Semantic content of the concepts of «territory development» and «transportation development cal elements of the transportation development of a territory (area of continuous development, external axes, inner lacunas, marginal zones, isolated nodes, and undeveloped
area) were identified as well as five spatial modes of the transportation development of territories (linear, dendrite, cluster, consolidating, continuous). The process of transportation development of a territory
includes four phases. Five types of regions and nodes are distinguished in the area of continuous development, one in the marginal zone, and six in undeveloped areas («economic wilderness»).

An attempt to rethink the traditional view on the nature of settlement systems is made. The property of centrality is the basis of systems formation. This property is related to the «organizers of territory», i.e. socially important objects in the settlements. There are two fundamentally different approaches to the identification of settlement systems: normative and activity-based. As a rule the systems identified according to these approaches do not coincide with each other. The conclusion about the undetermined multiplicity of settlement systems within a certain territory is made. It is shown that settlement centers are much more obvious, stable and objective entities than settlement systems. In this regard it is suggested to consider the settlement centers rather than the settlement systems as a key element in the study and design of the settlement pattern.

Ecological and geochemical studies of salinization, contamination with heavy metals and metalloids (HMMs) and the composition of soil algae and cyanobacteria in soils near roadways with different traffic intensities and in courtyards with parking lots were carried out in the Western Administrative District of Moscow. Application of deicing reagents on roads leads to the alkalization (pH 6,9–7,4) and salinization of soils in WAD. The highest concentration of water soluble salts was observed in spring at a depth of 20–30 cm (the sum of ions equals to 0,15%). The ions of Са2+, Na+ and HCO3
–, NO3 – and Cl– dominate the salt composition. In autumn, the maximum of salts shifts to the upper soil layer with the dominance of Са2+, Mg2+ and HCO3 –. Motor vehicle emissions in WAD are the main source of contamination of roadside soils with W, Sb, Cu and Zn, average concentrations of which (3,0, 1,0, 29,8 and 120 mg/kg) are 1,7–2,8 times higher than the background level. The soils of WAD are characterized by low salinity and non-hazardous level of
contamination with HMMs (Zc 9,2), without significant differences in the accumulation of readily soluble salts and HMMs near roads with different traffic intensities. Algal-cyanobacterial communities in roadside soils are dominated by species resistant to the alkaline reaction of the environment, salinity, pollution, high insolation and low humidity, thus indicating rather high level of anthropogenic load on soils.

Dynamics of the annual radial growth rings of Scots pine growing in the insular forest located in Southeastern Transbaikalia reflect the interannual fluctuations in humidity rather than the air temperature.
Maximum consistency between the changes of precipitation and the width of annual rings is observed in the frequency range of about 30-year rhythms. These rhythms of humidification are recorded by meteorological observations since the 1930-s, but according to dendrochronological data they can be traced to the middle of the 19th century. Based upon the tree-ring chronology the first decade of the 21st century has the most arid conditions during the whole period of tree-ring measurements.

Shifts in geography of the international trade in perfumery and cosmetics under the globalization of their production and distribution are discussed. Principal trends in the development of export trade are
revealed, such as the increasing role of developing countries at global perfumery and cosmetics markets, leveling out the differences in the intra-sectoral specialization of the countries of various types, etc.

The results of numerical simulations of storm surges in the White Sea using the ADCIRC hydrodynamic model adapted to the conditions of the water body are discussed. Numerical experiments were performed on an unstructured high-resolution grid. The model was verified through the comparative analysis of numerical results and observational data at the Severodvinsk, Solovki and Sosnovets stations. The spatial structure of surges and their propagation features are described. Numerical experiments have shown that the ADCIRC model adequately reproduces residual sea level (RSL) oscillations during surges. This is confirmed by significant correlation between RSL oscillation values obtained by processing of the observational data and from numerical simulations. The RMSE of
model calculations is also relatively small (9–21 cm).  The numerical simulations revealed that when cyclones pass, a strong RSL increase occurs in the Voronka and Mezen Bay as a result of pressure and wind forces action in the Barents Sea. Then this disturbance penetrates through the Gorlo into the main part of the sea, causing a less significant increase of RSL in the entire water area. At the same time the highest values of RSL rise occur in the heads of the Dvina
and Onega Bays.

The conservative, nonconservative, and quasi-conservative types of distribution of dissolved components in river mouth areas are considered. It is shown that a complex approach is necessary to
identify the types of dissolved components behavior and discover physical, chemical, and biological processes controlling their migration in the zone of river water and seawater mixing. This approach combines
natural observations revealing the integrated action of various factors and the experimental modeling which allows obtaining the quantitative characteristics of particular inter-reservoir processes.

Many lands of modern Germany have existed as the provinces of Prussia since the 19th century. Evolution of the administrative division (AD) of Prussia was studied at the level of provinces and districts and the spatial patterns of changes in the AD were analyzed. The task is to identify the evolution of the AD of Prussia and analyze the governing factors. The historical maps and statistical data representing the changes of the AD units (provinces and
districts) of Prussia for 1816 – 1947 were collected and analyzed. It was revealed that for the majority of provinces and districts the territories and boundaries remained the same since their formation and till the abolition of Prussia. Five provinces and much of their borders in one form or another still exist within modern Germany due to the well-established structure of administrative and economic relations and the settlement system. However, there was a minor pulsation, i.e. two waves of consolidation and three waves of deconsolidation, because of local reforms.

Based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data and observations, the main trends in the temperature-humidity regime of the Black Sea-Caspian-Sea region (BCR) for the period of 1982–2014 were revealed. The statistically significant summer warming is associated with increasing surface sea temperature (SST) and radiation balance. Despite the growth of the total moisture content in the atmosphere and the potential convective energy no statistically significant changes in precipitation mode were revealed. The growth of total moisture content is compensated by increasing divergence of moisture due to the intensification of large-scale downward movements in the troposphere. As a result the seasonal and annual precipitation amounts show just minor changes. Perhaps this effect is a consequence of increasing frequency of summer anticyclones over the BCR. This process triggers the increase of the radiation balance due to lesser cloudiness, which leads to the increase in SST and surface air temperature.

The article deals with the study of metropolitan areas in Brazil, geographical features of their delineation and the evaluation of their compliance with common criteria. The concept of metropolitan areas is based on the economic relations between different parts of a city, which could be identified by labor commuting. An attempt was made to reveal labor interconnections within metropolitan areas by direct and indirect methods based on the statistical analysis and quantitative methods using geostatistical models (autocorrelation of
median income analysis). Many metropolitan areas in Brazil have specific regional features and unlike those in the USA and other countries do not correspond to theoretical criteria of labor commuting. Local conditions and institutional factor play a significant role in the process of their delineation. It can be said that this process is of certain engineering and planning nature.

Dynamics and composition of snow cover in the system of a geochemical landscape typical of southern taiga landscapes and the urbanized landscapes were studied during winter seasons of 2011 –
2016. It is shown that the maximum heights and water equivalent of snow cover in natural landscapes are usually found on flood plains and forest openings on the first terrace whereas minimum values are
typical of forest ecosystems. The cluster analysis revealed that the chemical composition of snow in the MSU Arboretum and within landscapes in the vicinity of Moscow is closer unlike that of true urban
landscapes.

Nowadays world sport is becoming more complex and dependent on many components. Olympic success is the most significant and integrated indicator of sport development level in a particular country. This indicator is based on the number of medals won by the athletes of a country at the Olympics. However it can only be applied to compare the major sports countries. The studies on the Olympic success evaluate various factors: socio-economic, environmental, political and other. The paper focuses on the results of Winter Olympic Games in the 21st century ad basing on specially developed indicators assesses the current level of winter sports development in the world and the changes which occurred over the last decade.

During the post-soviet period the surveyed territory at the border of the Moscow region lost a number of traditional functions, but acquired a lot of new ones, among which the recreational is dominant. A number of recreational facilities related to agro-tourism, eco-settlements and eco-parks appeared, as a form of a «test range» for city residents interested in learning the skills of «living in nature», as well as several enterprises for processing of agricultural products, etc. The composition of population of the territory became more heterogeneous