Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2024 number 3

A working concept of geosystem monitoring of forest ecosystems under modern global warming is outlined. It is planned to carry out a full cycle of monitoring in its classical triad of Izrael-Gerasimov triad: “observation (state assessment) - control (forecast) - management (adaptation, feedback, regulation)”. The program of scientific research involves developing empirical and statistical models of the state of forest ecosystems in the past, present and future as well as uncovering the mechanisms of forest forward and backward linkages with climate. The models should describe the spatial diversity of the local and regional responses of forest cover to climatic signals as well as the regulation patterns of the carbon cycle by forest biogeosystems. According to the Paris Agreement (2015) on climate change, it is planned to solve the two-pronged problem of “adsorption-adaptation”: quantify the ecological resources of boreal and nemoral forests in mitigating modern warming and calculate sustainability parameters of forests to a changing climate as a measure of their adaptive potential. In terms of solving this problem, a working algorithm for geosystem monitoring of forests is proposed, which describes a successive change in the stages of observation, forecasting and regulation, with the identification of mitigation and adaptation effects on the carbon balances of forest ecosystems. The working tool of analysis is represented by a sliding (pendulum) operating system where observation and forecasting are repeated many times, and the basic landscape-ecological relationships are regarded as mechanisms of the metabolic response of forest communities to climate change. The program presented describes one of the ways to solve the main scientific and practical task of monitoring, i. e. to establish the ecological potential of forest ecosystems in given zonal and regional conditions for the transition to adaptive forestry.

This paper presents the main results of comprehensive systems research into the issues of Lake Baikal level regulation. The research was conducted in 2021-2023 within the framework of State Assignment FWEW-2021-0009 on the theme “Influence of changes in the Lake Baikal water level on the lake’s ecosystem and assessment of the damage to economic facilities and infrastructure of the coastal territory of the Republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast, in the context of the lake’s level and discharges of Irkutsk HPP” (final third stage of FWEW-2021-0009). The research involves analyzing the historical background for the emergence and evolution of the Lake Baikal regulation issue, considering the need to take into account environmental and socio-economic factors, and shedding the light on the reasons and relevance of this research. Critical intra-annual periods and components of the ecosystem are identified for the coastal part of the lake whose successful functioning largely depends on seasonal changes in the lake level. Environmental and fishery requirements are formulated for regulating the level of Lake Baikal. Socio-economic damage is assessed for various lake levels and flow rates of Irkutsk HPP. Critical levels and flow rates are identified. Projected changes in the components of the water balance and net inflow into Baikal are presented considering the expected climate changes for the period into 2060. A procedure (rules) for regulating the level of the lake is proposed with due regard for the environmental and socio-economic factors for various streamflow water conditions. The permissible maximum and minimum levels, ranges for the lake level fluctuations and flow rates of Irkutsk HPP, which could minimize potential environmental and socio-economic damage, are determined. Proposals are formulated to amend federal legislation related to the issues of Lake Baikal level regulation.

The uncertainty of the concept of the “BAM zone” and of its territorial composition and boundaries is indicated. The composition of the zone has been clarified and its following structural elements have been identified: 1) a subzone of direct influence in the form of a latitudinal chain of municipalities directly crossed by the highway, and consisting of three sections: the head Taishet-Ust-Kut, the middle Ust-Kut-Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and the final Komsomolsk-on-Amur-Sovetskaya Gavan; 2) a subzone of indirect influence in the form of municipalities adjacent to the first subzone. As a result, the BAM zone includes 31 municipalities (taking into account the addition of urban districts to the districts of the same name) and occupies 29.1 % of the total area of the six “BAM” regions: Irkutsk oblast, Republic of Buryatia, Zabaikalskii krai, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Amur oblast, and Khabarovskii krai. The results of the development of the zone are considered according to two main components: settlement and industrial. It has been established that due to the steady decline in the population of the zone at the post-Soviet stage, its number and share in the total population of the “BAM” regions (with the exception of the middle section) have now almost returned to their original state half a century ago, and the population of the base cities (Ust-Kut, Neryungri, Tynda, and others) turned out to be 2-3 times less than planned. The industrial development of the BAM zone was suspended until the early 2010s, the plans for the formation of 8-13 territorial production complexes and industrial hubs were not implemented, and in fact only Yuzhno-Yakutsk and Verkhnelenskii complexes were formed from the planned complexes. It is concluded that in the near future, more intensive industrial resource and raw material development of the mainline is expected, but its settlement development and demographic potential will continue to decrease due to the introduction of new low-labor-intensive technologies and the use of a shift method of labor organization.

This article is timed to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is devoted to the scientific activity of Institute for Water and Environmental problems SB RAS. A brief description of its history of creation and development is given. The organization of the Institute was dictated by the need to conduct basic research on the study of environmental processes and phenomena, assessment of the state of water resources and study the issues of balanced nature management in the vast Siberian region. The main scientific directions of the institute’s activities are listed: formation, monitoring and use of water resources in Siberia (based on the basin approach); development of scientific bases for environmental protection and rational nature management taking into account anthropogenic factors and climate change. The structure of the institute, including 7 laboratories and 2 branches, is presented, the main research objects (the Ob and Irtysh Rivers, the Novosibirsk reservoir, the lakes: Teletskoye, and Chany and their catchment areas), scientific projects and their results are noted. Among the largest projects are: assessment of ecological consequences of construction of large hydroelectric power plants (Katun, Krapivinskii, Boguchansk, and Evenkiiskii); ecological assessment of consequences of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site; ecological support of rocket and space activity, including construction and operation of the Vostochny cosmodrome; research into the current state and scientific substantiation of methods and means to ensure sustainable functioning of the water management complex in the basins of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers; research into methods and means to ensure sustainable functioning of the water management complex in the basins of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers, and research on the environmental protection of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers.

This article summarizes the results of long-term integrated research performed by SIPPВ of SB RAS studying composition, structure and dynamics of biodiversity in Siberia and adjacent regions at the level of populations, species, biocoenoses, and ecosystems and revealing of responses of organisms and their coenoses to changes in environmental conditions caused by natural and anthropogenic factors. The sequestration of carbon dioxide by conifer forests growing on the territory of Baikal Natural Region was estimated. Forest fires in Transbaikalia were reconstructed on the basis of tree-ring chronology with an annual resolution of 351 years. The concept of paragenesis was justified as it characterizes the formation of phytocoenoses which by their structural-dynamic organization are not related to a zonal type (or altitudinal belt) of vegetation. The data obtained can serve as an information base while determining basic vectors of regional ecological policy, and they are important for the assessment of the present state of biodiversity in Baikalian Siberia and its changes under the conditions of anthropogenic factor press as well as for development of measures for its protection.

The stages of development of basic geographical research in the Russian Far East since 1971 to the present are considered. The main directions of scientific studies into the components of the landscape geosphere in the continent-ocean transition zone are shown, and an analysis is made of the natural resources management structures and socio-economic aspects of the region’s development, including in the transboundary context. Fundamental theoretical and applied research results obtained by Pacific Geographical Institute FEB RAS are presented. The direction of the studies on the geographical forecasts theory, dynamics of geosystems and territorial economic structures that was originally formulated in the 1970s by A.P. Kapitsa, corresponding member of RAS, the first director of PGI FEB RAS, has been developed at the institute till the present. The most important contribution to a further development of PGI FEB RAS has been made by P.Ya. Baklanov, academician of RAS, who headed the Institute from 1991 to 2016. In the 1990s, new relevant research directions, such as the studies of the sustainable development issues, dynamics and stability of geosystems of different ranks, and forecasting changes in forest vegetation appeared, which methodologically continued the forecasting and geographical topics. The study of the role of market-oriented reforms in the transformation of territorial economic structures, migration processes, foreign economic and geopolitical factors in the development of the Far Eastern region, problems of coastal-marine and transboundary natural resources management began. At the same time, the geographical scopes of the studies covered not only the Russian Far East, but also adjacent regions of Russia, neighboring countries and vast areas of the Pacific Ocean. The ‘eastward vector’ of Russia’s contemporary development influenced geographical research in the Far East as well. To form a balanced system of socio-economic development of the region, research efforts focused on the functional zoning of its territory, preparation of settlements master plans, setting up the priorities for transboundary cooperation in the field of sustainable natural resources management, transboundary economic corridors and “green” zones development in terms of the Northern Sea Route and the New Silk Road conceptions, are especially relevant at present.

Information on the history of the creation and development of the Institute of Water and Environmental Problems FEB RAS. It is one of the oldest scientific institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Far East. Information on the main scientific areas of research related to the study of the patterns of formation of land waters and the dynamics of ecosystems for the purpose of rational use of biological resources is summarized. The main scientific tasks of the institute’s laboratories: hydrology and hydrogeology, hydroecology and biogeochemistry, vegetation ecology, animal ecology, soil ecology, optimization of regional environmental management, and swamp and forest resources are described, and the most important results of research, mainly over the past ten years, are presented. Characteristics of the scientific bases located on the banks of the Amur and in the foothills of the Sikhote-Alin and the Center for Collective Use “Interregional Center for Environmental Monitoring” are given. Analytical studies of the state of the environment and monitoring of biogeochemical processes are carried out in this Center. Brief information on the institute’s herbarium, which has an International Herbarium Index (KHA), which presents rare and endangered plant species in the region, is given. The areas of expeditionary research carried out in recent years are pointed out, and information on the most important applied research commissioned by various organizations is given. In this paper, we especially noted the research carried out in connection with the need to quickly assess and solve particularly unexpected acute environmental problems that arise from dangerous manifestations of natural processes in the region. Information on the international scientific contacts of the institute, the participation of employees in teaching activities at universities and work with students in schools in Khabarovsk krai is presented.

This paper presents results from studying chemical contamination of soil and surface water in the area of the reclaimed solid waste landfill located within the boundaries of Vladimir Opolie. The study showed that the highest concentrations of bulk forms of heavy metals in soil cover, exceeding the MPC values, are observed near the solid waste landfill at a distance of 80-120 m. With distance from the landfill, the concentrations of metals in soil cover decrease to values below the MPC. The accumulation of heavy metals here was facilitated by factors such as spontaneous combustion of solid waste at the landfill, air transport of aeropollutants as well as the characteristics of gray forest soil, such as the content of organic matter, pH and granulometric composition. In surface waters flowing in the immediate vicinity of the solid waste landfill, an excess of MPC values for a number of heavy metals was established; for zinc and copper, by a factor of several tens. An analysis of the ionic composition of surface waters showed the presence of chemical contamination which is likely due to the ingress of seepage water from the solid waste landfill. The engineering inadequacy of this solid waste landfill and the lack of a clear mechanism for reclamation measures significantly increase the risk of contamination of soil cover of adjacent territories and surface watercourses with hazardous chemical compounds. To monitor the state of the environment in the interests of the safety of the population living here and the preservation of the unique ecosystem of Vladimir Opolie near this closed reclaimed landfill, it is recommended that regular environmental monitoring observations should be conducted.

The anthropogenic load on urbanized areas and their surroundings by monitoring the chemical parameters of waters of small rivers was assessed. Seventeen such watercourses draining the territory of Khabarovsk and its suburbs were considered. Sampling and measurements were carried out during the winter low-water period. The data obtained for 2017-2021 were used in this study. By means of cluster analysis, four groups of water bodies were identified, which differed in the degree of change in hydrochemical indicators and the presence of anthropogenic pollutants. Areas experiencing the greatest anthropogenic impact were identified as well as possible sources of pollutants. The first cluster includes rivers flowing in the southern and northeastern parts of Khabarovsk (Gnilaya Pad, Chernaya, Bezymyannaya and Matrenikha Rives). The second cluster mainly includes rivers in the central part of Khabarovsk (Osipovka, Lesopilka, Cherdymovka and Plyusninka Rivers) and less often in the eastern part (Polezhaevka and Gnilaya Pad Rivers). The third cluster, in addition to the rivers of the central part (Kurcha-Murcha and Cherdymovka), included rivers of remote districts of Khabarovsk (Berezovaya, and Krasnaya Rechka). The fourth cluster is represented exclusively by the rivers draining the territory of the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Reserve (Levaya, Pravaya, Osinovaya, Polovinka and Bykova Rivers). The samples in this cluster are characterized by the lowest values of chemical concentrations. This suggests that these rivers do not experience any significant anthropogenic influence. Therefore, they can be taken as background values of the contents of the substances in waters of small rivers draining the territory of the city of Khabarovsk and its populated neighborhood, and also be used to assess anthropogenic pollution.

Increased concentrations of pollutants in wastewater discharge zones of the Lake Baikal coastal waters and tributaries are detected. Green filamentous algae, an indicator of the local eutrophication, are shown to be present in wastewater discharge zones. The technical parameters of four wastewater treatment facilities located in the central ecological zone of the Baikal Natural Territory have been analyzed. The plants do not meet the requirements for key indicators and do not have the technical capacity to improve efficiency. The maximum permissible concentrations are exceeded hundreds of times for a number of parameters. The wastewater standards established for the Baikal Natural Territory are unprecedentedly strict and have no analogues in the world. For their implementation the cleaning efficiency exceeding 98-99 % in some cases must be achieved. The best available technologies allow to reach the efficiency within 85-97 %, but the wastewater treatment facilities under study operate with outdated technologies which are not designed for the extraction of biogenic compounds from wastewater. Since the introduction of regional standards, the plants in question have not come close to their implementation nor have been modernized. The frustrating requirements of regulatory framework presumably hampers the modernization processes. It is proposed to adjust the wastewater treatment standards to the realistic level of values corresponding to those actually achievable when using the best available technologies. The economic capabilities of the region must be taken into account as well. The model testing of adjusted standards should be preceded by the pilot modernization of wastewater treatment technologies.

By analyzing and integrating long-term experimental data, it was possible to formulate important theoretical and practical conclusions. The genesis of the process of flow formation is revealed and its theoretical justification is given. A pattern has been discovered, which implies that only three natural factors have a significant impact on spring overland runoff: snow reserves, freezing and the degree of soil moisture. At their certain (limiting) levels (freezing depth is less than 50 cm, moisture reserves in the soil layer of 0-50 cm are less than 70-120 mm in the zones, and snow reserves are less than the volume of free pores in the 0-30 cm soil layer), runoff is not formed. If the indicators of the levels of each of these factors are higher than the limiting ones, then the runoff is necessarily formed, and its size (layer) does not depend on the depth of freezing, as absorption occurs only in a layer from 3 to 30 cm (varying by zones and years), because a waterproof ice screen is formed in it, below which snow water does not arrive. The amount of runoff depends on the free porosity in this layer of soil and snow reserves. Free porosity, in turn, depends on the degree of soil moisture. The amount of runoff during deep freezing of the soil depends on its humidity and snow reserves before snowmelt. These factors are the main ones in the emergence of runoff formation conditions. The main role is played by soil moisture. Snow reserves play a passive role in the formation of runoff. Its value depends on snow reserves, but they do not directly affect water absorption, that is, part of the snow water drains after filling the free pores, and the more it is in the snow, the more it will drain. Knowledge of the genesis of the interaction of meltwater with frozen soil allows us to approach the prediction of the overland runoff of meltwater on a genetic basis.

An overview of the tourist and recreational potential of the Katun River valley and its left bank area in all its sections: upper, middle and lower is presented. The publications of these authors and other researchers who have highlighted similar issues in other regions of the country, and scientists who raise related issues of the tourism sector, recreational potential, organization of tourist space as well as the construction of networks of routes and tourist trails, including environmental ones, are considered. Specialized software tools were used in this study, on the basis of which methods of mapping the territories under study were applied, followed by the use of the modeling method, which made it possible to fully reflect the resource tourism and recreational potential of the left bank area of the Katun River and justify the design features of tourist routes. The features of the development of the tourism sector are considered not only in the valley of the Katun River. The fact of inaccessibility of certain places in the Altai Mountains is described, associated with the remoteness of the upper and middle sections of the river valley from the main highways and territories that represent a higher value for the tourist flow throughout the year. The software used in the study made it possible to display the main objects of tourist interest on the left bank of the Katun River as well as to simulate individual shooting situations when displaying trails, routes and their attractions as well as route networks where a further development of the tourist, recreational and excursion sphere of the Altai Republic and Altai krai, within the boundaries of which the largest transit waterway, the Katun River, flows.

The results from studying the specifics of the formation of rain floods in river basins of mountainous areas are presented. The features in the formation of dangerous hydrological events, such as floods and mudflows, are considered. An analysis of the rain floods characteristics on the rivers of the Eastern Sayan mountains was carried out, based on data from highly detailed monitoring of river flow parameters and atmospheric precipitation using automatic measuring devices. Water level measurements are carried out once every 15/30 minutes, and precipitation once per hour. The characteristics of floods for the flood season of 2022 on eight rivers are given as well as floods on the Belaya and Kyngarga Rivers from 2019 to 2022. For extreme floods that can cause significant damage, an assessment of flood-forming precipitation is made. The timing of passage, duration, height of the level rise and its amplitude, the rate of rise and fall, etc. are determined. It was established that during flood season, up to 10 rain floods of different sizes occurred on the rivers. There is a synchronicity in the high floods passage on the left tributaries of the Angara river. Most often, the maximum floods of the year occurred in July. The duration of a flood rise is on average 2-3 times less than its reduction, and the average rate of level rise is three times higher than the rate of reduction. The duration of the highest levels during floods is several hours. For small floods occurring in mid-summer, it is 15-30 minutes and is equal to the measurement step of the devices. Flood-forming precipitation during extreme floods can be long-lasting and widespread or intense and short-lived. The total amount of precipitation before the peak of the flood varied from 31,4 to 122,6 mm, and the average intensity of precipitation varied from 0,10 to 1,95 mm/h.

The Khankaiskiy State Naturfl Biosphere Reserve, located on the eastern, southern and western shores of Lake Khanka, includes five separate clusters. Since 2007, an extreme rise of the water level in the lake has been recorded, which reached a historical maximum in 2016. The study results of changes in the ratio of the main categories of habitat of flora and fauna species on the territory of the Khankaiskiy Natural Reserve in 2017 and 2020, after the rise of the water level, compared with 1990, when the nature reserve was founded. GIS layers were formed, displaying the distribution of habitat categories and their area characteristics for each period of time. The main source of information is remote sensing data for the corresponding periods. It was found that in 2020, water bodies occupied 42 % of the total area of protected areas, of which 33 % accounted for Lake Khanka, or by a factor of 4-5 times more than in 1990; swamps and meadows covered about 57 %, with a predominance of swamps; forest areas are confined to hilly terrain and, as before, occupied less than 1 % of the territory. It was found that the terrain portion of the Sosnovyi, Mel’gunovskii and Rechnoi clusters was almost completely covered with water; vast areas were flooded in the Zhuravlinyi and Chertovo Boloto clusters. Along the shores of Lake Khanka, death of plants, including shrubs and trees, has been noted. The multidirectional influence of changes in nesting habitats on the population of birds was noted.

Bed-load yield was estimated for 60 river cross-sections flowing into the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Kamchatka krai territory on the basis of N.I. Alekseevskii method developed for bed-load transport assessment by the movement of five types of bottom ridges during floods and low-water periods. For 398 unstudied rivers bed load was assessed by the relationship between specific bed load yield and basin area. Estimates of the specific bed-load yield for the rivers studied show that the highest values are observed in rivers with a relatively small catchment area, often characterized by a mountainous or semi-mountainous type of channel with a pebble-boulder composition of channel sediments. Specific bed-load yield significantly decreases with increasing catchment area and with the transition from mountainous/semi-mountainous to plain sections of rivers. The total mean annual bed load yield is estimated at 18 mln t per year, and it exceeds suspended sediment yield by a factor of 1.5. A spatial analysis of bed load variability is made for the Kamchatka River basin. It was found that bed load is larger in eastern tributaries of the river draining areas of active volcanism in Kamchatka. Variability in bed load along the Kamchatka River shows a decrease in its proportion in the total sediment yield from the source to the mouth due to the channel changes from mountain to plain type. It has been demonstrated that for some mountain rivers with a pebble and pebble-boulder sediment composition, the share in the total sediment yield can approach 100 %. It decreases to 40-70 % in semi-mountain rivers. The share of bed-load material in the total sediment yield reaches its minimum values in large lowland rivers and is about 13-20 %.

This outlines the issues related to inventory, evaluation and monitoring of biodiversity, based on mapping as a developing independent research direction that allows for the spatial analysis of biota based on using a wide range of thematic maps. Examples of identifying biota diversity are considered using the cartographic method at four main levels: species richness of concrete (local) floras, phytocoenotic diversity (species richness and diversity of communities of vegetation formations), natural complexes (landscape biodiversity), and ecosystem diversity. A short historical overview of the gradual formation of theoretical and methodological principles of biodiversity mapping is given. As a result of these principles, hundreds of maps have been prepared to date, reflecting the diversity of organisms based on different approaches and methodological principles. There are maps of the floristic and faunistic diversity of the world (isoline diagrams connecting points with the same quantitative indicators for assessing the levels of floristic and faunistic species richness of a certain area); maps on a grid (raster) basis (the use of cells of a certain area with marks of presence-absence of a species or a complex of species in each of the cells); maps compiled on the basis of modeling the number of taxa depending on environmental conditions (modeling method by ecological parameters), and maps of phytocenotic diversity. Examples of the successful application of Earth remote sensing data and, above all, satellite images are shown for the creation and use of multi-scale maps that have new prospects in biodiversity studies. In the final part of the paper, an ecological-geographical approach to the identification and assessment of biodiversity has been considered. Its prospects are related to the study of biodiversity within the natural boundaries of biotic cover units of different levels on the basis of ecological units of biosphere subdivisions - regional biomes. This approach is of particular importance in the study of fundamental problems of the biodiversity geography of mountain areas.

The aim of this article is to explore the experience of applying environmental rhetoric in the political and economic discourse of the 1920s when Soviet Russia was forced to resort to the concession of national raw material resources to foreign entrepreneurs. In particular, foreigners were granted the right to exploit northern forests, and fish and sea animals in the Arctic Ocean. The sources for the study were diverse historical materials, both published and various business correspondence of Soviet political and economic bodies, often classified as secret. The analysis of the totality of sources allows us to reconstruct one of the early pages of domestic environmental science using the example of the protection of the country’s natural resources, which was initially a response to various challenges of the era. Thus it was found that, before the 1917 Revolution, environmental protection issues influenced political decisions and public sentiment as a form of struggle against foreign economic competitors. In the 1920s, arguments for the protection of natural resources were widely used by the authorities in the northern provinces of European Russia, seeking to preserve traditional occupations for the local population. Later, in order to close down foreign concessions that proved unable to achieve the results expected of them, issues of inefficient and even predatory use of natural resources began to be raised by the central authorities. To substantiate these claims, experts in various fields of science and practice of natural resource use were involved, and this gave an impetus to the development of environmental science. In addition, the activities of concessionaires were subjected to constructive criticism by Soviet economists, which made it possible to identify ways in which the national raw materials economy began to develop independently.

This article provides a review and retrospective analysis of legal regulation of economic activities in the Baikal Natural Territory. An assessment and critical vision of the current issues of regulation of economic activities, use and protection of natural resources in the period of planned economy, in the period of post-perestroika and at present. It is emphasized that without proper scientific substantiation, laws can lead to irreversible changes in ecology and economy, and legal conflicts, which were illustrated by specific examples of modern practice. It is pointed out that significant restrictions for the development of economic activities, caused by the special regime of nature management in the Baikal Natural Territory, generally restrain economic, social and demographic development of the region. The results of the latest censuses after the beginning of economic reforms show a consistent trend of population and labor resources reduction throughout the entire Baikal natural territory. The article shows the directions of improving the tools of legal regulation of economic activities. It is proposed to use the mechanism of rent relations and the resulting rent effect in obtaining super-profits through the sale and use of the cheapest electricity in the country as well as to improve environmental legislation in terms of compensation for environmental damage. It is concluded that many environmental documents are outdated and require clarifications and additions, first of all, on the issue of regulating the level regime and bringing it closer to the natural state. The authors propose to optimally regulate the relationship between nature and society by nature-like technologies, which are maximally embedded in ecological systems.

The world’s largest Antarctic ice sheet has a significant influence on the formation and variability of climate, the system of circulation of oceanic water, biodiversity and surface and subglacial lakes of this region. Appearance of the water strata of land hydrology bodies of Antarctica is usually connected with the processes of snow and ice melting. In the case of subglacial lakes this process occurs on the glacier bed under the influence of thermal isolation of the geothermal flow by a large ice strata, energy of friction forces due to the movement of the glacier over bedrocks and large pressure values, which allows melt water to accumulate in hollows of the subglacial relief. In the case of Lake Vostok, however, the genesis of its water body is connected with accumulation of atmospheric precipitation and discharge of ancient rivers that existed on this continent at the time of its location in the temperate climatic belt before the epoch of its glaciation, i. e. before the beginning of formation of one whole continental glacial cover. We distinguish the layered structure of the glacier above Lake Vostok explaining the genesis of all layers by different stages of glaciation of the sixth continent. Analysis of geological, geophysical, glaciological and biological studies in the area of location of the valley of Lake Vostok convincingly proves that the water body of this subglacial lake existed on the surface before the onset of multiyear glaciation of Antarctica while the glacier has only a role of the cover isolating the water body. This conclusion is confirmed by the results of numerical modeling of the processes of glacier freezing/melting proving that the lake water strata could never freeze through to the bottom due to water adfreeze at the glacier bottom surface. Thus the water body and bottom sediments of Lake Vostok are more ancient natural bodies than the Antarctic ice sheet.