The Landscape Levels of Continents and Geographical Zonality

The traditional two-dimensional concept of latitudinal natural geographical zones is challenged on the ground that it ignores the altitude factor and differences in the character of the surface environment. An alternative three-dimensional model of zonal systems is proposed, in which so-called landscape levels corresponding to particular geomorphic levels are distinguished in terms of radiation balance and elevation. The zonal systems are combined into four worldwide groupings: (1) an inner terrestrial group corresponding to a rocky surface environment; (2) an outer terrestrial group corresponding to a cryogenic rocky environment; (3) an outer ice group, corresponding to ice-covered segments of the earth's surface, and (4) an oceanic group. The paper is devoted to the first three continental groups of zonal systems. The traditional zonality is found to be well expressed in the inner terrestrial group, but the outer groups reflect mainly Markov's law of polar asymmetry (see Soviet Geography, February 1964).     

Climatic Change

The methods of physical climatology are used to explain climatic variations during the contemporary epoch and in the geological past. Contemporary climatic change is found to depend to a considerable extent on variations in atmospheric transparency. These variations, which change the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface, are associated with the changeable level of volcanic activity. Climatic changes in the geological past are also explained in terms of variations in atmospheric transparency and the changing distribution of the earth's land and sea areas, which influenced circulation in the hydrosphere. On the basis of established regularities in past climatic change, the possible future trend of climatic evolution is suggested. Although the current cooling trend could conceivably lead to renewed expansion of glaciation, this is considered highly unlikely in view of the increasing amount of heat generated by man's growing use of energy. The additional heat may be sufficient in the long run to melt the polar ice and introduce a climate into the middle and high latitudes typical of warm interglacial epochs. Actually, even before this, technology may enable man to eliminate the polar ice artificially. The beneficial and harmful effects of such as step are briefly considered.     

A System of Natural Areal Complexes of the Earth

The tiered vertical structure of all the earth's landscapes is used as the basis for a typological classification of all natural areal complexes. Four basic landscape divisions are proposed: (1) terrestrial landscapes, consisting of an upper aerial layer and lower mineral layer, (2) aquatic landscapes, consisting of three tiers: air, water, mineral base, (3) glacial landscapes, consisting of three tiers (air, ice, mineral) on land, and of four tiers (air, ice, water, mineral) in oceans, (4) variable landscapes distinguished by a periodic succession of structures (terrestrial-aquatic, terrestrial-glacial, aquatic-glacial).     

The Impact of Economic Activity on Climate

The effect of human activity on climate is examined against the background of a rapid increase in the production of man-made heat, which is likely to reach a magnitude of the order of the natural radiation balance on the earth's surface. The microclimate of cities is particularly affected by the production of industrial heat and by the heating of buildings in winter. Deforestation of large areas in conjunction with the expansion of agriculture has an impact on climate. The impact of shelterbelts is analyzed in detail, together with the effect of irrigation, swamp drainage and the creation of large reservoirs.     

The Subject of Geography and the Science of the Man-Nature Relationship

A philosopher views the geographical environment as a natural-social concept, in which individual elements function simultaneously in a system of natural and social relationships. The geographical environment should be the province of a discipline called general geography, which would exist in addition to specialized physical and social geography. However, since general geography is limited spatially to the earth's landscape sphere, it cannot deal with the broader aspects of the man-nature relationship now that man's influence extends increasingly beyond the earth into outer space. A new discipline called “noology” is proposed to deal with the interplay between human society and all of nature.     

The Subject and Structure of Geosystems Theory

A logical model of the system of disciplines generally known as physical geography distinguishes three subjects of study, each associated with a particular level of organization of the basic study object, namely the earth's physical landscape envelope or landscape shell and its subsystems (individual landscapes or geocomplexes): (1) study of the componental level of organization would be the subject of the particular disciplines in physical geography (geomorphology, climatology, etc.); (2) study of the integrated level of organization would be the subject of landscape science, which is viewed as a synthesis of the particular disciplines; (3) study of the earth's natural environment at the level of the entire landscape envelope would be the subject of general physical geography or general earth science. The subject matter of the particular disciplines and of the synthesized landscape science is further broken down into research areas: regional research (concerned with geographical spaces); typological research (quasi-geographical spaces) and general research (nongeographical).     

The Water Balance and Groundwater Resources in Connection with the Vertical Water Exchange in the Upper Zone of the Earth's Crust

For research on regional estimates of the water balance and future water-resource planning, it is important to determine the amount of water leakage downward across the base level, i.e. from the upper layers of the earth's crust drained by streams to the lower layers. The author presents a methodology based on water-balance equations that shows such leakage to be negligible in terms of the margin of error of precipitation and evapotranspiration records. It can therefore be assumed that the groundwater discharge into streams is practically identical with the recharge of groundwater reserves through percolation.     

Geographic Zonality and Polar Asymmetry

The author disagrees with Markov's suggestion that polar asymmetry, as a structural element of the earth's geographic envelope, takes precedence over geographic zonality. Sochava proposes instead that asymmetry be regarded merely as an additional characteristic of zonality).     

On the Problems of Geography and the Tasks of Popularizing Geographical Knowledge

A Moscow University geographer who advocates a unity of geography uses the medium of the Znaniye [Knowledge] Society, an organization for the popularization of scientific knowledge and communist ideology, to review the basic problems confronting geography as a research discipline. He reviews the historical sequence of philosophic concepts relating to the man-environment system in an attempt to justify his approach to the system as one in which both natural and social laws operate. Anuchin stresses the need for pure theoretical research in geography and polemicizes with those who seek prompt practical results. He restates his definition of the geographical environment as that part of the earth's landscape sphere in which nature and society interact as two parts of a single whole governed by distinctive laws. The metachronous character of development of the landscape sphere, with several parts formed at various times, is cited as an example of such a universal law. Anuchin agrees with the authors of The Science of Geography, the 1965 report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Geography, Division of Earth Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, that geography's overriding problem is to gain an understanding of the man-environment system and to develop tools for geographical prediction. An ability to predict the consequences of man's interference in natural processes is depicted as the principal contribution that geography can make to the pursuit of knowledge at the present stage of human development. If geography is unable to meet its responsibilities, the problem of geographical prediction may have to be taken over by other disciplines. Soviet biologists have already suggested the creation of a new science, geohygiene, to deal with the man-environment relationship.     

Refractive index surfaces

The refractive index surface is a very powerful concept which has been widely used for describing electromagnetic wave propagation in the plasmas of the earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere. Because of the simple analytic form of the cold plasma dispersion relation it is possible to examine in some detail the properties of these refractive index surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the properties that are widely known and present some features which have not been previously discussed.     

An attempt to push back frontiers – digital near-ultraviolet aerial archaeology

Even though the sun has its peak emission of electromagnetic (EM) radiation in the visible waveband, it still produces a substantial amount of ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths (10–400 nm). However, the largest portion of this emitted energy is blocked by the ozone layer of the atmosphere, only allowing the near-ultraviolet or NUV (comprising the spectral band between 315 nm and 400 nm) to reach the earth's surface. Additionally, sensors acquiring this part of the UV wavelengths must be operated from low altitudes to minimize the effects of strong Rayleigh scattering to which the NUV radiation is subjected. Consequently, this waveband of the EM spectrum is rarely employed in aerial photography and its reflected portion only acquired in very specific applications.     

Solar proton events and terrestrial weathe

It is shown that the atmospheric vorticity area index reaches a minimum one day after the entry of high energy solar protons into the earth's atmosphere. The decrease, observed only during the summer season, is of the order of 11% and has been consistently observed during the period 1954 to 1969 covering full solar cycle 19 and the first half of the solar cycle 20. It is further observed that the period 1970 to 1972 did not show the same characteristic behaviour as the period 1954 to 1969.     

The World's Water Resources and their Changes Over Space and Time

A moisture cycle of 1800 to 2000 years has been established for the earth as a whole, and the present period represents a transition from a wet to a dry phase in which the amount of water in oceans is gradually increasing at the expense of water from the land surface. Runoff fluctuations on the land surface also follow cycles of varying duration. It has been established that wet periods in some sections of the earth's surface are always matched by dry periods elsewhere. A definite geographic localization of zones of synchronous and asynchronous runoff fluctuations can be used in long-range runoff forecasts, which are needed for water-budget and waterpower-potential calculations. Prospects for future elimination of the disproportion between water needs and water resources are suggested. Steps to overcome the growing pollution problem are also proposed.     

The Ecology of Command: U.S. Pacific Command and the Environment of the Pacific Rim

Abstract

Environmental ethicists speak fervently about the impact of human activity on the sustainability and survivability of Earth's community. But often these discussions fail to acknowledge one human activity more powerful and with the potential for greater destruction than any other— the United States military and its "empire of bases" encircling the globe. Military operations, both peacetime missions and contingency operations, and military installations stamp a large footprint on the earth's environment. From the atmospheric nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll to the removal of the coral reef at Diego Garcia, the environment of the Pacific Rim has been shaped by the demands of U.S. national security. This paper examines the environmental footprint of U.S. Pacific Command. Secondly, it suggests that the exigencies of U.S. military presence need to be included in discussions of environmental ethics.     

Atlas of the United States

In an attempt to distinguish between regional physical geography and the Soviet school of landscape science, the author defines the study objects of the two disciplines and provides a useful review of the present state of landscape science in the Soviet Union. Physical geography is said to be concerned with study of the entire geographical shell of the earth, ranging from the troposphere to the bottom of the layer of sedimentary rocks in the earth's crust. Landscape science focuses on the so-called landscape sphere, which is defined as the portion of the geographical shell that lies at or near the surface of the earth and is imbued with present-day life. Although some Soviet geographers treat the term “landscape” as a broad conceptual term (similar to climate), most investigators tend to give the term a classificatory or typological connotation, regarding landscape as the basic unit in a classification of natural geocomplexes. One landscape school focuses on the morphological structure of landscape, the other on model-building of the landscape mechanism.     

On the Significance of Lenin's Ideas for Soviet Geography

The president of the Geographical Society USSR reviews the present state of Soviet geographic theory in the light of Leninist philosophy. The objective existence of natural regions with definite boundaries is affirmed. The approach of “social physics,” applying natural laws to social phenomena, is rejected. The use of mathematical techniques is welcomed, but not to the extent of giving rise to a separate discipline of “theoretical geography” that would deal with whatever is common to both physical and economic geography. The geographical environment is defined as that part of the earth's natural environment in which nature and society are in direct interaction. Both geographical determinism and social determinism (geographical nihilism) are rejected. The definition of geography as a system of scientific disciplines is affirmed, and a proposed redefinition of geography as dealing with the evolution and control of dynamic spatial systems is rejected.     

Atmospheric electrical potential gradient measurements during the annular solar eclipse of 29 April 1976

This paper gives the results of measurements of the potential gradient of the electric field of the atmosphere during the annular eclipse of the sun, on 29 April 1976, on the island of Santorini. The potential gradient during the annular eclipse showed a diminution. The results of measurements of the intensity of the total solar radiation and the temperatures of the air and the earth's surface are also given.     

Radiation Conditions in the Territory of the USSR in Various Geological Periods

The components of the radiation balance and the heat balance are computed for Lat. 45°, 60° and 75°N for various geological periods. Cloud cover is estimated for each geological period on the basis of continentality, the character of the underlying surface, type of climate and landscape as well as the known mean magnitude during the present geological period. Albedo is based on the character of the underlying surface indicated by paleogeographic data. Effective outgoing radiation is also based on the character of the underlying surface as well as cloud cover and atmospheric moisture. The disposition of net radiation at the earth's surface is broken down into sensible and latent heat fluxes, the soil heat flux being ignored. The resulting mean data on radiation and heat-balance components are then used to reconstruct the probable range of climatic situations that may have existed in what are now the polar, middle, and subtropical latitudes of the territory of the USSR.     

The Latest Approaches and Concepts in Geography

The article discusses the present state of knowledge of the basic components of the heat balance of the earth's surface (radiation balance, loss of heat to evaporation, turbulent heat exchange) and the distribution of these components in time and space. Soviet research is concerned with applying heat-balance data to the study of physical-geographical processes (hydrologic regime, plant and soil cover), to the study of integrated geographic problems (geographic zonality) and practical problems (weather and hydrologic forecasting, the use of solar energy for productive purposes, and the use of heat-balance data for planning reclamation projects and other nature-transforming measures.)     

Breastfeeding as custom not culture: Cutting meaning down to size (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Seeing breastfeeding as culturally constructed highlights its overall meaning only to hide the activity's inner dynamic and structural separateness. To study breastfeeding in its own terms, our paper flips culture as meaning on its head, asking how the whole (culture) fits the part (breastfeeding). Addressing that question to cultural, regional and cross‐cultural bodies of evidence, we find that what's viable bioculturally is nowhere near as malleable as what's imagined culturally. In understanding these arrangements, history and function need as much consideration as anthropologists currently give meaning.