Spatio-temporal Organization of Mountain Taiga Geosystems of the Baikal Natural Territory

Results from investigating the geosystems of Cisbaikalia in its western and eastern parts (Primorskii Range and Barguzin Range, respectively) are presented. For studying three macroslopes of these mountain ranges (having an easterly aspect for the Primorskii Range and a westerly and south-easterly aspect for the Barguzin Range), the regional background and the main factors of the landscape differentiation of the study areas were analyzed. Structural features of topological geosystems are revealed, and large-scale maps of key areas are compiled (at a scale of 1:50 000). Maps of the landscape-typological structure were created on the basis of the structural-dynamic and facies analysis of landscapes. It is established that the main factors influencing the landscape diversity are the aspect and steepness of the slopes, the composition and structure of rocks, the absolute height, the amount of atmospheric precipitation, and anthropogenic impacts. It is determined that the influence of the lithomorphic factor is widespread throughout the study areas, the hydromorphic factor is also important, the cryomorphic factor occurs additionally in the goletz zone, and the xeromorphic factor is only observed on the Baikal Range and on the coastal plain in some areas of Priolkhonie. The dynamic aspect of the landscape structure and the relationships between geosystems are displayed in map legends.     

A structurally adequate model of the geomagnetosphere

The structurally adequate model of the geomagnetosphere consists of the following modules: A. Bow shock as a source of power for magnetospheric processes. B. The generation of magnetospheric convection. C. The plasma pressure distribution in the magnetosphere and electron-proton precipitations into the ionosphere. D. The magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Field-aligned currents. Essentially, each module presented in an analytical form is a model of a particular process described in physical terms. It has an input and output to couple with other modules. When combined, the modules comprise a single large physically adequate model describing a phenomenon in such a way that we understand its essence and contribution of each physical process into the overall picture.     

TEXTURE OF FOREST COMMUNITIES ON AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

The authors discuss a method by which the image characteristics of forest vegetation can be used to determine various valuational characteristics of forest stands through the combination of air photo interpretation and ground surveys at selected training sites. Construction of curves showing changes in image texture and tone occurring at different stages in the growth cycle of a pine forest community are used to estimate the age of a forest stand, and through known relationships between age and other stand characteristics incorporated into yield tables, to approximate such valuational characteristics as mean diameter, mean height, and stand volume. Translated from: Distantsionnyye issledovaniya rel'yefa Sibiri, A. L. Yanshin and V. N. Sharanov, eds. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1985, pp. 73-78.     

History of Holocene Sedimentation in the Southern Kara Sea

Two bottom sediment cores (BP00-23/7 and BP00-7/6) recovered from the Yenisei transect in the southern Kara Sea are described. Data on their grain size composition, clay and heavy mineral assemblages, and distribution of a large group of chemical elements are presented. Radiocarbon dates based on AMS C-14 method suggest the Holocene age of sediments in the cores. Literature data on physical properties and foraminifers have also been analyzed. The facies affiliation of the lithostratigraphic subdivisions has been unraveled. History of the Yenisei River runoff in the Holocene has been reconstructed on the basis of different indicators.     

Iodine and selenium speciation in natural waters and their concentrating at landscape-geochemical barriers

Drinkable waters in Bryansk oblast are generally poor in I and Se. Possible I and Se speciation in the drinkable waters and their means of migration and concentration in soils at geochemically contrasting conditions are analyzed, and the possible reason for the high mobility of I is demonstrated to be predetermined not only by its occurrence in the form of iodide and organic complexes but also by solute mineral species (CaI⁺ and MgI⁺), with the former and the latter types of the complexes spread more widely in the polessky and opolny landscape types, respectively. Iodine complexation with alkali-earth cations under reduced neutral-weakly alkaline conditions facilitates, on the one hand, vertical iodine migration and, on the other hand, its precipitation on the carbonate barrier. The predominant solute species of Se in these environments is hydroselenide, which can form FeSe in the presence of significant Fe concentrations and be precipitated on the reduced barrier in soils of hydromorphic landscapes. The generally low total I and Se concentrations in the drinkable waters and the migration of solute compounds of radioactive I in the form of organic and inorganic complexes could likely result in a higher thyroid morbidity rate over the whole territory of Bryansk oblast, including areas contaminated with radioactive I isotopes after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.     

Specifics of analysis of salt rocks from the Verkhnekamskoe deposit for Au,Pt, and Pd

The paper presents data on the possibility of ETAAS analysis, and a technique of this analysis, of salt rocks, their insoluble residues, and organic fractions from these rocks for Au, Pt, and Pd (concentrations from 10^–7 to 10^–2 ppm). Various techniques for the decomposition of the samples are discussed, and the paper presents information on the extent of Au, Pt, and Pd adsorption from chloride complexes when the POLYORGS-IV complex-forming adsorption agent is applied. The determined atomization parameters of the elements in a graphite furnace are reported. Precious metals are proved to be concentrated in the insoluble residues of the salt rocks and in the slimes (salt wastes) when the salt rocks are processed. The forms in which precious metals are contained in the salt-bearing rocks are determined.     

How can we solve the problem of substorms? (A review)

The works in the alternative direction of magnetospheric studies are reviewed. In contrast to the traditional approach, where the basis process is magnetic field line reconnection, transformation of kinetic energy into electromagnetic one at the bow shock front is the basis process in the proposed approach. It has been indicated that this new paradigm makes it possible to overcome the main difficulties that remained within the scope of the previous paradigm. It has been briefly demonstrated how several following processes and phenomena are explained within the scope of the new approach: (1) transformation of the solar wind kinetic energy into the electromagnetic energy; (2) electromagnetic energy transfer into the magnetosphere; (3) organization of the system of bulk currents, formation of field-aligned currents from the magnetosphere, and compatibility of these currents with the ionospheric current systems; (4) shape, value, and dynamics of the particle precipitation auroral regions; and (5) substorm expansion (auroral breakup). Other possibilities of the new approach and paradigm replacement consequences are briefly considered.     

Model of magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions in the field of auroral electrojets

The magnetosphere and ionosphere are coupled into a power circuit by field-aligned currents. If there were only Hall current in the ionosphere, the problem of magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction would not have arisen. Field-aligned currents could be seen as emerging as a result of the break in the magnetospheric current across the tail, since the Hall current is divergence-free and does not perform any work. In fact, the current in the ionosphere is complex. It always has a Pedersen component, and the ionosphere is a real energy consumer. Together with energy, an extrinsic electrical current should flow into the ionosphere. The current coming from the generator in front of the bow shock is a part of the extrinsic current. The aim of this paper is to generalize the previously obtained partial solution to the problem of magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions in the region of auroral electrojets, also taking into account the generation of the extrinsic current in front of the bow shock.     

Dependence of the power consumed by the magnetosphere on the solar wind parameters

The results of the previous studies, where the expressions were obtained for the electric current, which is generated at the bow shock front and is closed through the magnetosphere, and for the magneto-pause potential as a function of such solar wind parameters as the plasma density and velocity and the IMF intensity, are used. The power (W) consumed by the magnetosphere is equal to the Poynting vector flux S through the magnetopause. According to the special case of the Poynting theorem applied by Heikkila to the-magnetosphere, the energy flux can be expressed in terms of the electric potential (the integration is carried out over the entire surface of the magnetosphere). As a result, the required dependence, which is quadratic with respect to the IMF B _z component, has been obtained for W. It is discussed why the magnetosphere is energy-isolated at the northward IMF B _z component despite this.     

Regional-typological study and mapping of geosystems: analysis of the implementation

We give an outline of the scientific-methodological principles of using the regional-typological approach in geographical research. Based on analyzing cartographic products, we demonstrate the differences in understanding and implementing the approach. The structurallogical schematic diagram for the regional-typological approach has been developed, which opens up possibilities for its implementation in the study and mapping of geosystems and can provide an integral, systemic idea of this approach.