Russian Geographical Research Articles

Радиоэкологические исследования в районе архипелага Земля Франца-Иосифа в августе и сентябре 2023 года

The results of a study of the current activity of technogenic isotopes in the coastal zone of the Alexandra Land island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago are presented. Samples of sea water, algae, bottom sediments, soil and vegetation were taken during an expedition carried out under the auspices of the Northern Fleet and the Russian Geographical Society in August and September 2023. In the marine environment and littoral macrophytes, the content of technogenic 137Cs is gradually decreasing in comparison with the indicators of the previous period 2000–2010. In the terrestrial ecosystem, the distribution 137Cs is mosaic; the highest specific activity is found in soils (up to 71.4 Bq/kg). In single samples, the presence of the short-lived isotope 134Cs was noted, which is an indicator of relatively recent atmospheric fallout in the Arctic.

Field trial of a seismoacoustic method for ice cover parameters monitoring on the Franz Josef Land archipelago

Among the physical parameters of the freezing seas ice cover, ice thickness is of key importance, and its measurement is one of the most important tasks. The increased interest in the state of the sea ice cover as an indicator of global climatic changes, as well as the growth of comprehensive development of the Arctic shelf has caused intensive development of technical and methodological bases for ice observations. Despite the great variety of approaches to ice thickness estimation, all of them are not without weaknesses. Thus, most contact methods imply direct human presence, which significantly complicates the procedure, taking into account, among other factors, the rough weather conditions of the Arctic. Remote methods depend on weather conditions and cannot always provide high spatial resolution. In this connection, it is promising to use satellite observations coupled with the results of autonomous “ground” measurements, which can be seismoacoustic data containing information on the characteristics of elastic waves propagating in the ice-covered sea, is promising. The purpose of this work is to experimentally test a new passive method for monitoring ice cover parameters along long profiles based on the analysis of natural seismoacoustic fields. The article analyzes the data of a full-scale seismoacoustic experiment with a multichannel group of geophones placed on the floating ice of Alexandra Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago within the framework of a complex expedition of the Russian Geographical Society. The demonstrates that it is in principle possible to use flexural-gravity waves propagating in the floating ice to estimate its characteristics, both in the active mode and by analyzing the ambient noise, is demonstrated. The results of ice parameter reconstruction obtained in a nondestructive manner using seismoacoustic waves and averaged over long profiles are compared with the data of direct contact measurements. This can be further used for monitoring seasonal and multiyear variability of sea ice thickness of freezing seas, including shelf zones.

ПАЛЕОДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ ДРЕВНЕРУССКОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ XI–XIV ВВ. КОСТРОМСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ ИЗ ГОРОДИЩА УНОРОЖ

The settlement near the village of Unorozh in the Galich district of the Kostroma Oblast was studied from 2013 to 2022 by a joint Kostroma archaeological expedition and the Russian Geographical Society. A paleodemographic study was conducted. The average age of death in the group was 25.3 years. The average age of death for men (about 37 years old) is quite high, unlike that for women (31.4 years old). There were about 12.5% more women in the group than men. The percentage of child mortality has an average value of about 30.4%. Very few children died in the first year of life. The final age cohort consisted mainly of men. The peak mortality of men in the group is at the age of 30–35 years. Women have two mortality peaks, at 20–25 years and at 35–40 years. The obtained values of different paleodemographic indices indicate the relative demographic well-being in the group

Archaeological Collections from the Jōmon Period in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)

This article presents an analysis and additional description of archaeological items of the Jōmon period from A.V. Grigoriev’s collection (No. 1294) at the Department of Archaeology of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS in St. Petersburg. The study focuses on the description of decorative motifs and the stylistic attribution of selected samples of pottery. The analysis is based on the published data about the Ōmori shell mound (Tokyo, Honshu Island), visited by Grigoriev in 1878 as a part of the expedition from the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. The early stage of the Japanese archaeology is described with reference to the Ōmori shell mound. Special attention is given to specific features of the Jōmon decorative style. The geographic location of the site suggests that the samples are associated with the Kasori B and Horinouchi styles. Contrary to the Russian tradition, the emphasis is made on stylistic interpretation rather than technology and typology. The combinations of large zonally arranged rectangular designs and spiral motifs are typical of the Kasori B style, to which several samples belong. Others reveal vertically and horizontally arranged patterns consisting of incised arcuate and straight lines, typical of the Horinouchi style.

Richard Maack's Vilyui expedition in the study of avifauna and gallinaceous birds (Gallinaceae) of Eastern Siberia

The article is dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the Vilyuisk (Yakutia) expedition organised by the Siberian (Irkutsk) branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (1853-1885). It was led by Richard Karlovich Maack (Germ. Richard Otto Maack), a Russian naturalist of German origin and explorer of Siberia and the Far East. It also contains some information on the Pribaikalia and Transbaikalia, taken along the way during the subsequent Amur (1855-1856) and Ussuri (1859-1960) expeditions. The route, dates, and composition of the expedition are described and the contribution of the scientist to various fields of natural science and, above all, to the study of vertebrates of the region is evaluated. Scientists have identified the habitat of amphibians and reptiles (4 species), birds (121), mammals (34), which is relatively large against the background of regional studies conducted in Eastern Siberia at that time. According to the lists of bird species published in the fundamental work of the scientist "Vilyuisky district of the Yakut region" [1883-1887], the distribution of 5 species of Gallinaceous birds (Gallinaceae) in the middle of the XIX century was revealed – Hazel Grouse, Western and Black-billied Capercaillies, Black Grouse, Willow Ptarmigan. For Transbaikalia and Pribaikalia, the habitat of two more species is noted - Gray and Bearded Partridges. The Common Pheasant was accounted for by R. K. Maack only in the Amur region and the Amur region (Far East). In general, over the century and a half of the history of studying Gallinaceous birds, their species composition has practically not changed in the researcher's work area. In Yakutia, it was replenished with species from the eastern and southern regions, living there Rock Partridge and Siberian Grouse. On the scale of Eastern Siberia, only the Pheasant is currently supplementing the Gallinaceous birds list as a new species in the region, documented in the south of Eastern Siberia – in the Eastern Sayan bordering the Baikal region and in some places of Transbaikalia (not yet precisely confirmed).

Libraries of the European branches of Imperial Russian Geographical Society

The author reviews the history and development of the libraries of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society European branches, namely the Caucasusian, North-Western and South-Western. The library network of the Geographical Society branches supported local scientists and researchers in their studies. The libraries were established through the donations made by the members, other individuals and institutions. Apart from the donations, the library collections were developed through the book exchange. The branches’ own publishing practice facilitated the expansion of book exchange relations with other scientific institutions. The European branches of the Geographical Society published periodicals and continuing publications such as “Bulletins”, “News”, and “Reports”. The book exchange was negatively affected by the First World War and revolutionary events, which resulted in almost absolute termination of contacts with foreign scientific societies.The development of libraries of European branches of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society was inextricably linked with contributing individuals and often depended on the selfless and gratuitous work of employees. The libraries of European branches of the Geographical Society proved to be the centers for science promotion, and their extensive book exchange contacts with national and foreign scientific institutions contributed to the creation and development of sustainable scientific communications.

«Печально зимой в Булуне»: А. В. Боголепов о повседневности заполярной Якутии в 1913–1916 гг.

Goals. The article introduces an unknown manuscript by A. Bogolepov titled ‘Bulun Village of Verkhoyansk District (Yakutsk Oblast)’ and compiled during an exile to the isolated Arctic locality of Yakutia. The narrative was written before the revolutionary events of 1917 and is of certain interest since it lacks any political bias, being characterized by restrained neutrality and sufficient depth of observations over everyday realias of the small northern settlement. A. Bogolepov’s text is attractive for the breadth of issues covered, its consonance with the social and cultural problems faced by the era and discussed by the advanced public. So, it seems reasonable enough to publish the identified document for further discussion in an interdisciplinary perspective. Materials and methods. The manuscript was discovered at the State Archive of Irkutsk Oblast (Coll. 293 ‘East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society’). Furthermore, in search of additional data on the former’s author we investigated the State Archive of Altai Krai (Barnaul), State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai (Krasnoyarsk), National Archive of Sakha-Yakutia (Yakutsk), Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and its St. Petersburg Branch, and the efforts have yielded a variety of precious finds. The methodological basis rests on the principles characteristic of the field the researchers are actually engaged in — cryoanthropology. Results. The discovered materials open a previously unknown page in the Yakut pre-Soviet Northern studies. A. Bogolepov’s manuscript is rich in data on natural conditions, economic and cultural activities in the small remote settlement somewhat representing the polar world in miniature. The author highlights the interpenetration of Russian and Yakut cultures, mentions some specific local sociocultural phenomena resulting from the geographical location and climatic features. The long cold period — as is stressed by A. Bogolepov — shapes the entire life cycle of the settlement: it completely determines the functioning of the transport network, household and trade agendas, everyday life and leisure pursuits of locals. The isolation and scarcity of social activity, temporal and event-based ‘frozen’ everyday life of the northern society are emphasized. The manuscript is an important source for the research of cryoanthropology, and also contains valuable information on Yakutia’s socioeconomic and cultural history throughout the early decades of the twentieth century.

Значение деятельности исторических научных сообществ конца XIX – начала XX вв. для сохранения объектов культурного наследия

The article reviews the main historical scientific communities that functioned in the Russian Empire in the post-reform period – the Moscow Archaeological Society, the Russian Archaeological Society, the Russian Geographical Society, and a number of church scientific and historical organizations. Their characteristics are given, brief historical circumstances of the emergence of such organizations are summarized, their activities, which directly influenced the processes of protection of cultural heritage objects, are considered. At the same time, some special methodological issues of cultural heritage protection are considered in detail, such as the “Notes for the Review of Russian Antiquities”, compiled by the famous ethnographer, folklorist, paleographer I.P. Sakharov, dedicated to Orthodox religious monuments. The main issues of monument protection of the first archaeological congress in 1869 are considered, such as: on the most accurate definition of the method and techniques in the study of monuments; on measures to preserve and make known monuments of pagan and Christian antiquity in Russia; drawing up detailed instructions for archaeological research; terminology of Russian archaeology; on the compilation of archaeology.

Modern methods of learning geographical nomenclature using toponymy in the course of «Geography of Russia. Nature and population» at school

The relevance of the research. Formed interest in learning is the basis for enhancing the cognitive activity of schoolchildren; creation of a positive motivation for learning, which will lead to positive motives for learning, that subsequently turn into a stable interest in learning, and interest into the need for learning. Such interest in mastering geographical nomenclature can be formed by improving teaching methods using toponymy. The problem statement. School practice shows that the study of geographical objects and nomenclature proceeds in a reproductive way, mainly based on memorization, which negatively affects the quality of knowledge. In this regard, the problem arises of finding possible methods for assimilating geographical nomenclature that will intensify the process of their assimilation. The purpose of the research is to substantiate experimentally modern methods for mastering geographical nomenclature using toponymy in the course of «Geography of Russia. Nature and population» at school. The results of the research allowed us to draw the following key conclusions: 1. Modern methods of mastering geographical nomenclature include: toponymic methods (identifying the semantics and etymology of geographical names); teaching methods (partially exploratory, problem-based and research). 3. Analysis of the results of questioning and testing of students of the Maikop Gymnasium No. 22 in 2023/2024 academic year have shown positive results of the pedagogical experiment and proved the validity of the proposed methods for mastering geographical nomenclature using toponymy.

New data on the mammoth fauna in the Amga River basin

Many unique finds of Pleistocene animals have been made on the territory of Yakutia, including whole frozen bodies. However, the majority of the finds come from the northern regions. On the territory of Central Yakutia, in contrast to Northern Yakutia, there are much fewer finds. This is due to the smaller number of preserved relict ice deposits of the Upper Pleistocene ("Yedoma") and the lack of systematic, licensed collection of mammoth ivory and other remains of the mammoth fauna due to their unsatisfactory preservation, which is caused by the stronger thawing of the permafrost in summer in Central Yakutia. There are relatively few published scientific papers on the mammoth fauna of the Amgar River basin. Therefore, new data from this area are of scientific interest. We have studied new material on the mammoth fauna from the "Mount Korolenko" locality, located on the left bank of the Amgar River near the village of the same name. The material was collected during school expeditions organised by the Amga Lyceum and the Russian Geographical Society in 2022-2023. It shows that at this site bone remains are washed out by the river on the right bank of the Amgas. Scattered bones were found on both the left and right banks, but the right bank is richer in palaeontological material. The bone remains are represented by fragments and whole bones of the postcranial skeleton of various animals. The age of most of the finds probably corresponds to the Karga interstadial. The taxonomic identification of the bones showed the presence of the following species: woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, Lena horse, steppe bison, reindeer, red deer. There is a fragment of the humerus of a roe deer, possibly of late Neopleistocene age. A morphometric study of the bone remains was carried out and comparisons made with literature data. The list of large mammals that lived in the Amgas basin in the late Neoproterozoic has been completed.

The Keeper of the Imperial Body: The Russian Geographical Society as an Entrepreneur of Imperial Nationalism

Abstract The goal of this article is to show Russia’s civilizational turn in the broader context of imperial nationalism. The “turn” is a manifestation of imperial nationalism that today feeds not only on political ideas and history but also on geography. In the mass perception, geography is seen as an objective, non-ideologized scientific discipline less prone to political manipulation. Because of this, it can be employed to influence the Russian self-identification process in a much more subtle and efficient way than references to the more abstract notion of civilization. This article presents the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) as an identity entrepreneur managed by the ruling elite with a well-developed regional structure. It functions as a community of imperial practice. With its discursive and material practices, the RGS contributes to reproducing imperial nationalism, including in its civilizational version. The RGS is the keeper of the imperial body. By referring to the imperial body, I mean not just the physical territory but also the ways it is imagined in discourse and made material in numerous practices.

Производство знания и наследия как борьба с неопределенностью: кейс коренных народов Таймыра в 1920–1930-е гг.

The process of accumulating knowledge about the indigenous communities of Taimyr and the formation of museum collections is examined through the optics of uncertainty studies using the example of several cases covering the activities of the Committee of the North, the Krasnoyarsk Local History Museum (the State Museum of the Yenisei Region) and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in the first decades after the revolution. The main purpose of the study was an attempt to establish how the museification of household items and the study of traditional life practices recognized at the state level as “backward” and “archaic” in the logic of the Bolsheviks were supposed to bring victory over “backwardness”, the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, collectivization and modernization of the economy, integration of the indigenous population into Soviet structures. It seems true to assert that the power of experience created by a museum or other cultural institution was used to maintain the narrative of the imminent transition of indigenous Northerners to socialism, which was supposed to mark the predictability of life. Having studied the activities of the local history post of the Khatanga cultural base and the museum-expedition work of famous ethnographers and Northern historians B.O. Dolgikh and A.A. Popova, the author comes to the conclusion that the struggle with uncertainty took place in two dimensions: a) the very accumulation of information about nomads allowed the authorities to more effectively determine the ways and forms of territorial management; b) the representation of the cultures of the northern nomads in the “modernizing” discourse explicitly represented the path from the “primitive” state “on the verge of extinction” to socialism and “civilization”. The work also showed that the very signification of things and practices through their transformation into exhibits largely laid the foundations of the Soviet policy of working with indigenous heritage, which was developed in subsequent years. The research is based on archival materials of the Committee of the North in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF) and publications devoted to expeditionary activities and the collection of Taimyr museum collections of the period under study. The author also expresses gratitude to her colleagues who worked on the research commissioned by the Russian Geographical Society “The history of the settlement of indigenous small-numbered peoples of Taimyr in the territories of the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine and related infrastructure in the 1920s and 1980s”, project manager D.A. Funk, as well as A.S. Basov, S.O. Kovalsky and A.A. Pushin. The author declares no conflict of interests.

Научное наследие экономико-географа Федорова Геннадия Михайловича

On February 11, 2024, we lost an outstanding economic geographer, mentor, and leader, a person whose name is synonymous with the establishment of the scientific school of socio-economic geography in the Kaliningrad region, recognized by the entire academic community. A graduate of the Faculty of Geography of Leningrad State University, G. M. Fedorov began his career at Kaliningrad State University in 1972, ultimately dedicating nearly 52 years to the institution (now the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University). Gennady Fedorov mentored a generation of young researchers who continue his work. Dozens of PhDs, researchers and doctors of sciences consider him their teacher. Gennady Fedorov conducted extensive scientific research and organizational work. He was the chairman of the Dissertation Board for Geographical Sciences (I. Kant BFU) and a member of the Herzen RSPU (St. Petersburg). He was part of the Council for Political Sciences (IKBFU), the inspirational force and deputy editor-in-chief of the journal “Baltic Region” (Scopus, WoS, core of RSCI, HAC), deputy chairman of the editorial board of the journal “Regional Studies” (RSCI, HAC), chief editor of the journal “Bulletin of I. Kant BFU. Series: Natural and Medical Sciences,” and a member of the Academic Council of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS). Gennady Fedorov was one of Russia’s most renowned economic geographers, authoring over 550 scientific works, including 70 monographs and textbooks, and developing the scientific concept of the geodemographic situation. He led research projects in the fields of social geography, regional economics, and geopolitics. These included grants from the Russian scientific foundations RFBR and RSF, the Russian Geographical Society, and international projects. In this article, we, his students and followers, have taken on the difficult task of summarizing the main results of Professor G. M. Fedorov’s scientific activity. This task is challenging primarily because his work was so diverse and multifaceted that it cannot be fully captured in a single article. A different format of publication is required for such an endeavor. Here, we will outline the main issues and scientific directions he worked on and present a list of G. M. Fedorov’s most well-known works.

ФОЛЬКЛОРИСТИЧНИЙ ДИСКУРС НАУКОВОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ПАВЛА ЧУБИНСЬКОГО (ДО 185-РІЧЧЯ З ДНЯ НАРОДЖЕННЯ ВЧЕНОГО)

Background. The article examines the scientific rank of Pavlo Chubynskyi as a harbinger of the ideas of the ethno-national renaissance, updates the methodological principles of the processing of folklore material developed by the researcher, which allows in the future to carry out a comprehensive study of the folk culture of Ukraine and the functioning of Ukrainian folklore according to geographical, genre parameters in synchrony and diachrony. Methods. Pavlo Chubynskyi and representatives of the South-Western Department of the Russian Geographical Society in the 70th of the 19th century proposed a new methodology for the scientific research of folklore as a syncretic phenomenon that preserves ethnic information in its entirety. Within the framework of the systemic approach, new, compared to the previous stages of the development of scientific knowledge, models for explaining the content of folklore texts, customary law, and rites are being developed, based on the search for the integrity of the object and the identification of the typology of connections with other objects of folk culture. The analytical method contributes to the analysis of folklore meaning in the multifaceted forms of its manifestation. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the fact that until now the figure of Pavlo Chubynskyi as a folklorist has not received proper coverage and evaluation in the Ukrainian scientific discourse. Results. An attempt to systematically review the scientist's folkloristic work, clarify his worldview beliefs and methodological principles was made. Conclusions. Update the idea that Pavlo Chubynskyi became the father of Ukrainian Ethnocultural Studies, one of the first scientists who raised awareness of the need for a comprehensive approach to folklore and who viewed the realm of folk art as collective traditional knowledge that should be researched within its social and cultural context.

The Role of Scientific Institutions of the Orenburg Region in the Imperial Policy of Acculturation in the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Century

The article deals with the actual problem of the influence of scientific institutions of the Orenburg Region on the imperial policy of acculturation of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th — early 20th century. The author states that, despite the turn made by modern researchers from the so-called “colonial approach” to a more flexible concept of “acculturation”, a number of problems still remain little studied. In particular, we are talking about the role of local scientific and educational institutions in the implementation of the imperial policy of acculturation. In the border Orenburg Region in the second half of the 19th — early 20th century, three scientific institutions functioned: the Orenburg Provincial Statistical Committee, the Orenburg Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and the Orenburg Scientific Archival Commission. Created largely on the initiative of the provincial authorities, these institutions were supposed to carry out not only a comprehensive study of the Orenburg Region, but also nomadic peoples living in Central Asia, on the one hand to answer the question of the possibility of spreading the influence of Russian civilization and culture, and on the other to develop specific mechanisms of acculturation policy. Based on the analysis of published and unpublished sources, the author identifies the following mechanisms of acculturation used by scientific institutions of the Orenburg Region: ethnographic and statistical research, museification and construction of the historical narrative of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples. The author believes that Orenburg researchers, having collected a significant array of sources on the history, ethnography, culture and life of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, played an important role in preserving their ethnoidentity.

XL All-Russian Dialectological Meeting “Lexical Atlas of the Russian Folk Dialects – 2024”

On January 29–30, 2024, the annual XL All-Russian Dialectological Meeting “Lexical Atlas of the Russian Folk Dialects – 2024” was held at the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg.

Заключительные «Исторические письма» В.И. Ламанского (предисловие к публикации)

The article introduces the publication of the fragments of the sixth “Historical Letter on the Attitude of the Russian People to their Tribesmen” and the conclusion prepared by Vladimir Ivanovich Lamansky, a Slavophile and professor at St. Petersburg University. It is noted that other works of the scientist, on which he worked in the following years, remained unfinished. The facts allowing to indicate the date of writing the “Historical Letters” are given: 1859–1862, work interrupted by Lamansky's trip abroad (1862–1864). It is suggested that the “Historical Letters” were a continuation of the research direction outlined by Lamansky in his master's thesis “On the Slavs in Asia Minor, Africa and Spain” (1859), i.e. they were the result of his archival and desk work. The trip to the Slavic lands enriched the scholar with real knowledge of the Slavic peoples, their history and current situation, which made many of the arguments in the “Historical Letters” irrelevant. There are two subjects that Lamansky touched upon in his “last” letters, and which were further developed in his research and work. Firstly, these are the works in the field of national ethnography: his long-term leadership of the ethnographic department of the Russian Geographical Society, the organisation of the Slavic Congress and the Ethnographic Exhibition in 1867, the publication of the ethnographic journal “Zhivaya starina” (1890), the project of the of the ethnographic department of the Russian Museum (1899). Lamansky's statements on ethnography as fatherland studies or ethnology are presented, revealing his understanding of ethnographic science. Secondly, this is a historiosophical interpretation of the Oriental Question, considering it as an episode of interaction between two civilisations: the Greco-Slavic and the Romano-Germanic. The incompleteness of the “Historical Letters” is pointed out, which is reflected in the gaps in their publication.

“It’s in Some of Our Nation...”: Customs and rituals of the Kashirsky District Peasants According to the Ethnographic Descriptions of Dostoevsky’s Neighbors

The article is devoted to the influence of the folk environment, in which the future writer found himself during the summer holidays in his parents’ Darovoe estate (Kashirsky district, Tula province) in 1832–1836, on the formation of F. M. Dostoevsky’s views about the Russian people. The work is a continuation of the previous publication on this topic, which introduced into scientific circulation an ethnographic document stored in the scientific archive of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), compiled by the priest P. V. Proferansov, rector of the Holy Spirit Church in the village of Monogarovo, Kashirsky district. The Dostoevsky, landowners of Darovoe, were among the parishioners of this church. The present study aims to significantly expand and clarify the ethnographic context of the “village” period of F. M. Dostoevsky’s life, since the materials of P. V. Proferansov contain multiple information gaps, which can be filled in by the data sent to the RGS in the late 1840s by the landowners of the Kashirsky district A. E. Meshchersky and A. B. Freireis. Their descriptions are interesting not only because they contain rich ethnographic material, but also because of the revealed connection of the RGO informants to the personality and creativity of F. M. Dostoevsky. A. E. Meshchersky was a noble assessor of the Kashirsky Zemsky court in the 1830s, during the litigation of F. M. Dostoevsky’s parents with P. P. Khotyaintsev about cross-strip land ownership in Darovoe, and in 1839–1840 he took part in the hearings on the death of M. A. Dostoevsky, the writer’s father. A. B. Freireis can serve as an example of “the best people,” which F. M. Dostoevsky reflected on in the “A Writer’s Diary.” The new archival materials not only allow us to hypothetically recreate the folk environment of Darovoe, as F. M. Dostoevsky could have known it in childhood, but also confirm the writer’s visionary ideas about the national character and the “binding idea” of the nation.

STUDYING THE CHANGING COMPETENCIES OF GREATER PARIS (TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF A.E. SLUKA)

The article deals with the study of Greater Paris in the context of changing paradigm of the development of a large city under the transnationalization of world economy and the process of globalization. The contribution of A.E. Sluka, Professor of the Moscow University, Honorary Member of the Russian Geographical Society, who created a “dynamic” portrait of the French capital of the second half of the twentieth - early twenty-first centuries on the basis of the synthetic approaches and revealed the main features of its socio-economic geography, is evaluated. The article analyzes shifts in the functional structure of the metropolis during the transition to the “international city” model as a result of the implementation of the decentralization and dein-dustrialization policy. The scientist’s ideas on studying the competencies of the city as a corporate center and in the context of practices of the largest agglomerations of the world are being developed. GIS technologies are applied to describe the specific features of Greater Paris as a location of the country’s largest TNCs and the acceptor of branches of foreign companies. The multidisciplinary nature of large national business is revealed, which contributes to the development of interfirm cooperation and serves as an additional resource for the competitiveness of the city. The sectoral structure of foreign corporate segment of its economy is dominated by companies in the material sphere of production (mechanical engineering, chemical and food industries), while the geographical structure is dominated by the US TNCs. There is a consolidated placement of local and foreign companies mainly in three functionally different clusters (within the historical core, the Defense district and Paris-Saclay). Based on the materials of international statistics and ratings of cities, the modern place of Greater Paris among the “world capitals” is considered applying the comparative geographical method. Most ratings include it in the top-5 cities of the planet and characterize it as a multifunctional center of global importance, permanently expanding the scope of its competencies. Being inferior in absolute value of the main economic resources, innovative and environmental indicators, it is ahead of many largest agglomerations of the world in terms of the scope of economic and political influence, information exchange and cultural interaction, as well as the quality of life; it is well-known by specific creative industries. When analyzing the image of the French capital on the basis of sociological surveys, the stability of its “global attractiveness” is noted due to the resources of symbolic capital, which plays an increasingly important role in the information society.

Active Tectonics of North-Eastern Taimyr (Byrranga Mountains) and Questions of Seismo-Tectonic Regionalization of the Russian Arctic

Abstract—In thus paper, we present the first results of complex geological and geophysical studies of active tectonics in the northeast of Taimyr, carried out during the expedition of the Northern Fleet and the Russian Geographical Society in 2020. At the foot of the Byrranga Mountains, a wide zone of active fault-folded tectonic deformations was identified and studied. The general kinematics of displacements is reverse-thrust with signs of shear. The structural style of young tectonic deformations bears a direct resemblance to well-studied structural analogues of the Central Asian seismic belt. The Taimyr seismotectonic zone reveals both spatial and genetic isolation. It has an individual model of the Late Cenozoic geodynamic evolution and modern seismotectonic regime, which differs sharply from the Laptev Sea rift zone adjacent to the east. A complex of geological and geophysical methods has shown high efficiency of application in the Arctic to identify young fault-fold structures, which are potential sources of strong earthquakes.