TRANSFORMATION OF FLOODPLAIN LANDSCAPES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE ZAKHARKOVO FLOODPLAIN OF THE MOSCOW RIVER)

Abstract

The Zakharkovskaya floodplain of the Moscow River is located directly above the Moscow Ring Road. It is an example of a natural structure that is spontaneously restored after long-term economic use (hayfields, pastures, long-term plowing, summer cottege settlements, drainage and irrigation channels, silt sites, etc.) under conditions of cessation of intensive anthropogenic impact. The article deals with the history of the formation and development of the Zakharkovskaya floodplain in prehistoric times (late Holocene), in the early historical period (beginning-middle of the second millennium AD), and in the late historical period-XIX-XXI centuries. The regulation of water flow, which has occurred in recent decades, is accompanied by a relative stabilization of the Moscow riverbed, turning it into a canal, reducing the intensity of channel deformations, leveling the bottom relief with its general deepening. As in other floodplain plots, the territory of floodplain leaves the flood zone; depressions are filled in, lakes are degraded, and man-made terrain is formed. At the same time, the current restrictions on access to the territory of the Zakharkovskaya floodplain for 10-15 years have created conditions for the restoration of natural structures, in particular, forest and shrub tracts, and increased the landscape and ecological attractiveness of floodplain lands.