From the editor-in-chief

Against increasing number of works dealing with multiple aspects of globalization many researchers and observers tend to believe that the international trade is getting more globalized. The article sets criteria – the share of regional trade and the degree of matching of a region’s (or country’s) geographical structure of exports to that of the world’s imports – which allow us to understand whether the international trade can be referred to as a really global one.

The results of the research show that many countries tend to trade with their regional counterparts rather than with regional outliers. Besides, the article considers the peculiarities of the geographical structure of international trade in various product groups and reveals that raw materials and fuels tend to be traded inter-regionally, whereas finished goods as well as intermediate goods are mainly exchanged within regions.

As long as intra-industry trade is thought to be one of the features of the modern stage of globalization, exports-imports operations in automotive, offi ce and consumer electronics, clothing and furniture industries are considered as examples of such trade. The main finding was that the intra-industry trade tended to have stronger presence in technologically advanced industries, whereas inter-industry trade was more typical of labor-intensive ones.

Finally, the article presents a classification of countries based on the peculiarities of the geographical structure of their exports. It shows that today the external trade of very few countries can be thought of as a really global one.

The article provides examination of interrelations between cities, towns and settlements located in the north of Sverdlovsk oblast. Main approaches to the definition and delimitation of urban agglomerations, developed by Russian geographers, were shown. Changes of urban population in the north of Sverdlovsk oblast in 1926–2010 were analyzed; urban agglomeration development rate for 1959–2010 was calculated. Development of industrial and other relations inside the studied area was examined. It was proved, that this urban system characterized by many features of urban agglomeration, although, it did not match its formal criteria. Special attention was devoted to the definition of the center of this area, which was based on the field observations and results of interviews obtained by the authors.

Administrative, territorial, economic and juridical peculiarities of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) as a new subject of state governance are analyzed. Decree by President of the Russian Federation № 296 from May 2, 2014 has determined the AZRF territory, its composition and Southern borders. Conditions for the state statistic monitoring of the AZRF are also formed. An analysis of prerequisites for macroregional balanced development demonstrates a high availability of various types of mineral, oil and gas, and biological resources. The effi ciency of the allocation of resources, primarily to the benefi t of the Russian Arctic districts and municipalities, still remains an important issue. The article reveals drawbacks of the socioeconomic development of legal regulations, marks measures for enhancing of the federal legal base related to Arctic issues and institutions of the AZRF governance.

The duration of growing seasons and the reaction of the plant component of landscape depending on the average position of the Arctic Front (AF) in different climatic episodes according to observations in the sub-arctic (tundra and forest-tundra) and boreal (northern taiga and middle taiga) landscapes in European Russia and in Western Siberia, north of 60° N, is analyzed. The dynamics of climatic characteristics such as gradients of temperature and precipitation, sum of air temperatures above +10° C (sum of active temperatures), Satellite Climatic Extremes Index (SCEI), vegetation index gradients (NDVI AVHRR (1982–2000) and NDVI MODIS (2000–2012)) was used for the estimation. The regularities of the active temperatures sum increase and slight moisture variation were found. It was caused by the quasistationary and increasing intensity of frontal processes at the Arctic front in summer. All these reasons will cause the advance of the boreal forests to the north.

Generalization of the 1993–2013 data on a chemical composition of bog waters in the taiga zone of Western Siberia is executed. More than thirty bogs (mainly outside of zones of active anthropogenous influence) located basically in the territory of Tomsk oblast, in part – in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Novosibirsk oblast, including sites of the Vasyugan Mire, were researched. The common reduction of contents of the dissolved salts from the south – a southwest on the north – northeast is observed in process of increase of a water runoff and a share of upper (oligotrophic) bogs in bogginess of river basins. On this background the increase in concentration of the majority of the investigated substances is marked: 1) from watersheds to valleys; 2) on sites with prevailing of forest-fen peat deposit in comparison with forest and fen. In a vertical section of a peat deposit the lowered contents of dissolved salts in active (upper) horizon and increased contents in the inert horizon are fixed. Many factors of spatial changes of a chemical composition of bog waters are biogeochemical conditions, intensity of water exchange, a ratio of an atmospheric and ground water and mineral feed. These factors regulate geobotanical conditions, interaction time of water with fi rm particles, conditions of accumulating and carrying out of transformation products of organic substance.

The rivers of Eastern Cuba are characterized by small size, different orography, and moistening. Theoretical aspects of the conditions of absorption formation, values of absorption and infi ltration up to the level of the ground water in the river basins of Eastern Cuba are analyzed with the use of the genetic runoff theory and the linear-correlation model. The dependence of the absorption layer from the geomorphological factor makes it possible to distinguish the layer of surface detention from the general absorption layer before the beginning of water formation (the formation of gravitational water) and during the runoff. The dependence of the infiltration layer from the absorption layer turns out to be rather reliable. However, there is some value on the axis of the infiltration layer which characterizes the presence of the hidden infiltration layer when there is no absorption. It is supposed that in this case the surface and underground catchments are distinguished and there is water exchange between separate subterranean flows.

The study is directed on revealing of climatic regulation of fluctuation of tree-ring chronology of larch growing on the western macroslope of the Sub-Polar Urals. Studying tree-ring chronology with use of the standard dendroclimatology approaches has allowed to fi nd out reaction of a larch to dynamics of climate. High synchronism of radial growth of larches from different habitats on the upper timberline testifies to similarity of the factors infl uencing growth of trees. The analysis of dendrochronology material has shown that long-term variability of growth indexes is limited by lack of heat during vegetation. Precipitations make weak impact on variability of tree-ring widths of studied trees. The climatic signal in tree-ring chronology on investigated sites is mainly caused by temperature fluctuations in June-July and amplifi es in the second decade of June that reflects local variability of the climate within the western macroslope of the Sub-Polar Urals. Regional climate changes for last two centuries are found by means of reconstruction of summer temperature fl uctuation. The cold snap periods were observed in the beginning of the 19th century and in the end of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century, and the periods of warming were observed in the middle of the 19th century and from 1920 till our days.

The structure of the integumentary loess-soil series of the North-Eastern Azov was studied in coastal outcrops and in cores of drill holes on four key parts of the coast of the Taganrog Gulf. The morphology of the paleo-relief for the chrono-slice corresponding to interglacial epochs for the last 500 thousand years is determined by the location of paleo-soils in plakor sections. The analysis showed that the major features of the primary fl uvial and estuary-liman relief of terraces were inherited throughout the subaerial stage of development of the surface. At the same time, the surface of plakors at this stage signifi cantly transformed by the processes of loess accumulation, on the one hand, and erosion on the other. In general, in the development of the relief of plakors up to the Valdai glacial epoch the predomination of loess accumulation can be traced. Valdai epoch was characterized by the stage of denudation unique in the intensity that has resulted in the development of linear erosion and slope processes, even on very gently sloping areas. It is established that by this time there is intensive growth of gully network inward watershed areas. A relic of the network in the modern relief of plakors is an extensive network of gullies.

The youth are the main actor of social advancement and change. One can assume that in the urbanized society social and economic prospects of a city directly depend on individual strategies of personal achievements, on whether young people associate their own successful life with a city or not. More the youth social practices and opinions are neglected, less accurate the urban forecasts become. The paper verifi es this hypothesis. It is based on the survey conducted among the students of the Universities of Klaipeda, Gdaсsk and Kaliningrad, three major cities of the South-Eastern Baltics. The identities, social representations and ideas about the cities where these twenty-year-olds (the fi rst generation, born and grown-up in the post-Soviet time) live and study are compared. The author shows that perception of the “own” cities as particular places on the map of their country and region is a common feature for all the students. Their city identity rivals the national one; a sense of belonging to the urban community characterizes their “sameness” better than citizenship or ethnicity. The aspects of the urban life which are important for the young generations in each city are identifi ed; the similarities and differences are recognized. Further on, Kaliningrad student’s vision of their city is referred to the offi cially-approved strategy of the city development. The comparison reveals that the youth raise the questions about public sphere development and politics of historical memory, whereas the city administration is more concerned about the urban infrastructures and solid investments. The young generation demands on the diversifi ed urban milieu are not taken into consideration. The author resumes that the low responsiveness of Kaliningrad urban politics hampers improving the quality of life and accumulation of social capital.

The results of a comprehensive study of the Holocene terrigenous-evaporite section of bottom sediments from one of the shallow saline lakes with carbonate sedimentation, located on the territory of the Barguzin basin (Republic of Buryatia) are provided. The researches were carried out using a wide complex of methods: x-ray diffractometry (XRD), IR spectroscopy, laser granulometry, determination of stable isotopes 18O and 13C and other techniques. The method of mathematical modelling of XRD patterns of endogenic carbonate minerals is established that they are represented by calcite and low-Mg calcite. The dynamics of change in content of carbonates in lake sediments from the base to the roof of the section (from ~4900 years ago to the present day) was seen. The obtained carbonate record, supplemented by results of other analyses reveals the evolution of the lake basin during the Holocene depending on changes in regional climate and environment.

The expedition to explore the sources of the main rivers of European Russia was conducted under the guidance of A.A. Tillo in 1894-1902. Its main task was to gather information about the sources and conditions of feed of the upper fl ow of the largest rivers of this territory – Oka, Volga, Western Dvina, Dnieper, Don and their tributaries. The purpose of the expedition was to develop practical measures to improve the regulation of water content of rivers. The main result of the research was the draft water law, which was enacted in 1900-ies. The extensive materials published in the form of reports and monographs under the heading of the Expedition were collected during the fi eld survey. Many of these works became fundamental to the development of geography and especially hydrology in Russia and in demand to date.