“Human culture energy” (according to V.I. Vernadsky) is concentrated in cultural landscapes. Modern humanitarian-geographical studies present them as a correlation system, including natural ecosystems, economic, residential, language, and spiritual systems of a living community. This concept may be used in applied directions: sustainable development (exemplified by the Arctic zone of Russia), geopolitics, “humanization” of geographical studies, etc.

The purpose of this paper was to reveal the relationship between the years of devastating spring floods on the Dnieper River and polar Solar Eclipses. The chronicle information about spring floods on the Dnieper had been studied. The results were compared with a series of Solar Eclipse Saroses. It was found that the years of catastrophic floods often corresponded to the years of polar Solar Eclipses, belonging to different Saros series. It has been revealed for the first time that between the high spring floods in the same series of Eclipses there was often a correlation multiple of 18 years (Saros), including Big Saros (54 years), as well as a connection with the adjoining series of Eclipses, resulting in a shift equal to 29 (Inex) and 11 years.

The paper considers the results of paleogeographic reconstruction of formation conditions of the aptian strata of the South-Eastern part of the Balaklava basin. The radiogeochemistry of the aptian sedimentary strata, mineral composition of clays and their microstructural features were studied.In conclusionthe predominance of southern demolition of terrigenous material is proved, possible rocks of feeding provinces are determined. The data of the study of the clay strata suggest their connection with the oil source rocks, which may be found in the shelf zone.

We report the results of geographical research related to the environmental aspects of urban settlement organization in the Moscow region in the post-Soviet period. A number of reasons of modern town-planning problems and their consequences for formation of a comfortable environment are analyzed. Some new tendencies of transformation of a network of settlements near Moscow, having various ecological consequences both for local population and for new inhabitants, are revealed.

We consider the problem of applying mathematical models to study the dynamics of agricultural development. Based on the analysis of agricultural productivity for more than a 100-year period, the cyclical nature of the development of agricultural production has been revealed. Using the method of spectral analysis, the existence of 64-year long Kondratieff cycles is proved, which form the basis for the development of the socio-economic forecast for the development of the agrarian sector until 2042. It is concluded that the joint application of both traditional and new methods of mathematical modeling in agrogeographic research is promising.

The importance of high-quality non-market services for the population is shown and differences in the accessibility of institutions providing non-market services to the population of the Republic of Mordovia are revealed. The method of sociological survey is used to determine the components of social well-being of the population of Saransk, taking into account the development of the services sector. The tendency of expanding the quality of medical and educational services, as well as of the provision of public services on the ‘one-window’ principle with the use of information technologies is demonstrated. It is concluded that the development of a system of non-market services in the region and the equalization of territorial disparities in their provision are associated with an improvement in the quality of life of the population.

Prehistoric stone monuments inherent in the geographical space of the Arctic, represented by various megalithic structures, are considered. The existence of main types of stone monuments, such as menhirs, seids, cromlechs, and ruins of structures, are revealed. Such specific geometric types of monuments as stone spheres, parallelepipeds and pyramids are discussed. Analogs of arctic megaliths in other regions of the planet are presented. The structures in question are the most significant indicator of the prehistoric development of the Arctic.

It is well known that urban soils often contain pollutants of inorganic and organic nature. In order to assess the urban soil toxicity the spectral and biotesting methods have been used. The research objects were water extracts of urban soils and background soil. The optical density of the spectra of absorption and fluorescence of soil extracts was generally characteristic of humic substances. However, upon excitation with light at a wavelength of 270 nm, additional peaks in the 330-400 nm were detected in the fluorescence spectrum of samples of urban soils, due to organic pollutants of anthropogenic origin. Also the quantum yield of fluorescence for urban soils showed an excess of 1.5-3 times according to the difference spectrum of fluorescence. This indicated the presence of petroleum products, surfactants and other organic pollutants in Almaty city’s soils. The acute toxicity of the studied soil samples was not detected in using 2 biotests, but the permissible toxicity of soils was identified.

The oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, the casual agent of the late blight, still remains the main cause resulting in economic problems for potato growers. Molecular screening of (a)virulence genes of the pathogen (Avr genes) and plant genes for resistance to P. infestans (Rpi genes) would help monitor the changes in the pathogen populations and predict the most vulnerable potato varieties. To assess variation in isolates due to pathogen migration, we compared P. infestans genotypes in the isolates sampled in 2013-2015 in the Pushkin collection of interspecific hybrids (St. Petersburg) and in the commercial potato stands in several regions of Russia. The presence of two mating types, A1 and A2, also promotes pathogen variation due to sexual recombination. Molecular methods were employed for genotyping pathogen samples and assessing their mating type and Avr gene profiles. These molecular indices were related to such phenotypic characteristics as mating type, metalaxyl resistance, virulence factors tested with the differential plants and aggressiveness in the potato tuber test.

We report a study on the growth and development of morphologically underdeveloped embryos in dill seeds, and their impact on germination. The influence of dill umbrella location on embryo growth and seed germination under standard conditions is investigated. In the process of germination in dynamics, the length of the embryo from umbrellas located on the shoots of the first and second orders of branching is measured. Parameters of the model of embryo growth and germination of dill seeds are calculated. The different quality of the initial length of the embryo (p < 0.001), a significant difference in the length of the embryo in full germination (p < 0.001), and growth time of 50% of the length of the embryo, necessary for germination (p = 0.009), are revealed. It is found that at the beginning of germination, embryos in seeds from different branching orders are at different stages of development. Studies show that under standard controlled germination conditions the germination rate and seed germination percentage depend on the stage of the embryo development.

The chemical composition of the sea buckthorn fruit grown in Azerbaijan has been studied and the biotechnology of obtaining biologically active on the basis of its fruits has been developed. It has been established that the fruits of sea buckthorn are rich in biologically active substances: vitamins C and E, carotenes, polyphenols (catechins, flavonoids), organic acids, etc. The effect of the pectolytic enzyme on juice yield and viscosity of juice has been studied. It has been found that the most optimal condition for fermentation is 1.5 hours with the dosage of the enzyme preparation of 2.2 unit PcA/g of pectin. In this case, the yield of juice from the fruits of sea buckthorn increases to 33%, and the viscosity decreases by 85%. It has been revealed that in enzymatic treatment of sea buckthorn fruits the amount of dry substances, sugar, organic acids, polyphenols, catechins, flavonoids, and vitamin C increased by 1.4, 1.5, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.4, 1.3 times, respectively. The resulting enzyme juice was concentrated to a dry matter content of 40-45% in vacuum. The concentrate can be used as a preventive and common-restorative means and food additive.