Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2020 number 3

It has been established that megacities, due to an excessive concentration of anthropogenic pressure, pose increased risks to human health and contribute to the growth primarily of mental illness. In this regard, a new medical-urban approach to the study of modern megacities is justified using the city of Moscow as an example. It is a multidisciplinary approach and includes a whole range of sciences and scientific directions: from urban planning, architecture, geography and ecology to medicine, psychology and sociology. It is confirmed by facts and arguments that the most effective for the implementation of the medical-urban approach is territorial planning, which is aimed at creating a spatial environment favorable for the human life and sustainable development of the city. It should focus on the spatial development of the territory, change the environment at the request of residents and form social design centers where residents, together with authorities and specialists, would propose initiatives for the development of their territories. It is illustrated by concrete examples that Moscow, as the basis of the urban development strategy, is oriented towards improving the quality of life and living comfort of the townspeople, the orientation of an acceptable health care system, health economics, and the fight against depression, which is characteristic of residents of all large cities of the world. The health programs of successful cities of the world (London, New York, and Singapore) and government programs of Moscow are analyzed, which are aimed at developing public ecological transport, forming an effective protection of public health from the adverse effects of urban factors, ensuring medical rehabilitation of the population and reducing risks to public health and improving the quality of life of citizens. It was revealed that the implementation of these programs in Moscow contributes to the formation of “health landscapes”: territories where the quality of the urban environment and living conditions of the population are approaching or correspond to the highest world standards.

We examine the methodological and practical issues related to the application of information technologies and space-based monitoring in ethnological examination of projects of Arctic industrial development. The necessity and prospects of using these technologies to assess the resource productivity of the territory are illustrated by the example of the project of the extraction of alluvial gold in the basin of the Mokrundya stream of the Srednekolymskii ulus (district) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. In particular, this is necessary for analyzing the distribution of dominant plant communities, determining the phytomass of pasture plants, stocks of wild plants, and reindeer grazing capacity, and for calculating the losses of the indigenous peoples of the North in the influence zone of the project. A geobotanical map of the study area is provided. It is also shown that the use of space-based monitoring in carrying out an ethnological examination of projects and determining the damage caused to the local population as a result of the impact on traditional land use practices (hunting, gathering wild plants, and reindeer husbandry) makes it possible to take an inventory of pasture lands of reindeer husbandry and reduce the cost of these projects in comparison with traditional methods (field surveys of the territory, and aerial imaging surveys). The possibilities of comparing interannual images can also provide insight into the dynamics of changes in the territory under the influence of anthropogenic activity and taking into account climatic transformations.

This article deals with the features in the morphology and dynamics of river beds and floodplains located in different natural zones and in different conditions of development of channel deformations. In preparing small-scale thematic maps (geo morphological, landscape and other maps), river valleys and their constituent river beds and floodplains are displayed in a simplified fashion using a common linear conventional sign. However, the procedure neglects the influence on the formation and development of riverbeds and floodplains from zonal processes associated with climatic features of river basins. For revealing this influence, an original small-scale map of riverbeds on a large territory of the East of the Eurasian continent covering the Asian part of Russia, Mongolia and China (Eastern transect), was compiled. The climatic zonality of both plains and highlands is widely manifested in this territory and the influence of zonality on intrazonal channel processes is emphasized. Of course, the leading factors are fluvial, but they are actively influenced by zonal natural factors. In the nival zone, they are represented by cryogenic processes, and in the semiarid zone by aeolian and halogen processes (salinization of floodplains). In the highlands, the role of horizontal zonality is less (it is manifested only in the semiarid highlands), but there the influence of azonal slope processes is intensified. Only in the humid zone, the nonfluvial factors of channel and floodplain processes are almost not manifested. The identified regularities are associated with the occurrence of dangerous emergency and extreme channel pro cesses which differ in their specificity in each natural zone. This should be taken into account when mapping them and using river resources.

This paper studies the changes in winter air temperatures in the Siberian sector of the northern hemisphere (60-120 ° E) over a long-term period of 1947-2017. A positive trend in air temperature (0,3 ° C/10 years) was revealed. An analysis of the magnitude and frequency of temperature anomalies also confirms an increase in surface temperature. The distribution of large positive and negative temperature anomalies was investigated. Centers of the largest recurrence of large negative anomalies were located in the south and south-west of the study area. A maximum number of negative anomalies were observed in December. Large positive anomalies (the highest frequency in January) were observed throughout the territory under consideration, and extremely large anomalies were found only at 20 % of the stations. The largest number of anomalies in the period of 1947-2017 was observed at the Irkutsk station. Based on the analysis of elementary circulation mechanisms (classification by B.L. Dzerdzeevsky), a relationship was established between the atmospheric circulation and the distribution of air temperature anomalies. It was concluded that the temperature regime in the winter months was formed under the influence of 26 elementary circulation mechanisms, combined into seven groups. The meridional circulation prevailed (75 % of cases). The elementary circulation mechanisms of the meridional northern circulation group were all characterized by the presence of blockings and intrusions of southern cyclones into the study area. In general, over the past two decades, an increase in duration of macrocir culation processes resulting in the inter-latitudinal air mass exchange has been revealed.

Using literature data and material from this author’s large-scale landscape-ecological research, an analysis is made of the impact of global anthropogenic warming over the last 100 years on the state of the forest geosystems of the Volga basin. In mixed forests, a nemoralization of the grass stand was revealed, with a decrease in the number of boreal species, and in oak forests - а massive desiccation of oak. It is found that on the southern border of the forest zone there occurs a partial replacement of forest-steppe vegetation with northern-steppe vegetation, this latter being substituted by dry-steppe vegetation. As a result, gray forest soils and common chernozems have persisted as northern relics. In the A1 soil horizon, the fractional composition of humus has changed, which indicates a change of the podzolic soil-forming process by the sodding process. At the main landscape line of the Russian Plain along the Oka and Volga valleys, a peculiar three-dimensional biogeographic ecotone was formed as a result of the transgression of different vegetation types: the taiga, nemoral forest and steppe types, along different biological ho rizons. Significant changes in the structure of hydrothermal niches of forest biogeocoenoses occurred on zonal ecotones of forests and steppes: the shift of dominants to an arid critical state of forests as well as the emergence of negative excesses and even “gaps” in the structure of niches. All these signs point to the beginning of massive structural and functional restructuring of forest geosystems in the Volga basin. Within the next 100 years, we can assume a certain “savanization” of mesophilic deciduous forests and their closure with a common mosaic complex of light forests, meadows and steppes of typical forest-steppe. This will occur against the background of instability of zonal boundaries.

The article presents the results of linear and areal retreat rates of gullies in the territory of the Western Pre-Kama region of the Republic of Tatarstan as obtained on the basis of the stationary observations and interpretation of high-resolution satellite images for the periods 1983-1994, 2000-2014 and 2015-2018. The results from monitoring the gullies and interpretation of satellite images indicate comparable rates of linear headcut retreat rates. Analysis of observational data shows an uneven character of the gully headcut retreat as well as indicating a reduction in the rate of development of gully erosion in the current decade compared with the period of 1983-1994 about twice in the Western Pre-Kama region and by a factor of 7 within a small catchment. It was established that, in spite of cessation of the linear growth, about 66 % of all the gullies under investigation continue their development by increasing the width, or areal retreat. The average area growth of gullies for the entire territory of the Western Kama region is 22 m ² per year, and for a separate catchment it is 1.5 m ² per year. It is shown that the chief reasons behind the decrease in the growth of gully headcut is climate change, which manifests itself in a rise of winter-spring air temperatures, a reduction of the duration of the cold period, an increase in the occurrence frequency of thaws and decreases in the depth of soil freezing as well as anti-erosion measures (construction of hydraulic structures and protective afforestation) which were actively introduced in the 1990s throughout the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. The influence of land use has most likely played a secondary role.

Soil-erosion processes in the basins of the Tugnui and Sukhara rivers of the Selenga middle mountain region of the Republic of Buryatia were studied. It was revealed that the Tugnui basin is characterized by slope water-erosion, fluvial and aeolian processes. Five soil-erosion areas were identified. It was found that areas of rare, weak, medium and high density and the degree of density of gullies are typical for the southern slopes of the Tsagan-Daban mountain range, the northern slopes of the ridge Zaganskii range, the Tugnuiskii intra-depression low-mountain range, the river valleys, and the treeless cultivated areas. The gullies are affected by sub-mountain deluvial-proluvial aprons occupying the most extensive areas on the bottom of the depression, the ledges and surfaces of river terraces, and the bottoms of balkas. Toward the mountains surrounding the depression, the density and the degree of density of gullies decrease considerably. Territories with the degree of linear dissection ranging from 0,07 to 0,25 km/km ² and the density of gullies varying from 0,13 to 0,51 gully/km ² were identified. Compared to the deflation processes, the middle part of the Tugnui steppe region and the areas within the basins of the Barka, Galtai and Sutai rivers were severely destroyed by gullies. The base level of erosion in this locality is more than 400 m, according to absolute elevations the watersheds (average value) and the elevation at the mouth. Different groups of gullies were identified according to the distribution of gullies along the length, and to the indicator of the intensity of the erosion processes. It was found that most of the gullies with a length of more than 600 m are in the stage of rest, increasing more in volume and sometimes in length, due to the growing small side gullies holes, and the most widespread types are slope and bottom, and more rarely, less often coastal scours. It was found that the determining factors in the development of gullies of these types include the occurrence of slopes with a steepness of 3-5°, the complexity of the terrain, the heterogeneity of soil-forming materials, the occurrence of thick loose deposits, rain precipitation of significant intensity, and high agricultural development. It is estimated that the total length of the scours in the basins of the Tugnui and Sukhara rivers is 834 km, with 480 km of them corresponding to the gully network in the most plowed valley of the Tugnui river which has a catchment area of 2770 km ² .

Quantitative assessments are made of the formation of municipal solid waste, ash and furnace waste from heat power plants (boilers), and logging and timber processing activities in the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory. The mate rial and raw material balance method and the normative method were used as the basis, and calculations used potential volumes of waste produced (thematic industrial reference books) and specific indicators adopted for particular federal subjects of Russia. These authors are executors of several thematic research projects of federal and regional status, aimed at the environmental and socio-economic development of the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory (seven administrative districts and one urban district of Irkutsk oblast and of the Republic of Buryatia), which has allowed us, over the last two decades, to character ize, evaluate and predict the development of various economic processes in the environment and society of this territory, includ ing issues related to production and consumption waste management. Variants of a comprehensive solution to the problems of waste management are proposed: alternative sources of energy and heat supply in the central ecological zone (logging and timber processing waste and consumer waste) as well as applications in the construction sector and, in particular, in road construction (ash and slag). The findings of this research can serve as the substantiation of particular managerial decisions on the promotion of the ideology of the green economy by developing further the aforementioned individual types of reuse of waste produced in order to safeguard the World Heritage site, Lake Baikal, and sustainable development of society on its shores.

Based on our hydrological and hydrochemical studies in winter 2018 and on previous data (2001-2017), we analyze results on changes in the chemical components and water quality of the Selenga river and its tributaries obtained at the final stage of a long-lasting low-water period. It was found that after the historically minimum winter river runoff in 2012 and its slight rise in 2014, the winter river discharges in the subsequent period were again abnormally low and contributed to the deterioration of the Selenga water quality. During winter 2018, the concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the Selenga river and its tributaries changed from 6,0 to 10,5 mg/dm ³ (44-70 % of saturation). In some areas of the streams under study (the Selenga river near Novose lenginsk and downstream of the city of Ulan-Ude; the Uda river in Ulan-Ude), where the values were minimal, the water qual ity decreased to the “heavily polluted” category. At the beginning of the current century, the oxygen content in the river during the wintertime was significantly higher (67-99 % of saturation). This gives evidence to a decrease in self-purification capacity. It is found that sulphate concentrations as the indicators of industrial contamination of the river waters have increased through out the Russian section of the Selenga. In the lower reaches of the river, these values reach 16,5-22,2 mg/dm ³ , whereas in the pre-industrial period they varied within 7,2-10,4 mg/dm ³ . Concentrations of biogenic elements were the highest in the areas of input of wastewaters. On the whole, the hydrochemical studies made in 2018 unequivocally indicate the quality deterioration of the Selenga waters in the wintertime due to an anthropogenic impact and a decrease in the water runoff.

We examine the formation conditions for the resources and chemical composition of mineral lakes located in the vicinities to the unique natural site of the Barguzin intermontane depression, Nizhnii Kuitun. Presented are the results from studying the surface structure of this sand massif. It is shown that its formation is associated with peculiar features in the tectonic development of the Barguzin depression. It is pointed out that the block of rocks forming Nizhnii Kuitun is broken up by tectonic faults into several smaller parts, and this had a determining impact on its modern appearance. The lakes under study are situated in the northern part of Nizhnii Kuitun, in the Nukhe Nur urochishche, in the topographically clearly pronounced drainless depression. The formation of this depression occurred during the uplifting stage of the block of rocks when intensively fragmented rocks, located at the interface of the faults, lagged behind in vertical movement. The depression receives the runoff of surface and underground waters which drain sedimentary deposits of Nizhnii Kuitun. Data are provided to demonstrate that the lakes are situated in the ablation funnels of sand-clay sediments. On the basis of a quantitative determination of the chemical composition of water and gases, it is proved that seepage waters of sandy sediments of Nizhnii Kuitun and nitrogenous fissure-vein waters play the main role in the formation of resources and chemical composition of the lake water in the area of the Nukhe-Nur uro chishche. The hydrological-hydrogeological model of the formation of the lakes under study is suggested. In a dry period when the amount of water infiltrating through the sand deposits of Nizhnii Kuitun decreases, the proportion of deep fissure-vein waters increases; therefore, water mineralization increases in the lakes as well as fluorine, sodium, tungsten and molybdenum contents. In wet years, the contribution of drainage waters to the formation of the lake’s resources increases, and the concentration of these elements decreases.

Boreholes exposed the structure of the loess cover on four key sites along the line from the Eastern Azov region to the Terek-Kuma plain. In order to obtain the most preserved loess paleoarchives, the profiles and boreholes were established located at subhorizontal flat interfluves unimpaired by modern and relict erosion. A stratigraphic subdivision of sediments was carried out on the basis of the loess-paleosol scheme developed under the direction of A.A. Velichko. A set of laboratory analyses of 411 samples was carried out: granulometric analysis, loss on ignition, and magnetic susceptibility. A gradual decrease in the thickness of the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene loess-paleosol sequence and particle size from east to west was determined. Data obtained indicate that the source of loess material is located east to Ciscaucasia - in the deserts of the Caspian lowland and, possibly, of Central Asia. The main direction of the aeolian transport during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene was from east to west. The differences in thickness and grain size between the loess and paleosol horizons reveals a differentiation in the intensity of aeolian processes. The intensity was higher during cold stages and lower during warm stages. The loess paleo-archives located in the eastern Ciscaucasia have higher temporal resolution and more responsive paleoclimatic indicators than the western ones. They reflect regional climate changes better. In western Ciscaucasia, the sedimentation conditions were more constant throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene than in the east of the region.

The chemical (macro and trace element) composition of the waters of eutrophic and mesotrophic swamps and rivers is pro vided, based on of expedition investigations on the territory of the Northern, Central and Southeastern Altai. An increased content of a number of elements was observed, which is determined by the botanical composition of peats as well as underlying rocks. Special features in the formation of the composition of swamp waters in peat deposits of a different genesis are determined; the influence of swamps on the hydrochemical regime of surface waters are identified. A dependence of the hydrochemical composition of swamp rivers on swamp waters is confirmed, which is manifested in the content of humic acids. It was found that a change in the amount of humic and fulvic acids indicates the dynamism of their input from the peat deposit to the swamp waters as well as a higher content of humic acids in the waters of mountain swamps in comparison with the swamps of the West Siberian plain. It is shown that in the swamp waters of the Northern Altai there is an increased content of a number of elements, which has a sig nificant impact on the hydrochemical regime of intra-swampy rivers. In the Central Altai, there is an increase in mineralization of swamp waters due to a predominance of shallow swamps and the close occurrence of underlying rocks. It was determined that there is no accumulation of chemical elements in the swamp waters and in intra-swamp rivers of the Southeastern Altai, but an increased content of humic acids was determined. The content of trace elements does not exceed the value of maximum permis sible concentrations, which indicates that there is no input of man-made substances to the swamps of the territory of Altai. It is proposed to evaluate the elemental composition of swamp waters that has formed as a background composition to date.

This article presents the results of a comprehensive geochronological study of organic-rich sediments lying at the base of the sand suite in the well-known reference Belyi Yar II section on the left bank of the Irkut river (Tunka depression, Southwestern Cisbaikalia). It was found that in the 1960s, a pack of lake-marsh sediments from the lower part of the section was assigned to the upper Eo-Pleistocene, and the overlying sands to the Samarovo period of the Middle Pleistocene. Later, based on the first ¹⁴ C datings, the stratigraphy of these sediments was revised. The lower part of the sediments was attributed to the Kargian time, and the overlying sands to the Sartanian glaciation. However, the questions concerning the genesis, age and conditions of forma tion of these sediments remain controversial. In particular, the individual dates of ¹⁴ C differ greatly different from one another; therefore, they require further verification. A renewed study of the lower part of the Belyi Yar II section discovered peat and gyttjas deposits of alluvial origin. It was shown that their numerical age is beyond the ¹⁴ C dating method limits. Paleobotanical data showed that the gittya was formed in conditions of a relatively warm and humid climate, and the overlying layers accumu lated in the cooling and more xerophytic condition. Evaluation of the ²³⁰ Th/U isochronous age of these organogenic deposits, combined with palynological data, suggested that the bottom of the sand layer in the Belyi Yar II section was not formed during the Kargian time (MIS 3), as was thought previously, but during MIS 5. The gittya could have formed during MIS-5c, where as the overlying peat layers formed, possibly, at the transition to MIS-5b.

For the first time, a monitoring was carried out for assessing the volume of the ice of the Peretolchin Glacier in the Munku-Sardyk mountain range (Eastern Sayan) using georadar profiling both directly to measure the thickness of the ice and to refine the parameters of mathematical models for determining the volume of the glacier. Based on results of the area radar survey, the volume of the various structures of the glacier (firn, the main icy body, and bottom moraines) was assessed. 3D models of these components of the glacier have been constructed. It was found that, in comparison with results of georadar profiling for other glaciers, the modern bed of the Peretolchin Glacier consists of deposits of the previous glaciation which ended 11 ka. Measurements of the ice thickness on the northern Peretolchin Glacier were made in June 2014, and in May 2016 and 2017, with a constant increase in the study area using the Oko-2 radar with the ABDL Triton antenna unit at 100 MHz. Maps of the ice thickness of the Peretolchin Glacier were updated, and its volume was determined, equal to 0,007 ± 0,0001 km ³ . The section of the glacier of direct study (the lower open part) measures 0,00297 km ³ . The method of sections, taking into account the relief of the glacier from additional profiles, proved to be the most accurate. In the surveyed portion, the proportion of firn, the ice and the bottom moraine makes up 25 %, 29 and 46 %, respectively. On the other hand, the proportion of the clean ice reduces from the middle part of the glacier to its bottom. Over more than 100 years, the Peretolchin Glacier (northern) has decreased in length, area and volume by factors of 1,75, 2,9 and 3,71, respectively. It has been established that the rate of reduction of the Peretolchin Glacier has been increasing since 2009.

This research focuses on Holocene polygenetic burozems on red residue (Rikord Island). We determined the particle-size distribution, analyzed the spore-pollen composition of genetic soil horizons, and obtained burozem radiocarbon datings. It is shown that the upper part of the profile is dominated by the fraction of coarse silt whose content gradually decreases down the profile, followed by a marked increase at depths from 145 to 180 cm. This indicates an active cyclonic activity and sheet wash in the Late Holocene, which is also confirmed by a high level of adventitious Pinus densiflora pollen in AYEL horizon spore-pollen spectra. Profile distribution patterns for silt and clay fractions give evidence of clearly pronounced argillification of the lower part of the profile caused by intense processes of weathering at the period of formation of the ВМС and С horizons (LU 7127:4530 ± 180 BP). Silica accumulation in the AYEL horizon is due to podzolization in the cold climatic conditions of the Late Holocene (LU-7563:1550 ± 110 BP), which was reflected in the composition of spore-pollen spectra: a decrease in the amount of pollen from broad-leaved species and an increase in pollen from small-leaved species (birch). Palynological data indicate that the C and BMC horizons of the profiles under study largely formed in warmer (compared to the present time) climatic conditions of the Middle Holocene, whereas the BM horizon formed in the latter part of the Middle Holocene in cli matic conditions similar to the present-day conditions. The AYBM, AYEL and AY horizons formed in colder (than present-day) climatic conditions of the Late Holocene, as indicated by recent deluvial deposits overlying red residue and giving rise to poly genetic burozems. The O horizon (leaf litter) formed under present-day climatic conditions, with a general trend in climate warming.

Presented are the results of experimental studies into the interaction between the surface and subsurface water in 16 moun tain river basins of East Sayan and Lake Baikal as carried out by the Irkutsk-based Institute of Geography during 1984-1990. The research program included regular measurements of the thickness, area and volume of the surface and underground ice along the entire length of the valleys, pressure in closed lenses of underground waters, daily measurements of water discharges and chemical composition throughout the channel network. It was found that at the end of winter about 80-90 % of the area of the valleys of the rivers under study are covered by aufeis and by the seasonal subsurface ice of a different genesis. Furthermore, about half the volume of the seasonal ice corresponds to the surface ice (river ice and aufeis), and the other half to the subsur face segregated and injected ice. It was further shown that the period of formation of the main bulk of ice begins and ends earlier in the sections closer to the mouth. The “wave” of maximum intensity of ice formation gradually moves the river upstream. The ice volume is the last to form in the upstream components of the river network. At this time, the ice formation of the other area of the watershed has terminated or its main part has formed already. A cryogenic barrage phenomenon occurs, as a result of which the channel network receives subsurface water which, under normal conditions, is not drained by the river. The winter river runoff increases from 50 % in the sections close to the source to 5-10 % at the mouth of the river.

We examine some issues related to the application of the Monte Carlo method for estimating of errors in calculations of numerical characteristics of the river flow from available series of observations. As a result, it is shown that the adopted Monte Carlo algorithm, which served as the basis of official recommendations for calculating the numerical characteristics of the flow, leads to a significant exaggeration of the negative bias of the numerical characteristics of the dispersion. It is found that the implementation of the above algorithm does not take into account a number of questions, and these authors suggest that special attention should be given to them. Among them are the following four: the first question is related to the fact that the tables of ordinates of the binomial probability curve are used for statistical testing of samples of different durations, which are often not applicable for a large number of tests due to extrapolation beyond the data given in the tables. The second question implies that, in some cases, the Pearson type III probability distribution curves, constructed for time series of the annual flow, negative values are obtained from modeling, which contradicts the physical essence of the river flow. The third question is related to the applica tion of the method of normalization and linearization of G.A. Alekseev’s connections without taking into account the smoothing effect of this method, which leads to an increase in the negative shift of the scattering characteristics. The fourth question is due to the lack of research on the issue of accounting for the spread of empirical points relative to theoretical curves, and the influ ence of the above effect on the final result of modeling. In this context, it is concluded that there is a need for substantial clari fication of these points set out in the four questions as well as for the development of appropriate recommendations.

Ecologo-geochemical conditions of surface water and groundwater are considered in the case of one of the industrially most developed states of India, West Bengal, within the Damodar river basin near Damodar City. The observations were made in the pre-monsoon period of March 2019, a period with the worst conditions of wastewater dilution. To analyze total chemical composition of water samples a standard set of analytical methods was used; trace elements were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Data obtained indicate both the unsatisfactory water quality and the intense self-purification processes. The waters under study are, in general, characterized as freshwaters (except for the stream receiving wastewater from the chemical plant where the water is “brackish”), HCO3-Ca or HCO3-Na (except for the water in the stream near the chemical plant, which is Cl-Na , and groundwater, which is Cl-Ca ). In most cases, the waters are oversaturated with carbonates, compounds with humic acids, quartz and undersaturated with primary aluminosilicates. The main pollutants are organic compounds according to the values of permanganate demand and chemical oxygen demand, Al, F^-, NH4⁺, Fe and Mn . Phosphates, As, Pb and some other chemical elements are also presented in significant concentrations. It is shown that most pollutants settle in bottom sediments of the streams receiving wastewater from industrial enterprises within a few kilometers from the wastewater discharge points. The mechanism of water self-purification is, possibly, associated with co-precipitation and sorption of a great number of substances on particles of poorly soluble carbonates and hydroxides of Ca, Fe and some other metals at relatively high pH values associated with the consumption of carbon dioxide by microorganisms.

The 250 ^th anniversary of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), the great geographer, traveler, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society was widely celebrated in 2019. Special emphasis is placed on the famous travels of the German scientist to Ural, Siberia, and to the Caspian Sea in 1829. An analysis is made of A. Humboldt’s expedition which promoted the achievement of the planned targets. Among them are a highly skilled accompaniment and support from local authorities in regions of Russia, a good transport and route support, a careful preparation of objects for study, a gratuitous availability of samples and cartographic data, command of the German language by most of the respondents, and a wealth of expedition experience by A. Humboldt and his fellow-travelers. The main results of the travel promoting the development of national science and education are considered.