Walther Penck formulated the concept of morphological analysis as a procedure of deducing the course and development of crustal movements from the exogenous processes and the morphological features. To implement it a differential method was introduced into geomorphology. It allows considering the simultaneous action of both exogenous and endogenous processes on relief formation. The basic differential equation for the investigation of these processes is the Exner’s equation of deformation, written with an additional term to account for the tectonic movements. The use of the equation of deformation makes it possible to determine the potential of the morphological analysis for the investigation of river valleys. Thus, the morphological analysis seems unnecessary in assessing the intensity of modern tectonic movements. The rates of river incision, i.e. the effect of exogenous processes, could be differentiated over time if there are dated terraces of incision with known heights in a river valley. In this case the characteristics of tectonic uplift, i.e. the action of endogenous forces, could be judged indirectly. The intensity of tectonic uplift in the geological past is determined by the height and age of the initial surface, but only integrally, in terms of the average rate of uplift for the entire period of river bed incision. A differentiated estimation of tectonic uplift rates from the information on altitudes and age of individual terraces of incision is only possible for the periods between the formation of now-existing terraces in case of the equal intensity of exogenous and endogenous processes.

Information about extreme erosion events (EEEs) in the World is collected and integrated. The main regularities of spatial and temporal variability of factors of their formation and development are evaluated, as well as their consequences under various combinations of natural and anthropogenic factors. The main natural factors of flash floods formation and spatio-temporal variability, such as intensity and amount of precipitation, relief and soil-vegetation cover characteristics, hydrological regime of rivers etc., are studied. The anthropogenic impacts promoting the EEEs formation, i.e. road construction, artificial channel processes, mine works etc., are examined. It was found that the dominant cause of EEEs is rains of high intensity, which increase in frequency and amount during recent decades due to climate change. Anthropogenic activities in river basins usually promote the intensification of EEEs but are rarely the factor of their origin. The most severe extreme events usually occur in small river basins (with the area below 1000 km²), located in mountains and foothills.

River flow fluctuations are often cyclic, like many other natural processes. The pattern of the high-water and low-water years grouping is a characteristic feature of river runoff, especially in low-water period or lowflow periods. By processing multi-year time series of average monthly and average annual water consumption data for 38 mountain rivers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the parameters of extreme hydrological events during the period of low runoff were calculated. These events were identified by the characteristics of runoff hydrograph sections beyond the specified threshold values of water consumption (90% probability). Parameters of low-water periods are related to various hydrological characteristics, first of all, specific features of river feeding. It was demonstrated that the amount of water reserves in snow cover at the end of February and March or the total amount of precipitation during the cold period could be indicators of hydrological drought for mountain rivers of Uzbekistan. Possible trends of changes of these parameters are considered.

Investigations of soils and soil cover of the Nikita Botanical Garden have shown that cinnamonic soils are widely spread in the southwestern part of the garden, where almost natural biocenoses occur. Humantransformed and human-made soils which occupy larger area in the garden (60%) differ in the composition of topsoil, signs of mixing, number of coarse rock fragments larger than 1 mm, depth of the underlying rock, and the abundance of artifacts. Garden soils are weakly alkaline and alkaline and differ considerably in humus content. The humus content varies within 5,5–8,5% in the humus horizons of cinnamonic soils, and within 3,6–14% in the upper horizons of human-transformed and human-made soils. The calcium carbonate content is from 0 to 6% in natural soils, while in the anthropogenic ones it is much higher (up to 36%).

Soils of the Nikita Botanical Garden are not contaminated with heavy metals as compared with the geochemical background. Increased concentrations of trace elements in the soils of the garden as compared with their average content in the earth’s crust result from the predominance of clay slates and their derivates among soil-forming rocks.

Information about the occurrence of different types of anthropogenic objects, such as settlements, transport infrastructure, mining areas, etc., in the Arctic zone of Russia was collected and systematized. Information about anthropogenic objects was taken from the Internet open sources: cartographic projects, databases, projects and schemes for further development of the subjects of the Russian Federation. It has been established that only a fifth of the Russian Arctic territory is under economic development, while the rest of its territory practically lacks the anthropogenic objects. The degree of economic development of the Arctic territories gradually decreases eastward. The Republic of Karelia is characterized by the highest level of economic development (only 13,1% of its area is currently unaffected by economic activities), while the least developed subjects are the Krasnoyarsk Krai (95,2%) and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (87,2%). Data on the presence, location, and types of anthropogenic objects underwent the k-means method of cluster analysis in order to identify characteristic combinations of objects corresponding to the different types of development. Six main types of development have been identified within the Arctic zone of Russia, each of them is characterized by the dominance of a certain type of anthropogenic objects (residential objects, roads of various categories, mining facilities, fossil fuel transportation objects, and logging infrastructure). A specific type of development, namely integrated development, was also identified, which is characterized by a combination of three to five types of objects within a limited area. Each type of development is characterized by a certain combination of trends and the degree of relief transformation. In particular, the greatest transformation of relief and geomorphologicl processes is typical of the opencast mining areas (525 quarries with a total area of 605 km²). A large variety of anthropogenic forms of different sizes are forming and the natural course of relief-forming processes (permafrost, fluvial, slope, etc.) is totally disrupted there for long. The least significant impact on relief development is that of some linear transport structures, in particular, unpaved roads and underground gas pipelines. Depending on the types of development, the subjects of the Russian Federation which are the part of the Arctic zone are characterized by various forms of the influence of economic activities on relief development. For regions with the leading role of transport infrastructure (e. g. the Arkhangelsk region, Karelia, the Republic of Sakha), a more significant indirect human influence on relief development is characteristic, in comparison with the direct one (the areas with negative consequences along the pathways of infrastructure objects exceed the area of anthropogenic forms themselves). On the contrary, the most pronounced transformation of relief in mining areas (e. g. the Murmansk region) is associated with direct impact, primarily, the large-scale creation of anthropogenic forms. In general, the economic activity in the Arctic zone of Russia is rather weak: the transformation of relief and natural geomorphologic processes affects a total area of about 667 thousand square km, which is about 18% of the total area of the Russian Arctic.

Excellent examples of economic-geographical descriptions are given in the first edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, wherein N.N.Baransky headed the Editorial Board in Geography. In subsequent editions their quality became noticeably worse, and the historical sketches disappeared completely. It is proposed to use the idea of an area as a palimpsest, wherein the region is considered as a combination of different «layers of development».

The article deals with the problem of sustainable development of depressed regions. Both definition and criteria of «depressiveness» of a territory are rather complicated to formulate. Principal approaches to the assessment of sustainable development of a territory are suggested. And the international and domestic practice is given. The absence of approved unified methods of sustainable development diagnostics and a set of indicators at the regional level was revealed. Using the multifactorial correlation analysis, the authors produced a set of indicators which could be adapted to specific features of a depressed region by applying weight parameters. Proceeding from the results of the analysis of current practices of the indicative approach to the assessment of the economic processes, a model was elaborated and a technique of threelevel evaluation of sustainable development of a depressed territory, allowing to identify the main weaknesses and sensitivities of development in the context of its main components as a complex socio-economic system. The significance of proposed methodology is due to the fact that it makes it possible to specify the development priorities and suggest the most rational allocation of limited resources, thus contributing to higher effectiveness of the regional policy.

New evidences of the Holocene changes of landscapes in the Middle Protva River basin due to natural and anthropogenic factors are discussed. The studies are based on the multy-proxy analysis including paleolandscape reconstructions, detailed pollen analysis, materials of the large-scale landscape mapping and synthesis of archaeological and historical data. The results of paleobotanical studies and radiocarbon dating of the peat core from the Agrafenino peatland made it possible to reveal the key periods of vegetation changes and fire effects. The broadleaf deciduous forests with a small admixture of spruce spread to the Middle Protva River basin about 9,2 cal. years BP and were present in the dominant urochisches throughout the Middle Holocene, despite short-term warming and cooling cycles. An abundance of spruce increased significantly in the area at 2,5 cal. years BP when the climate became cooler and wetter; the sprucebroadleaf forests were formed to become the dominant vegetation type within watershed areas during the pre-agrarian period. From 6,2 to 4,2 cal years BP frequent and intense forest fires affected the study area, causing the destruction of broadleaf forests and expansion of secondary birch-pine woodlands. The direct anthropogenic indicators in pollen assemblages are absent, thus it is possible to suggest that during the period the fires were causes mainly by climatic factors. The study area was developed by humans since Mesolithic. However till the 17^th century landscape complexes of watershed areas underwent no significant anthropogenic transformation unlike the river valley landscapes.

The paper presents the analysis of the occurrence of different morphodynamic types of widefloodplain braided channel within the middle reaches of the Lena River, i. e. a 40-kilometer long section within the Berezovskaya Depression (upstream the mouth of the Olekma River) and a 400-kilometer long section from the river outlet to the Central Yakut Lowland to the Belaya Gora (downstream the Aldan River mouth). Six types of branching were identified with approximately the same percentage of occurrence. It was found that each type of branching corresponds to certain values of I.F. Karasev’s quasihomogeneity criterion. Hydrological-morphological dependences are obtained, which relate the width of the arms to the channel-forming flow in them, and the relative width of the islands (taken relative to the width of unbraided channel) to specific average maximum discharge (taken relative to the width to the river) and the shape of the islands, forming the branch. The dependencies differ according to the channel types. The coefficients in the constraint equations change from simpler to more morphologically complex branchings. An optimal ratio (relation) between the length and width of the islands is established, which corresponds to a minimum hydraulic resistance of the islands to the flow. The ratio is similar to those obtained for other rivers with braided channel. Because of insufficient data the reasons for different trends of coefficient modifications for different rivers (river size, bed stability, water regime, sediment runoff etc.) are just hypothetical so far.

Basing on the materials of surveying carried out in February 2018, the morphometric parameters of the Chernorechensk reservoir, the main source of drinking water in Sevastopol, were defined more precisely. It was found that for 62 years of the reservoir’s existence, the volume of silting amounted to 4,82 million m³, which is about 7,9% of its effective storage. Sedimentation rate in the deep water zone of the Chernorechensk reservoir with an area of about 4 km² is about 19 mm per year. According to the estimates of various components of silting, the bank transformation accounts for the largest share (70%), while the sediment inflow from the watershed and the autochthonous production are on average 15% each.

A large amount of data obtained during the expeditions of the last 15 years and the launching of the MEOP program allow synthesizing and refining previous classifications of water masses in the Cooperation Sea with due account of hydrochemical parameters for warm season and finding the range of thermohaline values of water masses in the Cooperation Sea for cold season. It is revealed that seasonal variability shows itself by the changes of depths and locations of water masses, particularly Ice Shelf Water and Modified Circumpolar Deep Water, rather than by the changes of thermohaline parameters of water masses.

The article considers the features of the shale revolution in the USA that led to the significant changes in fuel and energy complex of the country. The research based on the original sources and statistical data concluded that technological breakthrough in oil and gas production led to a significant increase in supply in the U.S. energy market, resulting in considerable structural and territorial shifts in the production and consumption of energy resources and other important implications: conditions were created for reindustrialization in the USA, the competitiveness of the national economy has increased.