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Geographical space is considered as a dual system of subspace of geophysical coordinates and subspace of component coordinates of the geosystems states. The theoretical and mathematical models of the interaction of these subspaces in terms of vector fields, wave equations and functions, eikonal equations and local sheaves of linear dependencies of meteorological parameters are developed. The climatic zonal norms are reconstructed in the form of points of the global manifold of indicators links according to the positions of the sheaf centers. This model implements the principle of geometrization of geographical knowledge as the horo logical approach to justifying the local regularities of the interaction of natural characteristics in the geographical environment. The logical and statistical interrelation of the geographical phenomena of planetary and local levels is studied. Calculations used the average daily values of the scalar fields of atmospheric absolute temperature and specific humidity on the isobaric AT-700 hPa sur face for different months of 2014 according to logarithmically converted NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Data. Latitudinal environmental invariants of air temperature and humidity are identified, and a map reflecting the zonal and azonal heterogeneity of the geographical environment is presented. This determines the main theme of earth science as the identification of the projec tion of space and global cycles onto the local system-forming patterns, which is necessary for the development of the theory, models and methods of scientific analysis of the correlation of scalar fields of geographical characteristics and spatial processes that cause them.

Presented are the results from investigating the environmental impact of the mining industry in the Baikal region and Mon golia where in accordance with the tripartite international agreements it is planned to create the China-Mongolia-Russia trans port economic corridors. The investigation was made for the areas traversed by the sections of the transport and economic corridors: the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Ulan-Ude-Ulanbaatar railroad to the border with China, and the Karymskoe-Zabaikalsk railroad. The algorithm of the study implies a model in which the mining complex is considered as an intricately shaped natural-techno genic system. Elements of this system are production sites for the extraction of mineral raw materials and the environment in the field of technological impact, including natural and socio-economic components. The cartographic method is used as a key tech nique. Maps serve as a systematic methodology for research and are the result of a component-wise and integral assessment of the technogenic impact of mining on the environment and population. A system of indicators is suggested, which was used in assessing and mapping the technogenic impact at the local (areas of development of deposits) and areal (administrative districts) levels. Methods for compiling maps and their contents are outlined. The problems and prospects of research are identified.

To identify features in natural reforestation after abandonment of land, this paper considers the current state of 21 tracts of fallow lands of the Tunka depression (Republic of Buryatia). On the basis of a geobotanical analysis, the species composition of tree and ground covers was revealed during the overgrowing of arable land on the basis of the geobotanical analysis. The landscape specificity of the main agrarian regions of the Tunka depression was reviewed, and directions for progressive successions occurring in different conditions of the functioning of geosystems were identified. By studying the dependence of demutation features on the state of the biogeocenoses surrounding the fallow lands, it was possible to single out the pine, birch, mixed and meadow varieties of vegetation after the termination of plowing. The dependence of the intensity of spread of tree undergrowth on the degree of remoteness from the forests surrounding the abandoned lands was confirmed. A decrease in overgrowth of tree species with an increase in the distance from the periphery of the deposit to its center was observed. Grazing and hay-mowing are the main factors complicating the process of reforestation. For determining the formation characteristics of the flora in the process of progressive successions, monitoring studies are appropriate.

A landscape stability assessment is made for the major islands of the Empress Eugénie Archipelago. The landscapes are ranked according to groups of stability on the basis of an integrated numerical score for 17 indicators. It was found that the islands are dominated by landscapes of moderate stability, and by unstable landscapes. The islands are characterized by a significant differentiation with respect to the areas of landscapes belonging in different groups of stability. This is due to the in dividual features in the landscape organization of the insular geosystems, and to the degree of their economic transformation. Results of cartographic and correlation analyses showed that a considerable contribution to the integrated indicator of landscape stability is made by the geomorphological structure of the territory, and by vegetation cover. However, correlation analysis did not reveal any unambiguous relationship with the other landscape components. This is accounted for by the natural factor (low mountain relief) and a severe anthropogenic transformation of vegetation, leading to an attenuation of the relationship of the structure of vegetation cover with the other landscape components. A statistical investigation using principal component analysis (PCA) showed the role of the landscape components in the formation of the integrated indicator of stability of insular geosystems. The largest load is experienced by the geomorphological structure, followed by soil and vegetation cover. An individual analysis of island landscape stability by PCA revealed a variation in the loads on the indicators of landscape stability in principal com ponents, which is due to the rate and direction of response of the insular geosystems on homogeneous factors. It is concluded that each insular geosystem has individual characteristics of the formation of an integral landscape matter-energy system, with an inherent set of self-regulation and self-organization mechanisms which arise in accordance with the area of land, physical-geographical conditions and the degree of anthropogenic pressure. Planning of a further development of the insular territories should take into consideration the individual characteristics of the functioning of landscapes and the role of their components in the formation of the integrated stability indicator.

The investigations were made in the zone of influence of the Irkutsk UC RUSAL aluminum smelter. Soil cover on this ter ritory is represented by gray medium and light loamy soils, with a small thickness of the humus profile. The stoichiometric for mulas of solid mineral solutions, humic substances and components of soil solutions formed under the influence of technogenic load are calculated by thermodynamic modeling methods using the Selector software package. The readily soluble forms of ex istence of the components of gas and dust emissions and solid phases accumulating in soils were determined. The most common condensed components are fluorapatite and fluorite (CaF2 and AlF3) . Complex ions (Al(OH)2F⁰, AlF2⁺ and AlF4^-) are dominant in the aqueous solution, a high concentration of which is due to the presence of readily soluble compounds (NaF, KF and NH4F) in emissions. In terms of physicochemical models it was determined that 70-90 % of the total amount of F and Na arriving at the day surface can be fixed in soils exposed to the Irkutsk aluminum smelter. Therefore, in spite of high solubility, these pollutants are sorbed by soil. Technogenic transformation is accompanied by a slight increase in pH (from 5.60 to 5.75), an increase of the amount of mixed-layer aluminosilicates: smectites and chlorites (from 43 to 51 %), and by a decrease in muscovite content (from 14 to 12 %) and humus (from 3.42 to 3.32 %). Simulation modeling was used to assess changes in the phase-component composition of soils under the influence of gas and dust emissions from aluminum production. It was found that in gray soils experiencing the anthropogenic impact, the composition of the soil mineral matrix as well as of organic matter changes. A domi nant main role is played by the process of acid hydrolysis of alumosilicates whose agents are represented by decomposition products of amorphized fluorine-containing pollutants. The most important feature of this process is a change in composition of clay minerals and humus. An increase in fluorine and chlorine contents in soils leads to an increase of the amount of methane in the gas phase, rather than increasing solubility of organic substances.

This article discusses the tasks and features of the organization of natural parks within the boundaries of the Baikal Natu ral Territory, the phenomenon of which is reflected in Russia’s only federal law of a natural site, Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, and the main purpose of which implies not only natural environment conservation but also a further development of the infrastructure ensuring visits to natural sites. It is found that the category of protected natural areas of a regional significance, “nature parks”, meets best the aforementioned objectives. An overview of international experience of the establishment of regional nature parks is presented. A classification of nature parks has been carried out, which subdivides them into three conditional groups according to the distance from large settlements, the location relative to the other protected areas, the type of visitors, the quality and level of visited natural, cultural and historical sites as well as the state of the environ ment. The situation with the dragging out the establishment of new nature parks within the Baikal Natural Territory is discussed, in spite of the numerous initiatives and the previously prepared ecological-geographical substantiations for them. Only one nature park, Ivano-Arakhleisky, has been established within the boundaries of the Baikal Natural Territory, and a further two parks, Shumak and Arey, are located in the vicinity of the boundaries of this territory. It is concluded that, in view of high anthropo genic pressures on the coast of Lake Baikal, they will provide access to the other natural territories by establishing the necessary infrastructure thus “drawing” to them the excessively great interest in the lake coast. This paper presents a list of 25 nature parks within the Baikal Natural Territory. Three nature parks in Irkutsk oblast: Nature Park of the City of Angarsk (the Angarsky and Usol’sky administrative districts), Vityaz’ (Shelekhovsky district) and Okunaisky (Swan Lakes) (Kazachinsko-Lensky dis trict) located in the ecological zone of atmospheric influence of the Baikal Natural Territory, are used as an example to show their place in the suggested classification and the characteristic of the organization of future protected areas.

We investigated the distribution of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and cultivated heterotrophic microorganisms in the inter stitial waters of the splash zone and in the surface waters of for the time interval 2011-2019. Generally accepted indicators of fecal contamination, such as thermotolerant coliform bacteria and fecal enterococci, were used to monitor input of wastewater into the splash zone of Lake Baikal. Samples were collected along the entire perimeter of Lake Baikal, and a more detailed analysis was made for Bolshie Koty Bay and the settlement of Listvyanka. The sampling stations were all subdivided into three groups. The first group consisted of stations with adjacent buildings of the private sector; the second group included settlements located more than 500 m from the shore of Lake Baikal or sites with a low level of tourist camping, and the third group con sisted of wildlife stations. Statistically significant differences between the groups under study were revealed. The splash zone of the first group contained a larger amount of FIB when compared with the splash zone of the second group. The third group showed the lowest values of the amount of fecal indicator bacteria. The number of cultivated heterotrophic microorganisms did not differ in the splash zone for the sections of the lake’s coastal zone differing by anthropogenic loads. An uneven distribution of FIB was observed in the splash zone as well as in coastal waters. A clear trend for an increase in concentration of the groups of bacteria under study was revealed in the interstitial waters of the splash zone when compared with coastal waters.

For the first time, the description of soils evolving in the zone of influence of the discharge of thermal mineralized waters of hydrogen sulfide hydrocarbonate-sulfate-sodium type (Kuchiger source) is provided for the Baikal rift zone. Under the influence of the paleo-discharge and modern (active, hidden) discharge of hydrotherms across a large area of the forest-steppe zone in the northwestern part of the Barguzin depression, saline, highly saline and solonetzic soils of sulfate-sodium type of chemistry are formed. The morphological structure of saline soils differs significantly from zonal and intrazonal (floodplain) soils by the presence of turbation processes in them. The areas of active manifestation of the ascending gas-hydrothermal fluids show a high degree of turbation of soils, whereas a low degree of turbation is observed in areas of paleo-discharges. Turbation can be associated with the manifestation of tectonic folding processes in seismically active areas as well as can have a cryogenic origin. Along with sali nization processes, in remote locations, sites of paleo-discharge of a mineral source show the formation of humus-clay revestments, indicating the manifestation of the solonetz process. For the first time for soils of Transbaikalia, an accumulation of crystals of powdery gypsum in solonetz subtypes was observed. Soils of tectonic fault zones with outcropping thermal water are characterized by an extremely high dynamics of soil formation conditions, which is manifested in a contrasting combination of physicochemical properties of soil horizons and heterogeneous granulometric composition. The geochemical uniqueness of the saline soils under study is associated with anomalously high concentrations of S and high concentrations of Ba, Sr, P and Na. The endogenous factor has a considerable influence on the morphological structure and properties of soils, which allows us to identify turbated subtypes unusual for the background soils. According to the morphological structure and material composition of saline soils, they belong to the orders of alluvial soils of the synlithogenous trunk and halomorphic soils of the post-lithogenous trunk.

Modern processes of gully erosion and thermoerosion are clearly pronounced in the permafrost zone in the north of Western Siberia, on the Yamal Peninsula, including in the territories of new development. Under these conditions, knowledge of the gully potential is necessary for the rational siting of buildings and infrastructure in the areas of new development in order to avoid their damage and destruction by newly formed gullies. The gully erosion potential was calculated for one of the valley catchments in the area of the Bovanenkovo gas condensate field. The dynamic model of gully erosion and thermoerosion (GULTEM) was used, which describes the main gullying processes in the permafrost zone and permits a reasonable assessment of the gully erosion potential. The calculations were done in terms of the ArcticDEM digital elevation model, climate data were obtained from the nearest node of the ERA-Interim reanalysis grid, and water discharges were calculated using the hydrological model calibrated with observational data on this catchment. The gully erosion potential was estimated for different values of the critical rate of erosion initiation for the upper soil layer with vegetation. The calculated gully erosion potential was compared with the erosion relief on the catchment. It has been established that the gully potential calculated for severely disturbed vegetation cover corre sponds to the erosion network in the catchment area formed over more than 30 years of its development. It is concluded that the erosion potential of this catchment is mainly developed, with low probability of a further lengthening of the gully network. There fore, only rill erosion can damage the infrastructure of the Bovanenkovo gas condensate field, mainly located on a flat watershed surface, the consequences of which are easily eliminated.

A study is made of the chemical composition of pore water in bottom sediments and water in the upper part of the Bratsk reservoir (BR) at a different distance from anthropogenic sources. Concentrations of HCO , Cl^-, SO₄ , K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ 3 and their oxidation-reduction and acid-alkaline characteristics have been measured in different aquifers of surface and pore water. It was established that the oxidizing medium typical for the water of BR persists only in the upper layer of bottom sedi ments (0.5 cm) and is replaced by the reducing medium throughout the layer of bottom sediments. Basic ions are distributed evenly in the free waters of BR, except for the areas with direct inflow of wastewater. Concentrations of all studied components are considerably higher in pore water of bottom sediments, which is particularly clearly pronounced in zones of intense sedimen tation, i. e. in the zones with the most severe anthropogenic load and the reservoir bay. Differences in the chemical composition 2 of pore water and reservoir water are associated with an abrupt increase in Cl^-, SO₄ ^- and Na⁺ concentrations, which is par ticularly evident in the middle and lower layers of bottom sediments. With the mineralization in the waters of BR averaging 113,2 mg/L, its value in pore water reaches 5012 mg/L. Layer-by-layer analysis of pore water showed a considerable hetero geneity of its chemical composition. The distribution of basic ions in the pore water of bottom sediments is determined by water composition, the magnitude and time of anthropogenic impact, groundwater input, composition of water-bearing rocks, hydro logical regime as well as by processes of early diagenesis.