Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and natural resources 2018 number 3

Presented are the results from taking an inventory and analyzing the land cover transformation during 2001-2012. The study revealed 246 types of transitions between land cover classes according to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, including 229 types of changes with a change of land cover classes. The density of changes is highest in the taiga and steppe zones of Eurasia and North America, savannas and woodlands of Africa and South America, the Arctic tundras of North America and Eurasia. It was found that the natural zones with a complex structure of land cover (open woodlands, shrublands and savannas of the tropical belt and hard-leaved summer-dry open woodland and shrubs of the subtropical belt) have the larg est number of transition types (17) and types of changes (10 and 8, respectively). The contribution from the particular transfor mation processes to the structure of land cover changes within the natural zones was calculated to show the principal land cover trajectories for each natural zone. The findings provide a means of assessing the degree and nature of land cover transformation within the natural zones and identifying, on this basis, the leading land use trends which would have a considerable influence on the structure and dynamics of present-day land surface landscapes across the globe.

The formative stages of the geosystem mapping methodology are outlined. It is determined that the early stages of geosystem mapping showed a continuity of the ideas of geobotanical mapping: concerning the hierarchical structure of the phytosphere, and the invariant and the variable states of plant communities. It was found that geosystem mapping involves integrating the facies according to structural and structural-dynamic indicators differing from a traditional typization. Data were generalized having regard to the assignment of the facies to a particular landscape area. Use was made of the facies categories of optimal, limited and reduced development caused by a difference in their structure and biotic productivity. It was determined that a next mapping stage implied identifying the dynamic categories and geosystem state variables associated with one primary geomer regarded as the parent core. The map legend was based on the characteristics of the relief and vegetation. The absence of other indicators has limited the possibilities of using the map to solve forecasting problems. It was established that at present, given a significant body of landscape data, there is almost no research devoted to the cartographic solution of the problem of assessing changes in the natural environment. There is a need for mapping of the structural, dynamic and genetic uniqueness of geosystems and to explain their diagnostic features in all crucial components. We determined that the current stage of mapping should be focused on solving the problem of geographical map-based forecasting. For solving the forecast issues, we ide ntified the features of structural-dynamic and evolutionary transformations of geosystems, their stability, and the direction of transformation under the influence of various factors. The methodology of geosystem mapping are suggested.

Presented is a draft atlas entitled «Healing springs and medicinal herbs» that was prepared at the Faculty of Geography of the Lomonosov Moscow State University as part of a series of medical-geographical atlases of Russia. Based on the synthesis of accumulated information the Atlas will for the first time provide a complex representation of healing water and therapeutic mud sources and medicinal herbs of Russia systemically displaying the medical-geographical aspects of this natural resource as a component of the health-improving potential of the country. The Atlas is aimed at the solution of tasks covering the inventory, assessment and recommendations for utilization and protection of healing springs and medicinal herbs as a part of the national assets of the country. It would satisfy the information demands of people providing for their broader involvement in the sphere of scientific and traditional medicine. The geography of healing springs and medicinal herbs will be for the first time more com pletely displayed in the Atlas as well as showing their possible uses for the main classes of diseases. The Atlas includes six sections containing information on natural and socio-economic conditions, healing springs and medicinal herbs, diseases requiring natu ral medicinal resources for their treatment and prevention, on the study, protection and prospects for use of healing springs and medicinal herbs. A considerable body of reference information is included in the Appendix. Medical-geographical maps of model areas (the Tyva Republic, the Far East and the Crimea) will be published in the Atlas along with the all-Russia choro graphic maps. The Atlas will provide an information base for assessing the potential of the ecological, medical and spa tourism, sanatorium-resort therapy, the development of resource-saving extraction of water, mud and herbs for medical, health-improving, recreational and other purposes with due regard for environmental protection issues.

Using the method of mapping by high resolution satellite imagery mapping, a study was made of the key areas which are located in the southern part of the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of Tatarstan and of Orenburg, Saratov and Voronezh oblasts. Two key indicators were determined: the gully length density and gully head density within the basins; results of the investigation were used in compiling respective maps in vector format. It is established that the density of the gully length in the basins varies over the range from 0 to 0.5 km/km ² (from the absence of gullies to strong gully erosion), and the density of gully heads from 0 to 3 units head/km ² . The slope type of gullies is dominant in all basins (about 80 %), while the coastal and bottom types have approximately the same proportion (14 and 10 %, respectively). Using methods of mathematical statistics we determined a high directly proportional dependence of the indicators of the contemporary gully network on the level of ploughness of the basins and the mean annual precipitation amount, and an indirectly proportional dependence on the level of sodding. An abrupt reduction in gullying indicators was determined. It was found that among the chief reasons behind an abrupt reduction in the gullies to date is a decrease of the rate of agricultural development, with an additional factor, namely, a dramatic decrease in surface runoff down the arable slopes during spring snowmelt caused by climate warming. It is concluded that that a significant part of the gully forms in the study area is currently inactive and massively passes into the balka stage.

An analysis of geoinformation data on the spread of steppe fires is proposed, the areas of which are identified on the basis of a series of Landsat satellite images for 1984-2015. We selected five key sites located in different geographic areas of the Trans-Volga region and South Ural, covering clusters of the Orenburgskii state nature as well as adjacent agricultural areas. By analyzing the long-term dynamics, we determined a widespread trend of an intensification of steppe fires. Since the mid-1990s till the present, it has been manifested in a significant increase in the area of occurrence and in recurrence frequency. It has been established that the cause for an intensification of fires in the steppe regions is a significant reduction in agricultural production, accompanied by restoration of vegetation cover on unused lands and accumulation of dry phytomass. It was determined that, given the favorable conditions for the occurrence of fires, the weather and climate factors increased in importance, implying a higher amplitude of fluctuations in the areas of the burnt-over areas, especially in abnormal years. Data on the current frequency of grass fires (both in protected areas and in a large part of agricultural lands) indicate that the vegetation cover and other components of steppe ecosystems are constantly in a state of post-pyrogenic succession. Using an example of one of the sites (the Burtinskaya steppe), a high restorative capacity of tree-shrub areas within the boundaries of the ecotopes occupied by them was revealed. It was noted that the absolute regime of reserve that excludes any economic activities, combined with an intensification of fire phenomena in the adjacent territories, gives rise to an acute fire-hazardous situation. It is pointed out that there is a need to establish a unified system for ecological monitoring of fires.

For rehabilitation of disturbed ecosystems in mining areas, it is proposed to identify centers of biological diversity concentra tion in the immediate vicinity of coal-mining enterprises. Such centers should be selected on the basis of assessing natural land scape vulnerability to anthropogenic impact and calculating the rare species index. This research was done by using, as an ex ample, the Novokuznetsk district of Kemerovo oblast. In assessing vulnerability through a comparison (in matrix form) of calculated parameters of anthropogenic transformation and sustainability of landscapes, five levels of vulnerability (very high, high, medium, low, very low) were identified. The proportion of the territory of the district with low and very low vulnerability makes up 70.8 % and 7 %, respectively. The rare species index was calculated, based on assessing biodiversity represented by more than 1404 species, including 46.3 % of plant species and 36.3 % of animal species from the regional Red Data Book. GIS technologies were used at all stages of investigations. As a result, six centers of biodiversity concentration were identified for the Novokuznetsk district. The sites encompass key types of landscapes with very low and low vulnerability and a high index of rare species. Three of them are located in the Salair chain of hills, namely, at the interface of steppe, forest and valley landscapes (site I with rare species index of 9.1) as well as within taiga landscapes (6.4 for sites II and III). Three sites are located in the Kuznetsk Alatau; these are rare landscapes with tilia sibirica (IV - 23.1), and typical taiga landscapes of eastern (V - 23.1) and northern (VI - from 8.8 to 23.1) low mountains. The suggested approach can be used as a tool for solving environmental problems of mining regions.

A comprehensive study of fens was carried out in the zone of weak influence of the enterprises in the Norilsk industrial region. Evidence for the present state of these fens was obtained for the first time as well as on their typization, the pollution level of vegetation and peat deposits by aerotechnogenic pollutants, namely, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead and sulfur for the lower reaches of the Keta-Irbo river (western macroslope of the Putorana plateau). It was established that the proportion of fens in the study region is not high. They are located along the river valley on poorly drained piedmont plains and also occur in the lower part of the mountain-tundra belt. The fens are of forest-marshy or marshy subtype. Sedge, horsetail and Hypnum mosses are the main peat-forming plants in this area. The thickness of the peat deposit of the valley and mountain-tundra bogs varies from 2 to 3 and from 0 to 1 m, respectively. It is composed of sedge, Hypnum, grass-Hypnum peats. The peat deposits are characterized by an acid pH throughout the profile and by a low degree of peat decomposition. Diagnostics of the degree of pollution of plants-indicators for fens in the key area showed an exceedance of concentrations in all elements with the exception of lead when compared to the background. The highest copper and nickel concentration was observed in true mosses of pools filled with abundant water. The highest cobalt concentration was observed in sphagnum mosses of dry ridges. An ecological-geochemical assessment was made of the peat pollution level in the fens (the upper 0.5 m layer of the deposit). It was found that its pollution level depends on the geomorphological position, hydrothermal regime, and on the phytocenosis type of fens. The study revealed that the concentration of copper, nickel, cobalt and sulfur in peats of the valley fens is much lower than in peats of fens of in termontane depressions and in peats of the swamped birch forest. It is shown that generally the concentration of pollutants in peats of the fens in the study area significantly exceeds the background, especially for copper and nickel.

This paper considers the theoretical and methodological aspects of landscape-hydrological analysis in substantiating the possible development of recreational activities within the boundaries of the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory (BNT CEZ) in Irkutsk oblast. The hydrological characteristics of the landscapes in terms of their sensitivity and resistance to natural changes and external influences are given. We carried out a landscape-hydrological zoning for the BNT CEZ territory within the boundaries of Irkutsk oblast having regard to the conditions of runoff formation, the characteristic features of its regulation in various landscapes, and to the possibility of preserving the natural water regime and the water-ecological state in utilizing the territory. It is determined that the main factors for the landscape differentiation in assessing the advisability of recreational development without damage to the Lake Baikal ecosystem and to the natural waters of BNT CEZ as a whole are the hydrological properties of landscapes and resistance of natural complexes to impacts. It is found that the level of realization of the main hydrological functions of landscapes, i. e. the runoff formation, runoff regulation and water protection functions, characterizes the involvement of the natural complex in the formation of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the local runoff, in the replenishment processes of dynamical reserves of subsurface waters, the regulation of natural floods and freshets, the preservation of the water-ecological potential of the territory. As a result a landscape-hydrological framework zoning of the territory using the landscape planning tools, three zones have been identified: the zone of the preservation of the existing state, the zone of regulated use, and the zone of territorial development. The proposed zones have general recommendations for the preservation of the hydrological and water-ecological indicators of the natural complexes which imply abandoning any activity in areas of particularly high value and highly sensitive to impacts, and the possibility of developing recreational activities in sustainable areas, subject to environmental protection measures.

The distribution of major and trace chemical elements in the snow water of the cover has been studied in the near-shore zone of the settlement of Listvyanka (South Baikal) along Baikal high road. It is established that the elemental composition of snow is governed by local natural and anthropogenic pollution sources influencing, to a different extent, the sites of the study area. The study did not reveal any influence of the pollutants air transport from the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo industrial hub ac cording to indicative elements is not detected. The main pollution factors are the roadbed, exhaust gases, smoke emissions from boilers and ovens in private houses. The markers of pollution sources can be arbitrarily divided into eight groups. According to the degree of mineralization and elemental composition, the samples used in the study are divided onto three types: clean snow (on the Lake Baikal shore at the beginning and at the end of the settlement more than 10 m from the roadbed), moderately polluted snow (along the entire length of the settlement 10-40 m from the roadbed) and dirty snow in the immediate vicinity of the roadbed (less than 10 m) and/or of the roadside cafe. The maximum contribution from chemical elements in the polluted melt waters to the mean annual balance of the surface subsurface flow is calculated. It is shown that the input of toxic elements and of elements favoring eutrophication with polluted melt waters is present in insignificant amounts when compared with the surface and subsurface flow; hence, it cannot serve as the determining factor for the emergence of the ecological crisis at Baikal in this area.

On the basis of comparing old maps, satellite imagery and archival material, interviewing local residents and doing fieldwork, we reconstructed the history of agricultural development of the small river Kud’ma basin on the Volga Upland over the last 150-200 years and assessed its influence on the transformation and modern dynamics of small river channels. We developed the zoning scheme for the basin according to three types of anthropogenic impact on the channels, the directedness of vertical deformations and to corresponding channel transformations. It is shown that the character of channel transformation depends on the natural differences of the rivers within the basin as well as on the specific practices of using the different-order rivers and on the character of development of different parts of the basin as a whole. It is found that the largest impacts on the channels that led to a change of the morphodynamic type of channel and to the transformation of the floodplain to the terrace occurred in the middle reaches of the main rivers, Kud’ma and Ozerka: a large-scale channel rectification was organized on the Kud’ma river, whereas the channel incision on the Ozerka river was caused by draining the ponds in the 1930s. Changes in the channel mor phodynamics was also manifest in the character of straightening of meanders and the formation of specific lake-like expansions at their heads. A serious transformation occurred in the channels of the smallest rivers in the developed part of the basin which were affected by siltation. Feedbacks occurring in the case of impacts on the river are demonstrated: channel rectification with the purpose of draining swampy floodplains for agriculture leads, because of the channel incision, to a shortage of water re sources and dictates a need for land irrigation.

This paper considers the problem of pollution of water bodies within the Tom’s river basin by waste waters from large industrial and municipal enterprises. An overview is provided for the methodological approaches to assessing the anthropogenic load, including direct impacts on the water body and indirect impacts its catchment area. An analysis is made of the amount and structure of wastewaters entering the Tom’ river and its tributaries from local pollution sources. The level of direct anthropogenic load on water bodies within the river basin was estimated using indicators, such as the waste water dilution ratio and the pollutant load based on its conditional mass (reduced to MPC). It is found that the highest level of anthropogenic load is characteristic for small and very small rivers in which waste waters are often discharged without any treatment whatsoever. It is shown the highest level of anthropogenic level occurs in water bodies on the territory of Kemerovo oblast. Within the Tom’ basin, the largest source of pollution of not only surface but also subsurface waters is located in the southern part of Kuzbass, in the vicinity of Novokuznetsk, in the most densely populated and industrially developed area disturbed by coal mining. The results obtained are confirmed by the fact that every year these rivers are assessed as the dirtiest in the river basin; the concentration of particular pollutants exceeds the MPC several times. The results reported here can be used in developing a special program of remediation of the anthropogenic load on the water bodies in Kemerovo oblast, including from local sources of pollution.

The spatiotemporal dynamics of land covers of representative catchments of the Altai region (Altai Krai and Republic of Altai) was analyzed using remote sensing data and GIS techniques. The following key areas were used: the adjacent basins of Lake Gor’koe and the Kasmala and Barnaulka rivers on the Ob Plateau (Altai Krai) were used for the inland drainage area of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve and the left bank of the Upper Ob; the Bol’shaya Rechka basin on the Biisk-Chumysh Upland and ancient Ob terraces (Altai Krai), for the right bank of the Upper Ob; the Belaya river basin (Altai Krai) for the low mountains and middle mountains of the Northwestern province of Russian Altai, and the Maima river basin (Republic of Altai) for the low mountains and middle mountains of the Northern and Northeastern Altai provinces. The algorithm for analyzing the actual state of land covers and identifying the main vectors of their transformation was adapted to the study area. A series of multi-temporal Landsat images for three time slices was used. It is found that the plain catchments of the steppe and forest-steppe zones are characterized by a smaller amplitude of land cover change as compared to the mountain zones. For the inland drainage area of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve and the left bank of the Upper Ob, a reduction of the arable land and a high natural dynamics of water bodies are most indicative. The right bank of the Ob is characterized by the lowest dynamics of all types of land cover and a significant dynamics of artificial water bodies. In the mountain basins, a noticeable decrease in the forest areas largely in favor of natural grass communities was caused by the economic activities. It is also shown that the directions of changes and transitions of different types of land covers can differ greatly for different groups of landscapes.

Bedrocks are subdivided into three types (blocky, rubbly and poorly lithified rocks) differing by interaction of fragments prevailing at the initial stages of weathering with streams. The expediency of this typification is substantiated along with the dif ferentiation of territories based on dominance of one of the three types. As an example, an overview is used of the results obtained in the course of the author’s research in Northeastern Russia. It is shown that the dominance of rocks of the rubbly type in this case determines the prevalence of braided rivers and their specific hydrological regime gives rise to alluvium of numerous pref erential flow pathways. Evidences is provided for the concentration of underground flows in these pathways which shows itself in a number of non-trivial features of groundwater regime (temperature and level variations) and ensures a very high effective permeability of alluvium. It is proved that these features lead to an intense water and heat exchange between rivers and their floodplains and to formation of extensive taliks on which the unique phytocenoses of long-boled mixed forests develop. It is demonstrated that an abundance of open taliks ensures a tight linkage of surface and subsurface waters and a large storage of them. One of the consequences is that in Northeastern Russia the seasonal glaciation (the proportion of meltwater from aufeis in the overall surface runoff) is much larger than in all the other territories. The approach considered here holds promise for a number of geographical disciplines enhancing objectivization of the regionalization of study territories.

The spatial and temporal dynamics of monsoon in the Holocene has been reconstructed for the Lower Amur area. Four stages of cooling are determined (10 300-10 800, 8000-8300, 4200-4600 and 2500 yrs. ago). During these periods the inten sity of the summer monsoon was weakest. The conventional northern boundary of monsoon influence moved from 54° N to 48° N. Two retrospective scenarios of the interaction versions of interaction of seasonal atmospheric centers are suggested, which had influence on the dynamics of the cyclone process over the southern part of the Far East in the Holocene. The cyclones attenu ated as a result of frequently recurring long-lasting periods of an increase in pressure in the region of the summer Far-Eastern and Asian depressions, and a decrease in pressure over the Sea of Okhotsk as well as the displacement of the center of the Okhotsk anticyclone toward southern latitudes, which was often in a quasi-stationary state blocking the passage of cyclones to the southern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. In either case, the cyclones were forced away to lower latitudes and intensified over northern and eastern regions of China. The two scenarios could work both synchronously and metachronously.

An ecological-economic study was made within the framework of the overall assessment of the environment-forming services of geosystems in order to estimate the cost of the ecosystem service for carbon deposition by geosystems of one of the territories of traditional nature management in Nenets Autonomous Okrug situated in the coastal zone of the Arctic Ocean. Input data included published statistical and cartographic characteristics concerning the structure and areas of the study territory as well as observational data in scientific publications on carbon deposition in geosystems occurring in similar ecological-geographical conditions. As a result of assessment calculations, it was established that the cost of only one ecosystem service, namely, deposition turned out to be almost equal to the cost for the bio-production ecosystem which was analyzed earlier under the Global Ecological facility (GEF) project and is used for compensation of a loss of territories of traditional nature management of indigenous peoples living in the Arctic zone of Russia, as a result of the removal of lands for other types of nature management. Calculations served as the basis for compiling the map of the unit cost of the ecological service for carbon deposition based on the geobotanical map. It is determined that the preservation of pools of ecosystem services for territories of traditional nature management will permit them to perform important functions of mitigating unfavorable anthropogenic transformations of geosystems accompanying economic development of the Arctic zone of Russia.

The historical factors of the development of organic agriculture in the Baikal region are considered on the basis of ethno ecological experience of traditional agriculture management in the 18th-19 ^th centuries. It is pointed out that the historical method of developing the territory of Transbaikalia is based on nomadic ethnic culture, self-consciousness of the Buryat ethnos, and on the stereotype of behavior in the natural environment and constitutes a unique historical experience of adaptation of the Buryats in the steppe and forest-steppe landscapes of Transbaikalia. And the preservation of nomadic traditions and the Buryat culture of economic managing deserve the attention of researchers. The historical-geographical approach makes it possible to demonstrate the adaptive character of nomad livestock breeding and the use of the territory of Transbaikalia region by the Buryat ethnos in the past, using a conditionally allocated cattle-breeding model as an example. It is shown that the livestock breeding (nomadic) model of agrarian nature management under consideration reflected a specific «strategy of adaptation» of traditional (nomadic) nature management to the natural environment of the region, which was at a certain socio-economic level of development and represented a natural model for the existence of the Buryat ethnos formed under the influence of the unique landscapes of Transbaikalia and historical traditions. The livestock breeding model of the economy in the past was the main system of using the territory of Transbaikalia by the Buryat population and reflected the dynamic stereotype of behavior in a given natural environment. The main features of nomadic livestock breeding are identified, which confirm that the livestock breeding model was an ecologically correct form of farming, and traditional agriculture is an alternative to intensive forms of agriculture, a kind of management with a focus on the manufacture of ecologically clean products of livestock breeding as well as being the prototype of organic agriculture in the Baikal region.

The process of laboratory compilation of the natural landscape chorological map of one of the uluses (administrative districts) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic is presented at a scale of 1:2 500 000. The GIS tools were used to reference thematic carto graphic documents to the topographic base of the ulus containing contour lines, elevations and the main river network. The final river network is drawn on the basis of other data sources. A significant role in the subsequent map compilation stages was played by data from the Google Earth website: 2D and 3D images were used to identify floodplains. Units of glacial landforms of foot hill areas and the main types of geological and geomorphological units of the ulus were determined using both published data sources and the Google Earth imagery. The map of natural vegetation has been compiled having regard to the humidity conditions and the vertical zonation of the climate and soils. The digital map layers in GIS were gradually combined into the synthetic natural landscape map of the ulus, and the identified natural landscape units were also incorporated into the regional classifica tion of the landscapes of Siberia. It is established that the hierarchical system of natural landscapes of the ulus differentiates three levels of classification: high (the landscapes are differentiated with respect to their geographical location into the landscapes of lowlands and high mountains), intermediate (the differentiation of the landscapes with respect to the genesis and topography dissection in a relevant climatic zone) and low (the natural landscapes are determined by a combination of vegetation covering the type of soil that developed on a given geological substrate).

Presented are the first data of a structural analysis of the river basins in the Upper Angara region, and the spatial features of the distribution of the values of the structural indices for the third-order basins are determined. As a representative area for identifying the structural features of the river basins in the low-water karst region, we used the basin of the Oek river (the right tributary of the Kuda river). Using the methodological approach based on the Horton analysis, we determined the main struc tural indices of the basin, namely, bifurcation indices, lengths, areas, slopes and geomorphic work, for third-order basins. Map ping of the territory used the technique of automated identification of catchment basins in terms of SRTM v.4 DEM, followed by data processing in the SAGA GIS. An analysis of the distribution of the indices showed the largest dissection of the western part of the basin in the upper components of the erosion network. It is determined that the highest homogeneity of the structural in dices is characteristic for the third-order sub-basins located in the western part of the Oek basin within the Irkutsk-Cheremk hovo plain, while the largest diversity in the diversity of the structural indices corresponds to the basins of the Kuda depression. An analysis of the distribution of the indicators of geomorphologic work showed that a significant part of the matter transport is done by the first-order channels in the western part of the basin. An analysis was made of the territory for the distribution of the basins with a different potential to accumulate/remove matter. According to this indicator, most of the basins are defined as transit basins, and the accumulation basins occupy one-third of the territory and are concentrated within the Irkutsk-Cherem khovo plain in the lower part of the basin. Two releasing basins, small in area, are located in the northern part of the basin.

To study the structure of geosystems within the key area (125.3 km ² ) on the northern slope of Khamar-Daban Range, we used method of factorial-dynamical series of facies as developed by A. A. Krauklis. Because of the composite and mosaic pattern of the study area, the typization was carried out according to the commonalty of the functional attributes. Comprehensive physical-geographical descriptions of 83 sample plots were used in compiling the hierarchical classification of geosystems and mapping of geosystems at level of groups of facies at scale of 1:50 000. Results of an automatic pixel-based classification of Landsat-8 and Aster images and a processing of the SRTM digital elevation model were used in delineating boundaries of the landscape units. On the key area we identified 46 types of facies which were grouped into the following hierarchical levels: groups of facies - classes of facies - geoms. The types of facies are represented on the territory by climax states as well as by succession stages. The entire diversity of the geosystems is presented by five geoms: the subgoltzy shrub geom on rocky ground and corroms which includes one class of facies with one group of facies; the sub-alpinotype high-mountain-meadow geom (one class and three groups); the mountain-taiga dark-coniferous/open woodland geom (two classes and two groups); the mountain-taiga dark-co niferous geom (two classes and four groups), and the piedmont plain dark-coniferous geom (two classes and four groups). The territory is dominated by the following groups of facies: spruce-fir and fir-spruce forb and forb-fern forests with bilberries on steep slopes on combinations of Entic Podzols and Regosols; Siberian stone pine-spruce (with fir krummholz) subshrub small grass-sedge sphagnum forests on combinations of Folic Entic Podzols, Histic Cryosols and Fibric Histisols, and fir (with spruce and Siberian stone pine) forests with forbs and elephant’s-ears saxifrage in herbaceous layer on combinations of Humic Leptosols and Dystric Cambisols with rock outcrops on steep slopes. The created map of geosystems allows to take into account the char acteristic properties of the mountainous territory in the process of planning and projecting of recreational activity on the studied area.

Results from investigating atmospheric aerosols in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) 2005-2014 are presented. It is found that the largest sources of suspended particles are represented by fuel combustion and the concomitant exhaust gases, thermal power 2 generation, industrial facilities and mineral dust transport; the main components of aerosol particles are SO4 ^- , NO3 ^- , Cl^-, NH4 ⁺ , Ca²⁺, and Na⁺ . It is determined that in the wintertime, as a result of an increase in fuel consumption, calm weather and orographic characteristics of topography which contribute to accumulation of contaminants in the urban atmosphere, the average sum of ions increases to 43.9-114.6 μ g/m ³ against 7.44-18.48 μ g/m ³ during a warm season. Interannual differences in aerosol composition were noted; the total ion content averaged 43.9 μ g/m ³ during December 2011, 114.6 μ g/m ³ during De cember 2012, 68.7 μ g/m ³ during December 2013, and 64.7 μ g/m ³ during December 2014. It was found that the concentration of the sum of ions in the aerosol during the winter period is by a factor of 6 higher than during the summer. The highest exceed ance of the concentrations was observed for the alkaline earth ions Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ (by a factor of more than 20) forming part of the ash components. There is a difference in the chemical composition of the aerosol sampled in the center of the city and on its outskirts. It is established that the aerosol composition and concentration in Ulaanbaatar during the winter pe riod are comparable the aerosol composition in the industrial cities of China.

In the lead-up to the 100 ^th anniversary of the Institute of Geography RAS, we summarized the salient features and chronol ogy of its field investigations into the country’s nature and resources during the 20 ^th -21 ^st centuries. It is shown that the institute’s history has embodied all stages of evolution of national geography: the traditions of the late 19 ^th century with their departure from the perception of geography as a «descriptive» science and the development of genetic (V. V. Dokuchaev’s) and chorologi cal (A. Hettner’s) approaches, the development of the sectoral specialization of science, the introduction of modern methods: remote sensing, navigation and geoinformation technologies, and the formation of the geography of the 21 ^st century as a philo sophical phenomenon and a synthetic discipline with profound prospects for a better understanding a rapidly changing world. This was all facilitated by the institute’s continual expedition activity that began in the first years of its functioning and has continued to date. For the first time in the historiography of the national academic geography, we determined the vectors of field investigations at the time of change of the paradigm of its interaction with practice and the relatively poorly studied territory of the country. A brief history of the permanent stations operated by the institute is given as well as identifying the periods of its functioning according to the character of expedition work: the 1920s, 1930s, the period of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, 1946-1965, 1966-1990, and from 1991 till the present.

We consider the research activity of the talented scientist Dashi-Dondok Bazarov. This paper briefly reviews the main stages of his creative life and lists his major scientific achievements. Dashi-Dondok Bazarov was a very versatile scientist. In addition to applied research, he was also interested in basic research, such as stratigraphy of Cenozoic deposits, reconstruction of paleogeographical and paleolandscape settings of the Quaternary, history of relief evolution, compilation of geomorphological and engineering-geological maps, schemes of neotectonics for separate areas of Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia, paleozoology and paleobotany, paleoecology and natural environmental protection. The thematic maps generated by Dashi-Dondok Bazarov or with his participation have been and are widely used for applied and educational purposes, mineral exploration and geological forecasts. It is emphasized that his principal merit was the creation of his school of Transbaikalian Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists, a school that has been successfully working and showing excellent results to date.