Two Traditions Of Ancient Tibetan Cartography (Landscape and Ethnos,VIII)

An historical geographer and a Tibetan philologist combine their talents in an effort to interpret and date two ancient Tibetan maps, one in the Iranian-Tibetan tradition and the other in the Indian-Tibetan tradition. The Iranian-Tibetan map, though drawn in an unusual stylized fashion, is found to reflect a level of precision and areal coverage superior to Greco-Roman maps. The Indian-Tibetan map, though more concerned with cosmological matters of the Buddhist tradition, also reflects, in the authors' opinion, an unusual range of knowledge whose precise origins remain obscure.     

The Impact of Large Water Engineering Projects on Geomorphic Processes in Stream Valleys

Large storage reservoirs have a significant effect on the landscape of river valleys. A rise of the base level, caused by dam construction, together with the resulting changes in the stream regime set off a sequence of interrelated geomorphic processes. Upstream from the edge of the backwater produced by the dam, regressive aggradation gradually spreads upriver, resulting both in a rise in the valley floor and a rise in water level. Within the reservoir itself, waves, longshore currents, seasonal changes in water level and gravitational processes on shoreline slopes combine to produce a distinctive shoreline relief, characterized by large areas of recurrent inundation, lagoon closed off by baymouth bars, and high cliffs retreating under the impact of wave abrasion. Downstream from the dam, heavy downcutting of the river channel gives rise to a stream terrace, whose relative height declines from the vicinity of the dam toward the mouth. Downcutting of the channel in the main stream in turn tends to lower the base level in the lower reaches of tributaries.     

Quantitative Methods in Physical-Geography Research

The use of quantitative techniques in physical geography is discussed with reference to three particular disciplines—climatology, glaciology and geomorphology. Although significant advances have been made in these and other particular disciplines, there is increasing need for applying quantitative methods to the composite of geographical processes, related to various forms of the exchange of matter and energy. A quantitative approach to integrated physical-geography research is needed for a resolution of the general problem of a quantitative explanation of the physical-geographic process and the formulation of a quantitative theory of physical geography. Aside from inherent difficulties in applying quantitative techniques to physical geography, particularly the biogeographic disciplines, there are additional problems of an organizational nature in the Soviet Union, where specialists in various disciplines tend to be associated with different institutes.     

Some Methods for an Agricultural Typology of the South of Krasnoyarsk Kray

Cartographic techniques are used to define 12 types of farms in the Minusinsk Basin. The source maps used in the typology cover physical characteristics of agriculture (climate, soils, landforms, natural vegetation, drainage patterns), economic conditions (population, industry, transportation) and indicators of farm performance (specialization, intensity of farming, value of gross output). The predominant farm types in the wooded steppe and subtayga environment of the right bank of the Yenisey River include grain and cattle (beef and dairy) production. The principal types in the drier environment of the steppe and semi-steppe of the Khakas Autonomous Oblast, on the left bank, include sheep raising in addition to cattle and grains. The typology of farm types is a useful basis for future planning of agriculture in the study region, where major industrial projects are under way.     

Structural-Mathematical Analysis of Systems of Urban Places

The method of “structural chains” used for the analysis of regional urban systems is subjected to structural mathematical analysis in the form of a rectangular matrix with the dimensions m X n in which the number of columns n represents the number of levels of development of urban places, and the number of rows m reflects the complexity of the urban system. The dimensions of the matrix and other magnitudes that describe the design of the matrix can be viewed as a whole object that may be called the “structural characteristic of the system.” Such an approach requires the construction of a calculus of structural characteristics that may open the way for new techniques in the structural study of economic-geographic systems.     

Geographical Requisites in the Selection of Areas for Economic Development in the Middle Ob' District

Development potentialities of the Middle Ob' district are analyzed in terms of three natural areas. The well-drained terraces on the margins of the Ob' valley are found to be most suitable for town development. The left-bank area offers additional land for economic development, but the extensive swamp cover of the right bank imposes serious obstacles. Because of the southward orientation of the Middle Ob' oil district, it is recommended that priority be given to town development and transport routes on the left-bank margins of the Ob' valley. This is contrary to the present tendency of developing towns on the right-bank margins of the valley.     

Models of an Optimally Organized Network of Service Establishments in a Region

Networks of varying complexity are analyzed. The number of service centers is derived, first, by assuming that the upper limit of their range is fixed and construction costs are to be minimized. A second step yields the location of the service centers on the basis of minimizing the total time spent by residents in traveling to the centers.     

Current Geographical Problems in Recreational Planning

The problem of human recreation has only relatively recently become the object of geographic research. The timeliness of work in this field arises from the growth of leisure as the level of material and cultural well-being rises in the USSR. Recreation is becoming an increasingly important sphere of human activity involving a variety of problems. The resolution of these problems requires research on environmental requirements of various forms of recreation, a typology of recreational systems, prediction of future needs for various kinds of recreation, rational management of recreational areas, and so forth. Of particular significance is the study of geographical conditions of recreation and the relationships between various forms of recreation and natural complexes of different types. A whole set of research problems is associated with the study of recreation as a branch of the Soviet economy, including the location and areal organization of recreational facilities. The new field of recreational geography is viewed as significant not only in the resolution of practical problems but also in stimulating the entire field of geographic research.     

The Development of Geography in the Ukraine during the Soviet Period

A survey of geographic research in the Ukraine over the last 50 years reviews work in the various disciplines. In physical geography, research has focused on the problems of the steppe, including irrigation, droughts and erosion control. In economic geography, work has concentrated on resource development, agricultural regionalization and industrial geography. Research in geography is done mainly by universities, institutes of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, and a number of government agencies.     

Some Aspects of the Formation of Urban Settlement Patterns (Illustrated by the Tatar ASSR,Bashkir ASSR,and Kuybyshev Oblast)

Using the example of the Soviet Union's principal oil-producing region between the Middle Volga and the Urals, the authors identify systems of urban settlement and classify urban places in terms of their situation within systems of settlement. The situation of a place within a system is used as a criterion for determining whether future industrial growth of that place should be stimulated or restricted. A related article by one of the authors, F. M. Listengurt, appeared in Soviet Geography, October 1965.