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This paper considers the results of geomorphological field experiments in Siberia conducted at the permanent stations oper ated by the V. B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS for a 60-year period and describes the observation methods. A unique database of quantitative data on the modern relief dynamics is provided. The rates of slow mass motions of soils on slopes, and also of the deluvial, aeolian and channel processes are presented. Observations for long-term time series are summarized. Much attention is paid to the results from investigating the slope processes. The contribution of stationary investigations to the solution of fundamental problems in geomorphology is shown. The role of field experiments in understanding the temporal organization of geomorphological systems is emphasized. Dynamic phases of the intrasecular cycles of exogenous relief formation are investi gated. Models of the contemporary functioning of denudation systems that cover all possible variety of dynamic phases and morphological and climatic conditions of denudation in semi-arid conditions of southern Siberia are obtained. We found that the spatial ordering of exogenous relief formation in the south of Siberia is manifested in the form of a regional series of cor relative denudational systems whose structure and functioning mode naturally vary along the aridity and continentality vectors of climate. The spatial ordering of aeolian lithostreams is shown, which are involved in a common cycle of matter spinning clockwise and moving aeolian fine material along the northern subarid foothills of the mountain belt of Southern Siberia. An important role of the observation results on the relief dynamics for solving ecological problems is pointed out. Prospects for a further development of experimental geomorphological research in Siberia using high-precision instruments, GIS technologies and other modern methods are outlined.

A study is made of the problem of inventory and development of the cadastre (register) of tourist attractions of a natural area in connection with the organization of tourist-recreational and educational activities in national parks. The content of the tourist attractions concept is considered. The rationale is set out for the most general categories (classes) in the classification of tourist attractions, such as natural-artificial, local-regional-global, exploited-potential, objects-events, and real-unreal. It is shown that the tourist attraction is not an object per se but an object in the structure of tourist-recreational, educational and other activities. It is found that objects and events become tourist attractions as a result of making them attractive in the eyes of the public. The diversity of tourist attractions of the Land of the Leopard National Park and surrounding territories and water areas was investigated. The following groups and sub-groups of tourist attractions were identified: landscapes or geocomplexes, the biota, medicinal springs and curative mud, places of human life and activity at present, places of life and activities of his torical persons, historical events of the 19 ^th -20 ^th centuries, places of life and traces of human activity in the Middle Ages, and places of life and traces of human activity of the ancient world. It is emphasized that one of the first stages of the organization of tourist-recreational and educational activities in the National Park involves developing the cadastre (register) of tourist at tractions which serves as the basis for working out, on the basis of which excursion routes and programs are developed. It is noted that paying due attention to local and regional tourist attractions is of great educational importance, as this restores to man the ability to see not only well-known (branded) objects but perceive the world around him in all its diversity.

A comprehensive characterization of the flood hazard on the rivers of the Baikal region is presented, which was obtained by investigating the streams within the basins of the Angara, Upper Lena (with the Vitim and Olekma), Lower Tunguska (head waters), Upper Amur and Lake Baikal (including the entire Selenga basin). The main flood indicators for the period 1985-2017 are estimated: the genesis, frequency, duration, flooding area and the force of impact. The influence of changes in the river runoff characteristics on the flood risk is shown by results of correlation analysis and analysis of integral difference curves. An assessment is made of the changes in the flood frequency at gauging stations during the period of pronounced climatic changes (from 1981 to 2014), compared with the earlier period. The flood hazard within the spatial context for municipalities in the rank of administrative districts is determined on the basis of the dual (socio-economic and natural) nature of floods. It has been confirmed that the most dangerous in the Baikal region are rainfall floods in the southern areas of Irkutsk oblast, the Republic of Buryatia and Zabaikalskii krai. They have the highest frequency, and the largest flooding areas and force of impact and are characterized by the greatest damage and by the largest number of victims and evacuated people. On the other hand, the fre quency of floods at gauging stations in recent years has decreased compared to the earlier period against the background of the observed low-water period, which is most pronounced on the rivers of South Baikal and in the Selenga river basin.

Results from investigating the geosystems of Cisbaikalia in its western and eastern parts (Primorskii Range and Barguzin Range, respectively) are presented. For studying three macroslopes of these mountain ranges (having an easterly aspect for the Primorskii Range and a westerly and south-easterly aspect for the Barguzin Range), the regional background and the main factors of the landscape differentiation of the study areas were analyzed. Structural features of topological geosystems are revealed, and large-scale maps of key areas are compiled (at a scale of 1:50 000). Maps of the landscape-typological structure were created on the basis of the structural-dynamic and facies analysis of landscapes. It is established that the main factors influencing the land scape diversity are the aspect and steepness of the slopes, the composition and structure of rocks, the absolute height, the amount of atmospheric precipitation, and anthropogenic impacts. It is determined that the influence of the lithomorphic factor is widespread throughout the study areas, the hydromorphic factor is also important, the cryomorphic factor occurs additionally in the goletz zone, and the xeromorphic factor is only observed on the Baikal Range and on the coastal plain in some areas of Priolkhonie. The dynamic aspect of the landscape structure and the relationships between geosystems are displayed in map legends.

Presented are the geological-geographical structural characteristics of the northeastern part of the Barguzin depression with a detailed description of the thermal springs (Kuchigerskii, Ukhmeiskii and Seyuiskii) and geological and hydrogeological condi tions of their discharge. Aerial photographs were used to identify a network of disjunctive dislocations represented by the general (Barguzinskii) fault and by the local (Ulyugninskii, Khakharkhai-Barguzinskii, Dzherginskii and Seyuiskii) faults. It is shown that the outcrops of thermal springs are connected with the intersection nodes of faults of several directions. New data on macro- and micro-component composition of the water, therapeutic mud and free gases are presented. It is determined that the content of La, Mn, Pb, Rb, Co, Cd, Ni, Zn, Cr and Sr in the water of the springs is above the concentrations of these chemical elements in Lake Baikal. High contents of Sr, Rb, Zr and Ba was observed in the mud composition of the Kuchigerskii and Umkheiskii thermal springs. It is established that the Kuchigerskii source is dominated by methane of organic origin and by nitrogen, while nitrogen is dominant in the Umkheiskii spring. The current status of the utilization of the thermal springs for medical and rec reational purposes is outlined. A high balneological potential of the thermal springs in the northern part of the Barguzin depres sion is shown.

It is shown that the normative characteristic of the recreation zone on the Baikal-Kotokel isthmus meets the requirements to such areas according to natural and anthropogenic conditions. We identified the criteria and pointed out the favorable factors for the selection of the area where to establish and develop the motor tourist campsite. It is established that in recent years the eastern coast of Middle Baikal has been experiencing anthropogenic impacts due to unorganized tourism as well as a steady growth of tourist arrivals from countries of Inner Asia. We suggest that a regional tourist and recreation cluster should be estab lished on the Baikal-Kotokel isthmus. A functional zoning of the Kotokelskii site measuring 4 km ² was carried out. Six zones are singled out, each of which is intended for the performance of particular functions related to rendering various services to tourists. Recommendations are made for an improvement in the ecological situation in the neighborhood of Lake Kotokel, requiring in vestment of money, hydrotechnical amelioration, and other measures. It is suggested that the motor tourist campsite should be combined with the roadside service so that the facility becomes a shelter for tourists and long-distance truck drivers, accommo dating as many as 1200 persons. We calculated the unit cost of the land area on the site (60 rubles per square meter), the starting price for the organization of the land auction.

A study is made of the coastal zones of the recreation areas of Eastern Cisbaikalia: the Lemasovo locality, the villages of Bol’shaya Rechka and Sukhaya. The findings permitted diagnostics of soils represented by four genetic types: Haplic Fluvisols, Histic Fluvisols, Eutric Fluvisols and Al-Fe-humus soils and their morphological structure is described. Presented are the results of a micromorphological analysis and from studying the main indicators of the physicochemical properties of soils experiencing recreational impacts which include acidity, exchange cations of calcium and magnesium, humus and particle-size distribution. It is established that changes in the particle-size distribution are manifested by the reorganization of content of fractions as a result of mechanical action: input, wash and mixing of material. It is determined that the number of fractions of fine and medium sand in alluvial soils increases, and the number of fractions of dust and silt decreases. Structural changes in Al-Fe-humus soils are revealed, which arise due to their sandy-loamy composition and an increased concentration of organic matter. The detected microforms of organic matter are characterized by inclusions of large partially decomposed and numerous carbonated plant residues. It is pointed out that the recreation-caused changes do not affect deep horizons. It is established that humus content, particle-size distribution, microstructure of the soil mass and organic material are most representative for the diagnosis of recreation-caused soil transformation, and the chemical indices are less informative. The identified feature of the soils studied signals their vulnerability associated with the formation of soils on sandy sediments, and with short-profile and low-power organogenic horizons.

A quantitative assessment is made of suspended sediment load, including particulate organic matter and organic carbon, in 2014 for the small streams of the Northern Yenisei region, in the taiga-tundra transition zone (near the city of Igarka, Krasnoyarsk krai). It was found that the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) of the streams under investigation fluctuated between 2 and 18 mg/L during the summer-autumn low-water period of 2014. The proportion of particulate organic matter (POM) in the total sediment yield varied from 16.4 to 74.1 %, depending on landscape-geomorphological conditions for suspended sediment formation: it is higher for streams with tundra catchments and lower on forest watersheds underlain by sandy and clayey loams. The POM content varies from catchment to catchment from 1.63 to 2.42 mg/L, and the mean concentration of particulate or ganic carbon (POC) is estimated at 0.73 to 1.09 mg C/L. It is shown that the local channel transformations serve as the main source of POM and POC input to the water of two out of three streams under study. Surface runoff or fast subsurface flow in the organic soil horizon is the external source of POM input to the water of the third stream during flooding. Regional empirical dependencies were obtained, which correlate the water discharge, total SSC and the proportion of POM are obtained. The long-term proportion of POM in the annual suspended sediment flow of the Graviyka river makes up 25 % and POC, 11 %, or, in absolute values, 406 and 183 t/year, and in units of layer 1.26 and 0.57 t/km ² , respectively.

Joint variability in annual precipitation amounts across the territory of Siberia and Kazakhstan was analyzed using multi factor stochastic modeling tools. It is shown that there are statistically significant correlations between these variables, which satisfy the temporal stability condition. Such correlations that reflect the regularities in the formation of the annual precipitation field have also both a positive and a negative character. Positive correlations are observed between closely located weather sta tions and reflect mainly the local homogeneity of the formation of the annual precipitation field. They are reliably identified by methods of both multi-factor and single-factor statistics. Negative correlations are observed between the significantly more remote weather stations. They are revealed according to the condition of the significance of the deviation from zero for the negative coefficients of the variables in multi-factor linear regression models. Paired negative, statistically significant correlations between annual precipitation amounts at weather stations occur extremely rarely. From an applied perspective, the presence of significant regular correlations between annual precipitation amounts can be used to construct models based on such regularities, for an approximate reconstruction of missing data in the past or in problems of a combined forecasting of the expected annual precipi tation for the territory under consideration in the future.

Argillites, clays and fine-grained sands with traces of connectivity and sandy alluvium from the Gorome cave (Oka plateau in Eastern Sayan) were studied. Results on the mineral composition of terrigenous components of light and heavy fractions of these sediments are considered for the first time. They were obtained by the method of quantitative immersion analysis. The morphological features of minerals indicated that there were no traces of roundness; a predominance of ore components is re sponsible for the increased mass of heavy fraction in clays and sands; the highest degree of chemical maturity was observed in argillites. The general and particular features of light and heavy minerals were established; the presence of a large number of aggregates and carbon-bearing inclusions with the structure of wood in the composition of light fraction as well as meteoritic particles among heavy components was observed. The method of phase X-ray diffraction analysis was used to determine the composition of clay minerals among which smectite of a weak degree of transformation prevailed. A high content of aggregates in cave argillites, clays and fine-grained sands was confirmed by results of studies using the “Microstructure” method. The as sumptions (hypotheses) concerning carbon-bearing inclusions, meteoritic particles and the formation of aggregates were considered. The woody microstructure in carbon-bearing inclusions can give evidence for fire sites in the cave, and the presence of meteor itic particles is likely due to redeposition of “above-ground” sedimentary rocks. Two variants of the formation of epigenetic ag gregates are suggested: in conditions of positive temperatures as a result of variable moisturizing or drying out of the precipitate; at negative temperatures, as a result of the microstructure rearrangement under the influence of physicochemical processes.