At present, it is possible to identify a number of new directions for the development of biogeochemical research, at the junction of fundamental and applied studies. A novel field of research is being formed, namely, engineering biogeochemistry, within the framework of which innovative biogeochemical technologies and technological processes based on modeling and management of ecosystematic biogeochemical cycles are being developed. The application of these innovative technologies for the restoration of disturbed and polluted impact ecosystems, in particular, polar ecosystems in the zones of operation of gas-producing enterprises, is considered. Technological examples of calculations of geoecological risks, as well as microbial contamination risks are given. A pool of the developed biogeochemical technologies and their connection with other innovative technologies within the framework of gas-producing companies is shown.

Brief information is given about several Russian microbiologists--naturalists whose names are found on the pages of V.I. Vernadsky’s diaries. Despite the variety of topics, their works always found hot reaction of V.I. Vernadsky. The knowledge of these materials helps one to understand the evolution of the scientists’ ideas, trends of the development of science.

The paper is devoted to the influence of outstanding Russian scientists Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev and Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev on the formation of the views of their brilliant student Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, his formation as a great Russian thinker and naturalist on a planetary scale, as well as their further creative interaction.

This article is about the world’s only cabinet-museum of the great world scientist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. The museum celebrates its sixtieth anniversary in 2023, the year of the 160th anniversary of the scientist. The museum contains items which accompanied V.I. Vernadsky and his wife Natalia Egorovna (nee Staritskaya) from the moment of their wedding to his last days. There are many photos and portraits of relatives and friends of the Vernadsky family on the walls. Vernadsky’s library had about 7,000 books, some of which are now in the museum. The museum has many books by V.I. Vernadsky himself, published during his lifetime and in recent years. The sphere of interests of the great scientist was huge. The exposition and the library of the museum tell in detail about the creative path of the scientist. Having started as a mineralogist, V.I. Vernadsky created physical (energetical) crystallography, genetic mineralogy. He is the creator of radiogeology. His studies of living matter, comparison of its properties and composition with those of mineral matter allowed the scientist to create a new science –biogeochemistry. In his scientific activity, V.I. Vernadsky paid much attention to the development of his doctrine of the biosphere, the transition of the biosphere into the noösphere. Vernadsky was a significant public and political figure of pre-revolutionary Russia. One can learn about all this from the museum’s exposition and from the story of the curator of the museum.

The paper is devoted to the outstanding Russian scientist Vladimir I. Vernadsky, who is one of the founders of ecology. As a student of V.V. Dokuchaev, he developed his teacher’s ideas of a systematic dynamic approach to the study of nature and introduced a deep scientific ecological content into the concepts of the biosphere and the noösphere. V.I. Vernadsky is the founder of a complex of modern Earth sciences (geochemistry, biogeochemistry, radiology, and hydrogeology) and the creator of many scientific schools. In his scientific work, he covered many research areas, from geology to the study of the role of living matter in geochemical cycles, from soil science to the biosphere, the increasing influence of scientific thought, human activity in the biosphere and its transformation into the noösphere. The importance of agriculture in the biosphere and the noösphere is considered. The biosphere is an area of active life on Earth (troposphere, hydrosphere and part of the lithosphere), the composition, structure and energy of which are mainly due to the activity of living organisms. The noösphere is its thinking shell. Agriculture, whose most important part are grassland ecosystems, is an important component of the biosphere, being a reproducible, autotrophic sustainable resource (energetical, environmental, food and feed). In light of the pressing environmental problems facing the world, environmental education and environmental thinking are a priority for the development of the biosphere, the noösphere and agriculture.

In this paper, we discuss questions of the common origin of the disciplines of soil science and landscape geochemistry. Their closeness lies in their common objects of study — soils and landscapes — and a common methodological approach based on systemic analysis, the evolutionary-historical principle, and the priority of the scientific approach in solving practical problems, as laid down by V.V. Dokuchaev. The prominent naturalists A.E. Fersman and V.I. Vernadsky emphasized the genetic connection and mutual enrichment of these sciences through theoretical concepts and experimental data. When considering common problems of these two disciplines, particular importance is given to the biological cycle as a fundamental law governing the functioning of ecosystems. In the classification of soils and soil-geochemical catenae, their position within the system of geographic landscapes is especially significant. Currently, priority issues include anthropogenic impacts and environmental monitoring, which involve studies of element migration over the biosphere, as well as efforts towards mathematical modeling.

In development of fundamental ideas of the MSU professors V.I. Vernadsky, V.A. Kov­da and M.A. Glazovskaya in the field of the biosphere and its biogeochemical organization, the use of biogeochemical standards for parameterization of the technogenic impact on various ecosystems is proposed. To assess these standards quantitatively, the application of the critical loads methodology is shown. Algorithms to calculate the values of critical loads are proposed, in particular, for acid-forming and eutrophicating sulfur and nitrogen compounds emitted during the operation of various industries, including the oil and gas one. Using the example of the impact zone of the Central Asia–Center main gas pipeline planned for reconstruction, the maps of critical loads are presented and an assessment of the environmental risk in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea is given.

The concept of biogeocenoses as structural units of the biosphere is reflected in the exposition of the department “Natural Zones” (Halls No. 18–20 on the 25^th floor) of the Moscow State University Museum of Earth Science: the interaction of the main natural components characteristic of the corresponding climatic conditions – soils, flora and fauna – is succinctly demonstrated. There are 15 full-scale exhibits of dry volumetric fragments of biogeocenoses: spotted tundra; forest tundra; swamps: flat-hummocky tundra, oligotrophic upland and mesotrophic lowland sedge; spruce-green grass; grass-grass and tipchak-grass steppes; subtropical mountain forest; alpine meadows; semi–deserts; deserts – clay, wormwood-solyanka and ilak belosaksaulnik on ridge sands; and savannas as well.

A new three-stage method for assessing the CO₂ balance in plant communities was formulated. The methodology includes not only taking into account the absorption of C-CO₂ during plantation vegetation, but also the processes occuring when using wood. In managed forests, when calculating the carbon balance, it is necessary to take into account the release of CO₂ not only at direct, but also at indirect consumption of technical energy for laying plantations, caring for them, and felling for final use. As a model, the consumption of technical energy in cultivating natural and genetically modified forms of aspen Populus tremula L. was calculated. The large role of indirect expenditure of technical energy in the C-CO₂ balance in forest plantations is shown. The use of a genetically modified clone of aspen significantly increases the productivity of plantations and CO₂ absorption from the atmosphere compared to its natural form. On a long time scale the final amount of CO₂ runoff from the atmosphere depends not only on the area of forests and their productivity, but also on the way of using wood. There is a highly effective way of using forest plantations to regulate the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, which is currently little paid attention, namely, the so-called substitution effect. Replacing energy-intensive materials (reinforced concrete, plastic, metal, and brick) with wood may be one of the main ways for the positive impact of forests on the CO₂ content in the atmosphere. The use of wood biomass from thinning, wood processing wastes, short-rotation forests for heat and power generation is a great reserve for replacing fossil hydrocarbons. The forest area needs to be expanded to increase wood production to replace energy-intensive building materials and generate biofuels.

Vladimir Vernadsky’s scientific and philosophical legacy still holds much value for the present-day world. It is largely concerned with the potential importance of two decentralized structures which can efficiently function on our planet. These are (i) the biosphere, construed as an integral entity, and (ii) the noösphere, a planet-wide human brains-based “film”. A fascinating mystery is the mechanism of the biosphere’s coordination and stable operation; important evidence has recently been presented concerning the probable regulatory role of the biosphere-wide field of signal molecules (ecomones) which include many neurotransmitters. As for the currently developing noösphere, humankind still has to invent strategies of conscious managing its activities. It is suggested that the functioning of the decentralized global noöspheric network should be subject to regulation by social chaperones. This term refers to network structures which subtly guide and promote the activities of other decentralized network structures in society.