Utilizing natural cryogenic resources to improve the stability of natural-technical systems in the permafrost zone

Siberia and the Russian Far East contain about 75% of the country''s hydrocarbon and mineral resources. These regions pose many engineering and environmental problems for economic development due to the cold climate and difficult geologic conditions, including the occurrence of permafrost. One of the major challenges in permafrost areas is to maintain the stability of both individual structures and large-scale engineering projects. The use of natural cryogenic resources of the Earth is proposed here as one possible solution.     

苏联解体后西伯利亚对外经济联系走向

本文探讨了西伯利亚地区在苏联解体前后地缘政治经济格局的变化及其对外经济联系；分析了俄罗斯联邦独立以来西伯利亚积极调整伙伴关系，强化与世界市场接轨，寻求扩大对外经济联系的新途径和开辟新的通道；论述了改造西伯利亚铁路问题已迫在眉睫，建设北西伯利亚铁路势在必行，以及西伯利亚水上通道和空运在其今后对外经济联系中将发挥日趋重要的作用；提出了西伯利亚对外经济联系的对策。     

The Siberian School of Experimental Geomorphology

This paper considers the results of geomorphological field experiments in Siberia conducted at the permanent stations operated by the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS for a 60-year period and describes the observation methods. A unique database of quantitative data on the modern relief dynamics is provided. The rates of slow mass motions of soils on slopes, and also of the deluvial, aeolian and channel processes are presented. Observations for long-term time series are summarized. Much attention is paid to the results from investigating the slope processes. The contribution of stationary investigations to the solution of fundamental problems in geomorphology is shown. The role of field experiments in understanding the temporal organization of geomorphological systems is emphasized. Dynamic phases of the intrasecular cycles of exogenous relief formation are investigated. Models of the contemporary functioning of denudation systems that cover all possible variety of dynamic phases and morphological and climatic conditions of denudation in semi-arid conditions of southern Siberia are obtained. It was found that the spatial ordering of exogenous relief formation in the south of Siberia is manifested in the form of a regional series of correlative denudational systems whose structure and functioning mode naturally vary along the aridity and continentality vectors of climate. The spatial ordering of aeolian lithostreams is shown, which are involved in a common cycle of matter spinning clockwise and moving aeolian fine material along the northern subarid foothills areas of the mountain belt of Southern Siberia. An important role of the observation results on the relief dynamics for solving ecological problems is pointed out. Prospects for a further development of experimental geomorphological research in Siberia using high-precision instruments, GIS technologies and other modern methods are outlined.     

New palaeomagnetic result from Vendian red sediments in Cisbaikalia and the problem of the relationship of Siberia and Laurentia in the Vendian

A palaeomagnetic study of Vendian red sediments from the Lena River section on the western margin of Lake Baikal in the region of Cisbaikalia (54°N, 108°E) has isolated a stable remanence with direction D = 296.3°, I = −27.7° (high-temperature component) and a corresponding pole of 2.7°S, 168.2°E. The primary nature of this remanence is confirmed from a positive fold test, dual polarities and the presence of detrital haematite. This result, together with all late Precambrian–Early Cambrian palaeomagnetic data from Siberia, indicates that Siberia occupied low latitudes during that time. It has been proposed on the basis of palaeomagnetic data that Laurentia occupied high latitudes during the Vendian, so it would appear that there cannot have been any Laurentia–Siberia connection at that time. A review of Vendian to Cambrian Laurentian palaeomagnetic data shows that such an interpretation is ambiguous. An alternative interpretation places Laurentia in low latitudes and confirms the Laurentia–Siberia fit of Hoffman (1991 ) and Pelechaty (1996 ). However, the lack of Late Vendian palaeomagnetic data for Siberia still allows the possibility that it could have occupied high latitudes during that time.     

The economic-geographical position of Siberia in Russia and in the world

Three main kinds of economic-geographical position (EGP) of Siberia: global, international transit and neighboring, and interstate, are considered. A quantitative assessment is made of the macroregion’s global position relative to world markets. The study ascertained the role played by the EGP in the formation of economic-settlement patterns of Siberia. The possible avenues for more intense use of this position are suggested.     

西伯利亚板块旋转漂移运动刍议

西伯利亚板块是世界上古老的地质构造单元之一。根据板块构造理论，该板块当今的地表形态和地理位置，是其经过不断迁移，与其它板块不断发生碰撞的结果。本文试从展现板块的水平运动特点出发，着重揭示西伯利亚板块在各地质时期的运动状态，从而阐述该板块自寒武纪以来的旋转漂移的全过程。     

The principles of forecasting the geom structure of the Prebaikalia under climate change

We consider some methodological principles of forecasting changes in the geom structure of the Prebaikalia’s territory under climatic warming. A forecast is made by using a GIS that was created on the basis of the landscape map for the southern part of East Siberia. The identified spatial connections of geoms, the characteristic altitudes at which each geom is located, and the location structures of geom units in altitude serve as a basis for forecasting.     

Growth and physiological responses of larch trees to climate changes deduced from tree-ring widths and δ13C at two forest sites in eastern Siberia

Tree-ring chronologies of ring width and stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) over the past 160 years were developed using living larch trees at two forest sites, each with different annual precipitation, in eastern Siberia: Spasskaya Pad (SP) (62°14′N, 129°37′E); and Elgeeii (EG) (60°0′N, 133°49′E). Intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) was derived from tree-ring δ¹³C. The physiological responses of the larch trees to climate varied between these sites and over time. Ring widths correlated negatively with summer temperatures at SP, where summer precipitation is lower than at EG, probably due to temperature-induced water stress. Since the 1990s, however, the negative effect of warming has been more severe at EG, where the productivity of larch trees is higher than at SP. A greater reduction of larch tree growth and higher increase rate of iWUE at EG reflects greater temperature-induced water stress, which is incident to the larger forest biomass. Our results suggest that effect of increase in atmospheric CO₂ on larch tree growth is not sufficient to compensate for temperature-induced water stress on larch growth in eastern Siberia and differences in precipitation and forest productivity largely affect the larch tree response to changing climate in eastern Siberia.     

2000-2010年西伯利亚地表覆盖变化特征——基于GlobeLand30的分析

西伯利亚是全球环境变化的重要敏感性区域,但以往缺乏该区域中高分辨率地表覆盖数据,对其地表覆盖的整体分布与变化缺乏深入的认识。本文利用中国新近研制的2000、2010年两期30 m分辨率地表覆盖数据产品GlobeLand30,对2000-2010年西伯利亚地表覆盖的空间分布格局、变化幅度、区域差异及主要地类的变化原因进行了综合分析。研究发现：①西伯利亚地表覆盖的空间分布现状具有明显的地带性特征。②10年间,西伯利亚地区地表覆盖整体变化幅度较大,其中林地及草地呈显著缩减、湿地呈较大幅度增加、耕地呈微弱减少、人造地表呈增加态势。③10年间,西伯利亚地表覆盖变化具有显著的区域差异性。变化最显著的为西西伯利亚地区,其中以湿地增加最明显,主要分布于鄂毕河—叶尼塞河流域,林地、草地及耕地减少集中于西伯利亚西南部。④人类活动和气候变暖是引发西伯利亚地表覆盖变化的主要原因。大规模林地砍伐导致林地减少;冰冻层消融,林地、草地和水体向湿地的转化是湿地增加的主要原因;耕地的人为废弃和撂荒导致耕地面积有所减少。     

The database and GIS analysis of the status of glaciation of the Kodar Mountains (Northern Transbaikalia)

Presented is mapping material on the glacio-nival formations in the mountains in the south of East Siberia, and information regarding the generation of relevant databases. We examine the status of glaciation of the Kodar Mountains since the mid-20^th century till the present as well as assessing it for four periods of time: 1) from the topographic 1:50 000–1:200 000 maps displaying the glaciers as of the early 1960s; 2) from data in the Catalog of Glaciers of the USSR (the early 1970s); 3) from the maps of glaciers of the Kodar Mountains as compiled during 1976–1985 by researchers of the Institute of Geography of Siberia and the Far East of the USSR Academy of Sciences (most of them are unpublished), and 4) the present status from Earth remote sensing data (images taken by EROS, Quick Bird, Aster and Landsat during 2002–2015). Attribute tables are presented in WGI format. Analysis of data on a different temporal status showed the glaciation dynamics of the Kodar Mountains with a general tendency for a reduction in the glacier area. We determined the degree of degradation of nival-glacial formations and updated the coordinates of their centers, area, shape, length, orientation, altitudinal position, and other characteristics. The evidence thus obtained serves to update and complement the international glacier databases.     

The tendencies in the development of the system of specially protected natural territories of Siberia

An analysis is made of 100 years of development of specially protected natural territories of Siberia. Attention is centered on the characteristic features of territorial nature conservation which are determined by the dependence on the political, economic and managerial factors. The analysis revealed the periods of formation, decline, opposite trends and negative dynamics in the establishment of new protected natural territories. Using the history of reserve management and studies of Russia as an example, it is shown that most innovations were tested in Siberia, starting from the establishment of Russia’s first state zapovedniks and zakazniks and ending with the setting up of joint directorates of specially protected natural territories in recent years. It is pointed out that the approaches in substantiating the system of protected natural areas were characterized by fundamental differences: from the organization of “pristine benchmarks” of nature with the ideology of total non-interference, to “farm zapovedniks” for breeding valuable game animals and active maintenance of the population of rare species accompanied by measures to eliminate “harmful” species. The rivalry between the geographical and biocentric approaches is described: in the former case, the preservation of typical natural systems was dominant; in the latter case, the preservation of rare and endangered species was paramount. It is concluded that the unevenness of distribution of zapovedniks, zakazniks and national and natural parks depends on the degree of development and exploration of a relevant territory, the likelihood of a total disappearance of the most valuable areas, and on the existence of lands of indigenous ethnic groups. It is demonstrated that the process of development of the system of territorial nature conservation is governed by the administrative initiative, consideration for the characteristics of a region’s economic development and changeable institutional conditions as well as by the factors of the country’s foreign and internal policy.     

Magnetostratigraphy of the lower Triassic volcanics from deep drill SG6 in western Siberia: evidence for long-lasting Permo–Triassic volcanic activity

The deep drill hole SG6 in western Siberia (66°N, 78.5°E) penetrated 1.1  km of lower Triassic basalts, which are possibly an extension of the central Siberian Permo– Triassic flood basalt province. About 300 samples of these basalts were progressively demagnetized and measured. Principal component analysis often shows multiple magnetizations carried by haematite and magnetite. The corrected mean inclinations are +77° and −77° for the haematite component. A magnetostratigraphic scale was derived and showed a N–R–N–R–N succession. This is quite different from the Noril'sk and Taimyr typical polarity scale, R–N.
  The basalts found in the SG6 deep drill hole are slightly younger than those of central Siberia and Taimyr. They correspond to middle–upper Induan age, whereas the Noril'sk and Taimyr sections correspond to an uppermost Permian and lower Induan age. Altogether they indicate that, after a high output rate of volcanic material near the Permo–Triassic boundary, this activity slowed down drastically on the Siberian platform and Taimyr, but persisted for several million years in western Siberia.     

The regularities of long-term annual stream runoff fluctuations in Siberia and the Far East

We examine the time coincidence and spatial homogeneity of the annual stream runoff fluctuations in Siberia and the Far East. A regionalization of the study territory for the time coincidence of the stream runoff fluctuations has been carried out by analyzing the correlation matrix on the basis of the algorithm of automatic classification of objects through identification of groups with homogeneous attributes according to a specified homogeneity criterion. The territory’s spatial homogeneity was assessed by constructing and analyzing spatial correlation functions and accompanied by a checking for the possible anisotropy.     

Landscape-Basin Approach in Water Supply Assessments of the Population and Economy of the Regions of Western Siberia

The landscape-basin approach based on the sequential operation algorithm developed for determining potential and actual water supply of Western Siberia territories is proposed to adjust the existing assessments of water availability. The technique for estimating the water availability at the regional and sub-regional level is presented. The assessment of potential water availability is carried out within the boundaries of landscape provinces, whereas actual water availability is assessed for separate river basins and water management sites. Future water consumption is estimated with due regard for the current peculiarities of water use in Western Siberia regions and trends in water use efficiency, including the intensity of water consumption for industrial and agricultural production as well as strategic plans for territorial development. Superposition of natural and administrative-territorial boundaries has been achieved through the use of GIS technologies. Assessment results on the potential water availability in 83 landscape provinces of Western Siberia from 12 federal subjects of Russia are presented. Future water consumption has been assessed for the Western Barabinsk landscape province of Omsk oblast where the city of Omsk and the Omskii municipal district are located. The actual water availability has been estimated for a water management site in the Tom river basin, Kemerovo oblast. The size of the Western Siberia population living in conditions of extremely low, very low and low potential water availability has been calculated. The assessment results are given in tabular form and as geoinformation-cartographic models.     

Severity of climate and economic efficiency in Siberia: Myths and reality

The results of development of Siberia and the influence of severity of its climate on contemporary economic efficiency are examined. A critical analysis is made of the relevan t conclusions and recommendations of American politilogists which have hazardous consequences for Russia. The invalidity of these conclusions and recommendations was ascertained through quantitative assessments to show the real state of affairs as regards industrialization of Siberia, its economic efficiency and profitableness, and resettlement processes in the post-Soviet era.     

低温对百合鳞茎内源激素含量变化的影响

以东方百合Siberia和Tiber为试验材料,进行恒温和变温的低温处理,采用高效液相色谱法测定在不同冷藏解除休眠时期赤霉素(GA3)、吲哚乙酸(IAA)、脱落酸(ABA)和玉米素(ZT)4种内源激素含量。结果表明,恒温处理Tiber先解除休眠,同样处理同期种植的百合鳞茎,Tiber比Siberia一般早出苗7 d左右;变温处理比恒温处理ABA含量降低,说明变温处理对百合鳞茎解除休眠有促进作用,可以缩短解除休眠需要的时间,一般变温处理的比恒温处理的早8 d出苗,且变温处理有利于百合生长量的增加,Tiber茎粗和株高分别增加了23.1%、10.1%,同时Siberia分别增加了5.9%和16.6%。变温处理GA3含量Tiber高于恒温处理,Siberia低于恒温处理,品种之间对温度处理的响应有差异。百合鳞茎休眠的解除与IAA/ABA、ZT/ABA、GA3/ABA比值有关,变温Siberia和Tiber的3种比值都在60 d后逐渐升高,说明冷藏60 d可作为鳞茎解除休眠的临界点,为进一步研究百合鳞茎的休眠机理提供了重要线索。     

Geoinformational Mapping of Landscapes in the Northwestern Part of Western Siberia Using the Hansen Mosaic Dataset

Presented are the technique and results of studying the landscape structure of the north-west of Western Siberia on the basis of the Hansen mosaic dataset consisting of elements covering the entire territory of the Earth. To study this area used a synthesis of classical methods of thematic system mapping as described in the doctrine of geosystems of V. B. Sochava, and automated interpretation of remote sensing data and mapping using GIS technologies. The method of geoinformational mapping of the landscape structure with the use of MultiSpec and Quantum GIS software programs for the purpose of drawing up real-time raster landscape maps is shown. In drawing up the map and the legend, the principle of geomic system-hierarchical representation of the territory as a complex multi-level “bottom-up” structure from topological-level geosystems (groups and classes of landscape facies) to regional-level geosystems (geoms, groups and classes of geoms) was used. Compilation of operational raster landscape maps of the north-west of Western Siberia involved multilevel automated interpretation of the Hansen mosaic dataset and mapping of areas (clusters) on images with different brightness characteristics, with the landscape structure of key areas and stationary physical and geographical profiles. A characteristic of this approach also implies using a dynamic classification of geosystems based on the study of their variable states. Such an approach permits a monitoring of changes in landscape structure and its areas and the intensity of anthropogenic impacts on forest and marsh landscapes, and determination of permissible pressure on geosystems in areas with high technogenic pressure of the oil and gas complex represented by the north-west of Siberia. An automated processing of data based on a supervised classification of territorial objects allows for the elimination of inaccuracies arising in visual image interpretation. Raster landscape maps can be used both for a further generation of vector maps and as a real-time information base for purposes of environmental management and protection.     

Reserve Growth in Oil Fields of West Siberian Basin, Russia

Although reserve (or field) growth has proved to be an important contributing factor in adding new reserves in mature petroleum basins, it is a poorly understood phenomenon. Although several papers have been published on the U.S. fields, there are only a few publications on fields in other petroleum provinces. This paper explores the reserve growth in the 42 largest West Siberian oil fields that contain about 55% of the basin's total oil reserves.The West Siberian oil fields show 13-fold reserve growth 20 years after the discovery year and only about 2-fold growth after the first production year. This difference in growth is attributed to extensive exploration and field delineation activities between discovery and the first production year. Because of the uncertainty in the length of evaluation time and in reported reserves during this initial period, reserve growth based on the first production year is more reliable for model development. However, reserve growth models based both on discovery year and first production year show rapid growth in the first few years and slower growth in the following years. In contrast, the reserve growth patterns for the conterminous United States and offshore Gulf of Mexico show a steady reserve increase throughout the productive lives of the fields. The different reserve booking requirements and the lack of capital investment for improved reservoir management and production technologies in West Siberia are the probable causes for the difference in the growth patterns.The models based on the first production year predict that the reserve growth potential in the 42 largest oil fields of West Siberia for a five-year period (1998–2003) ranges from 270–330 million barrels or 0.34–0.42% per year. For a similar five-year period (1996–2001), models for the conterminous United States predict a growth of 0.54–0.75% per year.     

Reindeer pastoralism in modern Siberia: research and survival during the time of crash

In many areas across Siberia, the reindeer herding economy of the native people went into a deep recession during the post-Soviet transition of the 1990s. However, as a larger cross-section of data indicates, the reindeer stock decline is not a universal phenomenon. Nor is the present-day crisis in native Siberian herding economies an unprecedented event, as pastoralists did suffer tremendously in "traditional times", due to the devastating epizootics and other natural disasters, and even more so, during the Soviet-induceed collectivizsation. While such a historical review by no means diminishes the scale of the present-day crisis in native herding economies, it helps to identify both the experience and traditional adaptations once used by the native Siberians during the previous times of hardship. Of those, the most efficient were: maintaining cultural and ecological diversity in local herding systems; the ability to shift quickly between nomadic population as the invaluable source of cultural knowledge, technological expertise, and of domestic reindeer stock for ultimate recovery. The modern situation in Siberia, in fact, favours increased local diversity and helps to produce a steady stream of new "winners" as well as new "losers." This new experience has to be comprehensively documented, to produce both a reliable general overview and a detailed summary of the specific regional and local transitions.     

Formation of the academic direction in Atlas mapping of the regions of Siberia (50<Superscript>th</Superscript> anniversary of the publication of the Atlas of Transbaikalia)

We examine the Atlas of Transbaikalia that was prepared and published in 1967 by the Institute of Geography of Siberia and the Far East SD USSR AS; it marked the beginning of the formation and development of the modern academic direction in atlas mapping of the regions of Siberia. The main preconditions for the formation of this scientific direction are outlined. Presented is the experience in creating a fundamental scientific program of the Atlas using a number of new conceptual and organizational-methodological principles of organizing the contents, developing original scenes and using fractional territorial units for the thematic filling of the map contents, and in drawing on the available high technical level of methods and procedures of semiotic modeling and layout which impart the Atlas not only a regional but also a general scientific significance. Emphasis is placed on the theoretical and methodological issues, and this cartographic product helped to successfully deal with them. It is pointed out that a special role in developing the general scientific program of the Atlas and in planning collaborative efforts of various authors belongs to V. B. Sochava, Editor-in-Chief of the Atlas of Transbaikalia.