Search Results (32)

Cost-effective methods for improving soil fertility and mitigating the negative impact of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils are currently under investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of soil lead (Pb) contamination and the application of secondary pulp and paper mill sludge on the relative growth rate (RGR) and its determinants, as well as the specific absorption rate (SAR) of nutrients of Lactuca sativa L. For the 46-day pot experiment, which was carried out in 2022 under controlled conditions at the Karelian Research Centre of RAS, sandy loam soil was used, to which Pb was added at rates of 0, 50, and 250 mg Pb(NO₃)₂ kg⁻¹. Secondary sludge was applied with each watering at concentrations of 0%, 20%, and 40%. RGR values varied significantly, primarily due to changes in net assimilation rate (NAR) rather than specific leaf area. Positive relationships were found between RGR and NAR, and RGR and SAR of nitrogen and phosphorus, but not potassium. Sludge applications can stimulate NAR at early stages of plant growth. For plants grown on soil with the highest Pb concentration studied, secondary sludge reduced root lead content by an average of 35%. Soil contamination with lead increased nutrient SAR by 79 and 39% when applied as 20 and 40% sludge, respectively, while 40% sludge increased nitrogen SAR by 51% but did not change phosphorus and potassium SAR. A sludge-mediated reduction in root Pb content and an increase in NAR suggest that secondary paper sludge may contribute to the remediation of Pb-contaminated soils and reduce the toxicity of heavy metals to plants. The results may help in finding new ways to manage soil fertility, especially for contaminated soils. Full article

People in multilingual societies develop complex and interconnected food-making and food-discussing networks. On the basis of an experimental course titled “Food at Home, Food on the Move: Globalization and Regionalism in Modern Food Culture” taught at the University of Helsinki, we will show how the acquisition of culinary terminology puts forward the interconnectedness of languages and the dynamics between them in several sociolinguistic contexts. The lectures were grouped geographically: Eating with the Neighbors (Finnish cuisine and Swedish, Russian, Karelian and other influences); From the Baltic to Central Europe (Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, German, and Hungarian food cultures); Formative Cuisines of the Mediterranean (French, Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern cuisine, etc.); and Eating Outside Europe (food culture influences from the US, Mexico, China, Japan, and India). The assignments included a critical lecture diary, an essay about eating experiences, or additional reading, a conversational analysis of a culinary show, or fieldwork in an ethnic restaurant. Raising awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, motivating course participants to discuss the role and interaction of languages in their repertoire, makes them reflect on their multilingual identities. It allows educators to explore individuals’ DLCs in different contexts while navigating diverse global and local environments based on the principles of fairness and equality in education. Full article

Finnish North Karelia is a region with a rich cultural history of ethnomedicinal plant use, shaped by centuries of interactions among various ethnic groups. This study identified both similarities and divergences between local Finns, Karelians war refugees, and individuals of mixed origin compared to historical records. Based on 67 semi-structured interviews, we documented the use of 43 medicinal plant taxa from 25 families, of which 31 remain in use. Notably, the number of medicinal plants continuously used in North Karelia is considerably lower than in other parts of Europe, with less than 25% of historically utilised species still in practice, which reflects the fragile state of this knowledge. Factors such as forced relocation, the loss of traditional lands, and the need to adapt to new environments might have contributed to this decline. Another influencing factor is official healthcare attitudes, which have prompted Finnish residents to shift from traditional herbal remedies to modern medical practices. Understanding the circulation of ethnomedicinal knowledge and its transformation over time is essential for identifying pathways to revitalise these practices within the framework of modern healthcare systems and cultural revitalisation efforts. Full article

Background: Eastern Finnic populations, including Karelians, Veps, Votes, Ingrians, and Ingrian Finns, are a significant component of the history of Finnic populations, which have developed over ~3 kya. Yet, these groups remain understudied from a genetic point of view. Methods: In this work, we explore the gene pools of Karelians (Northern, Tver, Ludic, and Livvi), Veps, Ingrians, Votes, and Ingrian Finns using Y-chromosome markers (N = 357) and genome-wide autosomes (N = 67) and in comparison with selected Russians populations of the area (N = 763). The data are analyzed using statistical, bioinformatic, and cartographic methods. Results: The autosomal gene pool of Eastern Finnic populations can be divided into two large categories based on the results of the PCA and ADMIXTURE modeling: (a) “Karelia”: Veps, Northern, Ludic, Livvi, and Tver Karelians; (b) “Ingria”: Ingrians, Votes, Ingrian Finns. The Y-chromosomal gene pool of Baltic Finns is more diverse and is composed of four genetic components. The “Northern” component prevails in Northern Karelians and Ingrian Finns, the “Karelian” in Livvi, Ludic, and Tver Karelians, the “Ingrian-Veps” in Ingrians and Veps (a heterogeneous cluster occupying an intermediate position between the “Northern” and the “Karelian” ones), and the “Southern” in Votes. Moreover, our phylogeographic analysis has found that the Y-haplogroup N3a4-Z1927 carriers are frequent among most Eastern Finnic populations, as well as among some Northern Russian and Central Russian populations. Conclusions: The autosomal clustering reflects the major areal groupings of the populations in question, while the Y-chromosomal gene pool correlates with the known history of these groups. The overlap of the four Y-chromosomal patterns may reflect the eastern part of the homeland of the Proto-Finnic gene pool. The carriers of the Y-haplogroup N3a4-Z1927, frequent in the sample, had a common ancestor at ~2.4 kya, but the active spread of N3a4-Z1927 happened only at ~1.7–2 kya, during the “golden” age of the Proto-Finnic culture (the archaeological period of the “typical” Tarand graves). A heterogeneous Y-chromosomal cluster containing Ingrians, Veps, and Northern Russian populations, should be further studied. Full article

The Alattu–Päkylä gold occurrence is located in the Northern Lake Ladoga area, in the Raaha-Ladoga suprasubduction zone, at the Karelian Craton (AR)—Svecofennian foldbelt (PR₁) boundary. Its gold ore mineral associations are of two types of mineralization: (1) copper–molybdenum–porphyry with arsenopyrite and gold (intrusion-related) and (2) gold–arsenopyrite–sulfide in shear zones. Optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and fire analysis with AAS finishing were used to study them. Type 1 was provoked by shallow-depth tonalite intrusion (~1.89 Ga) and type 2 by two stages of Svecofennian metamorphism (1.89–1.86 and 1.83–1.79 Ga) with the possible influence of the impactogenesis of the Janisjärvi astrobleme (age ~1 Ga). Intrusive and host rocks were subjected to shearing accompanied by the formation of ore-bearing metasomatic rocks of the propylite-beresite series (depending on substrate) and quartz–sericite, quartz and sericite–tourmaline veins and streaks. Ore mineralization is present as several consecutive mineral associations: pyritic–molybdenite with arsenopyrite and gold; gold–arsenopyrite; quartz–arsenopyrite with antimony sulfosalts of lead; gold–polysulfide with tetrahedrite –argentotetrahedrite series minerals and gold–antimony with Pb–Sb–S system minerals and native antimony. Arsenopyrite contains invisible (up to 234 ppm) and visible gold. Metamorphosed domains in arsenopyrite and rims with visible gold around it are usually enriched in As, indicating higher (up to >500 °C) temperatures of formations than original arsenopyrite with invisible gold (<500 °C). A paragenetic sequence associated with the deposition of invisible and visible gold established at the Alattu–Päkylä ore occurrence: pyrrhotite + unaltered arsenopyrite (with invisible gold) → altered arsenopyrite (As-enriched) + pyrite ± pyrrhotite + visible gold. Gold, associated with gudmundite, sphalerite and native antimony, seems to be due to cainotypic rhyodacitic porphyry cutting tonalite intrusion or with a retrograde stage in post-Svecofennian metamorphism. The isotopic composition of Pb and ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb (9.4–9.75) for the feldspar of the tonalite intrusion and the pyrite of gold mineralization, εNd (−4 up to −5) for tonalites and ẟ³⁴S values of −2.10–+4.99 for arsenopyrite, indicate the formation of gold occurrence provoked by Svecofennian magmatic and tectono-thermal processes with the involvement of matter from a mantle-lower crustal reservoir into magma formation and mineralization. Full article

Traditional costumes and crafts are a basic form and element of local culture and a vital pathway for perpetuating traditional art and design culture. They are an artistic form of historical and cultural significance. This paper focuses on three traditional costumes from Malta, Ireland, and Finland. The għonnella, worn by Maltese women of different social classes, consisted of a voluminous cape-like covering reinforced with whalebone and cardboard and was worn over the head and shoulders, reaching ankle length. Irish costumes were adorned with beautiful Irish lace, crochet, and embroidery. Celtic embroidery was added to clothing to develop a distinctive Irish dress style during the great cultural revival of the early 20th century. The Karelian costume from Finland was constructed using wool and linen. Ladies in Karelia wore handcrafted, highly embroidered gowns, and traditions were passed down from older ladies, including mothers and grandmothers. These costumes were collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when Finnish Karelia was known as ‘The Old Finland’. This paper delves into the origins of these costumes and how social and cultural events, with their intriguing influence, shaped their styles, features, colors, and fabrics. Full article

Despite more than 100 years of research, a number of questions concerning the evolution of the post-glacial connection between Lake Ladoga, the largest European lake, and the Baltic Sea remain unanswered. In particular, the location and chronological frames of the paleo-outlet from Lake Ladoga in the Holocene remain debatable. Paleolimnological studies were performed in small lakes in the northern part of the Karelian Isthmus (NW Russia), where the outlet from Lake Ladoga, the Heinjoki Strait, is thought to have existed until the lake drained to the south due to the tilting of its basin. The presence of the indicative “Ladoga species” (e.g., Aulacoseira islandica, Achnanthes joursacense, Cymbella sinuata, Ellerbeckia arenaria, Navicula aboensis, N. jaernefeltii, N. jentzschii, etc.) in the diatom assemblages is used as evidence for the influence of Lake Ladoga during the accumulation of coarse-grained sediments at the bottom of the ancient channel. It also confirms the functioning of the hypothetical northern local branch of the strait. Decreased abundances of the “Ladoga species” and the onset of the accumulation of fine-grained sediments suggest that the water discharge via this paleo-outlet rapidly reduced starting from ca. 4100 cal BP. The termination of the functioning of the Heinjoki Strait is recorded as an abrupt disappearance of the indicative taxa from the diatom record. This was dated to ca. 3500–3200 cal BP, which corresponds to the estimated ages of the birth of the River Neva, the present outlet from Lake Ladoga. Full article

The global climate crisis forces mankind to develop carbon storage technologies. “Ladoga” carbon monitoring site is part of the Russian climate project “Carbon Supersites”, which aims to develop methods and technologies to control the balance of greenhouse gases in various ecosystems. This article shows the condition of soil and vegetation cover of the carbon polygon “Ladoga” using the example of a typical southern taiga ecosystem in the Leningrad region (Russia). It is revealed that soils here are significantly disturbed as a result of agrogenic impact, and the vegetation cover changes under the influence of anthropogenic activity. It has been found that a considerable amount of carbon is deposited in the soils of the carbon polygon; its significant part is accumulated in peat soils (60.0 ± 19.8 kg × m⁻² for 0–100 cm layer). In agrogenically disturbed and pristine soils, carbon stocks are equal to 12.8 ± 2.9 kg × m⁻² and 8.3 ± 1.3 kg × m⁻² in the 0–100 cm layer, respectively. Stocks of potentially mineralizable organic matter (0–10 cm) in peat soils are 0.48 ± 0.01 kg × m⁻²; in pristine soils, it is 0.58 ± 0.06 kg × m⁻². Peat soils are characterized by a higher intensity of carbon mineralization 9.2 ± 0.1 mg × 100 g⁻¹ × day⁻¹ with greater stability. Carbon in pristine soils is mineralized with a lower rate—2.5 ± 0.2 mg × 100 g⁻¹ × day⁻¹. The study of microbial diversity of soils revealed that the dominant phyla of microorganisms are Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria; however, methane-producing Archaea—Euryarchaeota—were found in peat soils, indicating their potentially greater emission activity. The results of this work will be useful for decision makers and can be used as a reference for estimating the carbon balance of the Leningrad region and southern taiga boreal ecosystems of the Karelian Isthmus. Full article

Remains of Rhynchotalona latens (Sarmaja-Korjonen, Hakojärvi et Korhola 2000) were found in the bottom sediments of several glaciogenic lakes in northwestern Russia. Subfossil remains of the species were noted both in the bottom sediments of the Late Pleistocene and Mid-Holocene. We discovered a rare species, R. latens, in the bottom sediments of Lake Medvedevskoye (Karelian Isthmus). This species prefers shallow oligo-mesotrophic lakes with organic sediments and has attracted the interest of scientists around the world as it is considered a glacial relict and has recently been found in surface sediments and as a living population in Finland and Russia. Full article

During geomagnetic storms, which are a result of solar wind’s interaction with the Earth’s magnetosphere, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) begin to flow in the long, high-voltage electrical networks on the Earth’s surface. It causes a number of negative phenomena that affect the normal operation of the entire electric power system. To investigate the nature of the phenomenon and its effects on transformers, a GIC monitoring system was created in 2011. The system consists of devices that are installed in the neutrals of autotransformers at five substations of the Kola–Karelian power transit in northwestern Russia. Considering the significant amount of data accumulated over 12 years of operating the GIC monitoring system, manual analysis becomes impractical. To analyze the constantly growing volume of recorded data effectively, a method for the automatic classification of GICs in autotransformer neutrals was proposed. The method is based on a continuous wavelet transform of the neutral current data combined with a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify the obtained scalogram images. The classifier’s performance is evaluated using accuracy and binary cross-entropy loss metrics. As the result of comparing four CNN architectures, a model that showed high GIC classification performance on the validation set was chosen as the final model. The proposed CNN model, in addition to the main layers, includes pre-processing layers and a dropout layer. Full article

Temperature plays an essential role in a plant’s life. The current investigation reveals that photoreceptors, whose activity is affected by the geomagnetic field, are a critical element of its perception. This knowledge suggests that plants’ responses to temperature could shift in different geomagnetic conditions. To test this hypothesis, we studied the change in the growth response of the peat moss Sphagnum riparium to temperature with a gradual increase in the geomagnetic K_p index. Growth data for this species were collected from Karelian mires by detailed monitoring over eight full growing seasons. The growth of 209,490 shoots was measured and 1439 growth rates were obtained for this period. The analysis showed a strong positive dependence of sphagnum growth on temperature (r = 0.58; n = 1439; P = 1.7 × 10⁻¹¹⁹), which is strongest in the K_p range from 0.87 to 1.61 (r = 0.65; n = 464; P = 4.5 × 10⁻⁵⁸). This K_p interval is clearer after removing the seasonal contributions from the growth rate and temperature and is preserved when diurnal temperature is used. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis and show the unknown contribution of the geomagnetic field to the temperature responses of plants. Full article

The Yalguba Ridge volcanic rocks form part of the Middle Paleoproterozoic (ca. 1.97 Ga) volcano-sedimentary sequence within the Karelian Craton in the Fennoscandian Shield. Yalguba variolitic textures are known worldwide and have been previously considered to originate from liquid immiscibility. The present study reveals two new variolite types recognized in the Yalguba sequence: (1) Variolites with unzoned varioles have distinct chemical and mineralogical compositions of varioles and matrix that support an origin by liquid immiscibility. They were recognized in quenched zones of pillows, so it might be assumed that melt separation caused by liquid immiscibility occurred before magma emplacement. The difference from the previously described variolites lies in the variole microtexture and might be caused by the various cooling conditions. (2) Spherulitic variolites have varioles composed of andesine–oligoclase spherulites embedded in the cryptocrystalline matrix with oligoclase–anorthoclase composition, thus the variole and matrix have similar chemical and mineralogical composition. The mineralogical and textural features of these variolites suggest that the spherulites have a primary magmatic origin due to the rapid cooling of superheated magma. The variety of variolitic textures in the Yalguba section might be caused by the different H₂O saturation of parental magma and cooling conditions. Full article

The Middle Paleoproterozoic (1.99 Ga) Tiksheozero ultramafic‒alkaline‒carbonatite complex in Northern Karelia is one of the Earth’s oldest alkaline complexes. The major and trace-element compositions of minerals were used to decipher the genetic relations between ultramafic cumulates, alkaline rocks, and carbonatites. Based on detailed analysis of clinopyroxenes from ultramafic cumulates, it was assumed that they were derived from an alkaline melt. It was estimated that ultramafic cumulates and alkaline rocks were formed at close moderate pressure, which in combination with the above facts, is consistent with their cogenetic origin. The REE patterns of clinopyroxenes are characterized by the high LREE/HREE fractionation, with slightly convex-upward LREE patterns (La/Nd < 1), which are typical of deep-seated cumulates formed in an equilibrium with an alkaline basaltic melt. Two types of REE zoning were distinguished in apatite using cathodoluminescence imaging. The first type with an outward LREE decrease was found in apatite from silicate rocks of the complex and was likely produced by the closed-system overgrowth of apatite from a residual melt at the late magmatic stage. In contrast, apatite from carbonatite is characterized by a slight outward LREE increase, which is likely related to the re-equilibration of apatite with fresh batches of REE-enriched carbonatite magma. Precipitation of monazite along fractures and margins of apatite in complex with essential HREE and Y enrichment observed in syenite is indicative of the metasomatic interaction of this rock with fluid. Apatites from alkaline rocks and carbonatites define a common trend in the Y–Ho diagram, with a decrease in the Y/Ho ratio from foidolites to carbonatites. This fact together with the absence of signs of liquid immiscibility, and compositional variations in apatite in silicate rocks and carbonatites, are consistent with their origin through fractional crystallization rather than liquid immiscibility. Full article

Recently, there has been a growth in the number of studies addressing the automatic processing of low-resource languages. The lack of speech and text data significantly hinders the development of speech technologies for such languages. This paper introduces an automatic speech recognition system for Livvi-Karelian. Acoustic models based on artificial neural networks with time delays and hidden Markov models were trained using a limited speech dataset of 3.5 h. To augment the data, pitch and speech rate perturbation, SpecAugment, and their combinations were employed. Language models based on 3-grams and neural networks were trained using written texts and transcripts. The achieved word error rate metric of 22.80% is comparable to other low-resource languages. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first speech recognition system for Livvi-Karelian. The results obtained can be of a certain significance for development of automatic speech recognition systems not only for Livvi-Karelian, but also for other low-resource languages, including the fields of speech recognition and machine translation systems. Future work includes experiments with Karelian data using techniques such as transfer learning and DNN language models. Full article

Large-scale layered intrusions of a peridotite–pyroxenite–gabbronorite complex, to which Cr, Ni, Cu, and PGE deposits and ore occurrences are confined, were emplaced into the Baltic paleocontinent 2.50–2.45 Ga. Layered intrusions in the Monchegorsk Ore District, including the Monchepluton and Imandra–Umbarechka Complex, as well as the gabbro-anorthosite complex of the Main Ridge, were analyzed earlier geochemically and isotopically. In the present paper, the authors analyze layered intrusions in the Kola region (Mount Generalskaya) and Karelia (Kivakka, Kovdozero, and the Burakovsky Pluton). The primary composition of mantle magmas for the layered intrusions is assumed to be identical to that of the komatiitic basalts making up the volcanogenic units of the Vetreny Belt and the Imandra–Varzuga zone. A general model for the formation of layered intrusions includes superplume uplift in the early Paleoproterozoic, the generation of mantle magmas and their injection into the lower portion of the earth crust, the formation of deep-seated and intermediate magma chambers, and the intense contamination of the granulite–metamorphic complex followed by the generation of magma chambers provoked by single or multiple injections. Full article