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This study aims at the description of the long-term dynamics of tritium content in atmospheric precipitation and in surface and ground water of the Lena river basin, based on new data obtained received in 2019 and 2020, and on historical information. The relationship of tritium content with the concentration of dissolved chemicals was analyzed. In 2019 and 2020, during the periods of winter and summer low water, 44 water samples were taken from the Lena river, its large, medium and small nonfreezing tributaries, interpermafrost and subpermafrost groundwater, snow cover and liquid precipitation. Data on tritium concentrations in the upper and middle Lena river and its tributaries are reported for the first time. Tritium content in samples from river water, snow cover and rain is consistent with the long-term tritium decline curve. The tritium concentration in river waters during the winter low-water period is lower than in the summer period, when tritium content in the rivers approaches its values in atmospheric precipitation, which is evidence of the contribution of groundwater to the alimentation of the rivers river feeding, in spite of the widespread occurrence of permafrost in the region. Statistically significant correlations between tritium content and redox potential, the content of bicarbonate ions, lithium and sodium ions, total dissolved solids and pH were found.

The methodology of economic valuation of ecosystem services of the marine environment is considered, which implies identification and valuation of the benefits obtained by humans from using marine ecosystems. It was found that the previously done research has disregarded and has not assessed the assimilation potential of port water areas, which consists in the absorption and dispersion of pollution arising in the course of port activities. A methodological approach is proposed for its assessment as well as an algorithm for calculating the rent-based assimilation potential by the amount of saving of expenses of economic entities that they do not pay to compensate for the damage caused or do not invest in its reduction and prevention, that is, by the amount of environmental damage caused by sea-going ships and port activities. The rent of the assimilation potential for the largest ports of Russia, the European Union (EU) and China was calculated based on the monetized metrics of environmental damage applied in the EU countries and the indicator of pollutant emissions per 1 million tons of cargo transshipments carried out in ports as well as the costs of cleaning polluted water discharged by ships. The latter value is calculated only for the ports of Russia.

The study of vegetation stability remains an important and poorly developed issue of geobotany. Results from studying of resistance to the pyrogenic factor of plant communities of vegetation cover of the North Baikal and Upper Angara depressions are presented. In recent years, fires have become catastrophic in Siberia as well as on the territory of the country as a whole; therefore, the pyrogenic impact came to be one of the main negative anthropogenic factors. We suggest an original technique for determining the parameters of vegetation resistance to the pyrogenic factor, based on assessing the ignitability. The susceptibility to fire of both individual plant species and plant layers of cenoses, and also the degree of damage by fires have been comprehensively studied, with due regard for the mesoclimatic conditions and areal distribution throughout the territory. It was established that the resistance of the communities can vary according to on their hierarchical rank. As a result of the research, a legend and a medium-scale map of the vegetation resistance in the region to the pyrogenic factor have been generated. It was revealed that the most stable communities are sparse alpine tundras, alpine meadows and meadow-swamp communities of the Upper Angara floodplain and wet forests of mountain valleys. The medium-stable cenoses include tundra watersheds and sloping summits with well-developed shrub-lichen cover, sparse communities of Pinus pumila, small-leaved forests, steppe slopes and forest communities of the floodplain. The smallest degree of stability is typical for closed P. pumila thickets, subgoletz dark coniferous-larch forests, mountain taiga dark coniferous forests, as well as for pine forests of the submontane-depression belt. An important characteristic of the stability of the communities is the duration of recovery of the primary (conventionally primary) state. It is shown that the accessibility of natural communities to humans significantly affects the resistance of vegetation to the pyrogenic factor, because this greatly increases the likelihood of fire in any of the cenoses considered.

Geoecological studies of urbanized centers of the Baikal region are aimed at identifying the specifics of anthropogenic impact on the natural environment in order to find rational solutions to environmental problems of the territories and improve the quality of life of the population. The article considers the features in the natural and ecological state of the cities of Ulaanbaatar, Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk as well as analyzing the relationship between socio-economic conditions and environmental problems of the territories.The information base of the study consisted of statistical and archival material, cartographic and literary works and data of experimental observations. The urbanized centers of the Baikal region are characterized by different socio-economic conditions, but they also have some common features of modern agglomeration processes: an intense concentration of the population in the capital cities, problems with engineering communications, and an increase in environmental tension and discomfort. The analysis revealed a high level of technogenic load from the fuel-and-energy complex and automobile transport. Natural factors, such as the atmospheric circulation, the state of natural waters and the conditions of migration of chemical elements in soils, have a significant impact on the formation of the ecological situation in the cities. Assessments of the level of anthropogenic impact on the components of the natural environment revealed extremely low conditions for self-purification of the atmosphere in Ulan-Ude and Ulaanbaatar, and the highest air pollution is recorded in Ulaanbaatar. The greatest pollution of soil cover is observed in Irkutsk, which is due to large industrial emissions and favorable conditions for the accumulation of pollutants in the soil of the territory. Ulaanbaatar is experiencing problems with the quality of water resources and drinking water supply to the population. Anthropogenic pressures on the natural environment of the cities create prerequisites for the development of diseases in the population as a result of the entry of toxic pollutants into the air and into water bodies.

Based on an extensive database, it is shown that for different limnetic regions of Lake Ladoga there occurs a temperature hysteresis phenomenon for the period of open water from May to November. The heating and cooling features of both the water surface and the integral water temperature of six different areas of the lake have been revealed, depending on air temperature of near surface layer. The approximation of dependencies between these parameters, the second- and third-degree polynomials, has shown that there are stable, meaningful relationships (p < 0.05) between them, with the determination coefficient of 0.8-0.9. Analytical dependencies allowed to calculate the increase in water temperature when the air temperature changes by one degree. On Lake Ladoga, a dependence of the rate of change in water surface temperature on air temperature is found. The biggest changes occur during the heating period. In August, at maximum air temperatures, the rate of increase in water surface temperature, especially in the deep-sea region, exceeds the rate of increase in air temperature. Canadian limnologists obtained similar results on Lake Ontario. Two important periods have been identified when the lake cools: the first one, when the surface temperature has a constant value with minimal spatial variance; and the second one, when the entire water thickness of the lake has the same water temperature with minimal spatial variance. These periods and values of water and air temperatures can serve as climatic norms in climate studies. Climatic changes in air temperature will affect the increase in water temperature in different ways in different seasons and in different areas of a large lake.

We present the results from studying the spatio-temporal organization of southern and subtaiga and forest-steppe geosystems of regions of the South of Western Siberia, including the Irtysh, Tobol, Ishim and Tobol-Tavda interfluve area, and the southern Ural, reflecting spatio-temporal variability of landscape structure in these regions, conducted its mapping, the estimation of the dynamic state variables of geosystems with the purpose of solving practical, forward-looking, environmental protection and expert tasks. The landscape structure of the study area was mapped based on the principles of structurally dynamic landscape science and the genetic classification of forest types using modern GIS technologies, including automated interpretation of Earth remote sensing data (ERS). This approach allows us to use forest taxational data in landscape studies. The geographic information landscape mapping scheme, implemented on the basis of Hansen mosaic data, made it possible to construct digital raster landscape maps of the study area, reflecting the spatio-temporal organization of geosystems and the zonal distribution of forests in the region. Automated processing of ERSdata enabled determination of the landscape structure as well as calculating the areas of different anthropogenically disturbed territories (felling areas and burning) and correlation of various types of geosystems.

Based on analyzing geomorphometric indicators of the floodplain relief of the Iya-river valley, we identified specific features in the distribution of flows during flooding within different morphological areas. A digital elevation model was used in calculating the horizontal and vertical curvature of the valley of the Iya-river, and for representing their distribution in space, maps were compiled for a number of key areas that were located within the development of the wide-floodplain, the adapted and inscribed types of channel. It was revealed that the distribution of flows within the wide-floodplain area, in addition to the width of the floodplain, was influenced by the development of segment and hollow-island floodplains, as well as the general predominance of wetland flat surfaces which are zones of accumulation, which contributed to the retention of water within this area. In the downstream section with the adapted channel, the curvature of the surface did not play a significant ole in the distribution of flows. The position of this segment between the two extended sections of the valleys, and also a complex combination of forced bends, served as an additional factor in the concentration of flow in the narrow valley and the development of “areal erosion”, which led to significant material damage. A part of the city of Tulun is located in the spur of an adapted bend with fairly flat floodplain surfaces, which contributed to the spreading of the stream. The change of the downstream channel type from a broad-bottomed to an adapted one could provoke back water and retention within the urban area.

The modern structure mineral resource base of solid minerals (TPI) and macroeconomic indicators of the results of their extraction in the territory of the far Eastern Federal district, where 16-18 types of ore mineral raw materials are extracted, are considered. The main production is gold (more than 170 tons in 2019) and silver (more than 930 tons). The total value of the volume of production of all types of minerals (DPI) in monetary terms for the far Eastern Federal district is about 2,4 trillion rubles (45 % of the total gross regional product (GRP) of the region, equal to 5 trillion rubles). There is a slower growth in TPI production in the total TPI. About 3100 enterprises and organizations (without small businesses) with a total number of 142,6 thousand people working in the DPI industry, which is 3.5 % of the total number of employees. The turnover of organizations is more than 2 billion rubles. The largest number of enterprises associated with DPI and the number of employees is observed in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The number of small businesses in the region is almost 2000 with a total of more than 9100 employees. In the region, there is a need to develop intraregional use and processing of raw materials to final products, and create metallurgical enterprises.

A comparative analysis is made of the remote spectral indices in investigating changes in vegetation cover in post-agrogenic biogeocenoses of the Bolshezemel’skaya tundra. In agricultural use, meadow biogeocenoses, compared with the surrounding background areas, were characterized by relatively high indices characterizing the moisture and photosynthetic activity of plant phytomass (NDVI, LWCI, NDMI, and B5). To assess the changes in the amount of dead biomass, the PSRI index was used, the values of which were minimal during the period of agricultural use of meadows during their regular mowing. During self-healing succession in post-agrogenic biogeocenoses, the values of spectral indices gradually approach those of the background sections. In the post-agrogenic period, the values of the LWCI, NDMI and NDVI indices gradually decreased in meadow biogeocenoses, and the PSRI and spectral channel B3 values increased. The dynamics of the spectral indices is affected by the changes in the species composition. In the post-agrogenic period in meadow biogeocenoses, seeded cereal grass stand is thinned out, a shrub layer is formed, and species introduced from surrounding communities become dominant and subdominant. The activation of the self-healing succession of tundra vegetation in post-agrogenic biogeocenoses takes place against the backdrop of climate warming. Statistical relationships are determined, which reflect the influence of climatic parameters on changes in spectral indices in post-agrogenic and background biogeocenoses. A decrease in the severity of the climate is accompanied by an increase in the values of spectral indices characterizing the vegetative activity of tundra vegetation. An increase in the amount of precipitation contributes to an increase in the values of the indices reflecting the supply of plants with moisture.

Gas geochemical research as a method of exploring gas hydrates and determining hydrocarbon deposits A wide range of applications of gas geochemical investigation in science and practice and for solving various geological and engineering problems are considered in the paper. The method we developed represents a package of technical solutions for extracting gas from water and sediments, and for determining the following gas components on a gas chromatograph: methane (CH₄), heavy hydrocarbon gases (C₂-C₅), carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen (H₂), helium (He), oxygen (O₂) and nitrogen (N₂). It is shown that hydrocarbon gases and hydrogen are an indicator of the possible presence of hydrocarbon deposits, carbon dioxide - of the presence of intrusive activity, and helium shows the gas flow from deep horizons and the mantle. Based on the data of gas geochemical studies, the amount of gas hydrates in the upper layer of the gas hydrate strata was calculated. The possibility of using gases to clarify the stratification processes in the sea is shown. The important role of combining the gas geochemical method with other methods for searching for oil and gas fields, mapping fault zones, determining their seismic-tectonic activity and other geological studies is noted.