Traditional Institutions of Public Authority in Mongol-Inhabited Lands of Imperial and Republican China, 1900s–1920s: Spatial Localization and Visualization

Introduction. The territorial organization of Inner Asian polities underwent significant transformations in the first quarter of the 20th century, which resulted in a need for its visualization. Goals. The article attempts to reconstruct the system of key public governance institutions in Mongol-inhabited lands of China in the mentioned period, and to describe tools of their visualization supposed to spot the former across present-day geographical points of the region. So, the study aims to examine some basic institutions of princely power and khoshun administration, religious and aimag/league-level authorities, impacts of the Chinese colonization on Mongol-inhabited territories, investigate sources, tools and methods instrumental in spatial localization and visualization of territorial /governance structures across the lands. Materials and methods. The work focuses on two groups of sources, namely: unpublished materials from P. Dudin’s doctoral thesis (manuscript) (Statehood of Inner Mongolia: Late 19th to Mid-20th Centuries) discussing public governance structures of Mongolian banners (counties); and unique maps of 1914/1925 mentioning khoshuns, aimags and leagues of almost all Mongol-inhabited domains. The research methodology rests on an interdisciplinary approach, methods of historical science to comprise the ideographic (descriptive-narrative) and retrospective ones, a narrative approach, and principles of historicism; knowledge of political science yields an opportunity to employ functional and behavioral approaches. The geographical methods involved rest on the scheme of analysis proposed in works of O. Medushevskaya (1957) and L. Goldenberg (1958), as well as on some analysis of the data generalization degree. Results. The work has reconstructed the early 20th-century system of key Mongolian public governance institutions, outlines how the system of princely power functioned, how khoshun-level administrative bodies took shape and worked, identifies the governance role of religious institutions, while insights into different levels of the administrative/territorial organization facilitates further understanding as to actual scopes of power attributed thereto, and makes it possible to visualize the investigated space with the aid of contemporary tools and techniques. Conclusions. The paper points to the efficiency of the then management system where it was the khoshun that had served — and remained — a key structural element. The latter’s detailed illustrations on V. Surin’s maps make it possible to restore the ancient territorial organization of Mongolia using the GIS system, free access be provided for researchers of the region

Ecological State of Lake Gusinoe—A Cooling Pond of the Gusinoozersk GRES

The study of the transformation of substances in the basin of the Selenga River—the main tributary of Lake Baikal—under anthropogenic pressure and in the context of global climate change, is especially important for the lake, a globally important source of drinking water. The ecosystem of Lake Gusinoe is one of the key objects in the Selenga River basin that is exposed to significant anthropogenic pressure. This study presents the results of an analysis of water level changes and physicochemical parameters of the water mass of Lake Gusinoe; literature data from 1951 to 2017 and own data from 2017 to 2021. The water level in the lake had depended on natural factors before the Gusinoozersk GRES was launched; however, since the plant has begun using the lake as a cooling pond, its level has actually been regulated by the economic entity. Over the years, there has been a significant increase in mineralization, sulfate, sodium, fluoride and organic matter fractions resistant to oxidation. Seasonal increases in iron and manganese concentrations in water were detected. Increased concentrations of nutrients and organic matter fractions resistant to oxidation were registered at the wastewater discharge sites. Heavy metals in the bottom sediments of Lake Gusinoe accumulate mainly in the silt of the deep zone of the lake. Plants growing in the zones of influence of the Gusinoozersk GRES and Gusinoozersk wastewater discharge accumulate the largest amount of metals