Selected historical and geographical problems of societal modernization and its relation to particular spatial characteristics of countries and regions, especially of the largest states, are discussed and some tentative, mostly scientific, lessons derived from the analysis are suggested. The author adopts a broad interpretation of modernization regarded as a development based on innovations, which are adequate to criteria and targets of each time. Brief compendia of ideas on the main aspects of the topic are combined with some generalizations and schemes. The conclusion is made that the modernization process is not only multi-scale and non-linear (undulating), but also contradictory in its social and cultural effects. The latter are associated in Russia with the ongoing catch-up type of development, the country’s size and spatial infrastructure. However, many properties of its space, often perceived as barriers, were not and are not fatal.

The Sevastopol Bay is a narrow sub-latitudinal trough-shaped depression in the Black Sea coast which doesn’t freeze in winter. It projects into the south-western part of the Crimean Peninsula for 6,5 km and its width is about 1 km. The town of Sevastopol is situated on its banks. The Sevastopol Bay is characterized by complicated ecological situation because of close interrelations with the urban environment. The eastern part of the bay is the Chernaya River estuary. The article analyses the spatial pattern of dissolved oxygen and the main biogenic elements in the Sevastopol Bay basing on the data obtained during the survey made by the MSU Faculty of Geography in February 2015.

Over the past few years in line with the global trends of transition to the concept of sustainable development more and more countries around the world began to pay close attention to the development of renewable energy. Russia is not an exception in this context. Despite the fact that the total installed capacity in Russia is still not so great, some regions of the country are actively developing certain areas of renewable energy using the international experience. The article presents a geographical analysis of renewable energy in Russia on an example of the Belgorod region as a region, where the development of energy sector was primarily due to the influence of institutional factors. The paper studies the factors that affect the development of renewable energy sub-sectors (wind, solar and bio-energy) as well as the specific features of their territorial pattern The study based on the original sources and official documents allowed to draw a conclusion that it is the combination of traditional industry (agrobusiness), modern technology and the personal interest of the Governor under the influence of an external factor (energy shortage), that created conditions for the transformation of renewable energy into a fully competitive industry inside the fuel and energy complex.

The paper discusses the first application of the mesoscale regional climate model COSMO-CLM coupled with two spatialized urban canopy parameterizations, single-layer urban canopy model TEB (Town Energy Balance) and bulk parameterization TERRA-URB for the modeling of summer microclimatic conditions in Moscow agglomeration. The model was used for dynamic downscaling of reanalysis data with due regard to specific physical features of urban surface, which are responsible for the formation of urban heat island (UHI). Urban morphology parameters, needed for the parameterizations, were calculated from the OpenStreetMap database using the original GIS-based technology. Verification of the model was based on the comparison of modeling results and temperature observations of weather stations and airquality monitoring stations, including new stations which were installed during recent years. Comparison of modeling results, obtained with two urban canopy parameterizations, has shown that both of them are able to simulate UHI within the near-surface air temperature field and temporal variations of its intensity. However, more detailed analysis shows a significant difference between two schemes. Warming influence of urbanized surface simulated with TERRA-URB affects both model cells with buildings, and adjacent «green» cells (first of all urban parks) and higher model levels, resulting in a temperature anomaly of few hundred meters high, which is in good agreement with observation data. In the TEB scheme the influence of urbanized surface on adjacent model cells and the boundary layer above the city was less pronounced. Therefore, we can conclude that the COSMO-CLM model with TERRA-URB parameterization reproduces the UHI phenomenon in more realistic way. The importance of correct definition of model parameters of turbulent diffusion for adequate simulations of UHI behavior was also shown.

The article discusses the approaches to creation of GIS software in the field of monitoring and early warning of ethnic and ethno-religious conflicts. Strategic tasks of the monitoring for management purposes in the domestic sphere by federal, regional and municipal authorities are analyzed. The lack of objective data is the major problem with the creation of a monitoring system in the sphere of inter-ethnic relations in Russia. It could be solved by using the diversified sources of information (media, surveys, departmental statistics, etc.) and implementation of an «ethno-religious passport of a municipal entity». Collection of municipal level data is a prerequisite for efficient functioning of the system. At this level it is possible to predict the local ethnic conflicts and propose the most effective ways of resolving them. Basing on the use of GIS the analytical skills of a system are developed which provide for the search of potentially hazardous areas in terms of the emergence and escalation of conflicts, definition of the areas of compact and mixed living of different peoples, comprehensive evaluation of the impact of socioeconomic and migration processes on the nature of inter-ethnic relations etc. The basis of the monitoring system is a multiscale principle, which makes it possible to uniform the collection and analysis of information for all levels of administrative-territorial division of the Russian Federation, i.e. municipality (first and second order), region, federal district, and country. The analysis based on the proposed monitoring system showed that 20% of the RF subjects are under threat of rising ethnic tensions. First of all it concerns Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as the regions within the 300 km zone of influence of the capital.

The morphostructural segmentation of the rift zone of the South-East Indian ridge was analyzed at the ridge section between the anomalies with increased (Kerguelen Plume and Amsterdam-St. Paul hotspot) and decreased (Australian-Antarctic discordance) mantle temperatures. To distinguish peculiarities of segmentation the changes of bottom topography of axial and off-axial zones of the ridge were studied using the detailed bathymetric data and the morphostructural schemes were drawn. Results of the study confirm that the changes are probably related to the eastward decrease of mantle temperature. The changes of bottom topography and the rift zone morphostructural segmentation may be caused by the along-axis astenospheric flow and result from the changes of thermal and rheological properties of the axial lithosphere at the increasing distance from the «hot» and the approach to the «cold» mantle anomaly.

During the post-Soviet period the employment in Russia’s agriculture has declined sharply, many rural settlements have lost the jobs. As a result, the «residential» function common to all of them becomes the only one for an increasing number of settlements. Moreover, the processes of population aging lead to the mass emergence of settlements without employable population, the so-called «retirement villages». Increasingly widespread are «populated areas without population», and this is not an oxymoron, but really existing buildings used (at least from time to time) by the heirs of local residents. Among them are seasonally-inhabited, or recreational, settlements, which are particularly noticeable in the marginal zones of influence of large agglomerations. This situation requires the development of a new typology of settlements that reflects the current situation. It is based on the presence of permanent (or temporary) population, employable population, and jobs in the settlement. The example of European Russia shows the main structural proportions of the typology proposed by the authors, as well as the geography of some identified types of the settlements. 

To better understand recent long-term runoff variations in the Viluy River basin and more efficiently plan human activities within its drainage area we conducted the spatio-temporal analysis of long-term river runoff fluctuations basing on the newest hydrometeorogical data. The analysis also helps to evaluate the human impact on water resources of the region under study. Dates and the most probable causes of heterogeneity in time-series of annual mean, maximum and minimum runoff of the Viluy River and its tributaries in 20th and 21st centuries were identified. Results of the research based on the most complete data on runoff fluctuations for different rivers of the basin, made it possible to reveal the intensity of recent changes in stream flow hydrology in the Viluy River basin and update their quantitative estimates. The zoning of the basin area in terms of the long-term runoff fluctuation patterns was accomplished and the empirical relationships between mean annual runoff and precipitation and air temperature were suggested allowing the estimates of future runoff changes.

The state of the Azov Sea coast between Taganrog and the Miuss Liman mouth is forecasted. Longterm observations are compared with cartographic materials and satellite images, and with factors of coast development, including the main types of synoptic situations. The analysis of coast development factors revealed their cyclic nature. The available series of observations made it possible to identify the cycles of activization and stabilization of abrasion and landslide processes. The periods of 1980–2002 and 2006– 2010 are characterized by the abrasion process stabilization; increasing washout of the coast is expected approximately till 2020; and by 2050 the intensity reduction to the values comparable to the beginning of the 21st century is forecasted. In the next decade the majority of coasts under study will be stable with a slight retreat tendency. Accumulative forms of Beglitskaya and Petrushinskaya spits will be exposed to minor washout

The approaches to studying the phenomenon of socioeconomic depression are systematized and the factors of formation and the instruments of support of depressed territories are analyzed. The importance of factors of «second nature» in the process of overcoming the regional depression is outlined. The depressed regions of Germany are identified for 2000 and 2013 using the original technique. The study also presents the present-day pattern of the depression phenomena and the estimation of spatial changes during the period under study. The regression analysis was applied to reveal the factors contributing to the transformation of socioeconomic development level. Apart from the economic influence special attention is paid to the role of demographic, social and cultural features in the process of overcoming the regional depression.

An attempt to assess the discrepancies between the official estimates and real numbers of rural population is made. The real number of rural dwellers was evaluated basing on the results of the field survey in Stepurino rural municipality (Tver oblast). It was found that about 30% of the registered rural residents de facto don’t live in the countryside. The role of seasonal population in preserving the rural settlements network is analyzed. The importance of gathering up-to-date information on the population for the proper management of territories is pointed out.

The results of complex socio-geographical survey of the Komsomolsky settlement are presented. The principal aim of the study was to reveal how people having houses in both city and village relate them to each other; what do they mean by the word «dacha»; is the dacha a «back seat» for them or a full-value integral part of their notion of «home».

The palynological analysis of the Atelian deposits from a borehole drilled within the Korchagin structure in the Northern Caspian Sea was performed. The Atelian deposits of the core were found in the range of 26.6 to 21.8 m, filling the paleodepressions. They are an alternation of thin sand and clays with plant detritus and rare shells of fresh-water and terrestrial gastropods. The results of spore-pollen analysis revealed a complex climate oscillations and dynamic change of natural environments of the area under study during the Atelian regression of the Caspian Sea. The maximum stage of Atelian regression and formation of trenches in the Northern Caspian Sea area coincided with the peak of climate cooling during the Kalinin (MIS 4) glacial epoch on the East European Plain. Its final stages and filling of paleotrenches with freshwater sediments date back to the beginning of the Middle Valdai megainterstadial (MIS 3). The detailed palynological studies of sections from the East European Plain have found that the above-mentioned Valdai intervals are characterized by numerous oscillations of cold stadial and warm interstadial intervals, thus confirming the results for Atelian deposits of the Northern Caspian Sea.