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The concept of “system” is analyzed. The basic properties of systems are established. It was revealed that all its elements must be interconnected and be in interaction, the system interacts with the external environment as a whole, and the division in it occurs from the whole to the parts. It is concluded that in relation to geographical objects these requirements are too stringent, because then there arises a need for mandatory implementation of all the conditions inherent in the systems. And this is not always possible, because the realization of the goals, in accordance with which the object is formed, may require consideration of independent factors. It is shown that not all geographical and related objects - socio-geographical and geo-ecological - meet the requirements for classical systems, because some (and sometimes all) of their components (or influencing factors) are not mutually dependent. A virtual example of a problem is given, namely the selection of the optimal location of an object out of several alternatives, consisting of several groups of factors, illustrating the absence of direct links between some of the components of the object. It is proposed to call such objects “non-system” objects. In contrast to systems, for them it is possible to form the structure from the bottom up, from private to general, combining, if necessary, the components of the object into groups, which makes it possible to consistently complicate the object of research as necessary. At the same time, a number of factors, such as seasonal factors, can change their importance over time, which leads to the transition of objects from the “system” state to the “non-system” state, and vice versa. Factors, the influence of which is limited in space, can lead to similar consequences. A graphical interpretation of the concepts of “system” and “non-system object” in the form of oriented graphs, the edges of which represent groups of components (influencing factors) is provided. With such an approach, systems can be considered as a special case of objects in which all components are interrelated. At the same time, systems can be components of complex non-system objects.

We present results form a ten-year-long study into local features of mountain glacier dynamics in the central part of Asia - from the latitudes of the middle taiga of Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia, through the mountains of the steppe zone of Mongolian Altai and the desert zone of China to the cold deserts of the Himalayas. Interpretation of multi-temporal satellite images was carried out, thereby making it possible to obtain quantitative information on changes in the area and length of glaciers in the key areas of the mountain territories under study. These data are linked to climatic parameters, absolute altitude, permafrost, morphology and tectonics of the mountain ridges, and to anthropogenic impact. The study revealed a general trend, namely a retreat of the glaciers starting in the 1970s, with an increase in the average annual air temperature in the northern hemisphere by 1,4-1,6 °С. Accelerated glacier melting and a reduction in glacier length were observed from 1990 to 2020 when there occurred the most significant warming. The following years with above-average temperatures are highlighted: 1990, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2020. During this period also showed an increase in the area and length of some of the glaciers studied during 2013-2015 and in 2021 associated with abnormal winter precipitation in 2012, 2013 and 2020. It was found that in the mountains of the south of Eastern Siberia the aforementioned years showed a slowdown in the reduction of the area of glaciers, an increase of the number of perennial snow patches, and an increase in the frequency of snow avalanches. It has been revealed that the glaciers in Siberia, Mongolian Altai, and the Altyn-Tag Range retreated from the terminal moraines of the Little Ice Age retreated an average of 500 m, on the Karlyktag Range 800-900 m, and in the Himalayas (Langtang area) from 1 to 4,5 km.

The issues related to soil degradation, and the possibility of preserving and restoring soil fertility in the southern regions of Siberia are considered. On the basis of synthesizing long-term observational data from fixed stations, the mechanism of erosion processes was revealed and quantitative data were obtained for soil losses depending on the main factors of water and wind erosion. Particular attention is paid to the periodically extreme behavior of processes that cause catastrophic soil degradation. The patterns of changes in the structure of processes that require the use of soil-protective methods of agriculture are shown. The mechanism of soil erosion and of soil degradation rate changes from west to east along the belt of steppes and forest-steppes in southern Siberia. It is necessary to protect soils from thawed soil loss in the south of Western Siberia. Soil deflation poses a particular danger in Khakassia. Soil degradation in Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia is enhanced by the combined effect of storm runoff and deflation. Based on a case study of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo plain, and the Nazarovskaya and South-Minusinsk depressions, results of a quantitative cartographic assessment of the erosion hazard to lands in terms of empirical models of potential soil loss and deflation are presented. A decrease in soil losses from erosion as a result of socio-economic reforms of agriculture and a significant reduction in the area of arable land in the early 1990s and in the post-reform period (2010-2017) were noted. In connection with the restoration of arable land occurring in recent years, the need for large-scale inventory mapping of erosion processes in southern Siberia is emphasized. It will be the basis for choosing a nature management policy that promotes the conservation of soil resources.

This article is devoted to the analysis of the results from investigating the soil geochemistry in the south of Russia, and assessing atmospheric pollution and the status of public health in some of the cities of Krasnodar krai and Rostov oblast. The research has been made for more than 30 years, including repeated tests of the soils (more than 10 000 samples) and settlements (about 3000 samples), and comprehensive assessments of the state environment of a large biosphere structure where almost 20 % of the population of Russia lives. The study revealed an increase in atmospheric pollution, concentrations of chemical elements in soils, and the negative impact of pollution on public health. The geochemistry of air pollution has a particularly strong effect on the increase in diseases of the upper respiratory tract. The highest degree of air pollution by aerosols in the south of Russia is noted in Novorossiisk. A three-dimensional analysis shows that the maximum percentage of diseases and increased mortality of newborns was detected in areas with old 1-2-storey buildings, and the minimum percentage of diseases in areas of multi-storey buildings. It is shown that the sickness rate in the population decreases with an increase in the storey of residence. Such a distribution of morbidity indicates a high level of atmospheric aerosol pollution. To confirm the toxicity of air pollution in cities, an ecological-geochemical assessment of the solid part of aerosols was made in comparison with natural deflationary aerosols. Geochemical features of various sources of aerosols in the atmospheric surface layer are revealed. It has been established that technogenic aerosols are enriched with a number of chemical elements, but especially intensively with Ag, Pb, Cu and Zn elements, polymetals that are not characteristic for the local geological situation and industrial specifics.

We present the principles of landscape analysis of a territory and demonstrate the experience of implementing these principles on a step-by-step basis (functional, complex, dynamic, classification-hierarchical, and discrete) was demonstrated for assessing the fire resistance of forest geosystems in the south of the Selenga middle mountains. The practical expression of the step-by-step implementation of these principles involves analyzing the landscape-forming factors and conditions, selecting complex indicators of the functioning of geosystems, creating a landscape-information basis for assessment, and carrying out a correlated analysis of the resulting complex indicators and the landscape-typological map, followed by an assessment of fire resistance of different types of forest geosystems. Within the framework of this research program, intra-landscape conditions and features of forest geosystems (relief, nature of underlying rocks and soils, and vegetation) were analyzed, determining their fire resistance, and a landscape-information basis (landscape-typological map) of forest geosystems was built. The value of the near-surface temperature that characterizes the level of moisture exchange between the components of geosystems, which determines the micro- and mesoclimatic features of landscapes, is used as a complex indicator. To determine the moisture exchange potential, a correlative analysis of index images characterizing land surface temperatures (LST) and moisture (normalized difference moisture index, NDMI) was carried out, which were calculated on the basis of infrared channels of Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS satellite images. Forest geosystems with high fire resistance are characterized by a higher level of moisture exchange and by minimum values of LST. Further, a correlative analysis of results obtained by the data overlay method was carried out: a grid of landscape map selections was superimposed on the LST and NDMI index images to identify modal values of the land surface temperature characteristic of each type of geosystems. It was found that the minimum level of fire resistance is characteristic of pine forests of steppizated, sometimes dead-cover, forests on plains and foothill elevations, composed of aeolian and deluvial-proluvial deposits on soils of light mechanical composition. The reliability of the results from assessing the fire resistance of geosystems is confirmed by the analysis of the actual fire frequency index of forests conducted on the basis of a time series of Landsat satellite images over the past 50 years when fires affected approximately 51 % of the area of all forests of the study area.

The tendencies of forest formation on fallow lands of different years, currently acting as rangelands, in post-agrarian areas of Western Transbaikalia have been established. When assessing the nature of the restorative dynamics of forests on fallow lands, the typological and species composition of phytocenoses of the surrounding areas, not previously used for plowing, was taken into account as much as possible. In the forming herbaceous communities on fallow lands and steppe plots, the presence of woody species such as Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), more rarely Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.), and sometimes dwarf elm (Ulmus pumila L.) was established. It was determined that in plant communities removed from intensive pasture turnover, there occur a gradual restoration of layering, and an increase in species diversity of plants and in their abundance in communities. At the same time, an active introduction of pine to herbaceous (steppe) communities, consisting of plant species characteristic of the forest-steppe and steppe, was noted. It was found that the age composition of pine varies from 2-5-year-old individuals to 20-25-year-old trees represented by separate groups everywhere on fallow lands. It was noted that in the plots of fallows adjacent to a closed forest stand, there is a fairly closed undergrowth, regardless of the orographic features of the territory. A significant presence of plant species characteristic of zonal light coniferous forests was detected in the ground cover of such groupings. This is probably due to the early stage of formation of light coniferous taiga of zonal type. A restraining factor in the development of forests on fallow and steppe plots in the study area should be attributed to a possible increase in anthropogenic influences, mainly grazing regimes, due to the formation of farms. There are often periodic human-induced fires (“deliberate fires”) in order to preserve rangelands. Simple felling of pine undergrowth has also been noted, both in fallow lands and in adjacent territories. In many respects, this is of decisive importance for the possibility of formation and development of forests on post-agrarian territories in the near future.

The content of 14 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the soils of the city of Severobaikalsk (Republic of Buryatia) was studied for the first time and an ecological and geochemical assessment of their pollution in different land-use zones of the city was made. The main sources of PAHs were determined, namely the emissions from the heat and power complex operating on Kansk-Achinsk brown coal, railway and motor transport, and from oil depots, which form extensive high-contrast PAH anomalies in the soils in the north-east, north-west, and south of the city. Fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and phenanthrene predominate in the composition of brown coals used; the amount of PAHs in them is 5.44 mg/kg; in the ash of the thermal power plant it is 20 times less than in the brown coals. In the upper (0-10 cm) soil horizons of Severobaikalsk, the total content of PAHs averages 0.441 mg/kg, which is 4 times higher than the background level. The composition of PAHs in urban soils does not differ from their natural analogs with the predominance of fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzo(b)fluoranthene. The sum of 2-4-ringed PAHs is 1.5-2.9 times higher than the sum of 5-6-ringed ones. The degree of soil pollution with PAHs is caused by the level of technogenic load, which depends on the functional status of the territory. It is concluded that the soils of residential manor and industrial zones are most heavily polluted with PAHs whereas the least polluted are those of the residential multi-storey zone. The content of BaP in the soils of the industrial zone exceeds the MPC on average by a factor of 1.5, and in the residential manor zone by a factor of 1.3. The maximum exceedances reach 31 MPC in the northeastern anomaly. When taking into account the contribution of other PAHs, expressed in terms of the equivalent amount of BaP in soils, the average frequency of exceeding the MPC for BaP increases to a factor of 2.3, and in the industrial and residential manor zones, to factors of 3.4 and 3.6, respectively. 34 % of the city’s soils are characterized by an acceptable pollution level, and 23.4 % by a dangerous and very dangerous levels of PAH pollution, which threatens public health and can cause deterioration of the water composition in Lake Baikal.

A study was made of the gross content of rare-earth elements (scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, tulium, ytterbium and lutetium) in the peat deposit of the high bog in the Dubches River valley (Krasnoyarsk krai). It was revealed that the age of the bottom peat layer is 13 617 ± 190 cal BP. The main sources of rare-earth elements entering the peat deposit of the bog are considered. They are underlying rocks, atmospheric aerosols, regional and local forest fires, and peat geochemistry. It was noted that atmospheric aerosols and regional forest fires had little effect on the concentration of elements in the peat studied. The main sources of input of rare-earth elements into the peat deposit were the underlying rocks and the oxide-recovery environment at the initial period of the formation of the bog. During the study it was found that the content of rare-earth elements in the upper, transitional and lowland peats is below the clarke number and all the elements are dispersed. Cerium, terbium, and holmium are most dispersed in the upper and transitional types of peat, and cerium and terbium in the lowland ones. The concentrations of scandium and ytterbium in the lowland peat types are close to the soil clarke. It is concluded that the concentration of rare-earth elements in different types of highland and transitional peats down the profile not almost change. Their insignificant accumulation is noted only in the near-surface layers of 0.30-0.35 m. In pyrogenic interlayers at the depths of 2.65, 2.90, 3.15, and 3.25 m, increased content of almost all rare-earth elements relative to the overlying layer of peat was recorded. In the lowland types of peat in the depth interval of 4.0-3.75 m, the highest concentration of all elements was noted. It is suggested that the main source of rare-earth elements in the initial stage of bog development could be the bedrock of ancient glacial origin.

Based on daily data on isobaric surface altitude 700 hPa (lower troposphere) of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis we made an objective classification of synoptic types over the Kodar Range (Transbaikalia) for the period 1970-2020 and investigated seasonal and interannual variability of cyclonic and anticyclonic weather types frequency. It was found that the advective atmospheric circulation regime dominates at the level of the lower troposphere over the Kodar, and cyclonic types prevail over anticyclonic types in all seasons except summer (June-August). It was further found that the frequency of occurrence of anticyclonic types has a tendency to increase in summer and decrease in autumn over the last 50 years, and the frequency of cyclonic types to decrease in spring and, on the contrary, to increase in autumn. It is concluded that the atmospheric circulation over the Kodar may influence changes in the mass balance of mountain glaciers. According to the ratio of cyclones and anticyclones in different seasons of the year, three main modes of atmospheric circulation, determining possible changes in the mass balance of glaciers, were established. Until the mid-1980s, the increased frequency of winter and spring cyclones contributed to a stabilization of the glacier mass balance. From the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, the frequency of winter, spring, and summer cyclones decreased and the number of summer anticyclones increased. It is concluded that such conditions contributed to a decrease in winter precipitation and summer cloudiness, an increase in the net radiation and accelerated ablation of glaciers in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s the atmospheric circulation has contributed to a partial restoring of the glacier mass balance.

The dynamics of the total population of Siberia and changes in age groups by working capacity are considered. Attention is focused on a significant reduction in the working-age population and an increase in the number in the group older than working age. The dynamics of coefficients of three types of demographic load is analyzed: potential (children), pension and general - over a twenty-year period. It is shown that since 2000, the coefficients of the potential load on the territory of Siberia have increased by 16 %, and the pension load by 23 %. Significant territorial disproportions in the coefficients of general demographic load were revealed, and the difference between the minimum and maximum values in the context of regions is 1,5 times. It has been established that the minimum loads are typical for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra (KhMAO-Yugra) and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO) as centers of attraction for the young able-bodied population; the maximum values of the demographic load are recorded in regions with a high proportion of children in the population structure: in the Republics of Tyva and Altai as well as in regions characterized by population aging, namely in Altai krai, Kemerovo oblast, and Omsk oblast. The problem of the demographic potential of the regions is considered through the indicator of the value of the potential demographic load. The maximum exceedance of the load of children over the load of pensioners (by 67 %) was revealed in the Republic of Tyva. The maximum exceedance of the load of pensioners over the load of children (by 43 %) was noted in Altai krai. The influence of regional socio-economic factors on the formation of the demographic load indicator is emphasized: the level of fertility and mortality, migration activity, the influx of able-bodied population, and population aging.