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It is shown that in the last decades, geography has expanded so much, that it has lost its object of study. It was not clear, what the geographical science does, and, as a consequence, households have an extremely low level of geographical cultures and geographical education. Each geography is extremely isolated, has its own object of study. Especially the big gap still lies between the physical and socio-economic geography. As a result, each geographical science was so moving away from geography that actually merges with the adjacent sciences--physics, geology, economics, sociology, biology, political science etc. The paper discusses the ideas of the Soviet scientists V.A. Anuchin and N.K. Mukitanov. To prevent the situation, proposed as the object of study of geography to define the human environment. The environment was defined as an area where natural sphere (geographical envelope), anthropogenic (man-made) sphere and the social sphere interact with each other. At the same time narrow scientific branches, not in charge of environment, should move to the appropriate related sciences, is now actually happening. Thus, we propose a new geographical paradigm, where the geography will become less scattered, and will take single or synergetic nature.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the professional and creative development of natural geographic course teachers of the Republic of Tatarstan in the process of professional retraining. The method for work performing is a retrospective analysis of professional retraining of natural geographic course teachers within the higher professional education system. The creative potential development of natural geographic course teachers is based on the paradigm of preserving the fundamental nature of the Russian education as a process aimed at integrating natural geographic courses and forming a complete picture of the world in order to foster flexibility, versatility of scientific thinking, different ways of reality reproduction, creating an internal focus in self-development and self-organization throughout life. Findings of the study are represented by a professional retraining system of natural geographic course teachers under conditions of education reforming, which contributes to the professional development of teachers.

Field training is seen as a central component of the discipline of Physical Geography and an essential part of the undergraduate curriculum. This paper explores the structure and relationships between fieldwork and theoretical courses and the abundant experiences of field training in the undergraduate curriculum of 37 Russian universities. It details a case study of the Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia's largest center of geographical scholarship and training with 860 employees, which admits about 1000 undergraduates and 180 PhD students annually. Here, the total duration of field training extends up to 18 weeks annually and involves 14 (11 Physical Geography) specialist departments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article investigates the age-constraints of Vendian glacial deposits in Central Urals, Russia. It states that glacial facies are among Upper Precambrian deposits developed on the western slope of the Central Urals which are recorded within the Tany and Koiva formations corresponding to the lower and middle parts of the Serebryanka Group and in the lower member of the Starye Pechi Formation that represents a basal unit of the Sylvitsa Group. It highlights the implications of the age limits on the Central Urals glacial succession.

The peculiarities of conodont fauna redeposition of the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous sediments from different structural-facial zones of the Southern Urals (the Zilair megasynclinorium on the western slope of the Southern Urals (paleocontinental sector) and the Magnitogorsk-Bogdanovsk graben in the central part of the Magnitogorsk megasynclinorium on the eastern slope (paleooceanic sector)) have been studied. The regularities of conodont fauna redeposition in the flysch foredeep and riftogenous depression (of graben) formed in the back of the volcanic arc after volcanism termination have been described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two airborne campaigns were carried out to measure the tropospheric concentrations and variability of CO2, CO and O3 over Siberia. In order to quantify the influence of remote and regional natural and anthropogenic sources, we analysed a total of 52 vertical profiles of these species collected in April and September 2006, every ∼200 km and up to 7 km altitude. CO2 and CO concentrations were high in April 2006 (respectively 385–390 ppm CO2 and 160–200 ppb CO) compared to background values. CO concentrations up to 220 ppb were recorded above 3.5 km over eastern Siberia, with enhancements in 500–1000 m thick layers. The presence of CO enriched air masses resulted from a quick frontal uplift of a polluted air mass exposed to northern China anthropogenic emissions and to fire emissions in northern Mongolia. A dominant Asian origin for CO above 4 km (71.0%) contrasted with a dominant European origin below this altitude (70.9%) was deduced both from a transport model analysis, and from the contrasted ΔCO/ΔCO2 ratio vertical distribution. In September 2006, a significant O3 depletion (∼–30 ppb) was repeatedly observed in the boundary layer, as diagnosed from virtual potential temperature profiles and CO2 gradients, compared to the free troposphere aloft, suggestive of a strong O3 deposition over Siberian forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 2008 marks the centenary of the birth of Professor Nikolay Ivanovich Makkaveev (1908–1983), a former Professor in the Faculty of Geography at Moscow State University and the founder of the Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes in the Faculty of Geography. Professor Makkaveev is little known in the west, but he must be seen as a highly influential and important figure in the development of fluvial geomorphology in Russia and the former Soviet Union. He was responsible for drawing together the nascent work on fluvial geomorphology in Russia, which was founded in the different fields of soil science and soil conservation and waterway engineering, and his monograph entitled ‘The river channel and erosion in its basin’ published in 1955 emphasised the need for a holistic treatment of the river and its drainage basin. In advocating a holistic systems approach, Makkaveev''s ideas paralleled similar developments in the west and anticipated future recognition of the importance of an understanding of the geomorphological functioning of drainage basins for effective catchment and river basin management. Makkaveev''s ideas were highly influential in the development of research in fluvial geomorphology in Russia and the former Soviet Union and the Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes that he founded within Moscow State University remains a highly successful and influential focus of fluvial geomorphological research in Russia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The results of recent investigations of the Merzliy Yar outcrop in western part of the Todzha depression (Tuva Republic, Russia) allow us to reconstruct the region''s early Holocene history. The ice wedges, cryoturbations and ice-wedge casts are shown by 14C to date from the 10,000–11,000 yr B.P. interval. The stable isotopes (18O and D) of the wedge ice suggest the climatic environment at the time of formation. Winter temperatures in the early Holocene were no higher than those of today, with mean January temperatures of −27 to −31 °C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Permafrost studies first developed as part of the science of geocryology in Russia in the early part of the 20th century. Periglacial geomorphology emerged in the 1950s as a branch of a European-dominated climatic geomorphology. Since then, periglacial geomorphology in North America has become increasingly concerned with permafrost-related process studies and is now viewed by some as a branch of geocryology. The recent development of North American cryostratigraphy allows inferences to be made regarding paleoenvironmental conditions while traditional Pleistocene-oriented periglacial geomorphology has been largely replaced by Quaternary science, The danger exists that North American periglacial geomorphology will cease to be a recognizable sub-branch of geomorphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials on the structure, composition, and facies features of Lower Paleozoic sediments in the Moscow Syneclise are discussed. Structural-facies maps have been compiled for several stratigraphic levels of the Cambrian and Ordovician. Based on these materials, evolution of the sedimentary basin of the Moscow Syneclise (hereafter, Moscow Basin) and its structure in the Early Paleozoic is traced. The Moscow Basin is divided into four segments that differ in the geological history, subsidence amplitude, and strike of main structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the history of western Siberia in Russia related to morphology, formation mechanism of ice bodies and their interrelationships with sediments. It focuses on the paleogeography of the region. It investigates the impact of onshore and shelf glaciers in the areas including the Yamal and Cape Marre. It mentions that ice stocks, laccoliths and glaciodislocations of sedimentary sequences are found in the region. It studies the data gathered during 1960s and 1990s on the glaciocryologic ideas of injection nature of ice bodies with sequence deformations and tectonic genesis of injections.

The article provides information about the boundaries of Europe. If Europe is considered as a physical division, the Ural mountains and river form the eastern limits while the mountains of Caucasus are part of the southern boundary. However, there is no definite physical boundary between Europe and Asia. The central plain of the U.S. is separated by the 2,000-foot contour into two physical regions, but no boundary is drawn from the great plain of Europe.