Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2021 number 2

We examine the impact of roads on geosystems in areas of new development where the development of infrastructure in connection with extraction of hydrocarbons is proceeding most intensely. The objects for study are represented by automobile roads beyond the official network which were informally constructed, maintained or used by various organizations or private persons. We provide a schematic representation of the types of roads with different forms and regimes of management. As the model area for the study of the influence of roads on taiga geosystems, we selected the area in the north of Irkutsk oblast, in the interfluve of the Kirenga and Khanda rivers; field investigations of the transformation of geosystems were made along the informal road from the village of Vershina Khandy to the settlement of Magistral’nyi. Particular attention was paid to the possible intensification of geomorphological processes as one of the crucial factors for changes in geosystems. A comprehensive analysis of geological, geomorphological and landscape factors using remote sensing data and field studies made it possible to compile a geomorphological map with identification of dangerous exogenous processes. The main causes for landscape disturbances were identified, namely degradation and transformation of vegetation cover and changes in the temperature regime of permafrost, leading to waterlogging and subsidence of soils and, as a consequence, to the formation of multiple tracks along the roadside and an intensification of linear erosion.