Avtomobilshchina: Driven to the Brink in Moscow

Despite a major road construction program, the pace of traffic circulation in Moscow has slowed to less than half the average speed recorded for 1991. One problem is the rapid growth in the number of vehicles, but even more important, as shown in this study, are the cultural and political dimensions of driving and automobile ownership, or automobility. Currently, some specifically Russian driving practices exacerbate the situation. Yet there are many drivers who are eager to collaborate with City Hall in the effort to alleviate congestion. It is argued here that these driver-citizens are emerging publics, people who are creating a civil society without specifically meaning to do so. Mayor Luzhkov acknowledges public opinion, but persists in attempting to solve traffic and parking problems "from above" by constructing more facilities without inviting public participation in planning. These efforts appear unlikely to succeed as long as the public is excluded from mobility governance.     

The extant genus Eutheia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae) discovered in Upper Cretaceous Taimyr amber

The Eutheiini includes over 90 extant species classified in seven genera and distributed predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere. So far only one extinct genus and species unambiguously placed in this tribe has been known, Archeutheia, from Albian of Spain. We report the discovery of Eutheia, a member of the largest extant genus of Eutheiini, in Santonian of northern Siberia. Extant species of Eutheia are primarily defined on the basis of male genital characters, and the specimen discovered in Taimyr amber is a female; consequently it is described as Eutheia sp. The new finding remarkably extends the known range of Eutheiini during Cretaceous over the area of about 6 thousand kilometers, from the Iberian Plate to northern Siberia. A long morphological stasis in Eutheia suggests that this genus was associated with stable mesic microhabitats of the upper soil layers or rotten wood for at least 83 my.     

REMAKING MOSCOW: NEW PLACES,NEW SELVES*

ABSTRACT. The erratic course of the “transition” in Russia today undermines hope for the establishment of a genuine democracy supported by institutions of civil society. The West must accept that the outcome of the transition is unknown. Whether public space is emerging where the practices of civil society have been able to take root is not clear at the moment. However, important transitions in daily life and everyday places are occurring, especially as a result of consumerism. If public space does take shape, it will have to be rooted in Moscow's new places. This study draws on the conceptual framework of Robert David Sack in an exploration of changes in places and selves in Moscow.     

The upper Viséan–Serpukhovian in the type area for the Serpukhovian Stage (Moscow Basin,Russia): Part 2. bulk geochemistry and magnetic susceptibility

This study is the summary analysis of bulk XRF geochemistry (233 samples from three sections) of the Oka and Zaborie groups of the type Serpukhovian succession in the Moscow Basin. The siliciclastic wedges in the limestone‐dominated Oka Group are two to three times enriched in Fe, Ti, and Zr compared to Clarke values. Bulk iron strongly correlates with magnetic susceptibility. Iron tends to form ferruginized horizons (original siderites) in finer grained siliciclastic beds associated with coal seams. These beds also tend to be enriched in Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and other trace metals (metal enrichment horizons or MEHs). MEHs formed in ponded conditions of coastal low‐pH marshlands vegetated by mangrove‐like lycopsid bushes. Well‐drained environments of palaeokarst formation and alkaline everglades (Akulshino palustrine event) on the other hand did not accumulate Fe and trace metals. The thin shale seam (found close to the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary in Polotnyanyi Zavod) has unusually high Rb and Sr values, which may contain volcanigenic material useful for absolute dating. The Gurovo Formation (Steshevian Substage of the Serpukhovian) is less enriched in Fe and Ti. In the Gurovo Formation, the transition from the lower montmorillonitic shale (Glazechnya Member) to the upper palygorskitic shale (Dashkovka Member) is expressed by a five‐fold increase in background MgO values, which indicates progressive shoaling and climatic aridization. Phosphorus remains close to 0% in the Oka Group and tends to increase in the Zaborie Group, in agreement with a dramatic increase of conodont numbers and other signatures of a lower Serpukhovian marine transgression. The lower half of the Glazechnya Member exhibits fluctuating enrichment in Fe, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, V, Cr, and Co. These fluctuations are mostly inverse to fluctuations of Mn. This pattern has been interpreted as a signature of seafloor oxygen deficiency, where Mn‐rich samples record oxygen‐poor environments (redox barrier level with the sediment surface) and Mn‐poor samples enriched in Fe and trace metals record transitions to anoxic setting. This interval is interpreted as the Lower Serpukhovian highstand. Enrichment in Fe, Ti, and Zr of Oka siliciclastic units of Polotnyanyi Zavod indicates provenance from the ore‐rich Voronezh Land, south of the Moscow Basin. The westerly flux regarded as a possible provenance in previous palaeogeographic reconstructions is discarded for the studied sections. The Gurovo Shale is also linked to the Voronezh province, although Fe, Ti, and Zr concentrations are lower than in the Oka shales. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MOSCOW ON THE RISE: FROM PRIMATE CITY TO MEGAREGION*

In this article I examine Moscow's role in the political‐economic space of the Russian Federation. A broad range of data supports the thesis that the capital has become a primate city, one that serves no longer as the command center of a closed system but as the primary node of interconnection between Russia and the rest of the world. The effort to create a larger, polycentric “New Moscow” next to the ancient capital is marked by a tightening of central control, in contrast to governance regimes of European megaregions. Nevertheless, expansion of the capital region very likely will further boost Moscow's dominance over the country.