Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2024 number 5S

The article summarizes the most important results of the work of the staff of the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS from 1976 to 2009, when the directors of the Institute at different periods were outstanding scientists: Academician V.A. Vorobyev, Corresponding member of the RAS V.A. Snytko and Corresponding member of the RAS A.N. Antipov. The main works of the subsequent years (after 2009) are also presented. In the first period, from 1976 to 2000 (Director V.V. Vorobyev), the main attention of the staff was focused on experimental research in steppe, taiga, and mountain stations in Western and Eastern Siberia. Here, the features of functioning, dynamics and evolution of geosystems were revealed in a comprehensive manner (by biologists, hydrologists, climatologists, geomorphologists, geochemists, soil scientists, glaciologists, landscape scientists, and cartographers). The socio-economic issues of the economic development of the territory of Siberia, natural resources and geographical conditions of their development were studied. In the second period, from the early 2000s to 2005 (Director V.A. Snytko), the main work was related to the Baikal Natural Territory (BNT), in connection with the inclusion of Lake Baikal in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List and the adoption of the Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Lake Baikal. Ecological zoning of the BNT was carried out, the boundaries of ecological zones were justified, and directions of environmental protection activities in the territory of the BNT were proposed. The third period, from 2005 to 2009 (Director A.N. Antipov), is characterized by the continuation of work on landscape planning of the Baikal region, environmental issues, atlas mapping of the Irkutsk region, and the study of the response of various geosystems to global climate change. Currently, fundamental geographical research is being carried out taking into account the Priority Research Areas adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation in 2020.

Against the background of a brief review of periods and stages in the history of general cartography of Siberia, where, starting from the 1740s, the main role belonged to the Russian Academy of Sciences, the main stages of development of thematic cartography at the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are highlighted and considered. It is shown that with the formation of modern academic science in the east of the country in the 1950s new conditions and prerequisites for the development of fundamental scientific directions of thematic cartography in Siberia were created and it became possible to set and solve conceptual, methodological, technological and practical problems of thematic cartography. For each of the three main stages of thematic cartography development (complex, system-problematic, and geoinformation digital) the article presents the main results of creation and publication of large cartographic works of different territorial levels: national (Russia and Mongolia), macro-regional (Siberia and the Far East), transboundary inter-regional (the Baikal region), regional (Irkutsk Oblast and other RF subjects) and municipal (Irkutsk city, etc.), in the form of series of multi-leaf wall maps, series of desktop maps of album and atlas types, and atlases of fundamental academic scientific content. The role of the laboratory of cartography, geoinformatics and remote sensing methods as well as other laboratories of the Institute in the development, creation and publication of maps and atlases is noted. The main prerequisites for the formation and development of the academic scientific school of thematic cartography are studied, namely, the presence of a team of researchers and recognized leaders, and opportunities for training of highly qualified personnel. The importance of state recognition and support of the leading academic scientific school of thematic cartography in Siberia and its role in training of highly qualified scientific personnel, creation of large academic series of maps and atlases, fundamental scientific articles and monographs, and holding regional, national and international conferences has been emphasized.

This article considers the issues of formation, development and transformation of research on geography of the population of Siberia. The chronological framework of the study is the second half of the 20 ^th and the first quarter of the 21 ^st century. The contribution of Academician V.V. Vorobyev, the founder of the Siberian school of population geography, to the development of this subject is assessed. He put forward and substantiated original ideas about the geographical features of formation of the population of Siberia. Thus, the decisive role of the initial core of old-timers, determining the composition of the region’s inhabitants, their connections with the places of exit, and new waves of settlers, was established. The followers of V.V. Vorobyev have identified the nature of the relationship between the geographical features of the territory, settlement and socio-demographic conditions of life of the population in the areas of economic development. In the Soviet past, the Siberian school of population geography successfully developed the following scientific problems: population formation, settlement of pioneer development territories, settlement in connection with different types of economic activity, formation of settlement systems, and use of labor resources. To date the current problems of geodemography and population migration in the context of depopulation, life of the population under environmental restrictions, transformation of the existing settlement, urban agglomerations, transboundary interactions, and formation and realization of human potential are being developed. Geographical aspects of population dynamics are expressed in the strengthening of two partially overlapping gradients of population concentration, namely: main-peripheral and central-peripheral. Under modern conditions of global and local instability, it is especially important to develop problems of the geographical foundations of the socio-demographic potential as a key factor in the spatial development of the Siberian macroregion.

The role of Valerian Afanasyevich Snytko (1939-2021), a prominent specialist in the field of landscape geochemistry and complex physical geography, as the founder and leader of the Siberian landscape-geochemical school is considered. The stages of its formation and development are highlighted. As a result of many years of research conducted by V.A. Snytko and his students, the regularities of migration, transformation and functioning of geosystems of taiga, subtaiga, forest-steppe and steppe regions of Siberia are established, the ecological state of geosystems of the shores of Lake Baikal is studied. The contribution of the scientist to the justification of a new scientific direction in complex physical geography - the study of the dynamics of matter in geosystems is emphasized.

A distinctive feature of the south of the Russian Far East is the presence of more than three thousand kilometers of border with China. The restriction of economic use and the control regime in the border zone allowed to preserve the “green belt” with a high level of biodiversity. The intensification of economic collaboration between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China requires considering environmental risks and finding a balance between the interests of the economy and the environment. Based on the analysis of the number of species of model groups of plants and animals, an assessment of the importance of the selected transboundary geosystems for the conservation of the region’s biodiversity is made. At the second stage, the level of anthropogenic transformation, and existing and perceived threats are taken into account. The conservation significance of these geosystems for rare species such as the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard and the availability of organizational conditions, such as the proclamation of transboundary protected areas, are also taken into consideration. According to the totality of materials, the geosystems of the Primorye-Laoyelin, Lesser Khingan, Bikin-Wandashan and Verkhneamursky transboundary provinces are selected as the priority territories within the framework of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of biodiversity conservation and «green» development. They support the forest corridors for migrations of terrestrial animals and mutual enrichment of the natural complexes of the two countries. The border strip along the Russian-Chinese land border from Khasan village to Turiy Rog town in the south of Primorsky Krai is of the greatest environmental significance. Due to the protection of this belt it was possible to preserve and restore the Far Eastern leopard and the Eastern Manchurian population of the Amur tiger.

Lake Baikal is a unique natural object. The international status, water resource potential and ecological state of the lake are the justification for comprehensive measures to protect it and prevent possible negative impacts on its ecosystem. Federal Law No. 94-FZ “On the Protection of Lake Baikal” is the fundamental document for the protection of the lake and the prevention of the Baikal Natural Territory from anthropogenic and technogenic impacts. Achieving the goals outlined in the Law and a number of legal documents in this area involves a set of regulatory and environmental-economic mechanisms for the implementation of sustainable territorial development, provided that environmental risks are prevented and, in general, the natural environment of the BNT is protected. The article outlines the main conceptual provisions for the protection of Lake Baikal, namely: the status of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, ecological zoning of the Baikal Natural Territory, standards for permissible impacts on the lake ecosystem, regulation of activities on the BNT, special legal regimes of nature management, etc. The authors consider the issues of scientific justification and the specifics of the practical implementation of the ecological zoning of the BNT, the natural conditionality of territorial boundaries and the legal regulation of environmental restrictions on the BNT, the opportunities for socio-economic development under the conditions of regulation of economic activities in the water protection zone of the lake. The article analyzes the results of implementing the provisions of the Law “On the Protection of Lake Baikal”, compliance of by-laws with legislative norms, as well as recommendations of scientists, the interests of society and economic structures. The authors discuss the achievement of the goals of ecological zoning, modern problems of environmental protection and the possibilities of socio-economic development in the territories adjacent to Lake Baikal, and consider examples of the negative impact of anthropogenic factors on the state of the ecological system of Lake Baikal. The article substantiates proposals for the development of legislative norms, the introduction of the institute of mandatory scientific expertise of legal norms and scientific-methodological support for large economic projects.

A comparative morphometric analysis of the structure parameters of the channel systems of the main tributaries of the Selenga River and its delta developing in different orographic conditions, namely: highlands, midlands and estuarine plain, was carried out. The research is based on the structural-hydrographic and basin approaches developed by domestic and foreign researchers, using materials from the space altitude model of the Earth and with the help of geoinformation mapping tools. A database of structural-hydrographic and morphometric data and estimated runoff values has been created. The studies are mainly of fundamental importance, aimed at identifying interrelated elements of the structure of river systems and conditions of their formation and development, expressed in orographic and morphostructural features of the basin. The applied aspect of the calculations consists in the assessment of average annual and forecasted potential runoff within the framework of insufficient availability and duration of observations at unevenly placed sites of the standard observation network in the transboundary territory of Russia and Mongolia. The developed model for calculating the maximum possible runoff may be useful for recommendations on rational and safe land use planning in the basin, as well as for preventing natural risks. The purpose of the research is to identify and compare structural, morphological and natural indicators of runoff in different altitudinal belts within the Selenga basin and in its individual parts. Zoning of the basin by runoff-forming areas is presented in relation to the previously developed natural zoning of the territory, their hypsometric position and morphostructural elements of the structure. A forecast model for calculating the runoff of unstudied rivers is presented.

The article presents the main stages of work on the study of the role of migration of matter in the differentiation, integration, dynamics, evolution and anthropogenic transformation of geosystems of various regions of Siberia, carried out by the authors under the guidance, with the participation and in development of the ideas of V.A. Snytko. As a result of many years of stationary, semi-stationary and expeditionary landscape-geochemical studies, the organizer and leader of which was Valerian Afanasyevich Snytko, the patterns of differentiation and processes of dynamics of liquid, gaseous and living phases of matter in topological geosystems were studied, the connection of landscape-geochemical cyclicity with dynamic and evolutionary trends in the behavior of geosystems was established, and the conditioning of the structure of topogeosystems by differentiation and flows of matter was shown. As a result of work within the territory of the created Kansk-Achinsk fuel and energy complex, the natural regimes of the components of taiga, sub-taiga and forest-steppe geosystems were studied, trends in the development and processes of transformation of geosystems under the influence of technogenic factors were identified, and a methodology for experimental modeling of the processes of interaction of natural and technogenic flows of matter was developed. In order to identify the spatial and temporal structure of pollution of the Lake Baikal basin, a geoecological monitoring methodology has been developed, which is based on identifying sources of pollution and observing the connections between them and environmental objects by considering the substances of objects as mixtures, and the substances of sources as their components. In order to substantiate the network of observations and control, extrapolate the results of monitoring to geosystems of the territories not covered by direct observations, and to display operational information on the state of geosystems and ecosystems, a methodology has been developed for mapping the spatio-temporal structure of pollution in the catchment basin of Lake Baikal based on the use of different time cartographic sources, remote sensing data, digital terrain models, global digital databases, materials of state statistics and field studies.

The paper presents data from the landscape-geochemical studies in the Upper Angara region. The chemical properties of soils and waters of small rivers on the right bank of the Angara River have been studied. Differences in the characteristics of soils formed in two districts of the Pribaikalskaya province and one district of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovskaya province have been established. The general hydrochemical analysis showed fundamental differences between the surface waters of two natural structures forming the right-bank part of the basin of the upper section of the Angara River, namely: the Baikal rift zone and the southern part of the Siberian platform. The data obtained confirmed and supplemented the conclusions made 20 years ago about the landscape-geochemical characteristics of the territory.

The article presents the results of studies of the relationship between atmospheric circulation and floods in Southern Cisbaikalia. During the floods (in July 1971, June and July 2019), precipitation at the meteorological stations of the study area was significantly higher than the norm: on average 229 %, 163 % and 156 % of the norm, respectively. A comprehensive synoptic analysis was carried out to identify the main causes of extremely high precipitation values, which provoked a rise in water levels on the left-bank tributaries of the Angara river and on the rivers of Southern Baikal in July 1971, June and July 2019. Synoptic processes were classified by weather types according to the Jenkinson and Collison method. Six and fifteen weather types were identified for the July 1971 flood and for the June and July 2019 flood, respectively. These were mainly cyclonic and advective types with eastern components, correlating with humid weather conditions. The directions of air mass transfer were determined based on the analysis of 5-day HYSPLIT backward trajectories. It was found that the main factors determining the intensity of catastrophic floods were as follows: 1) active process of cyclogenesis; 2) sharp increase in meridional cold and heat flows and development of blocking processes; 3) the presence of a high content of potentially accumulated moisture, a field of upward vertical movements and forced convection in the foothills, and 4) local orographic conditions.

The presented article explores important aspects of the strategic planning for Irkutsk. It emphasizes the need to take into account geographical features and development factors when developing and adopting strategic documents for the city. However, there are many problems in the development and adoption of various strategic documents. Among them are a strong unification of approaches and the lack of consideration of ecological, social and economic factors. Particular attention is paid to the climatic, hydrological and soil features of the territory, the analysis of which should form a key basis for strategic urban planning. The high level of water supply determines the comfort of the urban environment, recreation attractiveness, and provision of industrial activities. Despite significant amounts of water resources, the city has problems with water supply and other problems of a water-ecological nature. The soils of Irkutsk and the surrounding area are characterized by focal pollution due to a large anthropogenic load and relatively high sorption capacity of soils. The unfavorable ecological state of atmospheric air is associated not only with significant anthropogenic impact, but also with natural and climatic factors. The microclimatic conditions of the urban area increase the negative impact on the environment during the long heating period. The current climatic and environmental situation requires modernization of many economic sectors in order to ensure the sustainable development of Irkutsk and comfortable and safe living conditions for the population.

Different patterns of historical evolution of Russian civilization area are compared; they are considered in the framework of four historical concepts: “Russia as a part of the global West”: “Russia as a part of the global East (Orient)”; “Russia as a cultural bridge between West and East”; “Russia as an organic Eurasian cultural realm”. Various arguments “pro et contra” are discussed and compared in favour of and against each of those concepts, from the standpoint of historical and cultural geography. It has been concluded that Russia is significantly more a “European” country than a “Eurasian” one. However, Russia has its own civilizational patterns, which greatly distinguish it from Western Europe. These differences are clearly manifested, among other things, in different types of their sociocultural spaces. In Western Europe, the regionalization of culture occurred as the developed space “densified” and “arranged”; in Russia, mainly as local cultures formed in the process of colonization of new territories and incorporation of foreign ethnic areas into the sociocultural space. In Russia, especially within the ethnocultural mega-core of the country (with a numerically predominant Russian population), the “vertical” polarization of space (differences “urban-rural”, “large city-small town”) is expressed more clearly than its “horizontal” differentiation (differences between cultural areas). Based on the analysis of the data from the All-Russian population censuses, the latest ethnostructural, ethnocultural and ethnoterritorial shifts in the Russian space, characteristic of the Post-Soviet period, are identified. At the end of the 20^th - the first decades of the 21^st centuries, the population of the majority of the national republics of Russia became “indigenized” (an increase in the share of “titular” nationalities and a decrease in the share of the ethnic Russian population in these republics). At the same time, the ethnic groups of Russia are increasingly “pulled together” into their national republics, concentrated within “their” ethnic territories. The trends in transformation of the sociocultural space indicate that the country is becoming more and more multicultural, which predetermines the demand for multi-vector development in Russia.

In the regions of Pacific Russia, two meridional zones have been identified, consisting of the following territories (federal subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District): 1) the seaside zone including Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Oblast, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, and Sakhalin Oblast; and 2) the continental zone including the Republics of Yakutia and Buryatia, Zabaikalsky Krai, Amur Oblast and Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Combinations of industries by federal subjects and by meridional zones are considered as elements of their territorial and economic structures. The differences between the meridional zones according to their territorial structures of economy, socio-economic potential and the level of development are shown. It is noted that the highest level of development is typical for the territorial and economic structures of the seaside zone. Favorable and unfavorable factors of the long-term development in the meridional zones are distinguished. Rational use of these factors can ensure the formation of the structure of the regional economy in the form of interconnected chains of added value, which represent effective forms of territorial organization of production.

The aim of the study is to analyze the problems and contradictions of recreational geography from the institutional perspective. The starting point is the involvement of recreational geography in the institutional development of tourism. This is reflected in studies of natural-social-economic links subject to regulation, in development of a terminological and methodological basis for the practice of territorial planning of tourism and recreation, as well as the creation of specialized laws and regulations. The article provides a recreational-geographical interpretation of the most important concepts and notions of institutional theory used in the study. The problems and contradictions considered in recreational geography are interconnected. They are conditionally divided into theoretical, specific and applied. Theoretical contradictions are expressed in different or opposite meanings that are embedded in the basic scientific concepts of “tourism” and “recreation”. Specific contradictions are associated with heated discussions about the identification and delimitation of individual types of tourism and recreational activities and the criteria for their classification. The most striking example is the opposition of mass and ecological tourism. Applied contradictions arise when solving practical problems in the field of territorial planning of tourism and recreation, as well as when designing and creating new territorial recreational systems without taking into account institutional conditions. To remove the identified problems and contradictions, the core of the institution responsible for the organization and regulation of tourism and recreational activities is of key importance. Such an institutional core is the universal right to rest and vacation. The problem of distinguishing between the concepts of “tourism” and “recreation” comes down to ensuring the completeness of the social and economic functions of tourism, which have received the most pronounced development in different institutional matrices. The existence of an invariant that interacts with other institutions is recognized. This solves the problems of classifying types of tourism based on an institutional criterion, determining the specialization of specific territories taking into account their economic and environmental functions.

The evolution of the concept of human potential is considered - from the labor resources of the development period, attracted to perform the tasks of centralized planning for the creation of territorial-production complexes, to human capital, characterized by creative abilities of a person and acting in the conditions of market economy not only as a factor but also as a subject of economic activity, as well as the most important part of the national capital. The paper analyzes the nature of human capital accumulation in the resource regions of Siberia, the features of its development and opportunities for implementation in the conditions of the existing institutional structures of production with the predominance of large external corporations; the role of small and medium-sized businesses relying on local human resources is highlighted. The deficit of institutions contributing to the improvement of the status and income of the local population in the sectors of the economy not related to the extraction and primary processing of natural raw materials is noted. The purpose of the paper is to substantiate the need to transform the existing institutions that determine the realization of accumulated human capital in resource regions, to change approaches to the management of regional development in order to increase the desire to invest in human capital of all parties of the production process and reduce the outflow of educated and career-motivated part of the population. The main research method is a structural analysis of the regional economy and an assessment of the development of intellectual activities that are the most attractive for human capital and form the innovative potential of the territory’s development. The information basis of the study is official statistics and surveys of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation.

The article proposes a spatiotemporal characteristic of external relations in the “twin cities” format and analyzes the aspects of the structural and dynamic development of the administrative centers of the Asian part of Russia within the Trans-Siberian Corridor (TSC). Regarding the extent of their territories, these comprise five subjects in Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Republic of Khakassia, Irkutsk Oblast, the Republic of Buryatia, and Zabaikalsky Krai) and six subjects in Western Siberia (Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, and Kemerovo Oblasts, and Altai Krai). The level of industrialization, the construction sector, and the inclusion of “soft” diplomacy (the growth of twin city ties) as a component of foreign economic activity are indicative of several changes in the economic complex of the TSC regions due to the circumstances of the domestic vector of “pivot to the East”. It is convincingly presented that the production potential of two eastern subjects (Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast) exceeds a quarter of the total TSC; the maximum positive dynamics of the industrialization degree indicator is also observed in the East Siberian part of the studied sublatitudinal Trans-Siberian Corridor. Based on the analysis of the structure of manufacturing industries by types of economic activity in the TSC regions, it was revealed that metallurgical production and production of finished metal products (except for machinery and equipment), as well as food production and beverage production are in the lead. The multidirectional influence of the level of development and location of the construction industry on demographic processes is estimated. It is confirmed that the developed housing and construction sector increases the concentration of the population in large administrative centers. At the same time, it is noted that in recent years the share of housing commissioning in a number of administrative centers has noticeably decreased in the TSC territory in comparison with the overall regional volume (Novosibirsk, Tomsk Oblasts, Krasnoyarsk Krai, etc.) due to suburbanization (the capital is inferior to the suburbs in terms of the availability of a square meter of housing). We would like to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that such an important financial indicator as the average per capita monetary income of the population currently equalizes the eleven regions under study within the Trans-Siberian corridor, which is lower than the Russian average. The study was conducted using statistical and comparative-geographical methods; the subjects (regions) of the Russian Federation and administrative centers were taken as units of statistical observation.

The article presents the results of revealing the spatio-temporal interrelations of the population dynamics of small towns in Western Siberia in the second decade of the 21^st century. The object of the study is 56 small towns (with a population of up to 50 thousand people). The main sources of statistical information were data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) for the period between the 2010 and 2020 population censuses. Five groups of small towns have been identified according to the population change in 2011-2022, and their characteristics are given. On average, all small towns are characterized by a 4 % decrease in population. In most small towns in Western Siberia, the population is declining, and only in cities that are centers of oil and gas production (Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs) and large centers of processing agricultural products (Novosibirsk Oblast) there is a positive trend. The largest (39 %) is the group of cities with a slight decrease in population. By now, the restructuring of the economic structure in small towns has almost been completed, so their economic profile is likely to remain in the coming years.

The article is devoted to the analysis of atlas cartographic works covering the territory of Pacific Russia, conducted to assess the coverage of systematized cartographic data. An atlas is a special type of geographic data presentation, the result of thematic or complex, applied and fundamental scientific research of a certain territory or object. Out of the total number of printed publications labeled as atlases, 29 works are classified as complex geographic ones. The selected atlases were categorized by content, purpose, subject of mapping and mapping. The publications were structured according to the coverage of the territory, which made it possible to assess the provision of the region and subjects with atlases. The results of the analysis show a low level of provision of Pacific Russia as a whole and its individual territories with atlas works. It is characteristic that there are no comprehensive works for the entire region, which reflects its lack of systematized, formalized and uniform cartographic data. The implementation of territory development programs at the present stage implies the availability of a unified digital database of geographic spatial data reflecting the features of macro-regional, regional, sub-regional and local characteristics of the geographical environment. Atlases, including geoinformation atlases, are an integral part of management decision-making and elaboration of scenarios for balanced development of regions. In this aspect, the creation of modern regional complex atlases has both fundamental and applied importance, including for the successful implementation of programs of advanced socio-economic development of Siberia and the Far East of Russia. Atlas mapping has been and continues to be one of the most effective models of reality representation. Its powerful heuristic potential has already become a part of widely understood geoinformation mapping and modeling, its logical development and continuation.

The article presents the results of application of the dendrochronological method of indicating the heliophysical and hydroclimatic signal on small time scales (from decades to centuries) in the lake basins of the Baikal rift zone. Three items were considered: dendroindication of climatic parameters in Cisbaikalia; dendroindication of the dynamics of the Lake Baikal level; and assessment of the hydroclimatic signal in the Khubsugul region. It has been found that the values of the width of annual rings is indicative of minima and maxima in the values of air and soil temperature, but the reconstructed series gives the smoothed values. The last cycle of the soil temperature increase may be a manifestation of an extreme climate warming, including soil warming. In the reconstructed series of the Lake Baikal level values, various cycles from 53 to 11 years were detected using the spectral Fourier analysis. Consequently, formerly observed periods of a low lake level were followed by a recovery to normal and then even high values. A high response in the larch growth to summer air temperatures (June-August) is observed in the Khubsugul region. Comparison of the indices of the annual rings width with fluctuations in solar activity suggests a connection between these characteristics.

The article presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the relief and population dynamics of the key site - Akademgorodok of Irkutsk - in the downstream of the Irkutskaya HPP over the past five years. We used multi-temporal geo-images, including aerial photography, space images and topographic maps, free-access OSM databases, cadastral databases, as well as route observations. The analysis of such data allows us to promptly assess the dynamics of the relief morphology and changes in the structure of manifestation of exogenous processes and population density. Based on the data obtained, a change in the built-up area of the study territory, and a potential change in population density were noted. The results of the study show that changes in the morphotypes of development associated with an increase in population density and the load on infrastructure facilities, road network and engineering networks favorably affect the development of negative and dangerous geological processes, which increases the ecological and geomorphological tension in this particular place. It is obvious that as a result of illiterate planning of urban environment, without calculation of anthropogenic load, unfavorable conditions affecting the stability of the geomorphosystem may arise.

The article examines the formation of academic geography in Altai from first travelers-explorers up to classical geographical research created and developed by the scientists from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The methodological basis of these studies is the landscape approach implemented through a system of methods such as the landscape indication developed by the Institute for Water and Environmental Problems SB RAS and the landscape-hydrological analysis developed by the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS. Currently, the above-mentioned and other methods of landscape studies are successfully applied in landscape and territorial planning both in Altai and in the Baikal region. It is shown that the combination of landscape indication methods and landscape-hydrological analysis reliably reflects the reality that in turn allows solving complex economic problems. We have successfully used these methods during the joint research on expert assessment of the project for the construction of the Main Channel for the transfer of water resources of the Ob-Irtysh basin along the Tobol ancient riverbed into the Aral Sea basin, as well as IWEP SB RAS projects dealing with the environmental support of the Katunskaya and Krapivinskaya HPP construction, natural reclamation assessment of the territory of Altai Krai, justification of the development of agricultural nature management systems in the zone of intensive land use of Siberia, and detection of climate risk sources and peculiarities of their manifestation for ensuring climate security. Time has confirmed the validity of the conclusions obtained during the conducted research.

The article highlights the results of the Complex Expedition to Study Historical Waterways of Russia, organized by the S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Natural Science and Technology of the RAS with the participation of the staff members of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. The purpose of the expedition was to conduct a comprehensive historical and geographical study, which helped to identify previously unknown data on the history of the development and study of the territory of waterways and individual natural objects, clarify some facts of the construction of the water system, and compile retrospective reconstructions of changes in the natural environment. A special role in the scientific research of the expedition, in the development of methodology, preparation and implementation of field work, with the further publication of articles and monographs belonged to V.A. Snytko, who actively participated not only in the scientific, but also in the field part of the expedition work. Using the results of many years of research, the creation of a unified geoinformation system was initiated, including certified hydraulic engineering facilities and structures, interesting natural formations and a complex of landscape, environmental and hydrochemical characteristics of the waterways themselves. The common dominant uniting these elements into a system is no longer only the waterway itself, but a cultural and historical landscape complex that takes into account all aspects of human activity and natural formations. The geoinformation base on the historical waterways of the European part of the territory of Russia, including hydrological and hydrochemical, landscape, archival and cartographic sources on the history of water systems, served as the basis for the creation of an appropriate website and for the beginning of the formation of the virtual museum “Historical Waterways”.

The article highlights the significant contribution of V.A. Snytko to the study of matter movement by aeolian processes in the steppe and forest-steppe geosystems of Siberia. The scientist paid much attention to the Baikal region. Based on the analysis of the hydrothermal environment and special experiments, he established that the intensity of aeolian migration of matter is a reflection of the climatic situation, and an indicator of the state of landscapes and the degree of their technogenic transformation. In each studied landscape, V.A. Snytko took into consideration the wind regime prevailing in areas of active deflation and accumulation of aeolian deposits. Together with Polish researchers, he carried out a typification of aeolian tracts. The established morphological and dynamic features of modern aeolian migration of matter are important for the purposes of geographical forecasting. The great role of aeolian processes in the spatial differentiation of matter is noted. It is shown that anthropogenic use of the sandy shores of Lake Baikal led to their degradation and disrupted the course of aeolian processes. As a result of many years of research, the features of the transformation of the functioning of aeolian geosystems have been identified. It has been noted that all Baikal geosystems require careful handling. The results of the research are reported in numerous articles, collections and monographs.