain conвuaer о: gas, and comparat1vely с1оее to the centra1

and north-.estern reglons. Furthermore, deep hor1zons о! the

Ureng01 and Vengapur f1e1ds contaln 011 and condensate under

gas depos1ts, tbat шakев the f1e1ds more va1uable and raises

the perspect1ves o� deep hor1zons o� other gas f1e1d8 o� the

reglon. It 16 note.orthy tbat the terr1to�,per6pect1ve 1n 011

and gas, 1в шuсh worse exp10red 1n Western S1berla than оп the

average around the country.

Unti11 the present tiae al1 the depoA1ts 1n the _e8t-81-berlan P1aln Ьате been found 1n �esozolc sed1aents (Cretaceous,

JurasSlc), formed воае 100-165 mi1110n уезrв чо. .1.s а nwnber

о! S1berlan geo1081sts think, older Palecz01c sed1aents о! the

age o� more tban 300 mi1110n years зrе perspect1ve. !Ье f1rst

deep .е118, sunk 1n the south о! the West S1ber1an Plat�orm,

prove the correctness о! the expressed perspect1ves.

on the S1ber1an P1at!orm, espec1ally between the Lena and

the Enlse1 r1vers and the so-cal1ed Nepsk�Botuobin.k Arch,

there are poss1bi11tles о! lsrge resources d1scover1es aIId good

geo10g1cal perspect1ves. ТЬе perspect1ve 1n 011 and gas зrеа

о! Western 81ber1a 1в equal to 1.7 mi1l1on sq о and o� kstern 81ber1a - 3.2 mi1lion sq о. fhe per�pect1vene8s 1в conflned

ьу the geo10g1ca1 structure о! the иеа. p1ent�1 natural

sho.s and lndustria1 lnf10W8 o� 011 (lIarkovskoye,Yarakt1nskoye

and other �1е1dз) and gas (Kuyumblnskoye) 1n the _е11е о! SOIlL8

areas. �be prospectlng degree о! the _est Slber1an territory

1n the depth is very aшall (0.2-0.3 runn1ng meters dril1lng

per 1 sq kш).

13

А 1arge lndus�r1a1 gаs-соndеnзаtе bas1n _ав opened 1n Уа­

kut1a 1n 1956 (the 10wer V11u1 r1ver). It numbers nо. 6 gas

and gas-condensate f1e1ds. Geo10g1ca1 perspect1ve reserves of

Yakut1an gas ахе equa1 to 9 tr11110n cubic lILetres. In 1967 Уа­

kutsk began to obta1n gas through p1pe11nes о! the Ust-V1lyu1sk

and from. 1973 о! lIastakhski1 and Sredne-V1lyuisk fie1ds. Но. the problem.s о! Yakutian gas tranзроrtаtiоn to the Рас1!1с со­

ast ахе being discussed.

An im.portant achievem.ent о! the S1berian scient1sts was а

sc1ent1f1c discovery о! the natural aЫ11� о! hydrocarbons to

form. so11d com.pounds w1th water at h1gh pressure.In perm.afrost

rocks and then in 1akes, оп m.ar1ne and осеan1с depths, accumu-

1ations о! snow-like hydrocarbons - gas�hydrates have Ьееn

found. Gas-hydra�es ахе соnзidеrеd ав ровв1Ые 1ndustr1a1 m.1-neral power raw шаtеr1а1s. Their d1scovery Ьав noticeably 1n­

creased the perspect1ves о! the broaden1ng о! hydrocarbon raw

m.ater1a1 reserves not only о! S1ber1a, but о! the _Ьо1е p1ane�.

ТЬе north-eastern part о! Sakha11n Is1and 1в the m.ost

eastern 011 and gas-bear1ng province о! the country, where 011-

-f1e1ds ахе 1n operat10n and gas for 10са1 needs 1в be1ng used.

There 1sn't perhaps another k1nd о! raw m.ater1a1s,the out­

put о! which 1в paying and im.portant for the soc:ie�, and re­

quires relat1vely sm.all exp101tat10n о! hum.an 1abour dur1ng the

ou�ut and Ьав high product1v1� which 1в еврес1а11у im.portant

!or sparesly popu1ated S1ber1a. Ris1ng о! 011·and gas im.por­

tance 1n the fue1 1ndustry Ьа1anсе о! the USSR br1ngs annual

есоnо&у о! 1 Ы111оn roubles. In sp1te о! the fact that West­

-Siberlan 011-fie1ds began to ье deve10ped а 11tt1e m.ore than

15 уеахв ago, еасЬ second ton о! 011 and еасЬ third cubic m.et­

re о! gas, produced in the country, ахе S1ber1an.

West-S1ber1an 011 and gas go through pipe11nes to East

and West Europe, the Ura1s and the Kuzbass. Entire1y оп the

Ьав1в о! the S1ber1an 011, 011 refin1ng groups о! enterpr1ses are worklng 1п o.uJk and Angarsk and are belng ЬшИ 1n Ach1nsk, Тoшsk and TOb01sk, i.e. 1п the nearest future West-Siber1a _111

Ьесоше the 1argest centre о! oi1-chem.1cal 1ndustry о! the USSR.

14

о О А L. Ооа! industry refers to the branches о! mater1al

product10n requiring 1arge investments. 011 and gas 1ndustr1es

о! the USSR met 1n 1970 the requ1rement о! the country 1n energy 56�, 1n 1975 1t wаа 64% already. Desp1te the reorgani ­

zat10n о! fue1 ba1ance о! the country 1n lncreas1ng 011 and gаз иае, соа1 wi11 remaln the most important power raw mate­

r1al о! our economy, espec1a1ly 1n the south о! S1ber1a.

In S1berla there are concentrated more than 7 tr11110n

tons о! perspect1ve geo10g1cal reserves о! соа1, that 1в 90% о! geo1og1ca1 соа1 reserve8 о! the country and about 50 % о!

those о! the wor1d. А 1arge amount о! а11 соа! reserves 1а con­

centrated ln the region о! the Тrans-61ber1an Ral1way. Тае

coals differ in various cOlllpos1t10ns and pDOpertles; more than

the third о! al1 соа! reserves and output are brown соа1а. ть'е

UЗSВ takes the flrst р1асе 1n the "or1d in соа! output:in 1980 соа! product10n "аз 716.4 m1l1ion tona; during the years at the

Soviet po"er соа1 output inсrеазеd 25 t1mes, "here соа! basins

о! S1ber1a р1ау an active ro1e. Now the eastern reg10ns о! the

country produce 50% о! cOal, ааlf о! 1t Ьеing produced ьу а

quarry method. In 1990 the entire соа! output 111'111 reach 75�. It wou1d Ье espec1ally important 100 dwe11 оп 10he mos1o stu­

died unique Kuznetsk соа! basin (Kuzbass), wh1ch 1nc1udes 110 соа! depos11os. Тае to1oa1 соа! reserves о! the basin are equal

to 725 bi1lion tons, almost half о! them are соking соа! or

good for ob1oaing coke шixturе. Тае bas1n 16 no1o 1arge - 27 thou­

sand sq 1m. but 1ts соа1 reserves per square unit are 10he 1ar­

gest ln 10he wor1d. There ив 27 m11110n tonв of соа1 per 1 sq

1m. о! the соа! basln, 1oha1o 1в 8 times more than in the Donbass

and 200 t1mes more than in the Рodmоskоvпy brown соа! basins.

00а1 accumu1at10n in Kuzbass 1asted for more than 80 m11-

110n years. It· numbers about }ОО соа! веaшs, 95 о! wbich are

"orking ones wi10h 10he th1cknes6 from 0.7 ир 100 10 m and in во­

те areas to }о m (the average working соа1 thickness � 2-} м,

the average exp101ta1010n depth 18 200 т). Тае 100tal соа! 1obick­

ness 1а 200 m and has по equ1valents in the world. Тае most

calor1f1c соа! (heat power 1в 7.0-8.5 thousand k110calor1es ) has sJD.&ll ash-content (4-16%), sulphur content « 1% ) and good

enrlchment.

15

ТЬе Kuzbass со&! d1f�ars prof1tably �ram соalз o� other

bas1.Ds 1D qual.1ty and cost pr1ce. It 1в lI10re econom.1c tban

other coals o� the European bas1.Ds and �1e1ds o� the country

eтen at 1arge transportat10ns. �be del1very o� the Kuzbass

coal. to the European part o� the UЗSВ 1Dcreases, оnlУ 1D 1980

1t "&8 43 1II1111on tons. In Kuzbass 150 1I11111on tons о! соа]. ие

produced по. (1t 1в 7 tiшes 1I10re tban со&l output 1D lranc.

wЫсЬ 1в 22 1I11111on tons). Dur1Dg the fo11ow1Dg 10 уеиз соа].

output 1D Kuzbass 18 ЬеШg p1anned to br1Dg up to 193 1I111110n

to� . In the Ku:netsk Ьазin (KuzЪ&.ss) 95 Ddne8 ие 1D opera­

t10n, 1nc1ud1ng 22 1arge, and 18 open cut quarr1es. ТЬе �ourth

part o� &11 coal 1D KU2lbass 18 produced Ьу а quarry lILethod. ТЬе

coa1 output ь.1 an open-cut lI1ethod ma:r reach 80 1I111110n tons

<ШrШg 10-15 уеив , and 1D fu'ture 120-130 1I111110n tons.The un­

derground h;rdro-output о! со&! 1з deve1op1ng. AlDLost half о!

&11 produced coa1 1D Кuzbass 18 cok1n.g coal. Every !1fth tra1n-

10ad о! со&! and almost every 8econd-th1rd tra1n1oad о! cok1n.g

coal., produced 1D the countrYt ие frOll 'СЬе �snet8k ЬавШ.

Оое о! the largest 1D the wor1d 1в th. Кansk-Acb1nsk Ьа­

вш о:! brown power соа]. о! the JurasS1C age (1ts he&t power 1в

3.0-3.4 thOU8and klloc&lor1es) w1th reserves о! БОО bil110n

tons (up to БОО 111 depth) , 140 bill10n tons о! wЫсЬ ие good

for an op.n-cut ежр101tаt10n. ТЫв un1que Ьавш 18 & nuaber о:!

1arge depr es&1ons w1th near-sur!ace соа1в, the thickness о!

the1r s e8ll1S Ье1ng frOll1 25-35 up to 70-100 111; the average 1n­

dustr1al. rat10 о! overburden 1& 1.7 cub1c 111 per ton. ТЬе 1I108t

о! the&e coals ие о! 10. авЬ (8-14%) and su1phur (0.1-0.8 %) content but ·w1th great oxidatlon and spontan8ous 19nit10n аЫ-

11ty at stor1ng and transportat10n. There!ore they w111 ье chiefl;r used 4t th. p1ace о! occurence and w1thin the range о:!

500 ]аа or w111 Ье part1al.l;r subjected to deep enr1cbll1ent.

�be Кansk-Achinsk Ьавш w111 ЬеСОll1е 0118 о! the 1arge&t

!ue1 Ьавев о! the USЗR. Bow 1ts coa1s ие the cheapest 1D the

country. Bere high aecban1zed quarr1e& о! 5<>-60 1I111110n tons

ие ЬеШg p1anned &0 that to produce 1D B�e quarr1es о:! one

Ьав1n as auch со&! as 1& produced а11 over the country. �e coe.l p�oduced 1D the&e quarr1e& ma:r coapete even w1th gas 1D 1ts

cost. Оп the Ьа818 о! the Bazuo� quarry coa18 , powerfu1 Па-

16

zarovsk hydroe1ectr1c power stat10n 1з 1п operat10n. In the fu­

ture here wi11 Ье bu11t severa1 mor� powerfu1 condensat10n

e1ectr1c therma1 stat10ns w1th power units о! 0.8 mil110n kW,

the tota1 power о! sоше stat10ns being 6.4 mi11ion kW.

That g1ves r1se to the problem о! working out methods о!

improvement о! coa1 burn1ng processes 1п furnaces and spec1a1

measures о! азh-саtсhшепt and also methodв о! thorough smoky

gases refinement from su1phur and n1�rogen oxides. Now the те­

thods о! energo-chemica1 waste1ess processing о! these coals

ахе Ье1ng worked out. Ву cata11tic methods brown coal wi11 ье turned into sem1-coke and w111 ье transportable. Тае obtained

pyrolys1s resins _111 Ье used for produc1ng va1uable chem1cal

products, the products о! gas and semicoke gas1ficat10n - for

produc1ng e1ectr1c energy in magnetic hydrodynam1c stat10ns.Вy

саешiса1 processing о! brown соа1в 1iquid hydrocarbons and ие­

than01 wi11 Ье obtained. 00а1 ааа wi11 Ье used аз а mater1al

for industrial-civ11 and road bui1ding, аэ а raw materia1 for

the сешепt product10n. etc.

Large operat1ng coal basins in the south о! Siber1a ахе

the Irkutsk basin (32 bi11ion tons о! Jurassic coals w1th heat

power 4.8-5.4 thousand ki1oca10ries) with the 1arger Оhеrеш-

khovskii f1e1d where 8 quarr1es

the Minusinsk Ьааin (24 bil110n

ries ахе in operation. and the

tons).

and 4 тinе8 ахе in operation,

tons) where 6 mines and 2 quar­

U1egkhemski1 basin ( 13 bi1110n

Тае Gor10vskii Ьаа1п пеах the city о! Novosibirsk is о!

great importance thanks to 1о. ааа and su1phur content (0.3%) and great thermostabi1ity о! the anthraci�ic coa1. Approxima­

te1y the fourth о! а11 produced anthracite does not contain

practically азh and su1phur and therefore is the шоst va1u­

аЫе raw materia1 for the production о! thermoanthracite, сах­

Ьоп e1ectrode and anod1c тавв.

Тае north о! Siber1a 18 rich in coa1 with 5000 b11110n

tons о! reserves. Here ахе s1tuated the 1argest 1п the wor1d

basins: the Тungussk1i (2100 bil110n tons о! coal with heat

power 6.5-8.5 thousand ki10ca10ries), Lenskii (1600 bil1.ion tons о! mнinly brown coal), Zyryansk1i (К01ушо-Iпdigirsk11 ),

Taimyrskii (200 bi11ion tons) , the Olenekskii Ьазin о! Саш-

17

brian ooabust1ble shale (112 bi1110n tons),e�o. ТЬе geo10gioal

prospeoting 01' th_ Ьоуе1в 01' the earth in th1s и.а 18 V8'r7

1оу.

In the Тrans-В&ikal Region 40 ооа! 1'le1ds w1th the total

re8erv_ 01' 18 bi1110n tons 01' hard and bro.. ooala Ьа" been

disoover_d and prospected, 7 01' thell Ьеing invo1ved into in­

dustr1a1 productlon: Guslnoozerskoye (а pow_rfU1 th_raoe1ec­

tric pow_r stat10n 1в Ьеing bullt here), Кharanorsk07e, Вaka­

chaohinskoye, eto.

Espeoially 1t 1в iшроrtant to mention the Yuzhno-Yakut­

sk11 Ьааin (21 billlon tons) 01' the Jurass1c age, oontaining

ооа1 practloally о! al1 k1ndв, lno1uding h1gh qua1it;r coking

ooal, wh10h pli.rt1ally сan ье produoed ьу an open-cut method.

ТЬе Neryungrinekoye and Chulmakanskoye depoeite Ьате Ьееn pro­spected w1th the ratio о! w1nning 0.5-9.0 oubic .etre. per ton,

and heat power up to 8.7 thousand kl100alories. It is to th1.

Ьа8in а. the objeot о! the primary 1mportanoe that the branoh

01' ВАК has Ьееn bullt. In southern Yakutia (Beryungri) а 1ир

ооа! соар1ех 1а Ьеing created now - the bui1d1ng 01' а qu&r'r7 (up to 13 llli.llion tons per у_и ) w1th the шaxiaиа output in

1982, and а number о! h1gh autaaat1zed аlnеа w�th the output 5

m111ion tons еасЬ.

Р Е � Т. ТЬе main reserves 01' peat resouroes 01' S1ber1a

and the Sov1et Ри East и_ concentrated in the West-S1ber1an

and Kamchatskii Ьае1ns. ТЬе total peat ·reserves и_ mor_

than 95 Ы111оn tons.

ТЬе West-S1ber1an Р1аin 1е tne 1argest реа�!оrшing Ьа8in

01' the globe. ТЬе present реаt-1'оrшing process has Ьееn lasting 1'or 10 thousand уеив, and annually а ton 01' peat adds to eve'r7

heotare 01' а peat bog. Peat ьо! иеа 1в equa1 to 0.4 m11110n

sq km w1th peat reserves 01' 1I0re than 93 bi1110n tons, and 'tbat

makes 60� 01' the �l-Union and 30% 01' wor1d peat reserves.Peat

bed th1ckness оп the average 1в 3-5 а, r_ach1ng 1n рисев 15 а.

Peat d_pos1ts o1'Кamchatka 01' 8 m th10kness ие saturated w1th

vo10an1c e�pt10n products. Purthermore, 1n East_rn 81beria in

the range 01' ext_ns1ve llounta1nOUS e1evat10ns numerous IIОUn­

tain-val1ey peat depos1ts 01' б 11 th10kness ие spread шаinly оп the IIOuntain r1ver terraces.

18

Peat is lоса1 power fue1, and 1t8 briquettes ие с1овв

to brown соа1 1n heat power. It is а good organic fert1lizer,

accessible and convenient for processlng chemical raw aateria1

wh1ch gives а great nшаЬеr о! 1ndustria1 produc;:ts. Its poorl.y

decoaposed varieties (their reserves exceed 22 bi1110n tons)

ахе good and econaaic 1itter оп catt1e-breed1ng �aras and pack-

1ng шаtеrial for transportatlon and storing perishable good8

( �ruits and vegetables).

Peat соnsuшptiоn 1n Siberla is шuсh 1е8В tban 1ts present

annua1 lncrease 1n the bogs. In the 1and rich 1n соа1 and �­

rocarbonic ra. шаtеrial, paying peat expl01tat10n is poss1b1e

onl.y w1th а h1gh 1eve1 о! шесhanlzаtiоn о! these works and a11-

-round dеvе10ршеnt о! natural resources о! th1s territory.

НIDROPOiER REЗоиаСЕВ. Slberia has 1arge reserves o� hydro­

power resources,their lntensive dеvе1оршеnt began 1n the 50а

o� our century. ТЬе total bydropower potential о! the country

is еstiшatеd at 3940 bil1ion kilowatt-hour (450 mil110n kW ), technica1l.y feaz1b1e for using 2100 bi1110n ki1owatt-hour ( 240

mi1lion kW), 71% о! wh1ch ие concentrated 1n Slber1a and the

'и East. At present 8 bydro-e1ectric power statlons ахе in

operations the Кrasnоуarsща ( 5.0 mi1lion kW), Ust-I1iшsща

( 4.3 mi11ion kW), Вratskaya (4.1 mi11ion kW), Irkutskaya (0.6

mi1l1on kW), NоvоslЬirsща (0.4 milllon kW).In the pe1'lll8.frost

zone there have been bu11t the Vllyuiskaya, Ust�Кhantaisща

(0.4 million kW), lIamakanskaya ( 0.1 million kW ) bydro-e1ectr1c

power stat10ns. ТЬе bu11ding о! the Sayan-Shushenskaya (6.3

m:i1lion kW), Zеуsща (1.3 QLi1l1on kW ), Коl.yJвsЩв, bydro-e1ec­

tric power stat10ns 1а Ьеlng comp1etedi the bul1ding o� the

Boguchanskaya ( 4.5 mi11ion kW) оп the Angara r1ver,Kureyskaya,

Вurеуsща ( 2.0 mil110n kW), lIоksща ( 1.5 mill10n kW) оп tце

V1tш river, bydro-e1ectric power stations has begun.

The potent1a1 enargy о! the S1ber1an rivers 1в rather

1arge: the En1se1 - 158, the Lena - 144, the щarа - 94, the

.Aшur - 83, the ОЬ - 51, the V1til1 - 50, the lidan - 49, the

N1zhnyaya Тunguska - 41, the Коlyшa - 40 and the Ind1girka -

40 m11110n k\ihr. ТЬе techn1ca1 еqu1ршеnt о! the terr1tory �e­

ав1Ые [ОХ" using bydro-resources 1n Eastern S1ber1a 1в 162,the

'и East-110 and Western S1ber1a-55 thousand kW-hоur per 1 sq

19

kм. Тае hydro-energy resources are not large, but they Ьауе and w111 Ьауе relatively зlll8.l1 signif'1cance i.D. fue1 and enery ba1ance. So, tne tota1 not yet deve10ped economic hydro-power potent1a1 о! tne country (900-950 Ьil11оn kWhr) t confi.D.ed 1118.i.D.. ly to the eastern reg10ns о:! tlle UБВН, 1в equa1 to 300 1lli1l10n tons о! conventiona1 :fu�l, 1.е. 18 1е8В than 10.5 о:! e8sent1al arnount of fUel-еnеrgy resources in the nearest 10-15 years.

ОНЕ НЕэоанСЕВ OF FERROOS МETA.L INDUS!llY. Оnе can not 1magine modern 01 vi11zat10n _1 thout иоn. However h1gh-:f10wn _е may cal1 the 20th oentury-p1aвt10, ato�c, the oentury о:! polymeres and semi-conduotor8, _е Ьауе not соте out о! the irOD age yet: 92% о! the total metal quant1ty fa11s to tne зhзrе о:! iron and 1ts fus10n used i.D. teohnique. ТЬе Soviet иniо� exports 48 mi11ion tons о:! ores о! :ferrou8 aeta1s, 1D-01uding 41 m111ion tODS о! r10n iron ores (1977).

IROH. At present 2 plants о! comp1ete metal1urgioal оу01е - Kuznetskii and West-S1ber1an are in operat10n in S1beria . Both of them are 100аtвd in the south о:! Kuzbass and are based оп 1te h1gh-qua11ty соа1з and 100а1 еаз11у enr10hi.D.g, the most vз1иаЫе IDБ.gnеt10 иоn ores, g1ving the oheape8t and the best stee1 1n the wor1d. Kuzbass g1ves 12 mi1lion tons о! stee1 and 9 1lli111on tons о! ro11ed metal per year.

�10k grawth о! есоnощу о:! the eastern regions о! the со-untry requires fUrther deve1opmвnt. То meet the growing de-шands i.D. aetal, 1t 1в necessary to bu11d at 1east оnе 1arge aeta11urg10a1 plant i.D. S1ber1a. Воте var1ants о! 1ts locat10n have Ьееn suggested: the most oonven1ent "capital" о! а nе. aeta11urgioa1 Ьазе о! S1ber1a 18 the 01ty о:! Taishet, wа10Ь. 18 s1tuated оп the orossi.D.g о:! the Тrans-S1�er1an and Бaikal­

-AlaШ' Rai1ways. The mi.D.e8 о! West S1ber1a (Tashtago1, Sheregesh. Abaza,

Теуа, eto ) supp1y ha1:f о! the Kuznetsk meta11urgy with 100al ore, the rest 1в brought :from Eastern Siberia (Kurshunovskoye and оth<зr depos1ts). and that raj.ses the prioe о:! the metal. Тае rates of demand growth i.D. иоn ore о:! Kuznetsk metallurgy

аауе r1sen quicker than the construotioD о! new mini.D.g out­put . But the ШАgnеt1tе deposits of Southern Siber1an with per spectiv& total reserves о! 2.5 Ъi11ion tons at appropriate

20

rates о! their prospecting and deve10pment are аЫе to provide

the nееdз in ore о! the two existing plants.

Тае 1arge magnetite deposits о! Eastern Siberian (Rudno­

gorskoye, Neryundinskoye, Tatyaninskoye, Tagarskoye, etc.)

with geological reserves о! about 3 bi11ion tons together with

1arge magnetite deposits о! south Yakutia (Тayezhnoye. Pioner­

skoye, etc with the total ore reserves о! 2 bil1ion tons) dis­

covered near the Yuzhno-Yakutskii basin with coking coal. шву Ье а reliable basis for the creation о! East-Siberian ferrous

metal1urgy. Both ferruginous quartzites of Charo-Tokkinskii

iron-ore region о! the Aldan (with geological reserves о! 5

billion tons) and а number о! the Far East deposits о! rich

ores (Garinskoye, Kimkanskoye) may Ье exp1oited. Тае construc­

tion о! ВАМ wi11 contribute to it.

Later оп may Ье exp10ited Pre-Cambrian hematite ores о!

Angaro-Pitskii iron-ore region (the eastern part о! the Yen1-

ае! mountain ridge) with total geologica1 ore reserves о! 5

bi11ion.tons with а wide range о! open-cut quarry works, mag­

netite ores о! Severny iron-ore region (between the r1vers Pod­

kamennaya and Nizhnyaya Тunguska with total predicted ore re­

serves о! 2 billion tons) and Maimecha-Kotuiskaya prov1nce in

the north о! Кrasnoyarsk region. Their development in the [и­

ture is possible only with the expansion о! transport railway

construction in Middle Siberia.

Тае richest iron-ore reserves are hidden in the West-S1be­

rian Plain. where in Cretaceous sediments occur аеа iron ores

with geological ore reserves о! some hundred billion tons.

stretching for 1500 km from the Extreme Norrh to Kulunda. Тае

ores occur at the depth о! 150-200 m in four beds. the largest

о! them being 35 m thick. ву their origin, o�e types and com­

position, they are similar to world famous Lorraine ores in Franc�, but their reserves are 100 times bigger. Тае Bakchar­

skoye deposit о! this basin 1з the largest in the world and

ааз geological ore reserves (32-38% iron-content) о! about 40 billion tons. Тае reserves о! other deposits о! the basln will

apparently Ье not smaller. Taking into account great flooding

о! the terr1tory , the volume о! over��rden works and the

complexity о! technology о! ore output and metallurgical pro-

21

севв1ng, �he exp101�a�10n о! �he Бakсharskоуе depos1� 1з the

cause о! �he future.

МAВGANESE 1з one о! not numerous klnds о! raw шаtеr1al,

1n wh1ch the ИUrореan par� о! the coun� 1з r1cher now than

S1ber1a. In the nor�h о! Кrasnoyarsk reg10n the Porozhinskoye

lndustr1al depos1t о! r1ch o:x1d1c ores мз been d1scovered;

DlUch ear11er Low-СашЬr1an poor 1n шanganеsе (14-27 %) аН1с1-

uш-сarЬоnaсеоus ores о! the Uslnskoye depos1t (the Kuznetsk1i

llatau) with 100 ш111iоn tons ore reserves, which are not used

оп account о! hard transpor� condi tions and d1fficul t1es in the

techno10gy о! enr1cbll1ent, have been d1scovered. 1n the Far East

а nuшЬеr о! шanganеsе deposits (Yuzhno-Кh1nganskoye, etcJ 1е

known, where шоrе than 400 ш11110n tODS о! poor ores (the ave­

rage шanganеsе content 21%) are concentrated. The depos1ts сan

шееt the rеquirешеnts о! шеtа11urgiса1 p1ants о! S1beria 1n ord1nary manкanеее ores.

TIТANIUМ AND VANAD1UМ occur оп the described territory

in the origlnal magшatiс t1tanо-шаgnеt1tе and p1acer deposits.

Placer depos1�s are fоrшеd ьу deetruction о! vo1can1c and

magшatiс rocks, rich 1n ;;i'taniuш ш1nеrаlе-ilшеnitе and rut11e,

which have been ассuшulаtеd 1n paleor1ver deltae or a11uviat­

ed ьу ееа surf. P1acers a11uviated оп the shores о! the old

West-Siberian зеа БО шi1110n years ago sееш to Ье о! th1s or1-

gln. Ore-bear1ng beds occur at а sшal1 depth from the surface

(they шау ье deve10ped Ьу а quarry шеthоd) and stretch аа а

wide band. They _111 Ье а re11able Ьаае for t1taniuш шеtallurgy

о! S1beria. Younger titaniuш-шagnеtitе sands о! the analogous

or1g1n occur 1n other р1асеа - the Kur11 1s1ands, Кашсhatka, еtс.

The deposite шау ье developed, when enr1ching together with t1-

taniuш, vanаd1uш and r1ch I18.gnetite concentrate шау Ье obta1-

ned.

Vanad1uш occurs 1n 0011te sеdiшеntary-шar1nе iron ores о!

the West-S1ber1an basln and шау Ье extracted frош thеш 1n саае

о! dеvе10ршеnt о! these depos1ts.

IfON-P'ERROUS AND RAВE МETALS. Slnce old t1шеs S1ber1a ма

had adeaervedly шеr1tеd fаше о! the reg10n rich 1n non-ferrous

and rare шеtаls. 1t 1е frош non-ferrous шеtallurgy that ш1n1ng

and шеtаl1urg1са1 lndustries 1n S1beria began to develop.

22

СОРРЕа, LEAD AND ZINC. The dерозitз о! these ra_ materi­

а1в are mostly spread in Тaiшyr Zapolyarye and the Уеniзеi ШО­

untain rid.ge , Тrans-Баikа1 and Pr1baikalye Regions , the P'ar

East and Yakutia , the Altai and Sa1air.

Ашоng copper dероsitз the most principa1 r01e iз p1ayed

Ьу magmatic copper-nicke1 deposits and cupreous sandstone. The

unique depos1ts о! Тaiшyr (Nоri1зkоуе , Talnakhskoye , Oktyabr­

skoye) Ьеing exp10ited at present , be10ng to the firзt type ,

and Udokanskoye (Northern Тrans-Бaikal Region) - to the зесоnd

type.

The 1atter 1з confined to а 1arge ore-bearing brachy-syn­

с1inal f01d of Proterozoic metamorphic rocks with comp1icated in

form copper ore bodies. The Udokanskoye dерозit 1в 10cated in

аlmозt inaccessible region о! h1gh seismicity , but с10зе to

the Baikal-Amur Rai1way , and a110ws to use the ores о! th1s

unique deposit in the nationa1 есоnощу. Taking into considera­

tion severe с1iшat1с and other conditions , 1t wi11 Ье reason­

аЫе to restrict the output and enrichment о! ore w1th соnсеn­

trate transportation to а 1arge сошр1ех p1ant in the southern

zone о! Siberia.

Lead-z1nc dерозits о! great interest are stratified meta­

morphised depos1ts , such аз recently discovered Gorevskoye

(the Уеn1ве! mountain rid.ge near the A.ngara river mouth) , Кho-10dninskoye (Northern Pribaikalye) and Ozernoye (Тrans-Бaika1

Region) , Sardana (Yakutia) and others. The Gorevskoye dерозit

with high qua1ity 1ead ore is the first to Ье deve10ped. Ore

concentrate о! 1ead , extracted here , _i11 Ье 2-3 times cheaper

than that , extracted at other Шinез о! the country.

А great nuaber о! the зо-са11еd skarn or metasomatic de­

posits о! 1ead and zinc is knоwn in Еазtеrn Тrans-Бaika1 Не­

gion (Klichkinskaya, Kadainskaya and Nerchinsko-Zavodskaya

grоuрз о! deposits) , Primorye (Dalnegorskaya group ) . The Altai

is о! much interest . Its ы1 industrial polymeta1lic deposits

are concentrated in the south-western part , cal1ed Виdny Alta1

due to its m1neral ore resources. During the ex1stence о! шi­ning 1n the Altai more than 150 deposits have Ьееn deve10ped ,

but in 25 о! them practica11y а11 discovered here polymeta111c

reserves are concentrated. S�e о! the deposits are Ье1ng deve-

10ped in the Sa1air.

23

P01ymeta11ic deposits ахе the зоuгсе of precious mеtа1з

( g01d, si1ver) and а nuшЬег of гахе е1ешеntз , зисЬ аз cadmium,

germanium, зеlеnium , te11urium , tha11ium, Ьiзmuth, antimony , in­

dium , etc.

GOLD . In Wезt Siberia оп the foothi11s of the Kuznetsk

A1atau 150 уеахе ago the claiming for g01d was staked out . And

it was Ьеге where Siberian g01d industry was born , which

spread 1ater to East Siberia and the Far East . G01d оссигз

both in р1асегз and in ргiшarу deposits . ТЬе eastern regionв

о! the country ахе very important in meeting the requirements

о! the Soviet economy in precious meta1s , the currency уа1ие

о! which iз growing from уеах to уеах .

ALUМINIUМ. Siberian gе010gistз ахе facing the task о!

the prospecting о! rich bauxite огез , large deposits о! which

Ьате not Ьееn found here yet . Owing to -the shortage о! good

industrial bauxite огез , alkaline intrusive rocks - nephe1ine

syenites о! Goryachegorsk, Kiya-Shaltyr , Kurgusuyu1 (Kuznetsk

Alatau) Ьесоше important in Siberia. ТЬеу contain only 22-28%

о! alumina - Al2Оз (bauxi te s contain twice аа шисЬ о! i t) , Ьауе

industria1 reserves and their open-cut mining is о! 1о .. cost.

А comp1icated techn010gy о! extracting а1umina out о! this

га .. material (with obtainint high solidity cement , potash and

soda аа by-products) Ьаа been worked out ; and this is be1ng

done at Achinвk аluminоuз p1ant . Large massives о! nephe1ine

syenites оссиг in Buryatia, Тuva , the Trans-Baika1 Region, the

Eastern 8ауanз , Zap01yarye and other regions .

Kyakhtinskiye ( Buryatia) and Kitoiskiye ( Irkutsk region)

eillimanite and cyanite e chiete are о! great importance to

the complex obtaining о! aluminium, titanium, fireproof and

ceramic materia1s ; peeudo-leucite roc�s ( the so-ca11ed " еyn­nyrity" ) о! Buryatia (the Baika1-Amur Railroad) ае the pro -

duct о! сошр1ех соnуеге10n to obtain alum1nium, potsss1um and

ce_ent , alun1tes о! the Isk1nski1 deposit 1n the Раг East ,

h1gh alum1na kao11n argllli te о! the Jurassic ( 500 1lli111on

tone) о! the Chere�ovo deposit and other kao11n rsw mater1-

als III&У Ье used. Тhe ша1n problell 1в the work1ng out о! аррro­

pr1ate techno1ogy.

ТЬе production о! metal a1uminium and titan1um 1з

24

energy-consumlng : 1 6 and 50 thousand kilowatt-hours о! electric

energy i8 spent per а ton о! �etal respectively. Siberia with

its rich power resources must Ьесоте the most suitable Ьаэе

for the smelting о! alumlnium and titanium.

МERCURY AND ANTIМONY ахе valuable rare kinds о! raw mate­

rials which ахе widely spread in Siberia. They occur mostly in

folded ахеаэ , framlng the Siberian Platform. Mercury deposits

occur in the Altai ( Ak-Tash, Chagan-Uzun) and Kuznet8k Alatau

( Beloosipovskoye ) , ТUya (Terlig-Khaya) and Chukotka (Palyan ­

эkоуе , Plamennoye ) , Таiшyr and the Far East . The Koryakskoye

Upland , Central Yakutia , Sakhalin and the Primorye territory

ахе the arеаэ реrэресtivе 1n mercury. There ахе antimony depo­

эits 1n the Yenisei ridge (Razdolnlnskoye , Udereiskoye ) and Уа­

kut1a ( Sarylakhskoye ) . Some amount о! this raw mater1al 1э оЬ­

talned durlng complex processlng о! polymetallic ores о! Sibe­

ria.

MOLYВDE:mJJ4 AND TUNGSТEN. Ferrous metallurgy сопэuшеэ 90 % о! these precious elements , and their main suppliers ахе Sibe­

ria and the Far Eaвt , 1n part1cular the dероэits о! the Тrane­

Baikal Reg10n ( Dzhidlnskoye , Zhirekenskoye , Shakhtaminskoye ) ,

the Primorye and Priamurye tеrr1tоriеэ (Vos tok , Festivalnoye ,

Perevalnoye ) , Chukotka ( Iliпtаэ , Iultin) and the Kuznetskii

A1atau (K1yalykh-Uzen and Sorskoye ) . All the dероэits ахе соп­

flned to folded ахеае and connected with acid lntrusive шаgшa­

tiэm mainly о! the lIesozoic ."

TIN 1э а characterist1c element о! metallogeny о! the fol­

ded ахеаэ о! the north-east о! the USSR - Chukotka (Valkume1-

skoye , Iultin, Illntas) , Yakut1a (Kesterskoye , Deputatskoye ,Ege­

-Кhзyа, A1yB-Кhaya) , Priamurye ( Solnechnoye , Fest1valnoye ,Kh1n­

ganskoye) , Primorye (Кhrustalnoye , Yaroslavskoye) and Eastern

Trans-Вaikal Region ( Bherlovogorskoye , Etyklnskoye ) . In many de­

роsitэ tln 1э сlоэеlу аэsосiаtеd witb tungэtеп and other prec1-

оuэ components . Unlike most о! the countr1es - producers о!

tin, _е obtain it not from the placers but from primary depo­

s1ts . Industrial placers occur in Yakutia and Chukotka. Earlier

_е had to import this ra. material but пow provide the t1n-ore

lndustry ourselves.

25

COBALТ AND NICКEL. The largest amount о! this raw material

reserves and their industrial production is concentrated оп the

magщаtiс deposits о! sulphide copper-nickel o�e о! the Norilsk

type . The deposits о! this region (Norilsk - 1 and 2 , Talnakh­

skoye , Oktyabrskoye ) are located in the Eжtrеше North in 69 ра­

rallel and are the pride о! the Siberians : the unique ores о!

this region give 16 elements to the national economy. Similar

in their origin copper-nickel ore deposits are situated in

Northern Fribaikalye . There are also independent hydrothermal

cobalt-arsenic and cobalt-nickel-arsenic deposits in the north­

-east о! the USSR ( Verkhne-Seymchanskoye) , the West вауan and East Тuva (Khovuaksinskoye ) . А group о! enterprises "Тuva-ko­

balt" is working оп the basis о! the latter .

Cobalt occurs almost everywhere in iron ores о! numerous

aagnetite deposits о! Siberia аа an independent mineral and is

in the crystal lattice о! sulphides w1dely spread in ores . Of an

economic importance is the simultaneous complex output о! ore

when developing а number о! magnetite deposits .

IIINING ТECНNICAL RAVl ШТERIALS . These kinds о! mineral raw

aaterials are widely used in modern technique mainly in their

natural form.

DIAМONDS . Since their larger part in tne world output is

used for technical needs , diamonds are о! the greatest impor­

tance among these raw materials . The occurence о! diamonds оп

the territory о! Yakutia _ав predicted Ьу academician V . S . Sobo­

lev in the late 30а . The first diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe

"Zarnitsa" _ав discovered in Yakutia in 1954. Diamonds are clo­

sely connected with the manifestation о! the so-called kimber­

lite volcanism.

These are specific rocks , occuring in explosion channels ,

having the form о! vertical cylinders with relatively isoD.l.etric

section from the first metres up to 600 m filled with explosive

breccia, sometimes containing diamond crystals from single in­

clusions in зоше kimberlite pipes to industrial concentra�ions

(which is very seldom) in other оnе з . Diamonds are formed at

high pressure and brought from large depths Ьу kimberlite mag­

шаз . The largest Yakutian diamond is 342 . 5 carats ( more than

60 gr Ьу size) named after the ПVI Congress о! the USSR Сom ­

munist Party .

26

ТЬе diff1cu1t1es с! kimber11te р1рев э еахсЬ оп the В1Ье­

rian P1atform ах е ша1п1у connected with the ах еа (about 2 шi1-

lion sq kш) deve10pment of thick 1ayers of magшat1с rocks of

the шaiп composit10n - traps, over1apping the ах еа and hamper-

1ng the use of geophys1ca1 methods in the веахсЬ. ТЬе terr1-

tory о! Yakut1a 1в perspective 1п the occurence of p1acer dia­

mond depos1ts.

АЭВЕЭТОВ. It 18 valuable raxe raw mater1a1 which 1в wi­

dely used in different branches о! industry and bu11ding, and

the deve10pment о! modern transport and engineering industry

1в imposs1ble without 1t. ТЬе USSR is the f1st in the wor1d in

asbestos reserves and g1ves neaxly Ьа1! of 1ts wor1d

Asbestos 1е exported to 30 countr1es of the wor1d.

output.

There ахе some asbestos depos1ts in Siberia. ТЬеу ах е Ak­

tovrakskoye (Eastern ТUva) and M01odyezhnoye (Buryat1a) r1ch

1п 10ng-f1brous kinds of aSbestos, Aspagashskoye, Sayanskoye ,

I1chirskoye (the Ea8tern Эауans) and others . Вut only опе о!

the mentioned depos1t8 1в being expl01ted - Aktovrakskoye . In the nearest future the construction of ВАМ wi11 al10w to in-v01ve into the product10n the unique asbestos of tne bl010dezh­

поуе deposit.

MICAS. Radioe1ectronics deve10pment ааэ appreciably rai­

sed the va1ue о! m1cas - ph10gop1te and muscovite. ТЬе main

mica-beaxing provinces (u� to severa1 tens о! thousand sq km ) ахе 10cated in northern almost inaccessible reg10ns о! Eastern

S1beria in 01d f01ded ахеаэ of the S1berian P1atform . Among

them Мaшskо-Сhuiskауа muscovi-te province , A1danskaya (Yakutia)

вnd Maimecha-Kotuiskaya ( the north о! the Kresnoyarsk region)

pblogop1te provinces , the Таiщуrеkауа ( Biryul inskaya) group о!

depo81ts , etc. ТЬе S1yudyвnekaya group пеar the Baikal 1ake be10nge to relatively large depoeite uпdеr expl01tat10n .

VERМICULIТE - а comp1ex h1gh hydratized a1uminos111cate

i8 an intere8ting kind of raw materia1s. It8 remarkable pro­

perty i8 the abi1ity to increa8e 18-25 times in v01ume at cal­

cination, it i8 10 time8 1ighter than water, ровеееее_ good

absorption and ion-exchange propertie8, and аав exceptionally

1о. sound and thermoconductivity. All this gives rise to а

27

wide иае о! this mineral especially in building in the condi­

tions о! the Extreme North. Th1s raw material occurs 1n the

Primorye Terr1tory ( Tatyaninskoye , Koksharovskoye ) , Yakutia

( Emeldzhakskoye , Inaglinskoye ) , the north of the Кrasnoyarsk

region ( Gulinskoye ) and the Kuznetski1 Alatau ( the ТеЫnвкоуе

deposit) .

QUARTZ AND ICELAND ВРАВ are valuab.Le opt1cal and techni­

cal raw mater1als , produced in Eastern 81beria . Quartz depo­

sits are well-known in the Aldan . Iceland spar is conf1ned to

amygdalo1dal traps о! Tunguss syneclise , оп а vast terr1tory

between the Yenise1 and Lena rivers ( the Yanguraktskoye , Mar­

khainskoye , Dzhekindinskoye and other depos1ts ) . In contrast

to quartz , Iceland spar 1з not obtained art1ficially, but 1ts

изе in numerous dev1ces makes it an indispensable and valu­

аЫе kind о! raw materials .

GRAPНIТE is widely used in metallurgy and electrometal­

lurgy. S1ber1a and the Far East have 80% о! all graphite re­

serves о! the country and glve 38% о! All-Union graphite out­

put . Most of the graphite d�posits о! S1beria and the Far

East are undoubtedly of the best composition and quallty ln

the world.

Large graphite deposits (Noginskoye the most studled

and under exploltation , Kureiskoye , Fatyanikhovskoye ) are соn­

centrated in the western part of the S1ber1an Platform and

are connected with thermal and hydrothermal metamorphlsm о!

coals due to trap intrusions . Graphite deposits are found in

Buryatia , Eastern Тrans-Ba1kal Region ( Sivachukanskoye and Ark1nskoye ) , the Far East ( Tamga , Тurgenevskoye , Вezymyannoye

and Soyuznoye ) in the Altai and Kuznetskii Alatau .

80 , for example , in the Kureyskoye deposit the total gra­

phite reserves are estimated at 100 million tons . Wlth proper

sortiпg and ratlonal processiпg of the. raw material , the gra­

phite уiеldз to по world standards in its quality and тау

meet the requlrements о! the country in grap�ite and Ьесоте

а signiflcant export item . At present the constructlon о! the

Kureiskli mine wlth the graph1te output о! 65 thousand tons

rer уеаг i8 being planned.

28

Ores о! other S1ber1an depos1ts ахе ri ch еnоивЬ, _е11 еn­riched and the produc� obtained wi11 Ье goo d for casting and e1ectrode production. Prе1iшinary есоnошiс ca1culatioDS вЬ ow that these depo sits ахе characteristic о! re1atively 1о. ех­p1oitation ехреnвев.

TALC о! а11 existing usefu1 minera1s Ьаз the 1argest amount (more than 100) о! independent forms о! app1ications due to its uni que and varied properties.

Siberia 1в rich 1n this raw materia1: in 5 industria1 depo­sits о! the Altai-Sayan mountainou s reg10n (with the total talc reserves о! 45 mi11ion tons) more than the third о! the talc reserves о! the country ахе concentrated. But only the Onotskoye deposit is under exp loitation _Ы1е the A1guiskoye (Kuznetsk Alatau) i s being prepared for exp10itation. Algui skii ·�alc is similar to the best talcs produced in the USSR and even good for the production о! rati o-cerami c goods. It wi11 Ье the cheapest 1n the country.

MINING-CНEIIICAL НА' )l.A.ТERIAlВ . ТЬеае kinds о! raw materia1 ахе used ma1nly 1n the chemi cal industry.

FLUORlТE. With the growing rates о! chemi cal industry, steel-casting and non-ferrous meta1 industries and the produc­tion о ! aluminium, the need 1n f1uor врах - f1uorite , the main mineral о ! fl.uorine, is growing.

ТЬе maln f1uorite-bearing province о! the USSR i5 the Тrans-Бaika1 Region in wЫсЬ there ахе more than 300 deposits: Кalangui5koye, Abagaitui skoye, S01onechnoye and Usuglinskoye wЫсЬ ахе uDi que due to the sшр1е minera1 compo sition, high content о! fluorite and favourable miDing-tесhni саl conditions о! ex:p1oitation. Industria1 depo sits ахе аlВ0 di scovered in the southern Primorye territory. Together with fluorite depo sits, wЫсЬ ахе the main supp1iers of raw material, there ахе шацу depo s1 ts о! tin, tungsten and m01ybdenum (Khinganskoye , 801-nесhnо уе, etc.), where f1uorite may Ье produced at complex ех­p10itation о! the deposits. In the future the r01e nf the 1at­ter wi11 grow in conne ction with the progress 1n technology о! ore enr1ch&ent and conversion. F1uorine шау Ье produced during the conversion о! phosphorites and apatites.

8�B. 81beria is r1ch in this ra. aateria l . The geolog1ca1

29

reserves о! salt 1n Rastern S1ber1a are еst1шаtеd at 1018 tons .

Rock salts are spread uneveDly оп the area о:! over 1.5 шilliоn

sq kJa, the th1ckness о! salt ser1es iD the southern Ьоtшdarу

о:! the Siber1an Platform reaches 2.5 ш, .h11e salts theuel ­

уез оссиру 1 .3 ш. То large depos1ts о:! th1s type belong Del­

ge1skoye , Taseevskoye , Usolskoye , ust-Кutskoye , Тyretskoye ,Кa­

Darskoye and а&Ц1 others .

In Western 81ber1a the Kulunda steppe 1в а huge salt-bear-

1ng proviDce о:! the country. It 1в character1zed ьу large re­

serves о! var10us natural m1neral salts о! sodiua sulphate ,

сошаоn salt , solar soda, aagnев1а salts , Ьroшinе , etc . ир to

3000 salt lakes о! various degrees о! шinеrаlizаt10n and che­

шiсal caapos1tion have been fоtшd her e .

lIor.e than 60 lakes о ! Кultшda (the Kuchuk, the Kulund1D-

8koye , etc . ) contaiD sоdiuш .сhlоr1dе to�ether .1th sulphate о!

h1gh concentration. А �rabilite шinе and сhешiсаl plants _ork

оп the · base о! these deposits . А nuaber о! the Kulunda lakes

( the litai region) are r1ch 1n sоdiuш carbonate sed1aen�s . �he

larges1; deposita of natural crystal 80diuш carbonate (jaore than

5 a111ion tons ) iD the ивЗR the Petukhovskoye and lIikhailov ­

skoye lakes ие be1ng exploited.

Вefore the present t1ae Siber1a .as thought to ье poor iD

potash salts, though асаdешiс1an .A..L. YanshiD at the Institute

о! geology and geophysics , S1berian branch о! the ивЗR Асаdещу

о! sciences bel1eved that the 8iber1an Platform 1в perspect1ve

1n potash salts . ADd the forecast .ав coDfirlaed : iD 1977 iD the north о! the Irkutsk region iD Bepsko-ВоtuоЬiDskii arch at

the depth о! 600 IIL а th1ck зеam о! potash salt _ав found. Во_

а large potash-bearing basin w1th the area о! 20 thousand sq kП1

and wi th iDd.ustr1al perspect1 уе ore reserves haS been d1sco­

vered.

BиLPНUR. Тhiв шinеrаl ra. mater1al together with liDLestone

and rock ва! t 1з the basis о:! сhешiсal industry. The largest

part о! sulphur 1в used for the product1on о! sulphur1c acid.

Sulphur 1в produced ьу several .&УВ in S1beria.

Sulphur diox1de 1з trapped frollL sulph1de ores dur1ng the

prod.uct1on о! .atal ziDc , lead and copper , the sources о:! sul­

phur and sulphuric acid are the sulphate lakes о! Kulunda , nON

under exp1011ia1i10n • .А. 8ign1f1can1i 8JlL0un1i о! su1phur 18 pro­

duced ь7 _� о! 1ihe reduc1i10n durlng 011 and gas pur1fica1i10n,

1. е . su1phur ac1d 1в а by-produc1i о! S1ber1an 011-chem1s1iry •

в.r analogy w11ih 1ih1s , su1phur1c ac1d 1в produc.d dur1ng соа!

conv.rs10n. Depos11is о! na1iural vo1can1c su1pbur а8 su1phur

вП.ав and lakes ar. оп 1ihe Kurll Is1ands and К8.IILcha1ika.

AGROВQКICAL ijW �IALS . ТЬе problem о! 1ncreaslng 1ihe

crop capac11iy о! 1ihe f1e1ds 1в v11ia1 1n 1ihe есоnощу о! 1ihe

coun1iry. ТЬе solu1i10n о! 1ihe problea depends ma1nly оп 1ih.

8JlL0un1i and �al11iy о! fer1i111zers 1n S1berian fie1ds . The ou1i­

pu1i о! mineral fer1i1lizer8 1n compar1son w11ih 1940 Ьав in­crea8ed 20 1i18.8 , and 1ihe S0v181i Union 1iakes 1ihe second р1асе

1n 1ihe wor1d and 1ihe firs1i 1n Europe 1n 1iheir produc1iion , bu1i

never1ihe1ess S1ber1a 1в s1i111 beh1nd 1ihe average standards о!

f.r1ii1izer uae p8r hectare.

There 1в по superphosphat. indus1iry 1n S1beria; phosphate

f8r1i111z8rs are brougb1i from the European part о! the coun1iry

and Кazakhs1ian, and tha1i ctl.uses gr8a1i 1iranspor1ia1i10n and

1iranspor1i expenses . ТЬе av.rage crop capac1ty о! cerea1 crops

1n S1beria 1в 10wer than the average .A.1l-Union crop capacity.

81b8r1an f1e1ds need phosphate ferti�zer8 due 1io the pecu-

11ar11i1e8 о! в011 and c1ima1i1c cond1tions : crop capac1ty in­

creases 2-3 1iiae8 and reaches 35-45 cen1iners per hec1iar8 when

1ihe cerea1 crops are g1ven extra ferti1izer8.

PНOSPНOHив . '1es1i Siberia 18 not r1ch 1n i1i. ТЬе di8Co-

vered dep08its are вша11, 11ке old crus1is о! wea1iherlng ( Ве1-

k1nskoye , Те1еkзкоуе , Obladzhanskoye , etc . ) and no1i always

good for ob1iaining superphosphate because о! their de gr8. о!

еnr1сь..nt , bu1i may serve ав а epod source о! obta1n1ng sш­

р1е ferti1izers - fine sp1lntered ore or phosphoritef1our for

1ihe 10са1 needs . ТЬе source о! ph08phoru8 here may Ье brown

iron ore о! the '1e8t-Siberian iron-ore basln , contain.ing large

phosphorus concentrat1ons , 1n саве they w111 Ье deve10ped 1n

tu1iure (me1ial1urgica1 or ТЬoma8 - s1ags ) .

In Eaвtern Biberia apa1ii1ie-bearing carbonati1ie ,

spread 1n the margina1 parts о! the Siberian Pla1iform

widely

( 1ihe

Be1ozim1nskoye , Bo18he1iagninskoye , SrеdnеzШinskоуе depo8i1is )

and 1n the cen1ira1 par1i о! the lidan sh1e1d (the Seligdarskцye

31

and Arbarstakhskoye deposits) and apatite-bearing diorites

(the Озhсhurkоvзkоуе 1epQs1t ) in Buryat1a шву serve аз а рао­

sрhоruз зоurсе. Езрвсiаllу реrзресtivв 1в apatitв-bвar1ng о!

Maimвchs-Kotuiskaya province in the extrвme north о! the 8i­

berian Platform (the Essei , Yraas , Мчan , Gu11 and other depo­

sits) •

In Mongolia and partially оп the territory о! the 80viet

Union (the Ukhagolskoye deposit ) there аав Ьееп discovered

the large Khubsugulskii basin о! Lower-Cambrian geosyncline

silicic рhозрhоritеs . This Ьавin шау Ье сопзidеrеd аз опе о!

the primary units о! development.

О! great importance for agriculture iз 8iberian peat , espe­

cially воше о! itз variеtiез (the Khalyap1nskoye and Yangin­

skoye dерозi 1,8 ) , enriched Ьу ferriferous phosphate - vi пan! te.

ир to по. peat viv1anites are practically used , though they in­

crease crop capacity о! cereal vеgеtаblез. Only оп the �1ir­

tyshye territory peat vivianite area discovered Ьу geologists

is equal to 140 thоuзand зq kш. ZEOLITE ( clinoptilolite) tuffs have Ьееп widely uзеd ехре­

rimentally lately in agriculture. Юuе to their ability to re­

tain water, they are uзеd аз perennial conditioner о! acquatic­

-saline regime in solid.s ; due to their high ion-exchange pro­

perties - for producing long-acting effective fеrtilizеrз. Тае

uзе о! zeolite tuffз аз dietary extra feeding to animаlз (pigs ,

саlvез, chickens • • • ) allows to reduce thв younger aniшals '

suscep'tibility to stomach disвases and raisв their daily

growth . It iз а highly effective шеans for conversion manurв

Qf daaвstic animals.

Bes1des zeolites and zвolite tuffs have found an incrвas­

ing application in environment protвction due to their high

ion-вxchange and absorptj l' i ' propert1вs-purification о! indust­

rial and agricultural waste , aaoke gasвs о! heat and power

plants to enrich thв air о! industrial епtеrрriзвs with oxygen,

purification and dehydration о! natural and раsзing gазвs,sоr­

bp-nts in оil-сhвшistrу, food industry, etc .

� wide изе о! zeo11te tuffs in 8iberia i8 becoming роз­

siblв in connection with the discovery о! large industrial de­

розits - in Тriassic rocks о! Kuzbass (the Pegasskoye deposit-

32

-100 mil110D tons ) and a1so оп the Pri.шоrуе terr1tory and 5а­

khal1n.

SAPROPEL or "decay ooze" 1в je1ly-11ke organ1c шавв о!

5 m th1ck, usua1ly occurring a'ti depths 576-10;.12 m 1n any fresh 1ake wh1ch Ьесошев boggy. 5aprope1 accumu1ates very

slowly 1n nature ( оп the average 1 m of th1ck:ness per 1000 years ) . The tota1 sapropel reserves 1n S1beria exceed 60-100 b11lion сиЫс metres , 1n а number of рlaсев а comp1ex output

of saprope1 and peat 1в pos8ible .

Saprope1 1в the accumulator о! many va1uable e1eaents and

v1tamins with h1gh content of organic IIlS.tters , protein , ce1-

1u1ar tissue (more than 20%) and vegetable oi18 (up to 30%) .

Its use аа а fert11izer increases crop capacity of vegetables

2 . 5 tiaes and stiaulates the growth and crop capacity of fru­

its and berries . Sapropel р1аув an important ro1e in fodder

ratio of catt1e and especially pou1try due to its valuable

components , and stiau1ates their growth.

BUILDIВG МA.ТERIAI.S. 1Cvery year Siberian towns and пllа­

ges grow and Ьесоае more comfortable - tenement-houses with

a11 modern сопуеniепсеа take the p1ace 0:( private •. ooden hou­

вев , industria1 6nterprises , power!u1 hydroe1ectric power

stations , rail.roads and h1ghways are Ъе1ng constructed. Вut

for the increasing rate о! bu11ding аацу construct10n mater1al

resources are needed, brought as close аа poss1b1e to the con­

struct10n sites . Their annиа! consumption voluae ехсееdз 200 ai1110n tons.

Siber1a and the �ar East have large resources о! numeroU8

zineral bu11ding materials. Ааоng them the more i.шроrtant are :

- cement raw mater1als (оп the Ьаз1в о! the discovered

raw I18.teria1s 13 cement p1ants are in operat1on, producing

aore than 12 mil110D tons о! cement . and that ехсееdз 12% of

the Al1-UniоD voluae) ;

- bu11ding stones and sands , sandy gravel zixtures

than 400 depos1ts mainly in southern developed regions

ber1a and the Far �t) ;

(more

of 81-

- quartz glass вandз (the total reserves of 10 discovered

large deposit8 make up 40% of the country reserves , but in

aost савее they ·need enr1chaent) ;

33

- �u8ible с1ау (41 di8covered dep08it8 with 300 ai11ion ton re8erves or 35% о! the Al1-Union reserves) ;

- refractory с1ау (25 deposits with 450 ai11ion ton re­ser·ves or 16% о! the A11-Union reserves) ;

- decorative stone (шarЫе о! the Oroktoiskii , Petenev­skii I Shipunovskii , }>ushtulll11nskii and unique Kib1k-Kordon­skii deposits ; Altai jasper о! the Korgonskii , Revnevskii , Кhair-Kumyr8kii , Loktevskii , Charyshskii deposits; decorative шеtаsошаtitеs of the Dalnegorskii depos1t and соng10иеrаtе8 о! the Кnorringskil dep081t , nephe1ine syenites о! the Goryache­gorskii depos1t) are beautlfu1 decorat10ns for шоnuшеntа1 con-8tructions ;

- brick earth and 10аш, ceraвz1te-ag10por1te raw materials, 11mestone , etc., widely used 1n industr1al-civ11 constructlon and road building.

ORNAМENТAL ЗТОNEЗ. Beaut1ful Ea�t-S1berian nephr1tes 1azur1tes , Buryat cha1cedonles and Тuva аgаlшatоlltеs , charol tes and Эауan jadel tes , Al ta1 jasper , porpb.yrles

Aldan and

porpb.yrites,Yakutian chrom1an diop81des and Sakhalln amber , and other semi-precious stones are widely used for different stone articles , шаdе Ьу sk11lfu1 hands о! the S1berian шазtеrs . Beaut1ful S1ber1an stone articles шву ье seen 1n the Hermitage in Lenlngrad and other muзеuшs о! the wor1d.

ТМв far from being сошрlеtе 11st о! the maln mineral r1-саев о! Siberia and the Far East 8hould Ье f1n1shed w1th а зhоrt review о! water rезоurсез .

WAТER (fresh, mineral1zed and gеоthеrшal). There 18 по mat'e precious uзеfu1 raw aater1al оп the earth than water ,and every year this Ьесошез evident. Тае рrоblеш о! drlnklng water (with salt concentrat10n ир to 0.05%) 1з an iшроrtant problem о! а number о! 1arge countr1es о! the wor1d. Water nееdз are ris1ng every year : 1n lndustria1ly deve10ped countrie8 there are 2-7

tons о! water per caplta а day (taking lnto account the nееdз о! agricu1ture and lndustry) . Irretrlevable wat.r losses are а1ао lncreaslng.

ТЬВ Sov1et Union 18 rich 1n water but 1n spec1f1c water reserves there 18 1еаа land falling оп an area unit than оп the whole planet : subsurface dralnage (1100 сиЫс kш) 1а 2

t1aes 1еаа , and ао11 ш01sturе хевоихсеа ахе � 1ess. Fresh

water ос'сиха rather unevenly - 80% о! r1ver f10w 1,s 1n S1be­

х1а and the Far East ( the tota1 annua1 !low 1а 4700 сиЬ1с kIII). on the terr1tory 1n quest10n the number о! r1vers ехсееdз 10 thousand (the tota1 1еngtа about 1 bil110n юn ) and шоrе than

1 m11110n 1akes о! var10us s1ze - from sша1l ones to the Ва1-kal 1ake - the mirac1e о! Шt.turе, 1n _Мса 23 thousand сиЫс

km о! fresh water ахе concentrated (20% о! 1ts wor1d reserves,

2/3 о! the annua1 f10w of a11 wor1d r1vers ) . Тае 1ake Баikа1

18 а powerful biofactory producing рихе water (60 сиЫс km рех уеах ) .

But 1n the bowe1s о! S1ber1a there 1 з шuсh шоrе water

than оп the earth surface. Eastern S1beria 1а the 1argest ах­

tes1an ахаа in the country , where 2-5 kIIl 100В8 sed1aentary

cover 11es оп the structures о! th. West-S1ber1an P1atform

and 1а saturated with water (the average th1ckness о! fresh

water zone being 1 50 ш) . Тае amount о! artesian fresh water

1n the basin хеасаеа 50 thousand cub1c kш; 1t 1а about 1 .5 t1-

шеs шоrе than the annua1 r1ver f10w in the wor1d . At the depth

о! 2-3 km and when reaching the central part о! the bas1nS ,

fresh water zone changes 1nto m1nera11zed and even sa1t ther­

шal water zone , heated to 50-1050 , 1n sоше places conta1ning

1ndustr1a1 10dine and brom1ne concentrations . Тhеrша1 water

мау Ье used for heatlng f1ats and �ot-houses . Buch а gaother­

ша1 _еН (w1th the discharg. о! about 1000 tons рех dзy) may prov1de а sеtt1ешеnt о! шоrе than 3000 1nhabitants w1th hot

water w1th the annua1 economy о! 40 thousand rcubles accordlng

to the economists ' est1mate .

Depth thermal water reserves о! Western B1bex1� ахе est1-

шаtеd at 4.3 ш11110n tons рех day, уМса шakев up 50% of the

tota1 therma1 water reserves of the country. The1r d1sadvan­

tages ах. the 1ncreased ainera11zat10n о! water , tешреrаturе

dropp1ng when water r1ses in the we11s ( especially 1n the

cond1tions о! peraafrost) , presence о! assoc1ated шеthanе (up

to 2 cubic шеtrеs рех ton) , to separate which specia1 dev1ces

ахе needed.

Kam.chatka ма 1arge hydrotherll8.l хевоихсев . Here ахе хе­

gistered шоrе than 100 therma1 springs main1y 1n the central

35

and eastern parts о! the peninsula, wЬ1сЬ are the areas о'! re­cent vo1canic1ty . ТЬе most perspect1ve are Pauzhetskiye ther­ша1 springs w1th surface wаtэr temperature 100·C .Here 1в con­structed the first 1n the USSR exper1aen�-lndustr1a1 geother­ша1 station. Springs s1tuated 1n _ large sеаи structur. разв-1ng through the va11ey о! the P8ratunka r1ver (Кaacbatka) , the Kuril Is1ands and Chukotka. Highly heated waters ( 80-1000) _t depths 300-800 m Ьауе been found оп Sakha1in.

In Siberia and the Far East there i8 а suff1c1ent amount о! а11 kinds о! m1nera1 water known 1n lI.ed1clne . 1I08t о! the minera1ized water о! the West-81ber1an P1ain Ьа8 exce11ent med1cinal ( balneo10g1cal) propert1es . on their Ьаае 1 t 18 ров­sible to begln w1de-sca1e hea1th-resort construct10n. 80 , for ехатр1е , iod1ne-bromine water , spread оп the area о! more than 650 thousand sq km in the m1ddle part between the ОЬ and the Irtysh and south-western edge о'! the West-S1Ъеr1an artes1an \)as1n (at depths frolll. 300 to 1 000 ш) are used with lLed1cina1 purpose8 in many hydropathics о! thв Тyumen region.

ТЬе pride о! Siber1a are hea1th-resorts Bв10kur1kha, Dara­sun, Arshan, Karach1 and Sh1ra , of the Far East - Ku1dur and SbJIak:,;)vskiye minera.l springs. ТЬе englneering organ1za101on о'! шany 8iber1an health-resorts 16 not of h1gh 1еуе1 Ъa10 18 С08-pensated Ьу high .ed1c1nal power of waters and mud and ехсе1-· lent lLedica1 8ervlces . S1ber1a Ьаа great raw mater1a1 and ns­tura1 rвsources for w1de-sca1e bea1th-resort construct1on. In the Ch1ta region (the Тrans-Вa1ka1 Reg1on) more than 300 minе­ra1 balneo10g1cal sprlngs � 40 mвd1c1nal mud and lLineral1zed �akes , ав роавlЫе future sltes о! health-resort8 , Ьауе Ъeen di6covered.

The lntenslve hea1th-resort construct1on, Ъeing carrled out 1&te1y in а number о! 81Ъerlan reglons , g1ves Ьоре that the da1 when 81ber1an hea1th-resorts w111 increase 1n number and w111 Ье the Ъest and 1108t popu1ar in the country , 18 not far.

"Russ1a' s m1ght вЬа11 lncrease through S1ber1a • • • " - these words sa1d _ore than 200 years ago Ьу the great Ru8s1an sc1en­t1st K.V. Loaonosov, are becoa1ng prophet1cal. During the XI and XII Five Уев...· P1ans врес1а! attent10n 1в Ъеlng pa1d 100 the reglons о! S1berla and the Far East . ТЬе 1eadlng pos1t1on о!

36

these regions 1n the lncreasing о! the есопошiс potential о!

the country 18 connected w1th the pre8enCe о! rich fue1-power ,

шinеr'al and tiJaber resource8 .

_е are sure that the 1arger part о! the u8eful minera1s

о! 81beria is awaiting for its Co1umbuse s . Siberia has future .

There are шany рrОD�ешв 1n the deve1op�ent о! its territory but the иsзв Соaиunist Party and the Soviet Government рау auch attention to the� and this attention is а safe guarantee

о! the1r solving.

ТНЕ PROBLEIIS OF ТНЕ DEVELOНШНТ OF IППВAL R.ESOURCES

OF SIBEВIA AND NATURE PROТECTION

Search and exp1oitation о! шdnеrа1 resources о! S1beria,

their intensive involv�ent lnto the sphere о! production are

assoc1ated with аацу рrоblешв . These are severe natural c1i­

�tic conditions , unfavourable for есопошiс deve1op.ent , poor

есопошiс and transport deve1op�ent о! the territory, shortage о! handз and power!u1 �odern technique suitable for working

at very 10. te.peratures , and the necessity о! solving �any

рrоblешв, о! nature protection.

During the lазt �O years the есопошу о! Siberia has Ьееп deve10ping 1 . 5 tiJaes quicker compared to �hat о! the country

аз а wno1e . The ra. �terial resources о! this region p1ay

the JDaln part . Нigh figures о! шinеrаl raw aateria1 output шрlу stre­

nuous heroic 1abour о! the Siber1ans s rapid build1ng о! шdnеs

and po.erful hydroelectric power stations , settle�ents and

towns , rail- ,and highways , 011- and gas pipelines . The Sibe­

rians have to go through taiga thickets and deep �shes (.ith swaras о! gnats and other blood- sucking dipterous ln­sects ) , piercing 8to� .inds (up to �5-45 � per аесоnd ) and

впо. stоrшв with Snow-drifts and glaciation, bad roads and

remoteness fro. economical1y developed regions and nearest

s.ttle�ents , endless polar nights and days and per�rost. Iaag1ne the conditions о! exploration о! the Saaot1or

fie1d, for example : 3/4 о! its territory are шразааЫе

�7

шarshеs (p.at bogs ахе 1 5 а thick in p1aces ) and 1akes о! б m deep. Not 10ng ago geo1og1sts thought Ьо. to de1lver equlpment and boring machines here , and now there ахе шацу operation oi1--de.rrlcks , bui1dings о! _иеЬоиаеа , reservo1rs о! рuшр sta­tions ; concrete roads and 011 and gas pipe1ines have been 1aid.

Before geo1oglsts had to bui1d t.mporary lсе roads , c1ear the route о! а future road 1 . 5 m deep and drlve 1t smooth, freeze bog-peaty шasа and cover sno_ wlth peat , chips and аоаа (to prevent 1ts me1t1ng 1n sprlng) . Later they bu11t the road : took away а 1ayer о! peat, fi11ed the trench ир w1th sand and grave1 , 1aid concrete slabs and made ир art1flclal ls1ands for derr1cks 1n шarshеs .

Whi1e prospecting the Verkhne-Tarskoye fie1d (Novos1b1rsk reg1on) , the 1arger part о! which 11еа under шarshеs , in order to p1ace boring equlpment in а chosen p1ace and bul1d а sma11 he1icopter 1anding ground, it _аа nесеаааху to cut down about 5 thousand trees , dri ve them into шarsh lIIud аа pi1es , make f1oor­ing or а p1atform and only then start the mount1ng о! а der­r1ck and equipment. 80 the �iber1ans ' _ork шау Ь. tru1y ca11ed "feat о! 1abour".

ТЬе density о! popu1ation in Siberia 1а smal1 ( � 2 peop1e per sq kш) , and 1! not to take into account the most developed southern territories , 1t 1а шисЬ sma11er (0 . 02 - 0. 5 peop1e per sq kш) , Ьесаиае the 1argest part о! the popu1ation 1а con­centrated near the Trans-S1berian Rai1way and lts branches. So one о! the aost comp1ex problems о! th. further deve1op_ent af S1ber1a is prov1ding rapidly growing branch.s о! econoтy w1th qua1ified manpower resources. There is ne1ther unemployaent nor redundancy о! manpo_er in the USSR. 80 , starting _1de-sca1e building, the USSR COlDll1un1st Party and the KomsOllo1 Оrgщzа­t10n ca11 upon tne Sov1et Youth - schoo1-1eavers and graduates о! higher and technica1 schoo1s , demobil1zing soldiers о! th. Soviet Arщy. Most о! the construct1on sltes � Siber1a ахе Ко_­somo1-youth ones . At the ca11 о! the Lenin Komsomo1 young en-thus1asts go to work to new construct10n sites , changing Ьо.е coafort for f1e1d tents .

temporarily

There 1а a1so а problem о! migrants ' getting acc1imat1zed to ne_ places and the1r prov1ding w1th we11-bui1t houses. Severe

northern conditions, rapid1y growing need in 1 0dgings and cu1-tura1 everyday s8rvices in th e shortest tiRe of bui1ding dешand non-traditiona1 so1ving о! town-building рrоЫешs.

ТЬе average age of пе. townв ' inhabitants is the youngest in the USSH (it is 25 in Surgut). It is natura1 that а great nuaber of young faшi1iеs shou1d ье fо rшеd in пе. towns , and the birth-rate in thеш being high, rapid bui1ding of сЫ1-dren ' s institutions is badly needed.

More than 750 towns Ьауе sprung up during БО years о! the socia1ist stat e existenc e . ТЫз i9 ha1f of the tota1 пuшЪеr of towns and sеttlешепts . iп the USSH. Most of thеш Ьауе Ъееп built in Siberia and owe шuсh to the natural resources . These are such towns ав Nori1sk, Igarka, Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, Mirny, Novokuznetak, Tashtagol and шanу others.

ТЬе dеvеlо ршепt о! these regions is iшроssiЫе without high rates о! labour productivity, therefore,there are рrоЪ-1еШ8 о! raising the qualification о! young people and their g ett ing re1ated professions, шaxiшuш providing with powerfu1, re1iable е quiршепt with high шаiпtаinaЫlitу designed зре­cially for northern conditions.

Construction ШU8t Ъе carried ba8ing оп the know1edge о! engineer geology : it i 8 oft en connected with the necessity о! dralning шarshеs, lowering water leve1, back-fi11ing and fi­x1ng river Ъanks . Under the conditions о! реrшаfrО8t ( the towns о! Nori1sk, Mirny, Yakutsk, etc.) hous es are Ъui1t оп piles, 12-15 ш reinforced concrete pi1es are haшшеrеd in the f/o�n ground to prevent house heat transшissiоп to the :trozen ground, wЫсЬ 1з used аз foundation. It 's по joke to construct оп p ermafrost because о! it 's treacherous character. А single mistake shou1d lead to the complete waste о! шопеу.

It is iшроssiЫе to imagine the dwe11ings of the Sibe­rians without centra1 heating: 8-12 шопths а year (depending оп the regions о! residence) the Sib erians have to wear warш clothes, шakе their houses co1dproof and heat thеш. Exploi­tation of dwe11ing houses and indu 8trial Ъui1dings is more expensive in Siberia than in the European part о! the USSH.

Но. it is recognized that the development о! mining сошр­lexee in almost inaccessible regions о! Siberia and under the

'9

conditions о! the most severe c1imate о! the Extrеще North

( i . e . Уаша1 Peninsu1a ) i8 expedient to Ье carried out accord­

ing to watch and expedit10n schemes .

The expeditiona1 method , w1dely used nо. in the building

о! oi1 and gas pipe1lnes 1а that for а definite period ( e . g.

for а construction period) teams о! workers and specia1ists

without faшiliеs ахе sent to the р1асеа о! work. The _ethod

Ьаа an есоnощiс benefit . During the first _ost difficu1t ре­

r10d о! work there is по proble_ о! accomodating the1r faшi-

1ies wh1ch. takes not 1еаз than 2-3 уеаха .

А watch method is rational in constructing and especially

during the exp101tation о! remote working units . Workers and

specia11sts with their faшi1iеs 1ive in we11-bu11t towns and

go to the mlne for а short per10d о! t1ae (about 2 weeks ) ,

teams changlng each other with the he1p о! a1r-transроrt . Тh1s

method a110ws , in part1cu1ar , to draw smal1er deposits into

exp101tation. But there 1з а nuщЬеr о! medica1 and зос1о1о-

gica1 рrоblещs to study : spec1f1c character о! personne1 ае-

1ection, орt1аuщ period о! stay "оп watch" or "ln the f1e1d" ,

the1r роаз1Ые durat10n, transportation distance8 , acclimat1-

zation , etc . There 18 also а problem о! working out nе. type8

о! c10thes , щаdе о! _odern fabr1cs and suitable for severe

condit10ns о! these reg10ns , to reduce catarrha1 diseases .

The deve10pment о! Siber1a 1а iшровз1Ые w1thout so1ving

transport рrоЫвщs . Widely used ахе deep Siberian rivers , but

the navigat10n period is not longer than 4-5 months а уеах .

In winter tim.e ice roads - "avtozianik1 " ах . built and for 3-5

_onths ахе exp10ited оп frozen over rivers . In а nuщЬеr о!

ахеа8 it is the only _ау о! 1arge goods and heavy boring and

m1ning equipment de1ivery to re_ote ge01ogica1 prospecting

crews .

lIany roads in S1ber1a ахе natural ао11 roads wh1ch do not

be10ng to any category. The speed о! road freightage 1а s10w ,

engine fue1 вхреnаеа and , с onsеquently, the cost price о! road

fre1ghtage grow (up to 3 t1mes аз coaparod to exp10itation о!

so11d cover roads ) . For з ове regions (Yakut1a , ТuYa) 8 motor­

-сах is the щa1n k1nd о! transport , therefore , expansion о!

networks and their 1mprove_ent ахе being carr1ed out , but the

cost о! these works 1а �ery h1gh. For ехашр1е , the bui1ding о!

roads in the north о! the Тушаеп reg10n costs 600-800 thousand

roubles per D1 (5-8 tшеs more than in the middle part о! the

иsза) , and the need in them 1в great : 1t wou1d take not 1евз

than 1 thousand ka roads to deve10p 011 and gas-bearing regi­

оns о! Уaшal Peninsu1a . Now the des1gn о! cross-country ve­

Ь1с1ев w1th аи cushions and heavy - 11ft f1ying machines Ье­

coses о! great s1gn1f1cance .

Under S1berian condit10ns railroad 18 the most economic

k1nd о! transport . 50 , for ехашр1е , ra11 freightage о! 1 ton

о! industrial e�1pment from Тушаеп to Surgut costs 5 roubles ,

and motor fre1ghtage - 350 roubles . Therefore , ra1lroad соп­

struct10n in ·51ber1a 1в опе о! the шаin factors , acce1erating

and cheapening the deve10pment о! its natura� resources . In re­

cent уеив here 4000 kIII о! railroads have Ьееп bu11t. That 1з

_ьу а ra1lroad branch Ьав Ьееп bui1t from 5urgut to the 011-

producing centre о! 81ber1a - N1zhnevartovsk and to the future

gaв produc1ng centre Urengoy. Therefore the w1de-sca1e соп­

struct10n о! the ВАМ о! 3200 km 1ength 1в а nat10nal construc­

t10n s1te and 1в to Ье fin1shed during the Х! F1.e Уеи P1an.

То imag1ne what kind о! road 1t 1з , 1t 1в песеввиу to вау

that the ra11way 1з to cross 7 high mountain range s , 3000 sша11

and 1arge r1vers inc1uding such deep опев ав the Lena and the

Amur . 1t 1в necessary to bu11d 3200 art1f1c1a1 1nsta11at10ns .

1nc1uding 4 largest tunne1s and 142 big br1dges . The zone . de­

riving advantag. from the ВАМ , ехсееdз 1 ш1111оп sq kпI. Тhere

wi11 Ье bui1t more than 100 towns and big sett1ements . and пи­

merous mining units. and 1arge forest maвs1ves wi11 ье invo1-

ved into the industrial product10n.

Air transport 1в widely and successfu11y used in the deve­

lopment о! 81ber1a and espec1ally the North о! the country.

desp1te h1gh f11ght cost and dependence оп weather cond1tlons .

Bu11dlng and exp101tat1on о! powerfu� 1ce-breaker f1eet at the

head о! flag-ship - atomic 1ce-breakers the "Ar1diika" ( _hich

Ьав recent1y con�ered the North РО1е ) . the "Lenin" and the

"В1Ьи" а110w to carry out navigat10n the _Ьо1е уеи round (11 months) ьу the North Веа Route , supp1ylng the Extreme Nortt

_1th the essent1al goods .

НеазоnaЫе deve1op&ent о! 8iberia &ust take into account

possible consequencies о! &an' s active interterence in nature .

Natura1 co&p1exes ( landscapes , geosyste&S and есоsуstешs ) о!

Siberia and particular1y о! the Extre&e North are rather un­

stable and easily injured ; _Оunds , inf1icted ьу &an , heal very

slow1y. Vegetable and soi1 cover &ау Ье injured cO&paratively

easily here : it is enough to drive а cross-country vehic1e ве­

vera1 tiшеs to spoi1 the cover irreversibly and cause subsi­

dence of thawed 80i1 and erosion.

Envirопmеnt protection Ьае Ьесо&е а law in our country , it

is conso1idated Ьу the decisions о! the XIV and XXVI Соngrез­

аез о! the Co&&Unist Party , а nU&ber о! decrees о! the Presi­

diU& о! the Supre&e Soviet of the иэsн оп the increase о! res­

ponsibi1ity for water.po11ution , decisions о! the Centra1 Со&­

ю:ttее о! the COlDJDunist Party and Council о! Ministers о! the

USSR . The Supre&e 80viet о! the иэsн adopted the 1egis1ations

оп the bowe1s о! the earth (July 9, 1975) and оп forestry (June

1 7 , 1977) .

Nature protection is conso1idated in з1% artic1es о! the

highest 1egis1ative docU&ent о! the country - the Constitution

of the USSR , particu1arly in

Artic1e 18 . "In the interests о! the present and fUture

generations , the necessary steps are taken in

the USSR to protect and &ake scientific , ra­

tional изе о! the land and its &ineral and

water resources , and the p1ant and animal

kingdo&s to preserve the puri ty о! air and

water , ensure reproduction о! natural wea1th ,

and i&prove hU&an еnvirопmеnt .

Artic1e 67. "Citizens о! the USSR are obliged to protect

nature and conaerve its riches .

Ad&inistrative and executive personne1 and other peop1e ,

gui1ty о! po11ution о! reservoirs , air and seas ,are subjected

to strict sanctions according to the Cri&ina1 code о! the

country. State supervisions and inspections , nU&erous public

organizations and societies are involved in the еnvirопmеnt

protection. blany research institutes , inc1uding 30 institutes

о! the Siberian branch о! the UЭЭН Acade&y о! Sciences are

42

s01v1ng the problems о! the environment protection.

С о ш р 1 е х i t У - is one о! the iшроrtant рrоblеиs

о! the use о! nature resources о! Siberia .Practica1ly а11 de­posits are сошр1ех. If at the beginning о! oi1 fie1ds exp1oi­

tation in Western Siberia we had to put up with the burning

о! the 1arger part о! casing-head gas in fu11 sprays , now а

significant part о! this gas is being uti11zed. The Surgut

thеrшое1есtriс power stat10n 1з working оп th1s gas ; the са­

pacity о! Тyumen gas processing p1ants during the 1ast years

a110wed to uti11ze 80% о! it , casing-head gas has соше tbrough

p1pe1ines to the p1ant� о! Kuzbass and Novos1birsk. For fur­ther изе о! this valuable raw шаtеriа1 for chenica1 1ndustry

(gas contains up to 20-25% о! butane-propane fraction) oi1 and gas groupв of enterprises are being bu11t rap1dly in the

towns о! Tobo1sk and Тошsk.

Sаше difficu1t1es in s01ving the рrоыlшs о! сошр1ех de­vе10ршеnt о! ore deposits ar1se in сазе when ditferent шini­

str1es are interested in drawing out о! the шаin and шinоr

сошроnеnts о! ore . This 1а , in part1cular , сошр11саtеd ьу the

fact that the draw1ng out о! шinоr сошроnеnts о! ore frош the

mine under operat1on 1з often connected with the necess1ty о!

changing the шеthods о! оrе-шining ( se1ect10n о! drawing out

о! ores о! different types ) , the изing о! ne. шеthоds о! en­

r1сhшеnt , and resu1ts 1n decrease о! the p1anned output о!

the шain сошроnеnt о! ore.

Whi1e studying ores о! ne. depos1ts and шеthоds о! their dетеlоршеnt and еnr1сhшеnt , ge010gists and enr1chers shou1d

Dore thoroughly study шinеral coaposit10n and еnr1сhшеnt о! ores for their сошр1ех иее .

The рrоblешs о! сошр1ех иее о! heaps о! ferrous and non­-ferrous шеtа11urgy wastes , s1ags о! thеrшое1есtr1с power sta­t10nS , expec1ally those working оп ash power coals , шus't Ье so1ved.

Taking into account the fact that forest , another iшроr­tant resource о! S1ber1a, plays а sign1f1cant ro1e in the еоо­

nошу о! the country , the рrоblеш о! иэе о! sawing waste and 10.-rate wood 1э worth шеnt10ning.

43

Another �portant problem 1s the incr�ase of mineral re-80urces е х t r а с t 1 '0 n and drop of output and tranв­port .. aвte .

Before 011-indu8try .. orkers а task of output 1ncrease о! 011 Ьеdз оп the basis of пе.. acievements о! 8cience and tech­nique haв Ьееп set. Поw in the wor1d оп the average , 011 1овв in Ьеdз 1э more than 50%. 011 output increase 18 simi1ar to а discovery of шацу пе .. depos1ts . For this purpose the methods о! act1ve inf1uence оп а bed, 1 . е . out-countour and countour f100ding (water pumping under pressure into а bed for oi1 movement to уе11 faces) , hydroformation fracturing , increase о! 011 and gaв bed permeab11ity Ьу its 1оовеning with acid different emuls10ns , hot _pour рuшр1ng of s01vents and .. ater with supra-act1ve matters , converting oi1 to astatic state therma1 effect оп а bed and во оп.

Зеавоnal f1uctuat10ns in gas consumption give ri8e to the problem of 8ear,ch for undergroan4 vacuums (gas repos1to­ries ) , the creation о! which -.111 al10 .. to concentrate воше gas ехсеввев in suшmеr t�e , to exc1ude temporar1ly separate sect10ns о! the gas 1inе , supplying regu1ar1y the consumers with gas .

The se1ection о! systems о! deposit deve10pment , the ef­fect1ve and more perfect methods о! ore enrichRent and соп­centrates р1ау an �portant r01e in s011d minera1s output to decreaвe their 1О88ев .

Keaвures to reduce alienation о'! 1and uaed for mining exp10itation ав much ав possible are Ьеing taken. Kethods о! f:Нling exhausted врасе , 1iqu1dation and recult1vation at m1.ne waste р11ев using the 1atter for road-buildlng purposes and fi11ing in о'! саving zones and ravines , and recu1tivation о! 1aDdз are Ьеing deve10ped to reduce саving zones at соа! out­put at minlЭS .

� 1arge al1enation о! arable 1and and forest8 during the expansion о'! соа! output in the Kuzbas8 Ьавin and buildlng о! m1.ne8 with tn1ck beds о! Ъrоwn соа! 1n the Кansk-�chinsk Ьа­sin require the 8о1ving о! the 'problems о! further recu1t1va­tion о! шineа. In S1ber1a 1t 18 nec.ssary to work at the in­crease о! ао11 ferti1ity, аз much ав роав1Ые �sing 1оса! raw

44

шаtеrials , to protec� эо11 1:rош weather1ng and water eros10n. salting and bogging.

One af the шоst 1шроrtant рrоblешs 1а thв protect10n 01: c1ear air Ьааin. It 1а being solved Ьу the centra11zat10n 01: heat supply in S1ber1an towns , 11qu1dat�on 01: зша11 b011er­-hоusез , gradua1 trans1:erance 01: industr1a1 еntеrpr1зеs and dwe111ng houses оп gas heating . which 1eads to rе1:inешеnt 01: air basin.

Рихе water 1з Ьесошing nat10nal property 1а the _or1d and IllUst Ье taken care 01 . �he tota1 water conswnption 1n the USSR

Ьаа lncreased 3 t1шеs during the 1азt 20 years and ехееdз 300 cubic km per year and 1n the near 1:uture _111 ье 450 сиЫс kш.

our country takes the first р1асе in the wor1d (11%) in r1ver water rезоurсеs , but the шоst part 01: rlver f10w 1:а11а оп the Ьааinа 01: the Arct1c ( 64%) and Pacif1c (20%) oceans . About 15� о! the tota1 rlver 1:1о. fa11s оп c10sed basins 01: internal зеаз - the Casp1an. the иа! and the 1ake Вalkhash. The иве 01: the �ter , f111ing these reservoirs , b� arable 1and and enter­prises о! the 1I.1ddle Аэ1а , Kazakhstan and the European part о! the country changes r1ver rеg1ше , 10wers the 1еуе1 01: the с10-sed reservoirs and disturbs eco10g1ca1 ba1ance . The рrоblеш 01: interna1 аеаа ariзеs , which cen not Ье �olved w1thout trans­ferr1ng а part 01: wa�er y1e1d 01: the S1berian r1vers to �ne south. " The рrоblеш 1а y� сошр11саtеd and шust Ье sc1ent1f1-cal1y grounded, and а11 possible aftere1:fects to choose the шоst орt1шua var1ant aust ье stud1ed 1n deta11s .

011 1а the шоst intens1ve water po11utor (1 gr 01: 011 product po11utes and шakеs цnf1t 1:or use 100 l1tres о! _ater) , there1:ore to deve10p 011 resources о! Wes�ern S1beria 1t 1а necessary to work out аеавихеа 01: river water protect10n 01: the ОЬ and Irtyзh зуstешs 1:rош pol1ut10n. It is especia1ly 1ш­portant 1! _е take 1nto account that the, Ob-Irtysh bas1n g1ves 35% 01: the total 1:resh water 1:ish, and r1vers 1n the Extreme North Ьауе an abi11ty for se11:-purl1:1cat10n.

We are facing the рrоblеш 01: сarе1:ц1 rat10nal use 01: un1-que рихе waters о! the вaikal 1ake and preservation 01: the1r or1gina1 pur1ty. !ndustrial enterpr1ses aust ЬаУ8 c10sed water supply and throw industrial waste into closed Ьааinв outside

the вa1kal 1ake . Th1s qцest10n 1а UDder the contr01 and care

о! the state , and iD these direct10DS 1arge cap1tal-сОDSuaiDg

_ork 1а beiDg carr1ed out accordiDg to the adopted govern­

aenta1 decrees.

СОNСШ8IОN

А 1arge part о! ra_ aater1als о! 81ber1a 8Dd the �ar Eaвt

1а begiDDiDg to Ье used or 1а _aitiDg for 1ts tUrD - for соn­

struct1ve engiDeer iDte11ect, _e11-fоUDdеd econ08ica1 conc1u­

а1оnа , strODg and sk11lfu1 haDds , t1tlШiс 1abour 8Dd consider­

аЫе cap1tal iDvestaents . 81ber1a Ьаа а great future , and the

d�ve10paent о! 1ts r1ches aust ье carr1ed out оп the Ьаа1а о!

aaxiaua autoaat1sat10n and techn1zatlon о! product10n, creat10n

о! large enterpr1ses , с1оае 1ink о! всlеnсе 8Dd practlce 8Dd the1r iDterpenetrat1on, se1ectlon о! optisua varlants о! de­

ve10paent systeas , enrlchaent .еanв and .ethodв о! соар1ех use

о! шiDeral ra_ aater1als with aaxisua observance and respect

for 1а_а о! nature.

Th1s 1а contr1buted Ьу с1оае sclentlflc and econoaic со­

operatlon о! the ивЗR with other countrles о! the _orld , and

peacefu1 asp1rat1oDS о! the Sov1et реор1е, because the prograa­

.е о! the deve10paent о! Slberla 1а the prograaae о! реасе .

u lt .. аз aent10ned аЬоте , there are lI18Щ' diff1cu1t1es iD

the deve10p.ant о! natura1 resources о! S1ber1a. ТЬе Slber1ans

are lndustrlous реор1е 8Dd are аЫе to ао1те these grand рrоъ-

188а . Вut lt doesn ' t .еan tbat the Slberlans deal on17 with

probleas 8Dd troubles 8Dd flght d1fflcu1tles .

ТЬе hearts о! the Slberlans are not effected Ьу the s"ere

cliaate . Тhey are known for the1r siDcere hosp1ta11ty , friend­

liDess , courage (the heroic deeds о! the S1berlan reg1aents

duriDg the Great Patrlotlc _ar with fasclsa Ьесаае а legend) .

Pecul1ar to thel1 are endurance 8Dd рЬуаlса1 power , good арре­

tlte and а seDSe о! hWROur . They сan equa117 enjoy braciDg

frost and а wara suazer aorniDg .

!he Slberlans сan rest _е11 . They try to spend the1r 1е1-

sure tiRe iD the ореn a1r . In suaвer 8Dd autuan they pick ber-

46

r1es and IlUsbrooas , _ork 1n their gardens , go оп _alk1ng tours

and с11аЬ .0unta1ns . In _1nter оп _eek еDdз they go ek11ng in

the nearb.1 foreets and f1e1ds . Iowhere е1зе one can зее such

_h1te sno_-dr1fts , th1ck trеез _1th snо_ сарз and a11-аЬsоrЪ-

1ng sllence.

Но- p1easant 1t 1з to _alk _1th а rille at dawn, to hunt

hпез or get to the ta1ga th1cket for а fortnight or во , l1те

1n an old deserted sno_-bound hut and hunt hazel-hens ( 1t 1з

1n S1ber1a that rea1 hunting 1з preserved) .What can ье better

than sp1nn1ng 1n northern rlvers and 1akes? Ta1aens ие во

huge that 1t 1з "terr1fying" to f1sh thea out . If you 100k at

а frozen 1ake or r1ver 1n w1nter , you _111 зее f1sheraen �ac­

t1s1ng witch-craft" over the ho1es 1n sp1te о! frost and co1d

w1пd. Where еlзе one can get rest fro. the town n01se , street

coamotion and си ratt1e , breathe in c1ean аи , dr1nk pure not

ch10rinated _ater and stay a10ne _1th nature and h1s thought& .

Но- p1easant 1 t 1& to соае to the саар set up оп the bank

о! the ta1ga r1ver after а hard geolog1ca1 route , take off _et

c1othe& and boots , slt coafortably near the саар fire and d1s­

cus& the routes о! the next day _1th the co11eagues . In winter

l1v1ng 1n towns far froa сащр-firеs and tente , geo1og1sts _a1t

for а ne_ exped1t1onal &eason.

_е ие firaly conv1cted that for а real _ork there 1з по

place better than S1ber1a, and the best реорlе l1те 1n S1ber1a.

We1coae to S1beria , and you _111 еее the beauty and сhзra о!

S1ber1an nature and undеrзtand _ьу they В&у about the З1Ье ­

r1ans , "Fasc1nated ь.1 S1ber1a".

47

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