Сейсмические исследования карстовых пещер в Арк­тике: первые результаты

Aim. To identify the specifics of realization of strategic projects in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (RF).Objectives. To define the actual territory of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation; to characterize the natural and climatic conditions and the significance of natural resources of the region; to analyze the importance and role of the Arctic zone in the Russian economy, energy and ecology; to identify the features and problems of infrastructure, transport and logistics in the Arctic zone; to establish indicators of the quality of urban environment; to identify the cities of the Arctic zone with the most and least favorable urban environment.Methods. Based on the strategy methodology of the scientific school of the Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) V. L. Kvint. L. Kvint, a number of factors that have a significant impact on the development and implementation of strategic projects in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation have been identified. The authors applied the following research methods: data interpretation, information-logical analysis, situational analysis, generalization.Results. The peculiarities of the development of strategically important projects to be implemented in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are due to the fact that the Arctic is a territory with specific harsh natural and climatic conditions and, at the same time, a strategically important region rich in natural resources and, consequently, playing a significant role in the geopolitical context. In this regard, the development and subsequent successful implementation of projects in the Arctic is a complex task that requires taking into account the unique characteristics of the region. The author analyzes the importance and role of the Arctic zone in the context of the Russian economy, energy and environment, as well as the impact of climatic conditions and geographical remoteness of the Arctic on the process of development and possible implementation of projects in the region. The peculiarities and problems of infrastructure, transportation and logistics in the Arctic zone are identified, and the need to ensure environmental sustainability of the projects under development is substantiated. As an important aspect in the development and implementation of projects in the Arctic zone, the authors see interaction with indigenous peoples, taking into account their opinions and interests. The scientific novelty of the study consists in identifying the specifics of strategic projects implementation in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, determined by factors of three main groups. The classification including natural-climatic, socio-economic and production-economic factors that constitute the specifics of regional development of the Arctic zone has been developed. The main indicators of urban environment quality are determined and the cities of the Arctic zone with the most and least favorable urban environment are identified.Conclusions. In the article the authors summarize the theoretical and practical experience of development and implementation of strategically significant socio-economic, environmental, transport projects in the Arctic zone. The conducted research shows the necessity of realization of socially oriented strategy, substantiates the expediency of application of complex approach, taking into account the interests of all participants of the projects, and the balance between economic prospects and preservation of natural resources.

The Arctic is of high significance for the economy, politics, ecology and technological development not only of the countries that have Arctic territories, but of the whole world as well. As long as the Arctic remained one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, scientific theories about its geopolitical and economic significance were perceived as pure abstraction. But the climate warming, melting of the Arctic ice and the development of technologies has led to the fact that all these natural resources have become accessible. Those states that develop the Arctic resources most effectively will get greater economic and hence political power. This actualizes the presented paper. The object of the research is the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the research is to reveal various aspects of the geopolitical significance of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation. In order to achieve this, the following interrelated problems have been solved: scientific criteria for the identification of the Arctic Zone have been presented; basic characteristics of the Arctic have been determined; economic, political and technological aspects of the Arctic geopolitical importance for the Russia have been identified and analyzed; some innovative features of management of the Arctic Zone have been determined.

Introduction. Labor markets in the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are challenged with the needs for personnel who have to work in the extreme conditions of the Far North. This objective circumstance imposes special, often increased requirements for the qualifications and level of training of job seekers, including the quality of their education. The relevance of this study is due to the increasingly popular online form of education, which is characterized by both advantages associated with the availability of such education and its safety in the era of a pandemic, and disadvantages associated with the quality of education received. The purpose of the study is to analyze the demand for specialists who have received professional education online in the labor market of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. The information base of the study was the results of surveys of more than 2,200 employers from the territories of all 9 constituent entities of the Russian Federation included in the Arctic zone. The surveys were conducted using online survey methods. The methods of descriptive statistics, system analysis and comparative data analysis were used when processing the survey results. Research results. The applicability of obtaining professional education in online form for the conditions of the Arctic zone is approved by 58% of the surveyed employers, and 42% have a negative attitude to this practice. Only every third employer surveyed considers the online education system existing in the RF AZ as a whole to meet their requirements for this type of training. At the same time, over 40% of employers in all Arctic regions expressed their readiness to hire specialists with a diploma in online education. The results of the survey, presented in the context of the Arctic regions and types of economic activity, showed a heterogeneous attitude of the employers to the issues under study. Discussion and conclusion. The results obtained confirmed the importance for the employers of the RF AZ of personnel training issues using online training, which has both a number of undoubted advantages for the Arctic territories and limitations. An important trend in the development of the study is to assess the capabilities of the existing system of distance online education from the perspective of the subjects of education themselves – universities and colleges located in the Arctic zone of Russia.

The economic development of the off-shore territories of the Arctic zone is characterized by certain advantages and risks associated with the geographical location. Territorial formations of the ASRF have unequal economic structure and different levels of economic development, harsh climatic conditions, preferential economic and legal regime, etc. Territories develop unevenly: some territories have steady economic growth, others are characterized by processes of stagnation, still others are characterized by degradation and devastation. The object of the research is the coastal territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, and the subject is the process of their economic development. The aim is to study the process of development of coastal cities in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, on the example of the Karelian Arctic and the Arkhangelsk region. The study is based on the use of hardware for comparative analysis and assessment of indicators of coastal territories' development. The novelty of the study is the use of the rank method and the calculation of σ-variance coefficient, which allow to determine the presence of regional heterogeneity in its dynamics in the context of coastal cities of the ASRF, on the example of the Karelian Arctic and the Arkhangelsk region. The results determined the presence of a gap between the urban settlements under consideration. The assessment of the inequality of some indicators demonstrates the trend of coastal cities to convergence, other indicators in the context of coastal cities steadily diverge. Large urban settlements break away from other cities of the European North. Small urban settlements of coastal location - Kem, Kandalaksha, Belomorsk - are characterized by a low level of development. The findings may serve as the basis to form the strategic and program documents, and can be also used as additional material, while analyzing the coastal cities of the AZRF and the dynamics of their development.

The article discusses the problems and current prerequisites for sustainable growth of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The concept of development of the Arctic regions in the context of sustained development is analyzed. Modern scientific and practical recommendations for ensuring the economic stability of the Arctic region are taken into account. The most urgent problems of development of the Russian Arctic territories are analyzed and ways of their solution are outlined. In the center of the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is the Northern sea route, which will be the main line connecting the Russian Arctic. Doctrinal consolidation of such an institution as lobbying and the possibility of open regulation of the mechanism of interaction between the interests of political, economic and other groups in the preparation of draft laws is currently one of the most important anti-corruption initiatives. The article considers the main plans for territorial development in the Arctic and possible mechanisms of lobbying that can be applied in this region. The analysis of the dynamics of the formation of the Institute of lobbying and the development of processes of interaction between government and business is presented.

The article examines the demographic processes of the regions whose territories are fully included in the Arctic (Murmansk region, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo- Nenets Autonomous Okrug) from 2014, from the year the land territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation were determined by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, to 2022. The study was conducted as a whole for the period 2014-2022, including three three-year periods 2014-2016, 2017-2019, 2020-2022. in two directions 1) dynamics of changes in the number of the regions permanent population, taking into account recalculation from the results of the All-Russian Population Census - 2020 (VPN-2020); 2) dynamics of changes in the general characteristics of the population natural reproduction. The study determined: changes in the size of the permanent population of the regions by components; structure for recalculating the dynamics of changes in the permanent population of regions from the results of the VPN - 2020; trends in the processes of natural reproduction of the population of the regions as a whole for the period 2014-2022, including three three-year periods 2014-2016, 2017-2019; 2020-2022. Positive periods of the population natural reproduction processes development in the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation have been defined.

The article is a continuation of the research on creating the most complete and representative earthquake catalogs by combining all available data from regional, national, and international seismological agencies and reducing magnitudes to a uniform scale. The task of identifying and removing duplicates that arise during the merging process is solved using the authors’ modification of the nearest neighbor method. It is evident that the intelligent merging of different earthquake catalogs for the same territory will improve the completeness and representativeness of events in the final integrated catalog. In this article, the earthquake catalog of the western sector of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) covering the period 1962–2022 was created by merging three regional Russian catalogs and the ISC catalog. The ratio of magnitude types in the catalog for different seismic networks was analyzed, and magnitude estimates were unified based on the obtained ratios. For analyzing seismic activity in the western AZRF, it is recommended to use earthquakes from the period 1998–2020 when the catalog was significantly cleaned from explosions and other events of the “non-earthquake” type.

Introduction. Ensuring the staffing needs of the economies of the Arctic regions is one of the main tasks of educational institutions of higher and secondary professional education located in the subjects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the "AZ RF"). However, the labor markets of the regions of the AZ RF experience a staff shortage, and the local staff training system does not have sufficient capacity. The rapid development of information and communication technologies and the restriction on people's mobility due to the pandemic create the conditions for a more active use of distance learning in order to compensate for the acute staff shortage. In this regard, the issue of studying the possibilities of using the online form of training of professionals for the economies of the Arctic regions becomes relevant from the position of the educational institutions that are well acquainted with the educational process from the inside. Materials and methods. The information base of the study included the results of surveys of 362 educational institutions of higher education (hereinafter referred to as "HE") and secondary professional education (hereinafter referred to as "SPE") out of 397 ones located in regions that are territorially partially or completely part of the AZ RF. When processing the survey results, the methods of system analysis, descriptive statistics and comparative data analysis were used. Research results. About 70% of universities are in favor of the use of online education in professional training and about 65% of educational institutions of SPE are against it. The opinions of educational institutions of HE and SPE on a possible transition to distance learning in a number of specialties were similarly distributed: 60% – “for” and 65% – “against”, respectively. When answering the question about the readiness of employers of the AZ RF to hire specialists with a diploma of education in an online form, educational institutions of HE and SPE were unanimous: about 30% were in favor, about 45% were against, and 25% found it difficult to answer. Conclusion. The results of the surveys showed a diametrically opposite attitude of educational institutions of HE and SPE to the applicability of online technologies to professional training. Representatives of educational institutions of HE are optimistic about the possibility of switching to an online form of education, while representatives of educational institutions of SPE are extremely skeptical. This can be explained by the high requirements of educational standards for a developed infrastructure and sufficient number of material and technical resources in educational institutions of SPE necessary for practical training, which is virtually impossible with an online form of education.

We present a new sampling scheme for seismic network observations and seismic exploration data acquisition based on compressive sensing theory. According to this theory, seismic data can be recovered with a compressive sampling scheme, using fewer samples than in traditional methods, provided that two prerequisites are met. The first prerequisite is sparse representation of the data in a transform domain. We use a one-dimensional wavelet transform to sparsely express the waveform data of the seismic network. For seismic exploration data, we use a curvelet transform as the sparse transform. The second prerequisite is incoherence between the sampling method and sparse transform. To enhance the incoherence, we propose a random sampling scheme for network and exploration observations, as random sampling is incoherent to most data transforms. In particular, we propose temporal random sampling for seismic network data observation and a full random sampling scheme in time and space for seismic exploration data. Compared with random sampling in spatial dimensions only, full random sampling further enhances incoherence because it adds the temporal dimension for randomization. Finally, seismic data are recovered from the compressive sampling data by calculating a sparsity-promoting algorithm in the sparse transform domain. We perform a real data test and synthetic data tests to illustrate that the proposed method can be used stably to achieve compressive sampling and successful recovery of high-resolution seismic waveform data. The results show that good sparse representation of the data and high incoherence between the sampling scheme and the data are important for successful recovery.

This study presents data and preliminary analysis from a temporary seismic network (SPQR), which was deployed in the urban area of Rome (Italy) for three months in early 2021. The network was designed to investigate the city’s subsurface while evaluating the feasibility of a permanent urban seismic network, and consisted of 24 seismic stations. Despite significant anthropogenic noise, the SPQR network well recorded earthquake signals, revealing clear spatial variability referable to site effects. In addition, the network’s continuous recordings allowed the use of seismic noise and earthquake signals to derive spectral ratios at sites located in different geological and lithological settings. During the experiment, there were periods of activity restrictions imposed on citizens to limit the spread of COVID-19. Although the observed power spectral density levels at stations may not show visible noise reductions, they do cause variations in calculated spectral ratios across measurement sites. Finally, a statistical noise analysis was conducted on continuous seismic station data to evaluate their performance in terms of detection threshold for earthquakes. The results indicate that all network stations can effectively record earthquakes with a good signal-to-noise ratio (≥5 for P and S phases) in the magnitude range of 1.9–3.3 at distances of 10 km and 80 km, respectively. In addition, the network has the potential to record earthquakes of magnitude 4 up to 200 km, covering areas in Central Italy that are far from the city. This analysis shows that it is possible to establish urban observatories in noisy cities such as Rome, where hazard studies are of particular importance due to the high vulnerability (inherent fragility of its monumental heritage) and exposure.

The airport is a complex and especially responsible engineering structure. The construction of which can take place in any, very often difficult engineering and geological conditions. The tasks of a geological engineer include not only engineering and geological surveys and writing summary reports, but also recommendations on artificial management of soil properties so that they can be used in human engineering and economic activities. Quite often, when detecting soils unfavorable for construction, designers suggest cutting them off and replacing them with others, which is not always economically justified. However, it is possible to achieve stabilization of the soil base in less expensive ways: using methods of technical soil reclamation and engineering protection of territories. This article provides an engineering and geological justification for the use of technical land reclamation methods to stabilize the soil base during the reconstruction of an airport located in the Arctic zone in the absence of frozen soils in the base (using the example of Murmansk airport). Methodology of development of complexes of engineering protection of the airport territory Murmansk includes an analysis of regulatory documents, an analysis of the results of engineering and geological surveys, an analysis of methods of technical soil reclamation recommended in connection with the data of engineering and geological surveys, a design methodology, and positive experience in using solutions at similar facilities. Scientific novelty of the work:1) a methodology has been developed for the engineering and geological justification of the complex of engineering protection of the territory to stabilize the soil base of the airport territory. Murmansk for the construction and reconstruction of linear structures based on the analysis of regulatory documents, design decisions, engineering and geological information and the method of analogies; 3) a complex of engineering protection of the Murmansk airport territory aimed at stabilizing the groundwater base is substantiated.Conclusions: When stabilizing the soil base under the runway, taxiway, aprons, etc. of Murmansk airport, it is necessary to apply a complex of engineering protection of the territory, including mechanical, physico-chemical methods, as well as methods for stabilizing the soil base with geosynthetic materials. Based on the engineering and geological conditions of the territory and the features of airport construction (alkaline environment), the use of geocomposites from PVS raw materials will be optimal, which is also confirmed by the economic benefits.

The research presents the results of a comprehensive survey of the cultural landscape, rural historical settlements of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation — Onega Pomorye (2018–2021). Pomorye is a special region of the Russian North, which represents the Russian version of maritime culture in the Arctic. Empirical field material, archival and museum sources, monuments of wooden architecture. In the Russian North, the natural landscape determined the direction of colonization flows, the type of settlement, and the layout of settlements. For the North, the nesting is the most characteristic type of settlement, in which settlements are located not alone, but in groups, which is reflected in the creation of well-known architectural and natural ensembles. The study involved survey of the ancient historical settlements on the territory of the Onega Pomorie (Purnema, Maloshuyka, Vorzogory) with preserved cult ensembles (called “tees”). The ensemble consists of summer cold, winter warm churches, a bell tower. Art-built temples were erected by local Onega craftsmen. A significant part of the temples of Pomorye was dedicated to the patron saint of sailors: St. Nicholas, which was reflected in the local saying “from Kholmogor to Kola 33 Nikola.” The research included the first ever survey of peasant houses and of economic and industrial architecture, ensuing their schematic measurements, the identifying of new monuments of wooden architecture, offering ideas for their conservation, use, revalorization, as well as determining possible category of protection of settlements. It has been established that wooden architecture in Pomorye acts as a specific ethno-marker of the North Russian identity. The author came up with recommendations on the preservation of cultural landscapes as objects of cultural heritage for the Administration of the Arkhangelsk region and Onega region.

Interest in the Arctic zone has increased significantly in recent years. Russia, due to its geography and history, is an active, interested and direct subject involved in all the socio-economic processes taking place here. However, despite the significant efforts of the state, there are still certain difficulties in solving a number of social problems, which may hinder the development of the Arctic regions. In many respects, the successful solution of such problems depends on the cooperation of state institutions and the non-profit sector. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of state financial support for socially oriented non-profit organizations (NPOs) on the sustainable development of the Russian Arctic. The main objective of the study is to analyze the impact of financial support for SONPOs in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation on the sustainable development of the Arctic regions. The researchers put forward a hypothesis that financial support for the non-profit sector is an important driver of sustainable development of the Arctic regions of Russia. The main results of the study are the analysis of state financial support for NPOs in the Arctic region, as well as the author’s classification of the goals of NPOs and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The study presents the results of the all-Russian survey on the activities of SONPOs.

The increase of available seismic data prompts the need for automatic processing procedures to fully exploit them. A good example is aftershock sequences recorded by temporary seismic networks, whose thorough analysis is challenging because of the high seismicity rate and station density. Here, we test the performance of two recent Deep Learning algorithms, the Generalized Phase Detection and Earthquake Transformer, for automatic seismic phases identification. We use data from the December 2019 Mugello basin (Northern Apennines, Italy) swarm, recorded on 13 permanent and nine temporary stations, applying these automatic procedures under different network configurations. As a benchmark, we use a catalog of 279 manually repicked earthquakes reported by the Italian National Seismic Network. Due to the ability of deep learning techniques to identify earthquakes under poor signal‐to‐noise‐ratio (SNR) conditions, we obtain: (a) a factor 3 increase in the number of locations with respect to INGV bulletin and (b) a factor 4 increase when stations from the temporary network are added. Comparison between deep learning and manually picked arrival times shows a mean difference of 0.02–0.04 s and a variance in the range 0.02–0.07 s. The improvement in magnitude completeness is ∼0.5 units. The deep learning algorithms were originally trained using data sets from different regions of the world: our results indicate that these can be successfully applied in our case, without any significant modification. Deep learning algorithms are efficient and accurate tools for data reprocessing in order to better understand the space‐time evolution of earthquake sequences.

Loss-of-ground due to slumping, faulting or replacement of mineral horizons are common problems during mining in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Integrating high-resolution aeromagnetic and 3D reflection seismic data to delineate geological features allows for efficient mine planning and risk reduction. We use high-resolution seismic data from the western Bushveld Complex to image slump structures, iron-rich ultramafic pegmatoids (IRUPs), faults, dykes and diapirs that impact the economic horizons (UG-2). The seismic data are able to resolve faults with throws as small as ~10 m. These data reveal a slump structure in the north of the survey area, extending ~5 km along strike and causing up to 1 km of vertical displacement. This region is characterised by strong magnetic anomalies that are interpreted to be associated with IRUPs, as there were no boreholes drilled in this region. The structure is bounded on several sides by faults and IRUPs. Another feature that is better imaged using seismic data is a large-scale fault mapped on surface (locally known as the Chaneng structure). On seismic data, this structure is imaged as a complex fault network in the west of the study area and a region of material flow in the east. Seismic data also show good mapping resolution of dykes due to their close association with faults, which cause displacements on economic horizons. The seismic data are also characterised by disrupted seismic amplitude zones associated with a diapir (~6 km in diameter), which is linked with the upwelling of basement rocks during the emplacement of the complex. This diapir displaces the economic UG-2 horizon at the mining levels by ~0.05 s two-way traveltime or 175 m. This information could be used for future mining planning and design to assess and mitigate the risks posed by these features during mining activities.