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In recent years, Georgia has witnessed a shift in its general policy orientation from agricultural to rural development, resulting in a transformation of household-based economic activities. Mountain areas have emerged as key focal points for promoting innovative approaches and practices for various reasons, such as lacking access to markets, outmigration, climate change, and generally difficult contexts for small-scale entrepreneurship. Many households in remote areas have limited access to the necessary resources, making it difficult to take advantage of new opportunities and benefits. This research focuses on pioneer entrepreneurial households in Khulo municipality in the Lesser Caucasus. The study's qualitative methodological approach allows a thorough examination of the topic, based on in-depth interviews in 2022 and 2023. We examine adaptation processes and the different forms of capital necessary to start a new business in the mountain environment, as well as motivations for starting a new business and challenges to maintaining economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Georgia has witnessed a shift in its general policy orientation from agricultural to rural development, resulting in a transformation of household-based economic activities. Mountain areas have emerged as key focal points for promoting innovative approaches and practices for various reasons, such as lacking access to markets, outmigration, climate change, and generally difficult contexts for small-scale entrepreneurship. Many households in remote areas have limited access to the necessary resources, making it difficult to take advantage of new opportunities and benefits. This research focuses on pioneer entrepreneurial households in Khulo municipality in the Lesser Caucasus. The study's qualitative methodological approach allows a thorough examination of the topic, based on in-depth interviews in 2022 and 2023. We examine adaptation processes and the different forms of capital necessary to start a new business in the mountain environment, as well as motivations for starting a new business and challenges to maintaining economic activities.

Surveys carried out in the Javakheti Plateau during the last decade have improved our knowledge of the Bronze Age archaeology of this highland zone of the Lesser Caucasus of Georgia. Surveys have been conducted all over the area surrounding the Mt. Chikiani volcano, along the southern terraces of the Tsalka Reservoir, and some of the north-western slopes of Mt. Paravani. All these territories have yielded impressive evidence of megalithic monuments, stone-walled villages, kurgans , basalt and schist quarries, as well as obsidian extraction and production areas. Among these latter is an important circular platform made of basalt boulders, above which a workshop for the manufacture of obsidian bifacial arrowheads and spearheads was discovered. All the aforementioned features have been GPS-recorded and photographed with the use of a non-professional small drone. They show that the entire region is a monumental landscape, which most probably started to be built around the beginning of the Bronze Age, as many of the lithic finds would suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Goshgarchay Cu‐Au deposit is located in the central part of the northwest flank of the Murovdagh region in the Lesser Caucasus. The Goshgarchay Cu‐Au deposit is associated with Middle Jurassic volcanic and Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous high‐K calc‐alkaline intrusive rocks. The Cu‐Au mineralization is commonly related to quartz‐sericite‐chlorite alteration dominantly composed of chalcopyrite, gold, sphalerite, pyrite, bornite, hematite, covellite, chalcocite, malachite, and azurite. The Goshgarchay copper‐gold deposit, which is 600 m wide and approximately 1.2 km long, is seen as a fault‐controlled and vein‐, stockwork– and disseminated type deposit. The Goshgarchay Cu‐Au deposit predominantly comprises Cu (max. 64500 ppm) and Au (max. 11.3 ppm), while it comprises relatively less amounts Zn (max. 437 ppm), Mo (max. 47.5 ppm), Pb (max. 134 ppm), and Ag (max. 21 ppm). The homogenization temperatures and salinities of fluid inclusions in quartz for stage I range from 380°C to 327°C, and 6.9 wt% to 2.6 wt% NaCl eq., respectively. Th and salinities in quartz for stage II range from 304°C to 253°C, and 7.6 wt% to 3.2 wt% NaCl eq., respectively. The calculated δ34Sh2s values (–1.5‰ to 5.5‰) of sulfides and especially the narrow range of δ34Sh2s values of chalcopyrite and bornite (between –0.07‰ and +0.7‰) indicate that the source of the Goshgarchay Cu‐Au mineralization is magmatic. Based on the mineralogical, geochemical, fluid inclusion, and sulfur isotopic data, the Goshgarchay Cu‐Au deposit represents a late stage peripheral magmatic‐hydrothermal mineralization probably underlain by a concealed porphyry deposit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present new biostratigraphic results from two ophiolite outcrops in Armenia. The discovery of upper Tithonian–lower Berriasian diagnostic radiolarian species (Vallupus gracilis Li and Sashida) in the lower radiolarites of the Dali section allows to date more accurately submarine lava eruptions of transitional to alkaline composition. The radiolarian results also indicate that blocks of shallow-water carbonates slid into the basin during this time interval. At Vedi, upper Coniacian–Santonian calcareous nannofossils identified in marls of the post-obduction sedimentary cover refine previous age data. Synthesis of the existing bio-chronostratigraphic constraints in Armenia and Karabagh sheds light to the depositional and magmatic history of Tethys in the Lesser Caucasus and highlights the age constraints of fossils on the timing of ophiolite obduction in the region.

An assemblage of seven brachiopod species belonging to the orders Rhynchonellida, Atrypida and Spiriferida are studied from three localities (Ertych, Djravank and Noravank) of Central Armenia. The examined material is recovered from shallow water nodular limestones and provides insights into the diversity of Frasnian brachiopods on that part of the northern margin of Gondwana preserved within the South Armenian Block. The revision of Atrypa (Planatrypa) ertichensis, a biostratigraphically significant species for the Frasnian of the Lesser Caucasus (Armenia and Nakhichevan), revealed the presence of frills, an ornamental feature rarely observed in Atrypa (Planatrypa) representatives and considered as unknown in this species. Taxonomic discussion also involves the selection of neotypes for Ripidiorhynchus gnishikensis and A. (P.) ertichensis. The newly described taxon, Angustisulcispirifer arakelyani n. gen., n. sp., appears to be one of the most biostratigraphically important species for the Frasnian of Armenia. The size variability of Cyphoterorhynchus koraghensis and Desquamatia (Seratrypa) abramianae is documented quantitatively for the first time and it shows a continuous and progressive growth without any distinct groupings; the former is a palaeobiogeographically important species for the Frasnian strata of the northern Gondwana margin. Pending the revision of the Pakistani and Iranian material ascribed to C. koraghensis, that may include several subspecies, a plaster cast of its lectotype from the Frasnian of Kuragh in Chitral (northwest Pakistan) and the holotype as well as one of the paratypes of Cyphoterorhynchus koraghensis interpositus from the Frasnian Bahram Formation of the Ozbak-Kuh region in eastern Iran are illustrated herein. Finally, a new Frasnian brachiopod zone, namely the Ripidiorhynchus gnishikensis–Angustisulcispirifer arakelyani assemblage Zone is here introduced for the studied sections. Although its base and top cannot be identified, it is constrained to the Frasnian based on conodonts identified in the Djravank section. It may be considered as a partly lateral equivalent of the Cyrtospirifer subarchiaci–Cyphoterorhynchus arpaensis brachiopod Zone established in Nakhichevan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new results from geological-stratigraphic and isotope geochronological studies of young lavas in the northeast part of the Javakheti Highland, Lesser Caucasus, Georgia. We provide a first description of the Algeti complex-structured valley lava flow about 55 km in total length; no information on this feature is available in the geological literature. We show that young magmatism in the northeast part of the Javakheti region has been evolving in the time interval of 3.2–1.5 Ma B.P. Its earlier phases have produced the longest (up to 100 km) valley basaltic lava river of those known in the Lesser Caucasus (the Khrami flow) (3.19 ± 0.10 Ma B.P.). Subsequently (2.7–2.5 Ma B.P.), the eruptions continued to form extensive lava plateaus there (Tsalka, Gomareti, and other plateaus). In the Late Piacentian–Early Gelasian (2.7–2.0 Ma B.P.) the active vents in the northern Javakheti Range started to form the Algeti basaltoid valley flow, with this process lasting for ~1 Ma. The terminal phase of its formation (1.9–1.5 Ma B.P.) was probably related to eruptions of the volcanic cones in the area of Lake Tabatskuri. These data, along with the reconstruction of the history of young magmatism, enabled us to trace the main patterns in the generation of the present-day relief and the network of river valleys in the area of study in the Lesser Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An assemblage of seven brachiopod species belonging to the orders Rhynchonellida, Atrypida and Spiriferida are studied from three localities (Ertych, Djravank and Noravank) of Central Armenia. The examined material is recovered from shallow water nodular limestones and provides insights into the diversity of Frasnian brachiopods on that part of the northern margin of Gondwana preserved within the South Armenian Block. The revision of Atrypa (Planatrypa) ertichensis, a biostratigraphically significant species for the Frasnian of the Lesser Caucasus (Armenia and Nakhichevan), revealed the presence of frills, an ornamental feature rarely observed in Atrypa (Planatrypa) representatives and considered as unknown in this species. Taxonomic discussion also involves the selection of neotypes for Ripidiorhynchus gnishikensis and A. (P.) ertichensis. The newly described taxon, Angustisulcispirifer arakelyani n. gen., n. sp., appears to be one of the most biostratigraphically important species for the Frasnian of Armenia. The size variability of Cyphoterorhynchus koraghensis and Desquamatia (Seratrypa) abramianae is documented quantitatively for the first time and it shows a continuous and progressive growth without any distinct groupings; the former is a palaeobiogeographically important species for the Frasnian strata of the northern Gondwana margin. Pending the revision of the Pakistani and Iranian material ascribed to C. koraghensis, that may include several subspecies, a plaster cast of its lectotype from the Frasnian of Kuragh in Chitral (northwest Pakistan) and the holotype as well as one of the paratypes of Cyphoterorhynchus koraghensis interpositus from the Frasnian Bahram Formation of the Ozbak-Kuh region in eastern Iran are illustrated herein. Finally, a new Frasnian brachiopod zone, namely the Ripidiorhynchus gnishikensis–Angustisulcispirifer arakelyani assemblage Zone is here introduced for the studied sections. Although its base and top cannot be identified, it is constrained to the Frasnian based on conodonts identified in the Djravank section. It may be considered as a partly lateral equivalent of the Cyrtospirifer subarchiaci–Cyphoterorhynchus arpaensis brachiopod Zone established in Nakhichevan.

In this study, the differences in soil properties formed on various periglacial landforms located on slope land and high elevation so, this case create main problem against to soil erosion. The main aims of the study are to determine the physico-chemical properties and some soil erosion sensitivity parameters of the soils formed on the different periglacial landforms of Mount Cin and to predict those soil erosion sensitivity factor using artificial neural network (ANN). It was detected three different periglacial landforms on the Mount Cin. Stony earth circles spread over Cin Hill which is on the summit plain of Mount Cin, while non-sorted steps are located on the northern slopes of Cin Hill and Topkaya Hill. In addition, mud circle landforms spread to the south of Karaçakrak Hill. 25 soil samples were taken from the periglacial landforms in the study area. Afterwards, the physico-chemical properties of the samples were analysed in the laboratory. According to soil analysis from various periglacial landforms, the dominant soil texture is sandy loam: clay ranges from 5.61 to 16.79%, and sand from 48.61 to 76.72%. Also, the average soil erosion sensitivity factors, namely structure stability index (SSI), dispersion rate (DR), and crust formation (CF), were calculated at 29.65, 28.36, and 40.72%, respectively. Moreover, ANN is a model that can operate directly like the human brain. ANN uses the data of the current problem to make predictions. According to regression results of soil erosion sensitivity factors using ANN, the highest prediction rate was obtained for SSI (78%) and the lowest for DR (57%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation was carried out between 2019 and 2020 to reveal the forest vegetation of Beşpare villages in Artvin. This vegetation has been studied according to the conventional Braun-Blanquet approach. A total of 96 relevés were sampled. The cover-abundance of plant species and environmental data in plots were analyzed using multivariate analyses techniques. Raunkiaer life-form ratios, Shannon–Wiener index values, species richness, and chorological spectrum of syntaxa were calculated and interpreted. EUNIS habitat code and names for described syntaxa were assigned. In the area under review, forest vegetation is represented by Querco polycarpo-Piceetum orientalis ass., Carpino orientali-Quercetum polycarpae ass., Carpino betuli-Piceetum orientalis ass., Thelypterido limbospermae-Alnetum barbatae ass., Rubo caucasici-Fagetum orientali ass., Fago orientalis-Abietum nordmannianae ass., Fago orientalis-Piceetum orientalis ass., Abieti nordmanniana-Piceetum orientalis ass., Pino sylvestris-Piceetum orientalis ass. Two new plant associations were identified. Some previously defined syntaxa names have been re-arranged according to The International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In Georgia's Lesser Caucasus, extremely species rich wooded grasslands are still used as pastures or meadows. These silvopastoral systems are one of the oldest land-use types in Europe, hosting both light-demanding and shade-tolerant species. However, in Europe silvopastoral systems have decreased over the past centuries. The aim of this study is to map, quantify, and classify the local land use and forest types in comparison to the potential natural vegetation to analyze and evaluate the high-mountain landscape pattern. Therefore, we mapped a 223 km2 study area and classified this mountainous terrain by topographical variables in a cluster analysis. Our results revealed a small-scale pattern of agriculture and forest in the study area, both strongly interlinked. The forest pattern strongly depends on altitude and aspect. The mentioned wooded grassland consists of forests with varying canopy covers connecting the settlement-near pastures and meadows in the montane belt with the natural open grassland in the alpine belts. The forest is in a near-natural condition compared with the potential natural vegetation. However, the quantifications revealed shrub encroachment indicating land-use abandonment. The compiled GIS-maps and the spatial classification of the landscape can be used to support sustainable management strategies in forestry and agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the Late Cenozoic ignimbrites sampled in the Lesser Caucasus (Armenia) and in the Greater Caucasus (the Elbrus, Lower Chegem and Upper Chegem volcanic massifs in the Northern Caucasus). The Armenian ignimbrites contain 60–67 SiO2 wt %, while those sampled in the Northern Caucasus have 67–76 SiO2 wt %. The Armenian ignimbrites are moderately alkaline and alkaline rocks, while those from the Northern Caucasus are moderately alkaline and normal alkaline ones. The former contain more potassium, they belong to the high K branch of the calc-alkaline series, partly also to the shoshonite petrochemical series, while the northern Caucasian ignimbrites belong to the high K branch of the calc-alkaline petrochemical series, occurring near its boundary with the low K branch. These ignimbrites also differ in the concentrations of trace elements and REEs, and in isotope marks. The above differences between the ignimbrites sampled in Armenia and in the Northern Caucasus are also controlled by different styles of tectono-magmatic evolution in the respective regions, hence by different conditions of their lithospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gadir Au-Ag-Cu-Pb-Zn deposit, located in the western part of Azerbaijan, was extensively occurred in quartz porphyry, and rarely in the contact of the hornfelsed andesite and quartz porphyry. The hydrothermal alterations associated with mineralization are quartz-adularia±sericite and propylitic alterations. The Gadir deposit is mainly composed of native gold, hessite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, pyrite, minor arsenopyrite, marcasite, digenite, barite, and adularia. The Gadir deposit is mainly composed of Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, and Zn which maximum quantities are 10.3 ppm, 1133 ppm, 23780 ppm, 59811 ppm, and 424770 ppm, respectively. The δ34SH2S values (−2.2 to 4.4 ‰) of sulfides (chalcopyrite, pyrite, and sphalerite) from the Gadir Au-Ag-Cu-Pb-Zn deposit indicate a magmatic origin for the ore-forming fluids. The geological, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data for Gadir deposit suggest an epithermal deposit associated with the porphyry system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lesser Caucasus, situated between Asia and Europe, has long been recognised as a key region for the study of human evolution in terms of the timing and routes of dispersal, as well as, ecological adaptations. In particular, scholars have argued whether stable environments persisted in the region throughout the last glaciation, serving as a refugium for temperate biota, likely attracting human settlement and use. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study of Karin Tak Cave, which contains sediments that accumulated between 48,000 and 24,000 cal yr BP. We examined biostratigraphic changes at the site by looking at the composition of fauna, which we hypothesise to be naturally accumulated, in different stratigraphic phases using traditional zooarchaeological approaches combined with collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry). To gain further insights into regional palaeoenvironmental conditions, we also applied stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses to faunal tooth enamel. The obtained results suggest that the onset of the last glaciation did not cause dramatic changes in regional environments, indicating that the Lesser Caucasus was a climatically and ecologically stable region despite significant global climatic changes during this period. • Karin Tak is a Lesser Caucasus palaeontological site that preserves records of the 48,000-24,000-year-old local environment. • Morphological identifications of fossil material combined with ZooMS reveal a rich faunal composition at the site. • Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic analyses indicate a mosaic of forests, shrublands, and grasslands in the Late Pleistocene. • Stable environmental settings persisted in the southeastern Lesser Caucasus throughout late MIS 3 and early MIS 2 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • In the Talesh Massif, we document an Eocene high-K volcanic flare-up. • A trachytic ignimbrite layer is dated at 43.17 ± 0.40 Ma. • Melting of previously metasomatized lithospheric mantle source has occurred. • Geodynamic scenario is south-dipping subduction and asthenospheric upwelling. • Efficient magma transfer occurred along strike-slip faults related to a step fault. The geodynamic significance of Cenozoic magmatism of the Central Tethyan orogenic belt linking the tectonic zones of Iran, South Armenian Block (Lesser Caucasus) and Turkey remains a subject of debate. This study is focused on the thick geological succession of high potassic magmatic rocks erupted in Talysh Massif, NW Iran. We report a comprehensive geochemical study that demonstrates that this succession is comprised of shoshonitic mostly basaltic and some rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks emplaced during an Eocene magmatic flare-up. Forsterite rich olivine (Fo 70–93), combined to high-Mg clinopyroxene (Mg# 0.6–0.8) and high-Ti calcic amphibole (magnesiohastingsite) are the dominant mafic minerals in these rocks. Mafic lavas are enriched in LILE and depleted in HFSE, with high Th/Yb, Ba/Th and Nb/Zr ratios, suggestive of an enriched mantle source following Tethys subduction history. Interlayered felsic lavas allowed to date the series by U-Pb on zircon at 43.17 ± 0.40 Ma, with one relict core displaying an inherited age of 580 Ma. eHf i CHUR of Eocene zircons range from 1.7 to −0.9 (with corresponding T DM ages around 1.0 Ga). The latter, along with the detection of a Neoproterozoic zircon xenocryst, indicates a crustal contamination by a Neoproterozoic (and older) lower crust. These data are in agreement with the partial melting of a subduction-modified subcontinental mantle. This magmatic flare-up could have been triggered by an Asthenosphere upwelling related to the onset of south-dipping subduction in the Transcaucasus region and transcrustal strike-slip faults with a more significant crustal contamination than in the Lesser Caucasus region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Georgia’s Lesser Caucasus, extremely species rich wooded grasslands are still used as pastures or meadows. These silvopastoral systems are one of the oldest land-use types in Europe, hosting both light-demanding and shade-tolerant species. However, in Europe silvopastoral systems have decreased over the past centuries. The aim of this study is to map, quantify, and classify the local land use and forest types in comparison to the potential natural vegetation to analyze and evaluate the high-mountain landscape pattern. Therefore, we mapped a 223 km2 study area and classified this mountainous terrain by topographical variables in a cluster analysis. Our results revealed a small-scale pattern of agriculture and forest in the study area, both strongly interlinked. The forest pattern strongly depends on altitude and aspect. The mentioned wooded grassland consists of forests with varying canopy covers connecting the settlement-near pastures and meadows in the montane belt with the natural open grassland in the alpine belts. The forest is in a near-natural condition compared with the potential natural vegetation. However, the quantifications revealed shrub encroachment indicating land-use abandonment. The compiled GIS-maps and the spatial classification of the landscape can be used to support sustainable management strategies in forestry and agriculture.

We report paleointensity results obtained with the multispecimen method (MSP) over the Pliocene sequence of Apnia (Georgia) which records a polarity reversal. Paleointensity determinations with the multispecimen technique were performed on 12 flows with the original (MSP‐DB) and the domain‐state corrected (MSP‐DSC) protocol. Eight MSP‐DSC determinations passed the proposed quality criteria. To obtain highly reliable data through the agreement between intensity values from different methods, MSP results were combined with paleointensities from a previous study with Thellier‐type methods and especially strict selection criteria (RCRIT) on same flows (Sánchez‐Moreno et al., 2020). Application of this multimethod procedure resulted in three new paleointensities including both MSP and Thellier‐type results and an additional one obtained with two different Thellier‐type methods, yielding one paleointensity of 36.9 µT in the normal‐polarity, and three paleointensities between 19.2 and 24.1 µT in the reverse‐polarity section. Additionally, Thellier‐type data have been reinterpreted in this study with more flexible criteria (TTP) and the results combined with the MSP data. As a result, four flows yield paleointensities including MSP and Thellier‐type determinations and seven include paleointensities obtained with two different Thellier‐type methods. Results range from 37.2 and 44.3 μT in the normal‐polarity and from 12.5 to 24.6 μT in the reverse‐polarity section. Comparison of results from the four flows yielding multimethod determinations applying RCRIT criteria with those from the same flows under TTP criteria yields no significant difference in paleointensity values and their experimental uncertainty. Thus, application of a multimethod approach supports the possibility of using TTP criteria. Key Points: New paleointensity results using the multispecimen parallel differential partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) method with domain‐state correctionsComparison and combination of multispecimen and Thellier‐type paleointensity methods applying and analyzing different selection criteriaHigh‐quality low Pliocene paleointensities obtained with a multimethod approach [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: alpine snow beds; Armenia; Lesser Caucasus; nitrogen nutrition; root growth EN alpine snow beds Armenia Lesser Caucasus nitrogen nutrition root growth 1 4 4 03/03/21 20210301 NES 210301 Snow roots are a very special type of roots that counteract geotropism to grow upward into long-lasting snow fields. Among the studied species we did not find any evidence of snow roots for I Campanula tridentata i and I Carex oreophylla, i but these species did not differ from "snow root" species, neither in total leaf N concentration nor in SP 15 sp N values. N-NH SB 4 sb -soil is part of the mobile (K SB 2 sb SO SB 4 sb ) N pool, while the mobile soil N is part of the total soil N pool. 1 TableLeaf nitrogen content for alpine snowbed plants in Mt. Aragats (Armenia) and 15 N concentration in snow and soil nitrogen substances (N content for mobile N in soil, N-NH 4 -soil and total N in snow shown in ppm). [Extracted from the article]

The Arabia‐Eurasia continental collision created the Caucasus Mountains and the Anatolian and Iranian plateaus. Between the two plateaus, the Armenian Highland features young Holocene‐aged volcanoes. In this study, the P‐wave receiver functions from a new seismic array reveal a thick crust (up to ~52 km thick) beneath the Central Greater Caucasus and an unusually thin crust (32–35 km thick) beneath the northwestern part of Armenia near the Aragats stratovolcano and Gegham volcanic ridge formed by Pleistocene to Holocene monogenetic cinder cones. The average crustal VP/VS ratio in the Armenian Highland is anomalously high (≥1.9), with the highest value approaching 2.1 under the Gegham Ridge. Such high VP/VS ratios cannot be explained by an overall mafic crustal composition. Instead, the presence of partial melts is inferred in the lower crust based on the depth of the low‐velocity structure obtained by inversion of receiver function waveforms. Our study suggests that the postcollisional volcanism was potentially facilitated by the small‐scale removal of lithospheric mantle, resulting in a localized thinner crust balanced by thermal buoyancy and dynamic flow in the uppermost mantle beneath the Armenian Highland. Key Points: Thin crust with unusually high VP/VS ratios is found beneath the volcanoes Aragats and Gegham in the Armenian Highland based on a new arrayPartial melts probably exist near the base of the crust, where high heat flow is supplied from the uppermost mantleLithospheric mantle beneath northwestern Armenia may have been thinned or even completely removed during previous eruptions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of isotope–geochronological study of Quaternary mafic volcanism in the Kapan neovolcanic center (Southern Armenia) are discussed. The rocks studied are represented by alkaline basaltoids with haüyne as the main foid (ordanchites and haüyne basanites), which are unique for the Caucasian Region. As is evidenced from the K–Ar age results, the lavas of Kapan district were erupted in the Calabrian age of the Pleistocene during two separate pulses of magmatic activity (1.1–1.2 and ~0.9 Ma). The composition of igneous rocks is characterized, first of all, by the spatial position of volcanic vents without an evident correlation between the petrologic–mineralogical characteristics of the lavas and the time of their eruption. The youngest magmatic activity in the Kapan center is probably an echo of the Middle Pleistocene large-scale volcanism in the adjacent Syunik Highland. However, it is evident that the mantle source of haüyne alkaline basaltoids had specific geochemical features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—The article discusses the distribution of rare-earth elements in the igneous and metasomatic rocks of the Murovdag ore district of the Lesser Caucasus. It has been established that the metasomatites and host rocks of the Murovdag ore district are characterized by the predominance of light rare-earth elements over heavy ones. The whole complex of the data obtained indicates that the components of the magmatic nature prevailed in the composition of the ore-forming fluids. However, mixing of magmatic fluids with meteoric waters is not excluded. It has been found that metasomatites and host magmatic rocks of the studied deposits have similar REE distribution patterns, which may indicate that metasomatic rocks were developed after igneous protolith of this composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossils and sediments preserved in caves are an excellent source of information for investigating past biodiversity, palaeoecology, and human activity. Until recently, studies have relied on morphology-based palaeontological records, however recent advances in molecular analytical methods offer excellent potential for extracting a greater array of information from the available data. Karin Tak is one such cave that is characterized by a high rate of ancient biomolecules preservation, which creates wide possibilities for reconstructing ecology from Pleistocene to our days. Thus, Karin Tak cave can be considered as a regionally significant site where the unique preservation conditions provide deep molecular insights into palaeoecology and palaeodemography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apatite fission-track analysis and thermochronologic statistical modeling of Precambrian–Oligocene plutonic and metamorphic rocks from the Lesser Caucasus resolve two discrete cooling episodes. Cooling occurred during incremental crustal shortening due to obduction and continental accretion along the margins of the northern branch of the Neotethys. (1) The thermochronometric record of a Late Cretaceous (Turonian–Maastrichtian) cooling/exhumation event, coeval to widespread ophiolite obduction, is still present only in a relatively small area of the upper plate of the Amasia-Sevan-Akera (ASA) suture zone, i.e. the suture marking the final closure of the northern Neotethys during the Paleogene. Such area has not been affected by significant later exhumation. (2) Rapid cooling/exhumation occurred in the Early-Middle Miocene in both the lower and upper plates of the ASA suture zone, obscuring previous thermochronologic signatures over most of the study area. Miocene contractional reactivation of the ASA suture zone occurred contemporaneously with the main phase of shortening and exhumation along the Bitlis suture zone marking the closure of the southern branch of the Neotethys and the ensuing Arabia-Eurasia collision. Miocene collisional stress from the Bitlis suture zone was transmitted northward across the Anatolian hinterland, which was left relatively undeformed, and focused along preexisting structural discontinuities such as the eastern Pontides and the ASA suture zone. Image 1 • Collisional stress was transmitted from the Bitlis suture to the Lesser Caucasus. • In the Lesser Caucasus rapid exhumation occurred in the Early-Middle Miocene. • Earlier Late Cretaceous exhumation was related to widespread ophiolite obduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore the Late Pleistocene (LP) vertebrate faunal diversity in south-eastern Lesser Caucasus based on morphological and genetic identification of fossil bones from Karin Tak cave. For the first time in this under-studied region, we used a bulk bone metabarcoding genetic approach to complement traditional morphology-based taxonomic identifications that are hampered by highly fragmented fossil bones. Excellent ancient DNA (aDNA) preservation allowed for a successful species identification of many bone remains and improved paleoenvironmental interpretations for the region. The aDNA identification of fossil bones revealed a high diversity of animal taxa inhabiting the region between ca. > 42,000 and 25,683–24,803 calibrated years before present (cal. BP). • Insights into Late Pleistocene faunal diversity in the Lesser Caucasus. • Assessment of prehistoric fauna of the region based on bulk bone metabarcoding. • The MIS 3–MIS 2 transition did not cause a dramatic change in the faunal composition. • Karin Tak provides possibility for molecular reconstruction of palaeoenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lesser Caucasus mountains sit on a transition within the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone between very thin lithosphere (<100 km) to the west, under Eastern Anatolia, and a very thick lithospheric root (up to 200 km) in the east, under western Iran. A transect of volcanic highlands running from NW to SE in the Lesser Caucasus allows us to look at the effects of lithosphere thickness variations on the geochemistry of volcanic rocks in this continental collision zone. Volcanic rocks from across the region show a wide compositional range from basanites to rhyolites, and have arc-like geochemical characteristics, typified by ubiquitous negative Nb–Ta anomalies. Magmatic rocks from the SE, where the lithosphere is thought to be thicker, are more enriched in incompatible trace elements, especially the light rare earth elements, Sr and P. They also have more radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr, and less radiogenic 143Nd/144Nd. Across the region, there is no correlation between SiO2 content and Sr–Nd isotope ratios, revealing a lack of crustal contamination. Instead, 'spiky' mid-ocean ridge basalt normalized trace element patterns are the result of derivation from a subduction-modified mantle source, which probably inherited its subduction component from subduction of the Tethys Ocean prior to the onset of continent–continent collision in the late Miocene. In addition to the more isotopically enriched mantle source, modelling of non-modal batch melting suggests lower degrees of melting and the involvement of garnet as a residual phase in the SE. Melt thermobarometry calculations based on bulk-rock major elements confirm that melting in the SE must occur at greater depths in the mantle. Temperatures of melting below 1200°C, along with the subduction-modified source, suggest that melting occurred within the lithosphere. It is proposed that in the northern Lesser Caucasus this melting occurs close to the base of the very thin lithosphere (at a depth of ∼45 km) as a result of small-scale delamination. A striking similarity between the conditions of melting in NW Iran and the southern Lesser Caucasus (two regions between which the difference in lithosphere thickness is ∼100 km) suggests a common mechanism of melt generation in the mid-lithosphere (∼75 km). The southern Lesser Caucasus magmas result from mixing between partial melts of deep lithosphere (∼120 km in the south) and mid-lithosphere sources to give a composition intermediate between magmas from the northern Lesser Caucasus and NW Iran. The mid-lithosphere magma source has a distinct composition compared with the base of the lithosphere, which is argued to be the result of the increased retention of metasomatic components in phases such as apatite and amphibole, which are stabilized by lower temperatures prior to magma generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the palaeontological materials of the Cenomanian, Turanian, Coniacian and Santonian in the Caucasus, taxonomic composition, geographic distribution and migration routes of sea urchins are presented. Furthermore the possibility of identifying zoogeographic units in the Late Cretaceous basins of the Caucasus are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sevan-Akera suture zone ophiolites are relics of a vast ophiolitic nappe which testifies a major obduction event, up to 300 km of horizontal transport, of the northern branch of Neotethys oceanic crust over the South Armenian/Taurides continental block. Near the locality of Amasia (NW Armenia), garnetbearing amphibolites are preserved within a greenschist facies tectonic mélange unit located below the non-metamorphic obducted oceanic unit. The garnet amphibolites show two parageneses: (1) garnet-amphibole-plagioclase granoblasts which crystallized along the S1 foliation intensely folded and recrystallized into (2) epidote-chlorite-phengite during retrogression and S2 deformation. S1 and S2 deformation stages feature top-to-the-South ductile shearing, interpreted as the motion of the ophiolite nappe during obduction. Thermobarometry reveals a metamorphic history with two P-T fields: (1) an amphibolite stage, T = 600±20°C and 6 ≤ P ≤ 7 kbar, followed by (2) a greenschist stage, T = 350±30°C and 1.25 ≤ P ≤ 4.5 kbar. 40Ar/39Ar dating on amphiboles and white micas yields similar within-error ages of 88-92±2 Ma. U-Pb dating on rutile yields an age of 90.2±5.2 Ma. These results are complemented by new and pre-existing characterizations of lithologies in a similar structural position 40 km east, in the locality of Stepanavan. There, newly identified eclogite yield metamorphic conditions of T = 575±25°C and 17.5 ≤ P ≤ 20 kbar. The P-T-t history of these metamorphic units argues for a rapid tectonic process featuring intra-oceanic subduction below a relatively hot oceanic lithosphere, slicing of the overriding oceanic domain, underplating of this subducted material along the hanging wall of the subduction zone and formation of a metamorphic sole as part of an ‘obduction channel’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present-day configuration of the Lesser Caucasus and Eastern Pontides regions has been shaped by multiple episodes of arc magmatism, opening and closure of oceanic domains, obductions and collisions from the Paleozoic (∼350–310 Ma) to Cenozoic (∼50–20 Ma). This fascinating magmatic and tectonic evolution along these two adjacent regions was also associated with an exceptional metal endowment in the form of polymetallic deposits, volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, porphyry Cu-Mo deposits and epithermal Cu-Au deposits in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Several decades of research have significantly improved our understanding of these two regions, yet conflicting models exist for the tectono-magmatic evolution of this orogenic belt. Here we present new zircon Hf isotopic data (n = 575) for magmatic rocks formed in the Lesser Caucasus at Kapan (136–16 Ma, 51 Ma), Gedabek (138–158 Ma), Tsaghkuniats (530 Ma, 320 Ma, 136–153 Ma), Alaverdi (146–164 Ma) and Bolnisi (82–85 Ma, 52 Ma) districts, and in the Eastern Pontides at Elbeyli (74 Ma), Emeksen (78–79 Ma), Güzelyayla (80 Ma) and Ulutas-Ispir (128–129 Ma) districts. The new results are combined with a comprehensive compilation of igneous ages (n = 4560), zircon Hf isotopic compositions (n = 1466), bulk rock major and trace element (n = 1304–1647) and Sr and Nd isotopic compositions (n = 1079) for magmatic rocks formed along the Eastern Pontides and the Lesser Caucasus. These complementary datasets highlight three well-defined cycles of arc magmatism during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic between the two regions, which is characterized by comparable temporal and geochemical trends in the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous and the Late Cretaceous cycles, whereas these trends are no longer similar in the Eocene-Miocene cycle. The new data also reveal that Carboniferous basement rocks in the Tsaghkuniats area have overlapping ages and zircon Hf data with Carboniferous basement in the northernmost Lesser Caucasus and Eastern Pontides. This may suggest the presence of a composite basement in the Lesser Caucacus made of southern Eurasian margin slivers rifted prior to Early Mesozoic and Gondwana-derived South Armenian block accreted to the southern Eurasian margin during the Late Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic. This regional synthesis of the geochemistry of arc magmatism across the Lesser Caucasus and Eastern Pontides over time offers new additional petrological constraints and allows to support our model for the geodynamic evolution of the region. Building on this regional geodynamic framework, the spatial and temporal distribution of ore deposits provides important pieces of information regarding key factors, such as long-lived arc magmatism and switch of tectonic stress regime, controlling arc magma fertility, which ultimately offers new perspectives for exploration opportunities in the middle section of the Tethyan metallogenic belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the structure of the northern margin of the Ararat depression in a study area in SE Armenia. The depression is a Cenozoic intermontane basin located to the south of the Lesser Caucasus. The purpose is to improve understanding of the basin's structure and origin within a regional tectonic framework which has been dominated since the Late Cretaceous by the closure of Neotethys and the Arabia‐Eurasia collision. We suggest that the depression is not a graben controlled by normal faults; rather, based on detailed observations, structures in the study area are interpreted as oblique‐slip reverse and thrust faults activated in post Oligocene‐Miocene times. These compressional faults resulted in the formation of asymmetric fold structures including the Lanjanist and Urts anticlines which are well expressed in the surface relief to the north of the Ararat depression. In general the structural pattern is complicated by secondary normal faults which resulted in superimposed gravitational slope processes and erosion. Major structures in the study area originated in a compressional setting associated with the closure of Neotethys since the latest Cretaceous. Post‐collisional strike‐slip faulting was linked to convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian plate margins. Pliocene and Quaternary structures, some still active, show evidence of structural inheritance. The Armenian portion of the Ararat depression contains obduction‐related nappes, anticlines and thrust faults which have potential as structural traps for hydrocarbons. These should be investigated in detail using advanced geophysical methods including 2D and 3D seismic analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract River management is generally thought to have started at 5500 cal. BC within the development of eastern Neolithic societies. In the Lesser Caucasus, evidence of early river management has been discovered around the famous Neolithic sites of Shulaveri, Gadachrili Gora, and Imiris Gora in Georgia. Here we report a preliminary data set indicating that river management was set up at 5900 cal. BC leading to the flooding, destruction, and local abandonment of the hydraulic infrastructures of the Gadachrili village between 5750 and 5430 cal. BC. The hydraulic infrastructures were developed during a more humid period encompassing the 8200 cal. BP (6200 cal. BC) climatic event, probably to optimize agricultural yield. It potentially led to the first prehistoric engineering accident for which there is evidence, which may have been followed by the reorganisation of the occupation and/or to architectural modifications. Highlights • In the Lesser Caucasus, some evidences of Early Neolithic river management have been discovered. • We report a preliminary data set indicating that the river management was made 5900 cal. BC ago and led to Neolithic village flooding, destruction and local abandonment of the hydraulic infrastructures between 5750 and 5430 cal. BC. • We carried out isotopic analyzes on the seeds in order to characterize or not the occurrence of irrigation. • We highlight the possibility of a development in the Caucasus of the oldest known water management practices. • We also present an original focus on the potential effects of torrential palaeo-floods in Neolithic water management structures and riparian habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates distribution of natural and technogenic radionuclides in rock samples in the southern part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, located in the so-called Transcaucasian intermountain area (II) and in the Lesser Caucasus fold system (III). Several geotectonic units are identified here: the eastern immersion zone or Georgian Block (II 3 ), the molassic subzone of Kartli (II 3 1 ), the central (axial) subzone (III 1 3 ), and the southern subzone (III 1 4 ) of the Adjara-Trialeti folded zone (III 1 ). The radioactivity of rocks in this region has not been investigated. Twenty samples of rocks of various types, including sedimentary and metamorphic, were investigated with the gamma-spectroscopic method. Up to 21 naturally occurring radionuclides and one technogenic radionuclide were identified in samples. Average activity concentration of Th-232 family radionuclides varied from 4.5 to 67.0 Bq/kg, U-238 family: from 4.5 to 93.5 Bq/kg, and U-235 family: from 0.22 to 4.3 Bq/kg. The highest activity concentration was observed for K-40 (maximal value of 746 Bq/kg). Activity of technogenic radionuclide Cs-137 varied from 0.12 to 6.3 Bq/kg. There are some marked features in radionuclide distribution depending, in particular, on rock type, tectonic zone, and age. Some radionuclide activity ratios have been considered: U-238/U-235, U-238/Th-232, Ra-226/U-238, and Pb-210/Ra-226. These ratios allowed estimation of the system's condition (closed or opened) and information about the character of relevant geochemical processes. Comparison was carried out with existing data in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain regions such as the Lesser Caucasus are a focus of ongoing environmental changes. To understand their future evolution, information about their former geomorphic and environmental dynamics is required. The former fluvial dynamics derived from fluvial sediment archives can offer such insights. However, the fluvial dynamics of the Lesser Caucasus since the Eemian interglacial have not been systematically investigated so far. Thus, we have studied late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of several rivers originating from the central Lesser Caucasus. The studied rivers show a mostly coherent record of fluvial dynamics: Minor aggradation occurred during early Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, incision during late MIS 5 or early MIS 4, intensive silty aggradation at least during late MIS 3, incision during early MIS 2, coarse-grained aggradation probably during some millenia until ca. 19 ka, and aggradation ca. 14-13 ka. Following incision around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, aggradation resumed around 6.0, 3.4 – 2.0 and 0.5 – 0.15 cal. ka BP. Generally, periods of aggradation, incision and stability could be linked with regional climatic or anthropogenic influences on regional landscape stability and water availability. The fluvial dynamics of the central Lesser Caucasus mostly differed even between neighbouring regions, and only in cases of significant hemispheric climatic fluctuations as around 20 ka, during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition or the Little Ice Age, were similar over-regional fluvial patterns observed. This demonstrates the individual character of river systems especially in mountain regions such as the southern Caucasus with strong geoecological gradients. Thus, to understand the former landscape dynamics of mountain landscapes, investigations of fluvial sediment archives on a regional to sub-regional scale are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report a detailed paleomagnetic study on two Plio‐Pleistocene lava flow sequences from the Djavakheti Highland, Lesser Caucasus. The Korkhi sequence is composed of two volcanic successions of distinct age (1.9 and 3.1 Ma), while the Apnia sequence was emplaced between 3.8 and 3.1 Ma according to available radiometric datings. Normal, reverse and intermediate polarities have been determined from both sequences. Mean directions of the normal and reverse polarity groups for each section do not match the expected field direction, but the possibility of tectonic rotations has been dismissed. A composite analysis of paleomagnetic directions, of virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) scatter and available paleointensity results from a previous study, allow the interpretation of the observed paleomagnetic results. In the Apnia sequence, both a short recording time unable to average paleosecular variation (PSV) and an anomalous Earth magnetic field (EMF) record are responsible for the observed paleomagnetic directions. According to paleomagnetic results and radiometric ages, this sequence most probably records the reverse to normal polarity transition C2Ar to C2An‐3n. The upper Korkhi subsequence yields an anomalous EMF record, reflecting a transitional time interval. Paleomagnetic results and available absolute ages suggest that this subsequence either records transition C2r‐1r to Olduvai or Olduvai to C1r‐2r. The lower Korkhi subsequence registers a normal polarity interval within the Gauss chron, reflecting a stable stage of the EMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Late Cenozoic volcanics of the Lesser Caucasus have similar trace-element and REE patterns with negative anomalies of Nb, Ta, Hf, and Zr. They are highly enriched in Rb, Ba, Th, and La and depleted in Ti, Yb, and Y with respect to N-MORB, which indicates their formation from the subduction-metasomatized lithospheric mantle. Partial melting of the subcontinental mantle lithosphere and crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization controlled the magma evolution in the collisional magmatic belts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]