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Geography and Natural Resources

2019 year, number 1

ASSESSMENT OF LANDSCAPE RESILIENCE ON THE TERRITORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELGA COAL DEPOSIT

N.A. NIKOLAEVA, D.D. PINIGIN
Larionov Institute of the Physical-Technical Problems of the North, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 677890, Yakutsk, ul. Oktyabr’skaya, 1, Russia
nna0848@mail.ru
Keywords: ландшафт, Север, многолетнемерзлые породы, оценка степени устойчивости, landscape, North, permafrost, assessment of the degree of resilience

Abstract

The current economic situation in Russia dictates a need for a faster implementation of large-scale energy projects in the regions of the Russian Far East. The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic occupies a special place amongst them: it is endowed with immense reserves of fuel and energy resources and is located in extreme natural and climatic conditions. We examine the environmental issue related to assessing the degree of resilience of cryogenic landscapes of Russia’s largest Elga coal deposit. Resilience of the natural complexes of the North occurring in the permafrost zone is due largely to the properties of permafrost, namely the ice content of surface deposits and permafrost temperature variability. Moreover, resilience of the permafrost landscapes undergoing mechanical disturbances is largely determined by the thermal protection function of vegetation cover. Also, their resilience is governed by variability in heat and moisture availability depending on the radiation and water balance and on biological productivity. Thus in assessing resilience of the northern landscapes undergoing mechanical disturbances, we used, analyzed and ranked a number of cryogenic and biohydroclimatic factors for their formation. Calculations revealed, in general, their relatively low resilience to technogenic pressure. It is determined that resilience will persist for upland landscapes, whereas the largest disturbances will affect the mountain-slope sparse-forest landscapes with a different degree of steepness. The mountain-slope subgoletz, piedmont-morainic and mountain-valley landscapes of the territory are categorized as relatively unresilient.