Vestnik Rossijskij fond fundamentalʹnyh issledovanij

The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for integrated geoecological zoning of the northern plain territories of the Russian Federation based on digital elevation models. Geomorphometric elevation parameters have been calculated to take into account: a) exogenous factors; b) endogenous factors – the coefficient of discreteness and energy intensity, fault density and the function of crushing the Earth’s crust. Such an integrated approach has no analogues and allows taking into account the impact on the state of the environment of exogenous and endogenous, climatic and other natural factors at the global, regional and local levels. As a result, a methodology for integrated geoecological zoning of the northern plain territories of the Russian Federation was developed on the basis of modern digital elevation models using GIS technologies and maps of geoecological zoning.

The work summarizes the results of investigations carried out in three directions (blocks).
Block 1. Terrestrial ecosystems in areas of intensive nature management are investigated. Climatic changes and anthropogenic impact result in transformation of landscapes with disturbed or completely destroyed vegetation cover. In freshwater ecosystems cardinal changes in the structural and functional organization from the multifactorial anthropogenic load against the background of a warming climate were revealed. We obtained unique data on the long-term dynamics of biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems.
Block 2. Enrichment tailings properties were studied, the influence of the dusting season duration and humidity changes on the gross dust emission was assessed; interaction of tailings with soil waters was studied. The potential ecological danger of tailings mineral particles getting into the soil was shown. The losses of non-ferrous metals during the period of waste storage under different climate change scenarios were estimated.
Block 3. People’s perceptions of climate change and its social consequences have been studied. The problem of climate change clearly correlates with ecological problems. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Arctic in the context of climate change was studied. The pandemic highlighted the unsustainability of the rotational method of resource development, with rotational camps becoming focal points of epidemiological hazards.

The article is devoted to the consideration of the main parameters of environmental pollution in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), AZRS, as well as to the analysis of their impact on the health status of the population of this region. The collected data indicate that the main source of pollutants in this case is the mining industry, additional sources are the energy sector, transport and reindeer husbandry. Their negative impact is enhanced by such natural features of the regional natural environment as the slow decomposition of pollutants due to the annual predominance of low temperatures and, due to the presence of permafrost, their concentration in the upper soil layers. As a result of the study of the state of health of the population of the AZRS, the main composition of regional pathologies was determined, and a territorial picture of the incidence of the population of the region was compiled. An assessment of the state of regional health care is given and some proposals are formulated to improve the efficiency of its work.

The long-term data sets of the annual and seasonal water flows and the major ions fluxes of the Northern Dvina River at the village of Ust-Pinega and Pechora River at the village of Ust-Tsilma were analyzed. Long-term phases of increased and decreased values of water runoff were identified, the duration of which ranged from 9 to 50 years, and their main characteristics were determined. The sequence and boundaries of the change in the contrasting phases of the annual water flow, the snowmelt flood flow and the summer-autumn flow on the Northern Dvina River and the annual water flow and snowmelt flood flow on the Pechora River practically coincided. The difference between the average annual and seasonal water flow in the phases of its increased and decreased values ranged from 11 to 41%, and the ion fluxes were in the range of 5–36%. The ion flux of contrast phases, as a rule, differs less than the water flow. This is due to the inverse nature of the dependence of the concentration of ions on the daily water discharges, because of which a kind of negative feedback is formed, stabilizing the intensity of chemical denudation in the watersheds of these rivers and the flux of the main ions into the seas, even with noticeable fluctuations in water flow.

An ensemble of synoptic oceanic vortices, which is influenced by background currents, can be represented as the quasi-two-dimensional mesoscale turbulence. The evolution of vortices in an ensemble can occur according to several scenarios: 1) initial merging of closely spaced vortices of the same name; 2) periodic or quasi-periodic evolution of horizontal dimensions with their limited change; 3) unlimited stretching of vortices in the horizontal plane. The work is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of negative viscosity manifestation in the defined water areas of the World Ocean at the stage of unrestricted stretching of mesoscale vortex structures by horizontal inhomogeneous currents. The reason for the manifestation of negative viscosity in such a system is associated with the loss of energy of the elongated vortices and its redistribution into background currents.