The contents of Fe, Mn, Ti, Zr, Ni, Co, Cr, Zn, Pb in soil bulk samples and in five particle size fractions (1–0,25, 0,25–0,05, 0,05–0,01, 0,01–0,001, <0,001 mm) separated from the humus horizons of soils characteristic of the southeastern part of the Smolensk ‒ Moscow Upland were studied. Two methods, namely quantitative direct current arc atomic emission spectroscopy (DC-ARC-AES method) and ICP-AES/ICP-MS (ICP methods) were employed to assess concentrations of the elements in soddy soils of the sides and bottoms of two small erosional landforms and in loamy sod-podzolic soils on cover and deluvial loams. The analysis of bulk samples using ICP methods revealed higher concentrations relative to the results of DC-ARC-AES method for Mn in the 0,25–0,05 mm particle size fraction, Fe and Ni in the 0,05–0,01 mm particle size fraction, Fe, Ni, Co in the 0,01–0,001 mm particle size fraction; Fe, Ni, Cr, Zn, Co in the fraction with particle sizes <0,001 mm. The analytic method did not impact the results for Fe and Ni in the 0,25–0,05 mm particle size fraction, Co in the 0,05–0,01 mm fraction, Mn and Zn in the 0,01-0,001mm particle size fraction, Mn, Ti and Cu in the <0,001 mm particle size fraction. The DC-ARC-AES method revealed higher concentrations of elements in the coarse particle size fraction than those determined by ICP, because the fraction is dominated by mineral phases of the studied metals. The results obtained by the ICP methods for the clay fraction with the maximum content of mobile phases of elements slightly exceed those of the DC-ARC-AES analysis or show nearly equal concentrations. The regression analysis revealed a correlation between DC-ARC-AES and ICP methods if the entire range of concentrations is considered. Application of the equations for the predictive modeling of element concentrations could be limited because the residuals of the regression models do not have constant variance. According to the results obtained by two methods, the distribution of elements across the particle size fractions completely coincides for Mn, Co, Pb, Zr and Cu and is similar for Zn, Fe, Ti and Ni, i.e. the maximum and minimum concentrations of these elements were found in the same particle size fractions. Method of analysis had the maximum impact on the partitioning of Cr among particle size fractions.

Impressions become a key criterion of the effective organization of recreation and tourism in the modern world. The efforts of organizations of the tourist and recreational complex are directed at forming impressions, scenarios of tourist products are being built, and tourists share their impressions on the Internet. The relevance of studying the mental tourist and recreational space using new methods of digital analysis is increasing. The method of text analysis is advisable to assess the mental tourist and recreational space, because the feedback of tourists fixes the emotional state and the impressions of interaction with the real component of tourist and recreational space. The paper presents an analytical review of scientific approaches to the study of mental tourist and recreational space, the application of methods for its assessment and the analysis of digital trail of tourists, as well as the experience of applying text analysis to study the tourist reviews. The information base of the study was compiled from the reviews of tourists and recreants downloaded from the Tripadvisor platform. Feedback base processing and text analysis was carried out using the PolyAnalyst program. The database consisted of 6,300 reviews. The sentiment index was calculated, keywords were extracted, and the relationship of terms was determined to find the key attributes of the mental tourist and recreational space. A component-bycomponent analysis of the sentiment index and the analysis of its changes from 2013 to 2021 were carried out. Additionally, a geographical analysis was carried out with the identification of territorial features of the perception of tourist and recreational space of the cities of the Kirov region. Conclusions are made about the negative perception of transport infrastructure, natural objects and recreational areas, as well as the improvement of the territory of settlements of the Kirov region. The increasing share of negative reviews was recorded over time. The results of the investigation could be useful to eliminate the problems of interaction between the population and the components of the real tourist and recreational space and to adjust the regional tourism policy. The proposed methodology could be applied to assess the mental tourist space in other regions of Russia and the world.

In the article we discuss basic schemes of river channel reshaping. It changes their morphodynamic type, as well as the structure of river channel network, especially on branched rivers. Riverbank erosion within channel and branch meanders leads to the formation of a passage between river channels, including branches of bifurcated channels, and between the main channel and floodplain channels or channels of the lower reaches of tributaries (small rivers) in the rear parts of a main river floodplain. The result is the splitting of bifurcated channels, transformation of a channel into a branch or, conversely, a branch into the main channel by water interception, as well as formation of floodplain-channel branches, sometimes with three or four channels, through redistribution of water flow. Herewith unusual types of branching occur in some cases. The development of cut-off bends in meandering channels could become a key factor for the formation of a bifurcated channel and the distribution of water flow along newly formed branches. Complex changes in the structure of river channel network are characteristic of the junction points of meandering rivers. All these transformations result from the (self)-evolution of channel forms and the riverbank erosion, and do not involve changing factors of channel processes, e. g. water flow and sediment transport. This should be taken into account in paleochannel and paleohydrological reconstructions, predicting river channel deformations and designing regulation measures for water economy and water transportation projects.

The problem of identifying relic, conservative and progressive landscape elements within forest and bog geosystems of the Upper Kama River basin became resolvable as a result of complex paleogeographic investigations within the Kama-Keltma lowland. The principal components of the study were the application of the Earth remote sensing methods and identification of the relative and absolute ages (direct dating) of bog, alluvial and underlying sediments of ancient water reservoirs. The physiognomic and morphological differences between structures of different ages were determined by the degree of their resistance to exodynamic processes and climate changes. Relic landscape elements are individual structural units of the landscape (stow, groups of stows) in which natural components, or their combinations correspond to the natural conditions of ancient geosystems with a period of formation exceeding the time of formation of the landscape invariant under consideration. Their stability in time is explained by complete or partial isolation from matter and energy flows generated by adjacent geosystems. As a rule, this results from a higher location of such geosystems among other territorial complexes which makes them inaccessible to geodynamic and geochemical processes within the geosystems of middle and low levels of the landscape. Conservative and progressive landscape elements are mostly confined to low and medium terrain levels. The most dynamic geosystems, i.e. natural aquatic complexes, are located at the lowest elevations of the relief. The studies have shown that conservative landscape elements could not be identified using the pre-established criteria for the most common landscape elements due to their large proportion in the structure of geosystems of different ages. These geosystems were defined as natural territorial complexes that do not meet the criteria for being relic or progressive landscape elements. Despite the seeming simplicity of solving the problem, the objective identifying of such geosystems will depend on the objective identifying of elements “from the past” and “from the future”, i. e. proper identification of the boundaries of relic and progressive landscape elements.

Resilience is the ability of urban systems to overcome natural or manufactured crises. It is regarded as a complementary concept to that of sustainable development. Application of the concept of resilience is particularly relevant in the Arctic, where both natural and economic systems are particularly vulnerable. The article analyzes 19 quantitative indicators for 27 Arctic settlements of the Russian Federation according to the following subsystems: economic specialization, life support and communal services, socio-cultural, natural-ecological, administrative and managerial. Cluster analysis identified 7 groups of cities that consistently demonstrate similarity under different versions of analysis. Overcoming crises in a city development requires simultaneous resilience in different subsystems of urban development; the weakness of any of these subsystems could cause the collapse of the entire system. Therefore, the assessment of resilience requires an integrated approach.

The results of studying the structure of the areas of two plant species of the boreal forests’ ground cover, namely Maianthemum bifolium (L.) F. Schmidt. and Linnaea borealis L., within the East-European part of their range are discussed. Data on their presence in the geobotanical descriptions were used as an indicator of the species activity within the area. More than 7000 geobotanical descriptions from scientific publications and original surveys were analyzed; data were grouped into 109 subsets by geographic location. Constancy indicators were calculated for each subset, namely, the proportion of descriptions in which the studied species were present. Based on the use of geostatistical methods (ordinary kriging), models of the spatial distribution of the constancy index of each species within the East-European part of the range were constructed. Checking the quality of constructed models by the cross-validation method and assessing the reliability of regressions between the initial and predicted values of constancy gave satisfactory results. Analysis of the relationship between the constructed models of the distribution of constancy indicators and bioclimatic characteristics showed a relatively weak correlation with indicators of heat and moisture supply. This indicates the complex nature of the mutual influence of climatic, orographic, lithological and phytocenotic factors on the distribution of plant species under study. Moreover, the distribution of Linnaea borealis shows closer correlation with forest-forming species, while Maianthemum bifolium is associated with a wider number of formations and to a greater extent depends on a certain level of heat supply and the amount of summer precipitation. The area of maximum constancy of Maianthemum bifolium in European Russia is the central and western parts of the Ladoga-Vychegda southern taiga and Smolensk-Volga deciduous-coniferous biomes, where it mainly grows in spruce, coniferous-deciduous and small-leaved forests. According to the model, the areas of maximum constancy of Linnaea borealis are the central part of the Ladoga-Vychegda middle taiga and the west of the Urals taiga biomes, where the species predominantly grows in the ground cover of spruce forests. The revealed results could be used to display the structure of a species range on a map, to identify inner biome differentiation of the vegetation cover, and to monitor the biodiversity of boreal forests in European Russia under environmental changes.

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the transformation of agricultural employment in the world, regions and countries. Along with the progress of economic development, the role of agriculture in the structure of economy and employment decreases. However, due to the geographical differentiation of countries, the process is extremely uneven; it occurs at different time periods and at different rates. The developed countries underwent transformation in the middle of the 19th – first half of the 20th century, the developing countries of Latin America and North Africa – in the second half of the 20th century. Many Asian countries are undergoing dramatic changes in the agricultural sector and employment nowadays. The pace of the agricultural employment transformation is accelerating due to technological progress and the development of the world division of labor. The study is based on a large array of statistical data for 162 countries. The article analyzes the place of agriculture in the structure of economy and employment, as well as the transformation of agricultural employment under general economic structural changes for the period from 1991 to 2019. Particular attention is paid to the stages of transformation as a spatio-temporal process and the ways it took cause in defferent states.

Changing functions of the main energy sectors in India as an important element of the global energy transition are considered. Based on the analysis of statistical data of international agencies and specialized Indian sources for 1990‒2019, the article describes changing functions and ratio of India’s energy sectors in relation to technological innovation, their participation in the ecological and economic development of “mix-energy”, including the implementation of climate policy and national commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. Comparison of the official goals of transitional energy in India with the real development of energy sectors made it possible to identify the present-day problems and contradictions, including those associated with economic constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current stage and forecasts of the coal industry development are discussed. It is the base of industrialization in India, still being the leading sector of its energy sector, which require innovation, diversification of processing, and increasing environmental and economic efficiency. The growing importance of India as a world’s oil and gas importer and an oil refining hub is shown. The dominant task of accelerated gasification within the framework of transitional energy is emphasized. The article analyzes the advanced development of renewable energy sources (RES) with priority programs for the development of solar energy. Because of the limited areas for solar power plants, these are more often combined with water bodies and irrigation canals. The study discusses the expediency of a nexus approach to studying “water resources – energy – food – ecosystems” complex. The prospects for achieving India’s national commitments under the Paris Agreement are assessed, taking into account the complexity of phasing out coal and the accelerated transition to renewable sources, which can help to solve lots of socio-economic problems and improve the state of the environment. The India’s experience shows that the efficiency of transitional energy is closely related to the harmonization of the development of all “mix-energy” sectors.

At the end of the Late Pleistocene the Early Khvalynian transgression with maximum level of 45–50 m was progressing in the Caspian basin. As soon as its waters exceeded the height of the watershed with the AzovBlack Sea basin the Early Khvalynian Strait was opened, mainly through the Manych Depression – a vast low area in the south of the European Russia. Despite the long investigation history of the region, the opinions of researchers regarding the age of the deposits of the Early Khvalynian Strait differ. Until now the time period of the strait existence was not unambiguously correlated with the global chronostratigraphic scheme. The article presents the results of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of the Lower Khvalynian deposits exposed in the coastal outcrop of the western tip of the Levyi Island in the central part of the Manych Depression. In total, nine dates were obtained: six of them characterize the aquatic stages of the territory evolution, and three are for the subaerial ones. Biostratigraphic analysis of the mollusc fauna confirmed that marine sediments exposed in the section of the Levyi Island belong to the Early Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea. Based on the dating results, the time when the Early Khvalynian waters penetrated into the Manych Depression was determined at 17,7–14,9 thousand years ago, thus corresponding to the epoch of degradation of the Late Valdai ice sheet (the Ostashkov stage, MIS 2). The subaerial sedimentation in the central part of the Manych Depression started at the beginning of the Holocene.

Specific features of the spatial distribution of the surface currents velocity and the temperature in the North Atlantic were revealed using the ORA-S4 ocean reanalysis under the changing ice cover of the Barents Sea, estimated from the instrumental observations data for 1958–2014. Based on the analysis of spatial distribution of direct correlation coefficients and those with a one-year shift between the indicated parameters, the regions with significant correlation were identified. The highest correlation coefficients between the ice coverage in the Barents Sea were obtained for the regions at the northern boundaries of the Gulf Stream and the South Equatorial current, as well as for the Transpolar Drift Stream. The correlation coefficients of the mean annual temperature values in the Barents Sea with the temperature and velocity of currents in the Gulf Stream are 0,86 and 0,75, respectively. The ice coverage increases with the acceleration of the Transarctic Current. The correlation between temperature in the Barents Sea and the current velocity northwest of Spitsbergen is –0,72. Current velocities at the northern border of the Gulf Stream and the South Equatorial current, and temperature in the Gulf Stream and the Barents Sea have positive trends of interannual variability, while the velocity of the Transpolar Drift Stream and the ice coverage in the Barents Sea show negative ones.

Complex analysis of downcore variations in lithology and composition of microfossils such as pollen, spores, aquatic palynomorphs, benthic and planktonic foraminifera, and ostracods, in two sediment cores and comparison of the obtained results with published data on the structure of the Barents Sea shelf sediment sequence revealed three sediment units corresponding to the climatically determined stages in the evolution of postglacial sedimentation environments in the Central Deep of the Barents Sea. Spores, pollen and aquatic palynomorphs from this region were studied for the first time. The obtained data indicate a significant environmental transformation during the deglaciation period, i. e. from a glacier-proximal freshened marine basin with almost perennial sea-ice cover to a glacier-distal highly ice-covered basin, which was later replaced by a Holocene hemipelagic marine basin. The transition to marine type of sedimentation and the stabilization of normal marine environments are well reconstructed from fine-grained sediment composition, decrease in iceand iceberg-rafted debris, lower proportion of redeposited spores and pollen, as well as from the appearance of dinoflagellate cysts, significant increase of the total abundance of microfauna and higher concentrations of pollen and spores. The most favorable conditions of the Middle Holocene are characterized by the growing taxonomic diversity of benthic foraminifera, appearance of subpolar planktonic foraminifera, and maximum of birch pollen in pollen spectra, which together indicate the increasing influence of Atlantic waters and wider distribution of birch formations on land.

The paper presents the results of a study on the stability of the functioning of northern taiga landscapes in the northern West Siberian Plain within the Nadym River basin under modern climate warming. We compared the types of dependence between the spatial variation in annual increments of cedar (Pinus sibirica) during the 20th‒21st centuries and characteristics of frost mounds landscape units. We supposed that the correlation ratio and the types of dependence could change in line with the variation of climatic factors. 512 core samples from 39 facies were collected on the tops and slopes of frost mounds. The principal component analysis was applied to reduce the dimensionality of landscape attributes of the frost mounds. We calculated Spearman’s correlations between order parameters and increments for each year from 1926 to 2013. We tested the hypotheses that the spatial variation in increments depend on the morphological parameters of frost mounds and their facies structure, as well as that the intrasecular variability of temperatures and precipitation affect the relationship between landscape characteristics and the increments of cedar. It was found that cedar stands exhibit variable sensitivity to the morphological parameters of frost mounds, which is expressed in significant variations of the correlation sign and value. In years with particularly high or low air temperatures or precipitation, a uniform landscape mode of phytoproductive functioning splits into different variants depending on the morphological properties of landscape units. In cold periods, large frost mounds with higher-lying permafrost and milder microrelief are distinguished by increased phyto-productivity. In warm periods the increased increments are characteristic of small mounds with thicker seasonally thawed layer. The phytoproduction function is more stable in the units with deeper-lying permafrost. Under modern warming, the increments increase only on the relatively stable frost mounds with milder microrelief. The obtained results proved that a fine-scale approach to studying the response of urochishche landscape units to climate change provides the opportunity to clarify the specifics of phytoproduction process, which cannot be revealed without using the landscape approach.