Abstract
Arctic territories of the North-East of Russia, promising for the findings of fossil remains of mammoth fauna have been surveyed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The application of such vehicles enables identifying the signs that may indirectly mark accumulations of bone remains, in particular, remote inspection of the coastal bluff s formed by thermal erosion of the so-called edoma sediments — highly icy (containing more than 50–90% ice), organic-rich (containing more than 1–2% organic matter), silty, sandy loam, and fi ne-sand late Pleistocene sediments. The use of a drone makes it possible to monitor the state of such sediments and detect fresh washouts and rockslides, which expose buried bone remains. The use of UAVs is promising for detecting and surveying secondary collectors of bone remains — steep river bends of small streams, bottoms of reservoirs to a depth of 0.5–1.5 m, as well as inaccessible coastal parts of reservoirs, in which bone remains may be uncovered during the melting of edomaceous sediments.
About the authors
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; P.I.Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; M.K.Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha
Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia
Yakutsk Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; P.I.Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia
M.K.Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University; Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha; Diamond and Precious Metal Geology Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia; Yakutsk, Russia
Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha
Yakutsk, Russia
P.I.Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yakutsk, Russia