United Classification of Natural and Anthropogenic Geographical (Landscape) Complexes: Criteria and Classes of Higher Ranks

The purpose of this article is to develop a unified classification system for natural and human-made geographical complexes (geocomplexes) in different geospheres. The geocomplex concept is accepted in the general geographical sense and includes human populations, the processes and results of their activities, and natural components and processes. Ten criteria are considered for the classification of geocomplexes: the degree of naturalness/artificiality (or transformation); location in geospheric layers; location in geospheric sublayers; zonal and sectoral location; genus of human population activity; species of human population activity; structure of technical cover; aggregate state of water and type of water or ice body; presence or absence of magmatism; location in structural units of the lithosphere. These interconnected, complementary criteria create a classification space for categorising the full range of geocomplexes. Using classification criteria as an axis in a multidimensional feature space leads to the ordering of classes and the formation of an ordination-classification system. Eighty-six classes of the third rank are distinguished: forty-three natural and forty-three anthropogenic (techno-natural, naturaltechnical and technical) ones. Examples of classes of natural geocomplexes are terrestrial polar, coastal and shallow-water equatorial-tropical, deep-water pelagic (oceanic, marine), lake and river (continental) bottom extratropical, underwater and subglacial volcanic, cave, crustal continental. Examples of anthropogenic geocomplexes include industrial underground areas with dense technical infrastructure, urban areas with high-rise and multi-storey buildings, agricultural areas with aquaculture, transport areas with aerial infrastructure, sacred areas in natural environments, and museumified natural-technical areas. In order to classify the full range of geocomplexes, it is necessary to consider a variety of geographical and related scientific concepts, as well as different types of practical activity. A key outcome of the classification process is the clarification of the meaning of many terms embedded within the classification system.

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