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.

Relief is one of the sources of information about neotectonic activity. Using structural-geomorphological analysis, it is possible to identify weak zones, which often reflect hidden low-amplitude faults and fracture zones under the surface of Quaternary deposits. Using structural-geomorphological analysis, planation surfaces were identified, displacement amplitudes along faults and the magnitude of neotectonic movements were determined for certain periods of time. The results obtained were compared with seismicity and the degree of inheritance was revealed. 3D computer geological modeling of the stress state also helps in identifying zones of increased neotectonic activity, as the most dangerous zones in terms of seismicity. The stress state and directions of the compression axes in the horizontal plane were calculated using the RMS Roxar software. Also, for a more detailed study of the latest geodynamics of the Abinsk segment, the frequencies of earthquakes and the amount of seismic energy released were analyzed, and frequency graphs were plotted. When comparing the growth deformations of neotectonic uplift structures and the values of the latest stress state with seismicity, their significant correlation was revealed.

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.

A comprehensive study of the territory using a number of methods has allowed us to build a geodynamic and geokinematic models of the northwestern part of the East European Platform. Their interpretation allows us to assess the geodynamic environment of the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the overall geokinematic environment of the studied territory.

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.

Folding-thrust dislocations formed under the influence of lateral compression forces are quite widely represented in the sedimentary cover of the Scythian-Turanian plate. Horizontal tectonic movements are usually accompanied by lateral displacement of individual blocks of the Earth’s crust separated by strike-slip faults. In contrast to thrust dislocations, information about the presence of strike-slip faults for the Scythian-Turanian plate is extremely limited. This problem is considered on the example of dislocations of Triassic sediments of the Peschanomyssk–Rakushechnaya uplift zone of the South Mangyshlak trough. A detailed lithological and stratigraphic analysis of sections of Triassic sediments exposed by deep wells within this zone was carried out. Characteristic lithological strata were identified and their stratigraphic binding was performed. The shifting nature of regional basement faults was established. Many of them were active in the following periods, characteristic shear deformations were formed in the sedimentary cover as a result of this activity. Morphological features of dislocations that are traps of oil and gas were established. The authors’ reconstructions are based on their comprehensive analysis of geological and geophysical materials, including data from high-precision large-scale aeromagnetic surveys, reflected wave seismic exploration, deep drilling, and remote surveys. In order to restore the history of the development of the territory as a whole and the folded-discontinuous dislocations complicating it, paleotectonic constructions were carried out. The information provided in this paper on this problem allows us to take a fresh look at the geodynamic situation of the formation of platform territories, and may also contribute to solving some oil and geological problems, since oil and gas accumulations are often concentrated in areas of wrench faults.

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 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 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.

Nuclear power plants are sources of a large amount of electrical energy. Therefore, ensuring their safety is a priority for the successful development of nuclear energy engineering. When studying the relief using structural and geomorphological analysis, alignment surfaces and weak zones were revealed, some of which have been transferred to the rank of low-amplitude faults. These faults and the surfaces of the foundation and relief make the framework of a 3D model created using the Roxar RMS 2013 software. The model is given a certain geodynamic setting. As a result, parameters were obtained to make it possible to determine that the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is located in an unsafe area from the viewpoint of neogeodynamics, unlike the Kursk and Smolensk ones. The geodynamic conditions within a radius of 150 km around the plants are also interpreted using modeling, and the kinematics of faults are described.

New data on potential fields are presented, compared with previous ideas about the regional structure and rift genesis of the Yenisei-Khatanga regional depression basement. Our 2D modeling based on geophysical data confirms the results of previous works regarding the identification of two types of the basement, and is consistent with the gravity-geodynamic concept of the formation of the Yenisei-Khatanga regional trough and the tectonic structures that complicate it, such as the Rassokhinsky and Balakhna megaridges. Also, as a result of our study of potential fields, the presence of a large volume of magmatic masses of ultrabasic and basic composition in the axial part of the Yenisei-Khatanga regional trough, Permian-Triassic age, was established, which confirms the rift mode of the region's development.

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 article presents the results of studies of a number of sections of Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) deposits in the Saratov Right Bank region (settlements Krasnyi Oktyabr’, Doktorovka, Kurdyum and Shirokoe), confined to the Yelshano-Kurdyum uplift. Oryctocenosis combines autochthonous (ichnofossils), subautochthonous (bivalves and gastropods) and allochthonous (ammonites, wood fragments) elements. Sedimentological and mineralogical indicators (ripple marks, desiccation cracks, wedge-shaped structures, cross-bedding, glauconite, and calcite veinlets), as well as fossil remains and features of their taphonomy, allow us to diagnose the coastal ecosystem of the epicontinental sea basin. In the ecosystem format, we see a variety of physico-geographical situations: areas of the bottom which are periodically actively bioturbated and hydrodynamically transformed into mature hardground; zones of active hydrodynamics with the formation of cross-bedding; and zones of subaerial surfaces with the possible development of stick soils. Reconstruction of the paleoecosystem is complicated by the presence of a number of natural facts that have not been unambiguously interpreted, images of which are given in the article. The studied sections are of interest from the standpoint of geoheritage. Selected natural facts are actively involved in the development of a number of geoscientific university museums.

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.

The paper summarizes the literature data of geological and geophysical works as well as the results of studying the tectonics, stratigraphy and oil and gas contents in the Kirenga area, Irkutsk region, Russian Federation. The Kirenga area is located in the junction zone of the Nepa–Botuoba anteclise and the Cis-Patom regional trough. The prospects of oil and gas contents and the geological structure in this location are of the greatest attention.

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.