This study establishes the authorship of the geological term “eluvium” and traces its evolution in geological and soil sciences. It confirms the priority of H. Trautschold (1817–1902) as the original author of this term, supported by analysis of his works from the 1870s. The term was first introduced by him in 1872. The article demonstrates that the modern interpretation of the term “eluvium” shows a high degree of correlation with H. Trautschold’s classical definition. The development of the concept of eluvium and ideas about eluvial processes is traced through the works of prominent Russian soil scientists – N.M. Sibirtsev, V.V. Dokuchaev, V.I. Vernadsky, B.B. Polynov, V.R. Williams, and N.P. Remezov. V.V. Dokuchaev systematized the concept of eluvium into a coherent framework: definition of eluvium → eluvial processes → stages and phases of eluvial rock transformations. He emphasized that “although these products are sometimes altered beyond recognition of the parent rock which they originated from, a genetic connection between them always persists.” Particular significance lies in the incorporation of the biogeochemical aspect into the concept of eluvium through the works of N.P. Remezov, who established biological accumulation of elements exceeding their removal during eluvial processes. This allowed eluvium formation to be viewed not as a purely abiotic process but as a phenomenon involving living organisms. The article reveals the historical continuity of scientific ideas in the hypothesis of the origin of the Russian Plain: H. Trautschold → V.V. Dokuchaev → B.B. Polynov → V.A. Kovda. H. Trautschold was the first to propose that the Russian Plain formed from deposits lying on top, which were influenced for millennia by atmospheric precipitation, initiating the concept of eluvial origin of plains. This idea was later reflected in the works of V.V. Dokuchaev and B.B. Polynov, and subsequently in V.A. Kovda’s hypothesis regarding the fluvioglacial origin of the Russian Plain. Our analysis confirms that the term “eluvium” is a fundamental concept uniting geology, geomorphology, geochemistry, and soil science, and its evolution reflects the advancement of understanding regarding the genesis of surface deposits and soils.

The old hypothesis by Academician V.I. Vernadsky of the biosphere being a geological force to build the surface and immediate interior of our planet is indirectly supported based on statistical data. According to occurrence data on findings of all known animal specimens and according to some characteristics of the tectonic activity of the Earth, the presence of several previously unknown cycles shortening from cycle to cycle (approx. By a factor of 1.51) over about a billion years, is substantiated. This leads to an idea of a cause-and-effect relationship between these two different categories of cycles. The influence of tectonics on biota, to one degree or another, has long been known. However, due to the mentioned cycles being rather accelerated, it is difficult to imagine that such strong acceleration in the tectonic cycles could arise due to some intra-tectonic causes, whereas the accelerated nature of biotic evolution due to some intrabiotic causes is quite possible. So, a conclusion arises of the mentioned contracting tectonic cycles being modulated by biota. Possible mechanisms of such influence are hypothesized, their clarification requiring additional research. This conclusion is revolutionary for geology and reveals biotic evolution’s previously unknown role as an active creator of global tectonic (cyclic) processes at a new, quantitative level, which is also revolutionary for evolutionary biology. But, regardless of these conclusions, the mentioned decreasing cyclicity is of interest itself, for the first time (statistically) speaking about the accelerated nature of evolution over such vast time periods.

The paleoclimate evolution curve of the South Kara Sea basin over the past 250 Myr, which is necessary for numerical reconstruction of its thermal history, was plotted using data from a large number of works devoted to studying of the paleoclimate of the Arctic sector of the West Siberian Basin. For the period from 260 to 65 Mya, the construction of the paleoclimate curve was based on a series of paleotectonic reconstructions of the studied area. The reconstruction of the climatic history of the Cenozoic was based on a detailed study of climate variations in Eurasia over the past 65 Myr. The history of sharp climate fluctuations in the last 3.5 Myr was based on information from a large number of works devoted to studying of the regional paleoclimate in the Pliocene-Quaternary. Studies published in the literature speak in favor of the limited size of the glacial covers formed within the South Kara basin. This makes it possible to neglect the effect of the porosity of sedimentary rocks from the glacial cover load in comparison with the similar effect of the load of sediments removed by erosion in the Miocene. Any correction to the paleoclimatic data due to the thermal influence of the ice sheet with its limited thickness should not exceed the error in determining the data themselves. Peculiarities in the change in temperature and the salinity of pore waters with depth determine the existence of various forms of permafrost in the shelf areas of the Arctic seas.

May of 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the outstanding biologist and geo­grapher, theorist and historian of science, Academician, Moscow University graduate Leo S. Berg (1876–1950), who became famous during his life as the greatest ichthyologist in our country. He published numerous papers with descriptions of single fish species, as well as general monographs on the ichthyofauna of our country and its regions. He also focused on fishing, domestic aquaculture and zoogeographical zoning by ichthyofauna. The article discusses L.S. Berg’s research on palaeontology, which began during his expeditions to the Aral Sea in 1899–1906. He studied the Meso-Cenozoic deposits of the Aral coastline and their fossil fauna. Since the 1930s, Leo Berg continued his palaeoichthyological research, studying in detail the Late Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic actinopterygian and other fishes. He described a number of fossil taxa of ichthyofauna and critically revised the system of fossil agnathans and fishes. The article provides brief biographical information of L.S. Berg, one of the classics of world ichthyology in the 20th century.

The life and work of Professor Igor L. Vasilyev (1940–2019) is an illustrative example of the versatility of a? university geologist. As a native of Tambov City and a graduate from the renowned Saratov Higher Geological School during its peak (1950s–1960s), Professor Vasilyev spent the majority of his life working in Transbaikalia (Buryatia), researching Paleozoic and Proterozoic deposits in areas of hydrothermal ore genesis. Here, he put forward an original interdisciplinary concept of coevolution of synchronously developing volcanic systems and reef structures in the coastal zone of a marine basin with an output to ore formation. He worked as a researcher, a practical geologist, a teacher, and an organizer of the scientific and educational process. In the 1990s, after returning to his native Tambov City, Professor I.L. Vasilyev taught the course of engineering geology at The Technical University and actively engaged in museum work, organizing field trips and creating a set of educational collections, followed by the initial museum exhibition in the format of a geological cabinet. Currently, the museum cluster he established is being developed within the scientific and educational center “Coevolution of Geospheres Museum” of Tambov State Technical University.

Vinogradsky’s columns are known as a model of a microbial community for experiments in laboratory conditions. The article proposes a system of integrated use of Vinogradsky’s columns in the space of the Earth Science Museum as: a) a visual dynamic “living exhibit”, b) an interactive platform of the Youth Museum, and a mobile cluster for exhibitions and the Science Festival, c) a natural educational and methodological tool, and d) a laboratory naturalistic experimental setup. Making a series of Vinogradsky’s columns from different locations of the initial pedo-soil matrix of various compositions allows for a successful combination of scientific, experimental, educational, and demonstration-interactive tasks in the space of a natural science university museum. In the Earth Science Museum at Moscow State University (Hall 21 – East European Plain), a series of Vinogradsky’s columns has been developed, based initially on the materials of bottom sediments samples of pond reservoirs, selected by a team of novice nature explorers (students of Moscow State University and schoolchildren) as part of the project “Youth Museum” of Moscow State University. Two-year monitoring has allowed to obtain new data on the development of microbial communities and to arrange an original cluster in the hall and to present a series of columns at the All-Russian Science Festival.

Based on our previously performed calculations of the intensity of Earth’ irradiation at the top of the atmosphere with high spatial and temporal resolution, it has been confirmed that the sea level rise over at least the last 130,000 years (during the Eemian / Mikulino interglacial and the late Pleistocene – Holocene) is associated with warm phases of climate precession. Based on our calculations of summer/winter irradiation intensity extremes during climate precession phases in the Northern Hemisphere, the formation dates of dropstones (Heinrich layers ) have been refined. These dropstones are correlated with climate precession extremes and are recorded in ocean sediments during both interglacial and glacial periods. Sea level evolution and ocean sedimentation over the past 130,000 years are primarily determined by glacioeustatic fluctuations associated with temperature changes, which are primarily controlled by variations in the intensity of Northern Hemisphere irradiation within the climatic precession cycle. At the same time, the weak presence of a precessional cycle is noted in the benthic δ18 O stack of the orbitally tuned LR04 scheme/model, which currently forms the basis of geochronology and climatostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The beginning of the next warm phase of climate precession is expected around 5,500 years AD. This phase will peak around 11.5 kyr AD, when the next significant sea level rise is expected.

The paper traces in stages the key trends and events in the history of the complex of scientific and educational areas which originated and developed in the Saratov Volga region largely due to the activities of V.I. Vernadsky’s students and followers. On the example of the most outstanding personalities, the influence of such personalities on features of the evolutionary dynamics of specific organizations, the city and the region is shown. Such an analysis allows us to see interregional interactions from a new perspective, the role of the region for the country, as well as to propose original scientific and educational projects for further study and popularization of V.I. Vernadsky’s heritage.

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.

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 provides a review of the existing common education in Russia in the context of V.I. Vernadsky’s ideas of the noösphere. An analysis was made of the compliance of the content of educational standards and exemplary educational programs for the common education school with V.I. Vernadsky’s main ideas of the noösphere.

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.

Based on V.I. Vernadsky’s teaching of the biosphere and modern scientific data, an attempt was made to analyze the mechanisms of the dynamics of modern global processes using the example of climate changes. Possible causes of the warming, both natural and anthropogenic, observed in the last century are considered. It is shown that it is the increase in temperature that causes the increase in the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, and not vice versa, as follows from the greenhouse effect hypothesis. This seems to be the main cause for the low effectiveness of any international efforts to stabilize the climate. The course of natural processes, as well as the evolution of the biosphere as a whole, has an unstable, cyclical nature, running according to its own laws. Particular attention is paid to V.I. Vernadsky’s doctrine of the biosphere, his views on the role of reason and scientific research in solving problems inevitably arisen in the course of evolution on Earth, caused by the rapidly developing, from a historical standpoint, humanity. Scientific research is a reliable defender of both the interests of mankind and the biosphere as a whole. This was V.I. Vernadsky’s basis of his positive outlook on the future of our civilization and the biosphere.

Having started his biogeochemical studies in 1916, V.I. Vernadsky revealed that the generally accepted opinion about the origin of life from inert matter had no scientific sources. But all data of biology and paleontology indicate that all life comes from life (Francesco Redi’s principle). Vernadsky found convincing evidence of biogenesis in the state of biological space–time, which allowed him to describe the biosphere as a planetary shell, actually forming other geospheres. Vernadsky’s concept of the planetary role of living matter is currently gaining overriding and fundamental importance for all Earth sciences.

The paper provides a brief analysis of the process of continuous self-organization (evolution) of living matter in the flow of Primary energy. Particular attention is paid to humans (Homo sapiens), who have taken possession of special methods of energy generation, not characteristic of any other species, namely, the transformation of the continuous flow of Primary energy. Energy generation and “scientific thought” have allowed humanity to become, according to V.I. Vernadsky, a “geological force”, to involve significant resources of the planet in the process of its own continuous self-organization and socialization of individuals. The scientific formalization of the processes used to generate energy significantly has accelerated the development of society and has actually become a prerequisite for the scientific and technological revolution. It is shown that they were Russian and, to a greater extent, Soviet scientists who have made a decisive contribution to the fundamental scientific foundations of energy generation, which determines the modern process of self-organization of mankind and people socialization. Reducing the overall efficiency of energy resources below a certain threshold is a dangerous and intractable challenge for the industrial world economies and civilization as a whole, causing conflict situations. An alternative to the apocalyptic scenario of human development, the concept of distributed energy generation based on self-regulation of energy consumption by a single individual is considered. Distributed energy generation, according to the authors, could determine novel socialization phenomena and initiate, according to V.I. Vernadsky’s teaching, the transition of the biosphere into the noösphere.

The constantly extending list of humankind-produced environmentally toxic compounds currently includes pharmacological preparations. Among them, of potential relevance are neurotransmitters including such biogenic amines as norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and histamine, as well as acetylcholine. These neurotransmitters were tested in the present work using such model organisms as the green microalgae Chlorella vulgaris Beijer, Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp.) Breb. К-1149, and Haematococcus lacustris (= pluvialis) strains IPPAS H-239 and BM-1, as well as the cyanobacterium Limnospira platensis IPPAS B-256. It was established that all tested neurotransmitters significantly stimulate the growth of the cultures of microalgae at sufficiently low (micromolar) concentrations. In light of the results of this work, uncontrollable microalgal growth seems to be possible under the influence of trace amounts of neurotransmitters in natural and artificial water bodies, which might cause their eutrophication. All tested substances influenced the photosynthetic pigment content at micromolar (or submicromolar) concentrations, acetylcholine being a quasi-universal promoter of their biosynthesis that presumably stimulates the photosynthetic activity of the microalgae. The effects of the other tested substances varied depending on the microalgal species involved but predominantly resulted in promoting photosynthetic pigment biosynthesis. A biotechnological project aimed at stimulating the microalgal biomass yield by supplementing microalgal cultures with neurotransmitters seems to hold promise for producing drugs, food additives, or biofuel.

Distribution features of cadmium, lead, partly Ag, Bi, In, Hg and Tl in suspended solids are considered. Studies were made on the Oka River in the area of the Prioksko-Terrasny Natural Biosphere Reserve on a river section remote from the zone of formation of the technogenic scattering stream, in the period 1983–2018. To assess the general trend of changes in the concentration of the elements over the period of the experiment, it was proposed to consider the results on their prevalence in the composition of suspended matter obtained in the intermediate hydrological phase of the river between the spring flood and the summer midden. This is the main feature and essence of our proposed approach in order to eliminate the influence of significant seasonal changes in the macro- and micro-component composition of suspensions. It is shown that the 35-year time interval can be divided into two periods, namely: the first one is characterized by a decrease in the concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Pb), while the second one is characterized by the absence of any trend, relatively weak fluctuations in values. The direction of changes in the concentration of elements in the first period correlates with the literature data on the dynamics of a decrease in the intake of anthropogenic wastewater into surface waters in recent decades and with the results of our assessment of the decrease in river water pollution upstream from the experimental area.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the development of the system of protected natural areas (PNA) in China and our country. PNA in China began to form in the middle of the 20th century following the example of the USSR, that is, with the creation of nature reserves with a strict protection regime. In the late 1960s, China saw a suspension in the development of the PNA system and even its partial reorganization, which was also typical for our country a decade earlier. Since the end of the 20th century and to the present, both in Russia and China, the PNA system has been actively developing – the number of protected areas is increasing and they are being restructured in accordance with the categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

This article examines the anthropogenic contribution to the planet’s climate system due to thermal pollution. Despite the quantitative predominance of solar and geothermal energy in the Earth’s heat balance, anthropogenic heat impacts the planet’s most sensitive shell – the biosphere. Thermal pollution in various countries has been assessed based on specific (per unit area) energy consumption, as all energy consumed by humanity is ultimately converted into heat and released into the biosphere. Specific carbon dioxide emissions also serve as an indirect indicator (marker) of thermal pollution, as fossil fuels remain the primary energy source. Calculated correlation coefficients between thermal pollution indicators (specific energy consumption and CO2 emissions) and climate warming in various regions have revealed a low positive correlation between these indicators (0.17–0.13, respectively), which indicates thermal pollution’s contribution to global warming to be still insignificant. Thus, the current contribution of anthropogenic heat to the climate system is primarily regional, which is undoubtedly important to consider in environmental policy to prevent the negative impact of this factor on the functioning of natural ecosystems. This is especially important in the context of global warming, primarily caused by natural factors.

The article continues the author’s series of publications on global Holocene activation. The research was carried out on the interface between geology and meteoritics within the context of the Earth pulsating expansion model, whereby the Earth began to evolve in a compression mode in the late Pleistocene. At the Pleistocene – Holocene boundary, the Earth was subjected to a massive pummeling of large asteroids and changed its orbit, moving closer to the Sun. From this time on, the compression increased sharply, crustal processes intensified causing an upsurge of continental orogeny, and global transgression intensified. Astroblemes are considered as constituents of the host geological systems. They are indicators of the onset of the Holocene activation. Evidence is presented of most of the known astroblemes being formed at the Pleistocene – Holocene boundary by a single stream of asteroids. Using astroblemes in South Africa and Eurasia as examples, their relationships were studied with Holocene orogenic systems – with their tectonics, volcanism, fluid dynamics, and drainage network. The global Holocene activation is shown to significantly change the natural environment, thereby triggering an unprecedented explosion in the development of human civilization.

The article is devoted to the activities of the famous zoogeographer and ornithologist M.A. Menzbier as rector of Moscow University, which he headed during the revolutionary upheavals of 1917–1918. It considers the rector’s attempts to lead the university while remaining faithful to the principles of academicism in the conditions of destruction and breakdown of all public life.

The astronomical theory of climate changes (oscillations), created more than 100 years ago by the Serbian mathematician Milutin Milanković, in its current form does not explain global fluctuations of the natural environment in the Late Pleistocene, and therefore requires further refinement and development. And this theory has been modernized. Our revision is based on the results of calculations of the Earth’s insolation, performed with a high spatiotemporal resolution. The irradiation of the entire Northern Hemisphere was taken as the basis for determining the causes of the glaciations in Late Pleistocene. Variations in incoming solar radiation, calculated within the astronomical theory of climate, were supplemented by calculations of variations in the characteristics of radiative heat transfer. Based on the improved astronomical theory, the causes of global climate changes in the Late Pleistocene were found. The effect of dividing seasonal irradiation by phases of annual irradiation of the hemispheres was determined, and on this basis 7 warm and 9 cold solar epochs are distinguished in the solar climate of the Late Pleistocene. It has been determined that the glacial epochs in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Eurasia are associated with periods of positive average anomaly of winter meridional heat and moisture transfer and negative average anomaly of summer irradiation intensity in the Northern Hemisphere. Also, positive average anomalies of radiative heat transfer from the summer Southern Hemisphere to the winter Northern Hemisphere, as well as negative average anomalies of insolation seasonality in the Northern Hemisphere, correspond to glacial periods in the Late Pleistocene.

Interglacial epochs are associated with periods of positive average anomalies of summer radiation intensity and negative average anomalies of winter meridional transfer, and interhemispheric transfer of heat and moisture from the summer Southern Hemisphere to the winter Northern Hemisphere. Also, interglacial periods in the Late Pleistocene correspond to negative average anomalies of radiative heat transfer from the summer Southern Hemisphere to the winter Northern Hemisphere, as well as positive average anomalies of insolation seasonality in the Northern Hemisphere. The difference in the intensity of summer irradiation of warm and cold climate epochs in 100-thousand-year cycles averages 4.91 W/m2 (or 1.151% of the average Late Pleistocene value of summer irradiation intensity for the Northern Hemisphere). Therefore, the change of paleoclimatic epochs is associated mainly with the dynamics of the characteristics of summer radiation, and with the winter transfer of radiative heat and moisture determined by astronomical factors.

This paper examines the hierarchical organization of principles in soil science, emphasizing their continuity with classical positions from various scientific fields and their role in integrating theory and practice. The study highlights differences in the genesis of principles, ranging from theoretical generalizations to experimentally validated propositions. Special attention is given to ideas of V.I. Vernadsky and V.V. Dokuchaev, who laid the foundations for the systemic and evolutionary-historical approaches to soil study. It is demonstrated that the scientific worldview serves as the pinnacle of this hierarchy, defining a system of generalizations, including the principles of systemicity, historicism, and the primacy of scientific approaches formulated by Academician G.V. Dobrovolsky. These principles ensure unity between theoretical and applied directions, rooted in the classical supra-conceptual ideas by V.V. Dokuchaev, whose works underpin the genetic approach to soil study. Within the hierarchy, following the scientific worldview come methodological principles neutral to specific disciplinary sections, followed by concepts, laws, and principles. For instance, N.M. Sibirtsev’s genetic principle, formulated in the 19th century, continues to define approaches to soil genesis. The paper underscores the importance of continuity, showing that Dokuchaev’s principles of systemicity and historicism remain fundamental for developing new scientific leads. The hierarchical organization of principles and their intra- and interdisciplinary continuity serve as key instruments for the progress in soil science, enabling integration of diverse knowledge into a unified scientific field. The necessity for further systematization of principles, particularly in biogeochemical cycles and interdisciplinary research, and terminology harmonization to strengthen the link between theory and practice is also emphasized.

May of 2025 marks the 180th anniversary of the Siberian researcher, geologist and geo­grapher Jan Stanislaw Franciszek Czerski (1845–1892). However, he worked not only in the field of geology and geography. An important part in Czerski’s researches was works on paleontology and zoology; he is also known as an archaeologist. In 1871–1879, Czerski worked at the museum of the Siberian (Eastern Siberian) Branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society in Irkutsk. He studied, catalogued and significantly expanded the zoological and paleontological collections of the museum. The article provides brief information from Jan Czerski’s life. His main works on the study of modern and quaternary Siberian mammals, which laid the foundation for further research in this area, are analyzed. Czerski’s paleontological research ranks him among the outstanding palaeontologists of the second half of the 19th century.

80 years ago, two biologists in the USSR, simultaneously and independently, began researching the mechanisms of hormone production by nerve cells, i.e., the processes of neurosecretion. These were L.B. Levinson from Moscow State University, who was engaged in cytochemical studies of neurosecretion in insects and amphibians, and N.L. Gerbilsky from Leningrad State University (LSU), who studied the structure of two parts of the fish brain (hypothalamus and pituitary gland), and the functions of their hormones (neurohormones) to regulate the processes of vital activity of the body and its adaptation to changing environmental conditions. This fundamental research area worked alongside major foreign scientific schools of neuroendocrinology, E. and B. Sharer, R. Collin, R. Gauppa, B. Hanstra, G. Russi, and M. Mosinger. The work was also of applied importance, in particular, under the leadership of N.L. Gerbilsky, the role of hypothalamic and pituitary hormones in migration and spawning processes in bony and sturgeon fish, who were threatened with extinction due to the start of the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the 1920–1930s. This scientific field has revealed the relationship between the morphofunctional organization of the nervous, endocrine and reproductive systems in animals and ecological features of their species and was called “ecological histophysiology”. The result of N.L. Gerbilsky’s research was the development of a technique for obtaining hormones produced in the fish brain and then injecting them to other individuals to stimulate their reproductive processes in the practice of fish farming. The purpose of this article is to show the contribution of N.L. Gerbilsky and his students to the development of biotechnical methods for managing migration behavior and spawning in bony and sturgeon fish species.

During ten field seasons, in the format of the scientific and educational expedition “Flotilla of Floating Universities”, whose concept is based on the synthesis of science and art, many researches and educational, volunteer and publishing projects and events have been implemented in the Volga region, the Caspian region, the Don region and the Urals. The research areas of the tenth field season in 2024 (Samara–Saratov Volga region) focused on: a) stratigraphic and astrochronological analysis of sections of Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments, b) studying the role of living matter in the evolution of geoecosystems with special attention to biosimilar bodies (paleosoils, hardgrounds), c) analyzing the distribution of cosmic matter in natural environments in the zone of the “Saratov meteor shower” in 1918, and d) the history of the Great academic expeditions in the 18th century (the Volga routes of I.I. Lepekhin, P.S. Pallas, and I.P. Falk). The key scientific and educational projects were a field meeting of the RAS Commission for the Study of the Heritage of Outstanding Scientists (V.I. Vernadsky section) and a field session of the Moscow Society of Naturalists (MOIP) on the Volsk–Saratov section of the expedition’s main route.

According to the results of our calculation, the appearance probability of the simplest replicator (life) has been obtained for some finite volume of the Universe, taking into account different initial conditions and the simplest replicator of different complexity. The results exceed by almost 1000 orders of magnitude similar calculations published in the specialized literature. The main specificity of this study is the idea of the simplest replicator as a configuration of individual RNA strands (ribozymes) formed due to panspermia. A conclusion about the uneven distribution of life over the Universe is drawn.

Based on our previously performed calculations of irradiation with high spatial and temporal resolutions, using data from high-precision astronomical ephemerides, changes in the intensity of summer irradiation in the polar and equatorial 5-degree latitude zones of the Northern Hemisphere were analyzed. Over the period of 1900–2050 AD, a decrease in the intensity of summer irradiation in the polar region and its increase in the equatorial region were observed. The consequences of this phenomenon are an increase in the meridional gradient of insolation and an increase in the intensity of the meridional transfer of radiative heat associated with the rise of land surface air temperature and ocean surface temperature in the Arctic.

The faster temperature increase in the Arctic compared to other regions can be explained by the fact that energy (heat) is transferred from a larger area (heat source) to a smaller one (heat sink). In the summer half-year, the source area of radiative heat is 4.5 times greater than the sink area. As a result, the relative values of thermal energy (temperature) increase.

It is shown that based on the relationships between the patterns of the natural environment in the Arctic and the characteristics of its irradiation, it is possible to predict climate changes and the natural environment state in the Arctic on the basis of the characteristics of irradiation calculated for future time periods.

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.

The results of our research conducted at the junction of geology, speleology and archeology are presented. Every cave is considered as an integral part of the enclosing geological system. Representative examples show the nature of the interrelationships of caves with structures of the continental crust of Eurasia, Africa and North America. The research was performed within the framework of the pulsationally expanding Earth model. According to this model, at the Pleistocene–Holocene turn, our planet was bombarded by a stream of asteroids, after which it switched to a pulsed compression mode, with a sharp activation of orogeny at the Holocene beginning. At that time, caves with their Paleolithic–Neolithic cultural layers were deformed. Their deformations are considered as Holocene activation indicators.

The article traces milestones of the formation and development of sciadography in the Botanical Garden of Moscow University in the 19–20th centuries in the aspect of the history of science. In accordance with the logic of the development of scientific know­ledge, taxonomic ideas about the Umbelliferae were transformed as research methods improved. Studying of the Umbelliferae became a specialty of the Botanical Garden of Moscow University. The evolution of approaches to the construction of the system of this family of angiosperms is considered: from G.F. Hoffmann’s artificial system (early 19th century), based on comparative morphological data, to B.M. Kozo-Polyansky’s natural system (early 20th century), based on the principles of evolutionary morphology, and further, to phylogenetic systematics based on modern research methods and quantitative methods of data processing. This approach was developed by V.N. Tikhomirov and M.G. Pimenov, their colleagues and students (since the 1970s). January 2025 marks the 265th anniversary of the birth of G.F. Hoffmann (1760–1826) and the 135th anniversary of the birth of B.M. Kozo-Polyansky (1890–1957).

The position of the nasal sacs and nostrils, as well as some features of the brain structure in antiarchs (placoderm fishes) are analyzed, based mainly on the examples of Bothriolepis and Asterolepis. A new possible reconstruction of the olfactory system and brain in antiarchs is proposed. The paired nasal sacs are closely located to the anterior wall of the telencephalon; tracti olfactorii are absent; telencephalon is situated anterior to the diencephalon, as it was reconstructed for other placoderms; and the epiphysis process is elongated. The mesencephalon, cerebellum and medula oblongata, bearing the fossa romboidea, are placed posterior to the diencephalon in the otico-occipital part of the endocranium.

Expedition work is an important aspect of the activities of any natural science university museum, starting directly from its formation as a scientific, educational and enlightening center. As the museum structure develops, the role of such expeditions is transformed, acquiring the character of an evolutionarily necessary structural and functional mechanism. In the 75-year history of the Earth Science Museum of MSU, three main stages of expeditionary activity are distinguished. The first one is associated with the formation of the Museum in the 1950–60s and reflects, as the main task, the formation of an array of naturalia (natural objects), as well as photographic materials and works of art, which formed the basis of the exposition and collection base. The second stage is marked by targeted expeditions for specific local exhibition and research tasks, involving field collection of natural facts. At the third stage in the 21st century, the functional spectrum of the Museum’s expeditionary activities is expanding: field work, in addition to the traditional mechanism of new acquisitions, becomes an arena for positioning the Museum for the general public outside its classical space, an interactive cluster of education and popularization of science, involving various social groups in the area of the expedition’s work in museum co-creation. The Museum’s expeditions are widely reflected in popular science films and books, at “Science Festivals”, in the media space and blogosphere. These innovations have been testing in recent years in the mode of the scientific and educational expedition “Floating Universities Flotilla” in the Volga region, which has become an important resource for the implementation of the concept of a mobile network museum, as well as the formation of a youth museum as a promising interdisciplinary project of the Earth Science Museum of Moscow State University.

The considered part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge extends from the Agulhas-Falkland fracture zone to the Bouvet triple junction. This segment has a contrasting topography. In its southern part, it has the morphology of an axial rise, while in its middle part it has the morphology typical for a slow-spreading rift valley. In the northern part, an area with transitional morphology can be distinguished. Three morphostructural complexes of transverse faults are distinguished, approximately corresponding to areas with various morphology. Such a different structure and segmentation of the spreading ridge became possible owing to the thermal influence of the Shona and Bouvet mantle plumes in the southern part of the considered segment and the Discovery mantle plume in its northern part. To reconstruct the morphostructure formation conditions in the ridge axial zone, physical modeling was implemented. In our experiments, we obtained various relief types and transverse discontinuities complexes depending on the distance from the thermal anomaly. They match the natural morphostructures. The modeling results suppose that the main formation conditions of the contemporary Mid-Atlantic Ridge terrain are spreading obliquity, thermal anomaly intensity, and the plume center position relatively to the spreading axis.

In the year of the 150^th anniversary of the famous Russian scientist Vladimir A. Barykin (1874–1939), an attempt is made to reconstruct the initial period of his scientific activity. Based on the documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and published sources, the pre-revolutionary stage in the life and work of V.A. Barykin is considered. The professional path of the scientist, his first scientific research, as well as participation in the Russian-Japanese and World War I are recreated. And although the flourishing of his scientific and organizational activities took place in the 1920s and 1930s, the pre-revolutionary period of his life was extremely busy with expeditions and research, becoming significant for the formation of a professional scientist and the definition of those research areas that he would develop later. The fruitful scientific activity of the scientist was interrupted in 1938, when he was arrested, and in 1939 he was shot during the repressions. Despite the rehabilitation of V.A. Barykin in 1955, no detailed publications about his life and scientific activity have appeared. This article attempts to fill in this research gap and honor the memory of the prominent Russian scientist in his jubilee year.

The gallery of artistic portraits of outstanding Russian and foreign naturalists, consisting of sculptures and paintings, occupies an important place in the exposition of the Earth Science Museum at Moscow State University. The 270th anniversary of the Moscow State University named after Lomonosov and 75th anniversary of its Earth Science Museum is an occasion to turn to the activities of scientists directly related to Moscow University. The portraits of paleontologists of the 19th – first half of the 20th century, which were at the beginning of the science of fossil organisms at Moscow University, are shown in the museum halls. They have contributed to the development of this science, as well as museology at the university, and laid the foundation for modern research and teaching paleontological courses. Among them are the learners of Johann Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (1771–1853) – Charles Roulier (1814–1858) and Grigory E. Shchurovsky (1803–1884), Vladimir O. Kovalevsky (1842–1883), Aleksei Petrovich (1854–1929) and Maria Vasilievna (1854–1938) Pavlovs, and Aleksei Alekseevich Borisyak (1872–1944). Brief biographical information of the scientists is provided. Their contribution to the development and organization of paleontological research at Moscow University is shown.

The article presents an analysis of the exhibition activities of the Earth Science Museum of Moscow State University as an important component of scientific and educational work, significantly expanding educational and outreach activities. In accordance with the development of science and the socio-political situation in our country and the world, the topics of exhibitions, places and methods of their holding changed. At the same time, they reflected the current aspects of the 270-year history of Moscow University as if in a mirror.

This article continues the series of publications on the indicators of Holocene activation. Using the examples of the Volga and Amur rivers with their tributaries and the Razdolnaya River, the interaction of the river network with the Holocene orogenic system of the Alpine–Himalayan and Pacific mobile belts of Eurasia was studied. The river network is conformal to their orogenic system. Examples of the control of river valleys by shear systems of active faults are given. The influence of the rivers on the formation of erosional relief was studied. It is shown that loose sediments of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic rifts thrown up in the Holocene are actively destroyed by the river network, with a shear of up to many hundreds of meters. The rises on the riftogen framing and their internal rises, composed of strong pre-Mesozoic rocks, are weakly eroded. Many of them have a contrasting, nonequilibrium relief. The study was conducted within the framework of the pulsatingly expanding Earth model developed by the author.

The aim of our study was to carry out a detailed stratigraphic dissection of sections of the western territories of Kazakhstan using the remains of ichthyosaurs. Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaurs were studied. Their collecting was carried out in the period of 2016–2023 from sections in the western Kazakhstan (the villages of Pogodayevo and Shchuchkino in the West Kazakhstan region, the village of Tushybek, Mangystau region (Central Mangyshlak Peninsula)) and the Middle Volga region (the village of Gorodishchi, Ulyanovsk region).

The article characterizes the reference sections of the Western region of the Republic of Kazakhstan with a description of the found remains of ichthyosaurs of the genera Kazakhstanosaurus, Nannopterygius, and Platypterygius. It has been established that fragments of their skeletons are found in the Upper Jurassic sediments of the sections near the villages of Pogodayevo and Shchuchkino in the West Kazakhstan territory, and in the village of Gorodishchi in the Ulyanovsk region, as well as in the sediments of the Lower Cretaceous of the Mangystau region. The species diversity of the genus Nannopterygius is noted.

Our study of the Upper Jurassic sections nearv. Pogodayevo, Shchuchkino and Gorodishchi, and the Lower Cretaceous section of nearv. Tushybek showed that the comparison of the identified Ichthyosaur genera with the Mesozoic scale complexes allowed accurate determination of the age of local stratons and the position of their boundaries.

Features of the prevalence of Cd and Pb dissolved forms in the water of sections of the Oka river and other rivers of the Russian Plain are considered. The influence of anthropogenic wastewater (industrial, municipal and agricultural) containing heavy metals is clearly manifested only in certain sections of the rivers of central Russia (Oka River, Volga River, and Moscow River) against the background of natural landscape and geochemical processes. An attempt is made to develop approaches to assessing the degree of anthropogenic influence on the water composition of various river sections, including those remote from pollution zones. An ecological and geochemical lead–cadmium indicator is proposed, which makes it possible to assess the anthropogenic impact and divide river sections into 3 categories (strong, medium and weak pollution, respectively). The river sections with low anthropogenic pollution have high values of this indicator corresponding to waters with the background (or close to background) concentration. A decrease in the indicator values means an increase in the role of anthropogenic effluents in the water composition, and estimates of the average concentrations of elements are technogenically dependent.

The authors of the article highlight the formation of museology as a complex of scientific knowledge about museums in China. They reveal the first experience of joining the Chinese museum staff into a professional union in the 1930s, show the role of the Chinese Museum Society / Chinese Museum Association in activating museum life in the 1980s–2000s. The article reveals the decisive role of the journal “Chinese museum” as a scientific and organizational center of Chinese museology. It is shown how the works of the museum members Chen Duanzhi, Zeng Zhaoyu, and Li Ji in the 1930s and their successors and followers today – Wang Hongjun, Su Donghai, and Ma Zishu – have a strong beneficial influence on the formation and development of Chinese museology.

The coastal image is widely manifested in various aspects of human activity, which is expressed in terms of aesthetic perception, cognition and preservation of natural and cultural heritage. “White Coast” is the figurative name of a wide strip of the right bank of the Volga River from the village of Zolotoye to Mount Durman in the southern part of the Saratov region, a unique natural and historical landscape. Such a perception of the landscape is primarily due to the predominance of upper Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments in the section (primarily the Turonian-Coniacian rhythmic strata composed of light carbonate rocks), exposed throughout the entire length of the Volga coastal ledge. The accumulation of significant geological, paleontological, archaeological and other objects in this area makes it possible to consider the territory as an interdisciplinary scientific and educational polygon, as well as an effective geoecotouristic cluster.

Based on the bio-bibliographic essays by Konstantin I. Meyer (1881–1965), head of the Chair of Morphology and Systematics of Higher Plants (1929–1931 and 1938–1963) and director of the Botanical Garden of Moscow University (1940–1948), the article traces the formation evolution of the Moscow School of Plant Morphologists, founded by Ivan N. Gorozhankin, who headed the Chair of Plant Morphology and Systematics (1875–1904) and the Botanical Garden of Moscow University (1874–1902). The diversification of scientific issues in line with the comparative morphological research direction developed by this scientific school in Russian botany is shown on the basis of the works of Gorozhankin’s most famous students. 2024 marks the 120th anniversary of the death of I.N. Gorozhankin (1848–1904) and the 160th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail I. Golenkin (1864–1941), his successor at the chair and in the Botanical Garden.

The article discusses the results of our preliminary studies of Paleocene columnar stromatolites from the “Kamyshinskie Ushi” location, near the northwestern periphery of the town of Kamyshin. The morphology, composition and features of the buildings were studied. They can be attributed to the morphological type of columnar non-branching stromatolites; fan-shaped branching stromatolites are less common; their mineral composition differs little from the host rocks and consists mainly of quartz grains cemented by silicon oxide. Dark layers are much more saturated with ore inclusions. The concentration of chromium, molybdenum, wolfram, vanadium, cobalt and nickel in dark varieties increases noticeably, which confirms their stromatolite origin. The deposition settings of their formation remain controversial.

The thermal evolution of the permafrost in the sedimentary section of the Tyumen superdeep SG-6 well has been numerically reconstructed using the ICE2020 software package, which is part of the GALO flat basin modeling system. The thermal evolution of the sedimentary strata in the last 3.5 My is considered as the final stage of the basin modeling, whose formation began with continental rifting in the Late Permian. Abrupt climate changes in the late Pliocene–Holocene led to a decrease in the rock temperature by 15–20°C in the upper 1–1.5 km of the SG-6 sedimentary section. The maximum thickness of the permafrost in the study area was about 711 m, reached 2.6 Mya. The maximum thickness of the permafrost for the last ice age (23–18 thous and years ago) was 412 m, reached about 14.5 thousand years ago. According to our modeling, the modern base of the permafrost is at the depth of 311 m and is degrading with the rate about 13 m/1000 y. The results of our calculations with a database of climatic data limited to the last 50 and 100 thousand years differ markedly from the modeling results with the complete database for the last 3.5 My.

The problem of global climate warming and attempts to solve it, including using low-carbon power engineering, are analyzed. The success of solving this problem depends on the degree of understanding of the processes which cause it. As more and more data speak about natural causes of climate fluctuations, and of anthropogenic factors the greatest contribution to the warming is made by thermal pollution rather than the anthropogenic growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, low-carbon power, with all its positive qualities, is unable to solve the problem of climate warming.

The article considers an ecology course in relation to the most optimal approach for primary school children–on the example of various ecosystems of the world with consideration of individual examples of adaptation genesis and evolution of wildlife. The authors used the following teaching techniques and methods: avoiding the teacher’s adaptive speech, forming the skill of hypothesizing, and laying the foundations of biological drawing. All this helps us to make a better transition from theoretical educational programs to the practical acquaintance of children with the biodiversity of natural communities. This course can be used within the framework of museum pedagogy and on educational platforms, which can be the natural landscapes of protected areas of regional significance (nature reserves and preserves, natural monuments).

The groundlessness of the Paris Agreement (2015) is proven, which asserts the culpability of carbon energy in the sharp increase of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. The carbon energy’s share of this gas in the atmosphere is shown not to exceed 1 %. The influence of the Earth's albedo and the energy used by mankind on the increase in atmospheric temperature is compared. The thermal “pollution” of the atmosphere from carbon energy is shown to be much less than that from hydrogen, solar or wind energy. The absence of a deserving alternative to carbon energy is proven. Processes affecting the state of the atmosphere and its corresponding climate are analyzed on the basis of general laws of the evolution of nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems. The causes of the alternation of glacial and interglacial periods with different time durations in the history of the Earth are explained. The transitions between these periods are shown to proceed through chaotically changing states and demonstrate hysteresis. It is noted that the currently observed chaotic climate change corresponds to chaotic transitions of any nonequilibrium thermodynamic system from one quasi-stationary state to another.

To mark the 160^th anniversary of V.I. Vernadsky's birth, Lomonosov Moscow State University has organized an exhibition based on the theme of “living matter”, which to a greater or lesser extent permeates all the geospheres of our planet, provides many mechanisms of interaction between the geospheres and links between the planet and the cosmos. Natural exhibits demonstrate peculiarities of the geochemical transformation of individual organisms and their communities during the transition from the biosphere to the lithosphere, the diversity of biocosmic bodies in the history of our planet, the possibilities of modern sciences in reconstructing geobiosystems of the past. The structure of the exhibition includes a number of special blocks containing original exhibits and information, namely: “Scientist’s Cabinet” with information about the life path, scientific directions and some students and followers of Academician V.I. Vernadsky (connected to him through Moscow University). The cluster “Co-evolution of the Biosphere and Lithosphere” with disclosure of the mechanisms of transition of living matter and integral ecosystems into the “stone record” of the Earth, the structure of the pedosphere in a broad sense, the diversity of biogeoprocesses and their products in the history of the Earth, the formation of “archives of nature” in the geospheres, the functioning of geobiodynamically active zones on the example of the East European Platform; the cluster “University’s Lukomorye”, reflecting peculiarities of coastal geo-ecosystems for the general public (on the example of the Paleocene of the Volga region). Most of the exhibits of the exhibition have been obtained during the scientific and educational expedition “Flotilla of Floating Universities” (2015–2022) from the Volga region, the Caspian Sea, the Don region and the Urals and are considered in the future as the basis for the development of a model polygon of the “MSU Youth Museum”.

The palaeoichthyological collection from the Bilovo locality in the Tver’ region (Famennian of the Main Devonian field), currently housed at the Andreapol Museum of Local History, is continued to be studied. Placoderm fishes of the family Bothriolepididae Cope predominate in the ichthyocomplex of this locality. Rare plates of large-bodied Bothriolepis sp. with a flattened armor were found at the Bilovo locality in clay deposits in addition to numerous remains of crested bothriolepidids. The material on Bothriolepis sp. is represented by three posterior medio-dorsal plates only. These plates are described, figured and compared with a similar material on Late Devonian bothriolepidids from the Main Devonian field and other regions. A brief characteristic of the Bilovo locality is given as well.

A popular science film “Brotherhood of Scientific Creativity. Floating University named after Vladimir Vernadsky” was shot to the 160^th anniversary of the birth of Academician V.I. Vernadsky. Work on the film was carried out during 2022–2023 as part of the activities of the scientific and educational expedition «Floating Universities Flotilla» (the field work regions being the Middle and Lower Volga river, Don river, Caspian sea). It includes the original projects “Academician Vernadsky’s Floating University” and “Floating mobile-network museum center”. The concept of the project basically provides for interdisciplinary research on a wide range of problems of the interaction of geospheres and the evolution of geoecosystems, which is being implemented by creative teams of scientists from various fields and students with the active involvement of the local population in interactive museum practices. According to the main message of the film, it is in such an environment of “scientific creativity”, in the format of field natural sciences, that the development of the ideological heritage of V.I. Vernadsky on the principles of the “Priyutinsky Brotherhood” and maturation of the “new Vernadskies” from novice researchers. The original system of scenario and producer’s decisions included the contrast of images «academician–student», a series of episodes of actual field research (the study of geological sections, the phenomenon of lithophagy, natural and anthropogenic objects) with the implicit inclusion of the “young Vernadsky” in the process (the character is an actor) and subsequent the culminating meeting of the “two Vernadskies” (montage) against the background of the Volga river – a symbolic handover of the baton of “scientific creativity” to a new generation.

The article shows that each period of the evolutionary process of the biosphere formation on Earth corresponds to one form of soil formation, namely: underwater (“hydrozemic”), swampy (“atmozemic”), and terrestrial (“lithozemic”). The ancient swamp soil formation is considered, in addition to biomass deposition, to take part in the formation of the oxygen-containing composition of the planet’s gaseous envelope and the release of organisms from the aquatic environment to land. It has been determined that the process of paludification and swamp soils in the past and at present did and do perform the same biospheric functions and should include the entire genetic profile up to the basal rock in the concept of “peat soil”. On the example of the central part of Western Siberia, the process of paludification in the Holocene period is considered. This process is defined as a single, irreversible, progressive process of conjugated changes in their biotic and abiotic components. This ensures autonomy in the development and preservation of mires as a special type of the biogeocenotic cover of Earth. It is shown that the differences in the mire complexes of different botanico–geographical zones and subzones reveal the chronological boundaries of the transformation of swamp biogeocenoses of eutrophic types into mesotrophic and oligotrophic ones. It has been determined that the process of paludification in the taiga zone of the West Siberian Plain is of aggressive nature and the expected warming is a temporary warm period in the interval of cyclical climate.

Peculiarities of the formation of marginal plateaus in the early period of the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean are considered. The oceanic opening between Greenland and Europe (formation of the North Atlantic Ocean) began approx. 50–55 Mya after a long period of rifting, followed by the formation of the Aegir spreading ridge and the formation of the basin of the Norwegian Deep. Since that moment, the formation of a series of specific structures (marginal plateaus) began. The article considers conditions for their formation, using the physical modeling method. Three groups of structures were distinguished and typified according to the formation mechanism. A series of experiments was performed to each type of structures. Experimental results are compared with our proposed model for the formation and evolution of marginal plateaux.

A scheme of formation of the sedimentary blanket of the South Kara basin is considered, which can further be used for numerical reconstruction of its thermal history. The scheme is based on our analysis of the literature information on the structure and geological history of the Barents-Kara region. This information included an interpreted seismic profile crossing the studied area, drilling data from four wells located along the profile (the University, Rusanov, Leningrad and Kharasavey ones), measurements of the heat flow and deep temperatures in the basin. The proposed scheme considers the formation of the basin as a series of sedimentation stages with various combinations of clay shales, siltstones and sandstones and sedimentation in the Cretaceous and Paleogene with their subsequent erosion in the Miocene. The erosion amplitude is estimated by the observed change in the porosity of sedimentary rocks with depth. The initial heat flow in such a model should correspond to the flow of modern axial zones of continental rifting or be lower for the areas remote from the corresponding segments of the Late Permian-Early Triassic continental rifting system.

The article draws attention to the relevance of studying the history of museological thought in Russia. The author notes the prospects of the biographical method of research, which makes it possible to trace the continuity of views, the motives for making certain decisions, and to build priorities more precisely. The ideas expressed in the recently published book "From the history of museological thought in Russia: the 20th century" are being developed. The paper analyses the biographies, contributions to the museum theory, and features of the creative path of several well-known domestic museum specialists such as M. Novorussky, N. Trotskaya, M. Farmakovsky, and L. Rakov. A more accurate representation of their role in the formation of museological knowledge, as well as noting common features of museologists of the 20th century, can be made possible by new publi-cations of sources appeared in the 2000s, mostly of personal origin.

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.

The article summarizes information of the crystal morphological features of zircon from metamorphic rocks, its internal structure, crystal matrix chemism, and rare earth element distribution. These data make it possible to reveal discriminant features of zircon as depend on the origin of the substance crystallized and the conditions of its transformation during metamorphism. For a reliable assessment of the content of elements in zircon, it is necessary to perform a set of analytical methods, since the concentration of impurities varies significantly even in samples from the same rock. This makes it possible to determine the range of variations and to evaluate the dynamics of the distribution of elements in zircons from metamorphic rocks of various genesis.

The preservation and in situ museumification of archaeological objects of stratigraphic sections of cultural layer soils, whose value depends on the integrity and intactness, is a complex and underdeveloped problem. This is due to some specific properties of these soils, such as the heterogeneity of soil composition both vertically and horizontally; the diversity of inclusions, the uneven compressibility of the strata, the ability to self-compact from their weight, changes in hydrogeological conditions, soil soaking and the decomposition of organic inclusions. As a result, these soils are the most unfavorable in artificial stabilization. In the study, a wide range of soils of the cultural layer from various places with stabilization plans were examined. Our analysis of the deposits made it possible to separate these soils by geochemical features which have the highest impact on the intensity of the chemical solution’s interaction processes with the mineral component of the soil.
This chemical solution is in a family of silicate compositions with surfactants of the amide class. These organic liquid glass hardeners activate the skeletal part of the soil and provide the complete mobilization of the main cementing substance (silica gel). Pilot tests of various modifications of organo-silicate solutions were carried out at the sites of Chersonesos (Sevastopol), Tanais (Rostov region), Moscow, etc. The soils ranged from sandy to loamy with various inclusions (building stone, ceramics, bones, fish scales, shells, ash, soot, plant roots, etc.). Soil stabilization was carried out by injecting chemical solutions of various densities with the use of vertical and horizontal injections. An important finding of the work was that forming a new soil mass with improved properties was determined by the composition, properties of the soil and injection solutions, the distance from the injector and the depth of the stabilized area.
For the first time in Russia, at the center of Moscow, it was possible to preserve the soil mass in situ of the cultural layer of the 16–17^th centuries and exhibit it for 32 years to visitors in the underground archaeological museum.