During the XX – early XXIth century, researchers have collected a significant amount of materials on the geomorphological structure of the Volga River within the Valdai Upland. These materials are scattered, and generalizing works are sporadic and have an extremely overview character. Review of published and unpublished data made it possible to distinguish three stages of obtaining geomorphological information about the valley. During the pre-war stage of pioneering geological and geomorphological surveys, researchers received the first information about the valley structure and determined its main features. The second stage (post-war years) was the time of large-scale geological surveys and geological and geomorphological mapping. During this time a large amount of factual material was obtained. The third stage (end of the XX – beginning of the XXI centuries) is the time of generalization of the accumulated knowledge and the formulation of hypotheses about the river valley evolution. We found that until now there is no clear understanding of both, the number of terraces in the considered section of the Volga River valley, their altitude levels and spatial distribution. At the same time, a significant amount of available primary factual material makes it possible to consistently characterize the morphology of the Volga river valley within the Valdai Upland. We confirm the identification of two morphologically different parts of the valley within the Valdai Upland, upstream and downstream of town Selizharovo. The upstream section is characterized by a poorly developed valley, with shallow depth and a limited set of river terraces. The morpho-structure of the downstream section includes a floodplain and a staircase of three river terraces. The floodplain and the low (first) terrace of the Volga River are present throughout the area at 2.5–3.5 m and 5–7 m heights, respectively. Higher terraces (second and third) are expressed fragmentarily at heights of 10–12 m and 15–17 m. We believe that the surfaces higher than 17 m above the river’s edge are classified as river terraces by error. The lack of a clear understanding of the time of terrace formations (primarily high terraces) led to different views on the formation time of the Upper Volga valley. Assumptions are made about the Late Moscow, Early Valdai and Late Valdai age of the Upper Volga valley. It is about time to date river terraces of the Upper Volga valley and mov to the nest stage; reconstructions of the river valley evolution, based on numerical dating.

Reconstruction of the Turan-Uyuk basin Late Quaternary history was based on the complex of methods. It includes field survey and geomorphic mapping, mechanical coring, radiocarbon and OSL dating of sediments, electrical prospecting. It was revealed, that total thickness of Turan-Uyuk basin infill is up to 190 m. Key stages of the Turan-Uyuk basin Late Quaternary history were established: 1) alluvial filling of the Uyuk valley and intensive lateral fluvial migration and simultaneous lacustrine filling of Belye lakes basin during the most part of Late Pleistocene (at least, starting from 77–87 ka) and first half of the Holocene (until 6.1 ka), formation of 1st and 2nd generations of floodplain; not later than 25–16 ka Uyuk alluvial fan start to advance into Belye lakes basin, 2) Incision due to increase of river runoff associated with climatic changes (started not earlier than 6.1–6.2 ka, finished before 2.4–2.6 ka) and formation of 3rd generation of floodplain; 3) filling of the Uyuk valley and lateral fluvial migration due to drying up of the climate and lowering of river runoff in last 2.4–2.6 ka and formation of the 4th generation of floodplain. Inside this stage an episode of cryogenic processes increase took place. Permafrost formation started not earlier than 2.8 ka, but maximum of cryogenic activity occurred presumably 1.35–1.1 ka. Late Pleistocene valley filling was preceded by deep incision, caused, presumably, by tectonics. Chronology of incision is uncertain. It started not earlier than 360-380 ka and finished long before 77–87 ka. Collected data unequivocally approve an absence of the vast dam lakes, occupying most part of the Turan-Uyuk basin, at least during the Late Quaternary.

The spatial and temporal assessment of modern gully erosion was carried out for a large region (more than 68000 km2 ) of the eastern Russian Plain located at the intersection of forest (subzones of southern taiga, mixed and broad-leaved forests) and forest-steppe landforms within the Republic of Tatarstan. The choice of the territory was caused by the high density of gullies established more than half a century ago, as well as by the availability of multi-temporal cartographic data about the gully network density obtained using a unified methodology. The current gully density was determined by visual interpretation of high and ultra-high resolution satellite images for 2010–2017. A geospatial database was created. For this purpose the system of interpretation features of gully forms was developed. Gully maps were developed based on their talweg type using slope, bank, and bottom characteristics as criteria. Two indicators were used to quantify gully erosion: total length per unit area and density of the gully network, where the basin approach was used as an operational territorial unit. Created geo database compiles gullies characteristics for 1674 basins. A total of 9142 gullies were identified in the study area with an average length of 74 meters. The density of the gully network is currently distributed irregularly over the area and averages 12 m/km2 , reaching a maximum of 405 m/km² . The change in the number of gullies spatially coincides with the distribution of the density of the gully network, being on average 0.2 units/km² , the maximum being 5 units/km² . Among morpho-genetic types, slope gullies dominate (90%), with bank and bottom gullies representing 7% and 3%, respectively. The temporal dynamics of the areal shape and linear growth of active gullies mainly of the slope type was determined by combining each gully shape on two multi-temporal satellite images obtained over a relatively short period (2009–2016). The dynamics were determined for 304 gullies. The average linear growth of gullies is 0.6 m/year, and the average areal growth is 28 m2 /year. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the gully density in the river basins was determined by comparing the data of mapping of the modern gully network with the results obtained by mapping gullies on aerial photographs of 1960–1970s. Overall, a significant decrease in gully density, indicating the slowing down of gully formation processes, was established. The average density of the gully network in all the basins decreased by 230 m/km²  in the study area. Against the background of the general reduction, only in some basins there was a slight increase in gully density. Minimum values of gully density now correlate with the basins with high indices of grassing of the territory. Changes in hydro-climatic conditions (increased winter temperatures, reduced depth of soil freezing and surface snowmelt runoff), reduction in plowed area, gully evolution (transformation from gully to balka stage), planting of protective forest belts has determined the decreasing trend of gully development in the study area.

The artThe article is devoted to the consideration of the contribution of tectonic and neotectonic processes to the formation of the Mologo-Sheksna depression, as well as clarification of its structural features and the nature of the inheritance of its formation. Lineament, morphological and morphostructural analyzes are used as a methodological approach. The Mologo-Sheksna depression, currently filled with the Rybinsk Sea, has signs of an inherited developing morphostructure. It is a graben-shaped depression with linear northeastern and southwestern sides. The depression is located above the graben, which is well expressed in the basement and the lower part of the cover complexes, and, also has an expression in the top of pre-Quaternary rocks. A depression was formed on the site of an area of insignificant tectonic subsidence, and the origin of its contrasting relief is mainly associated with the activity of glaciers, the traces of which were then partly smoothed out by late-post-glacial lakes and water flows. The development of the depression was influenced by the surrounding faults. This impact was expressed not so much by high-amplitude displacements (corresponding to the range of the topography or top of the surface of pre-Quaternary deposits), but by the formation of zone of weakness with increased fracturing, which controlled the manifestation of exaration and abrasion processes. Field studies confirmed the existence of an additional landscape lineament along the southwestern side of the depression, the formation of which can be explained by the existence of another zone of weakness with fractures above the Rybinsk Fault. Measurements of the orientation of fractures in outcrops in the near-edge part of the Sit’ River valley showed the coincidence of the strike of the main systems of fractures, basement faults and the main morphological elements of the area, in particular, the side scarp of the reservoir, which indicates its tectonic predetermination.

The paper presents the results of pollen analysis of lacustrine and subaerial deposits of the Kamplen section in the Kliuchevskoe Lake shoreline cliff in the Central Kamchatka depression (CKD). The obtained materials for the first time allowed to reconstruct in detail the conditions of landscape formation in CKD in the Late Pleni-Glacial, Late Glacial and transition to the Holocene, extending the paleogeographic record, developed for the Holocene of Kamchatka. It was found that after 18,000 BP, under relatively cold climate conditions in the paleo-lake watershed, which probably existed in the CKD during the entire last glaciation (MIS 2) up to the early Holocene, open landscapes with predominant herbaceous-grass communities were prevalent. Presence of boreal tree and warm-water aquatic plants pollen indicated the limitation of the alpine glaciation in te area. During 15–13 thousand BP the climate cooled, vegetation cover of the territory became sparser, but the change did not lead to extension of the alpine glaciation. After 13,000 BP, climate warming with gradual glacial degradation led to the expansion of larch forests in the paleo-lake watershed. Drainage of the lake about 11.5 ka BP and the beginning of accumulation of subaerial deposits in the studied section approximately correspond to the lower boundary of the Holocene.

The paper presents the morphology of the floodplain-channel complex of the Moscow River controlled by bedrock lithology and morphostructural patterns of the upper and lower parts of the basin. Historical reconstruction of the basin development before the beginning of intensive human intervention in its functioning is proposed. The entire river valley can be divided into several morphologically homogeneous sections: Mozhaisk with macro meanders, and Tuchkovsky with narrow floodplain and insides meanders sections in the upper reaches, Zvenigorodsko-Moskovsky section characterized by presence of macro meanders in the middle reaches, and Voskresensky with lithologically controlled narrowing and widening of the valley in the lower reaches. Radiocarbon dating of floodplain (oxbow) deposits recovered from morphologically different floodplain-channel complexes helped to restore the stages of natural river valley development. The following periods were established: late glacial phase with high discharge and runoff coefficient, the early Holocene stage of low discharge, the late Holocene stage when multiple channels developed on the floodplain, and the current stage of active interaction of natural and anthropogenic valley and riverbed-forming processes. It is obvious that the first three stages ultimately served as the natural basis, which over the past hundreds of years has been actively influenced by human activity. At the same time, traces of micro-meaders found on the floodplain only in the lower reaches, marking a certain stage at the beginning of the sub-Atlantic period of the Holocene, have not yet been explained in the evolutionary series of the development of the valley, floodplain and riverbed of the Moscow River.

Morphotectonic studies of the Sambian (Kaliningrad) Peninsula using remote sensing, DEMs, and geologic mapping confirmed the existence of recently active block-and-fault structure expressed in the topography and Quaternary sediments structure. Tectonic deformations of sediments exposed in the coastal abrasion scarps were studied and systematized. The morphological structure of the Peninsula is a superposition of several morpho-lineament systems defining the differential vertical displacements of blocks with the changing role of morpho-lineament systems in different parts of the Peninsula: a) the flanks are dominated by the la- titudinal and meridional system, reflecting the most General laws of neotectonic movements and associated with the formation of Gotland Baltic system of grabens; b) in the axial part of the Peninsula – the NorthWestern system, controlling the main Holocene uplift; c) in its north-eastern part, the GCC is a meridional one, which determines the development of the Curonian Lagoon; d) in the south-western part – the northeastern one, which sets the general plan of the Vistula Depression. In the coastal scarps on the western and northern shores of the peninsula, deformations associated with tectonic activation of different ages have been studied: a) faults and ruptures with amplitudes from centimeters to several meters; b) folds and flexures from microforms to gentle synclines with an amplitude of up to meters and a width of up to the first hundred meters and to compressed near-fault anticlines; c) various forms of liquefaction, including deformation horizons with a thickness of 10 cm to the first meters with flame-like textures, homogenized deposits and intra-layer fragmentation. Traces of 5 stages of tectonic activation are recorded in the sediments: a) end of Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) (weakly active); b) after the end of PGP (maximally active); c) end of Eemian interglacial period (active); c) end of the Last Glacial Period – Early Holocene (weakly active); d) Later Holocene (weakly active). The most intense tectonic movements occurred after the end of PGP when the amplitudes of vertical displacements along the breaks reached the first tens of meters, and the thickness of the liquefaction horizons exceeded 1 m. Later, the intensity decreased, reflecting in the amplitudes of vertical displacements from several tens of centimeters to the first decimeters, accompanied by liquefaction (pre-Weichselian stage) and up to first centimeters in the Holocene.

The Kiliya delta is the youngest (up to 250–350 years old) part of the Danube delta. It belongs to the extension delta type and is protruding into the non-tidal sea. Based on long-ternm field investigation, analysis of Sattelite images, measurement of hydrological parameters in its channels (depth, flow rates, river water flow rates, bottom sediment composition) collected over decades since 1962 it is established that the Kiliya delta is highly dynamic, and is currently at the stage of the intensive development. According to delta channels morphology, sediment accumulation, and distribution of wave energy along the delta shoreline, three sections of delta were distinguished. The northern section, that is connected with the Ochakovsky and Potapovsky branches, located in the vicinity of Novo-Dunaisk port and therefore experiencing anthropogenic impact. The development of submerged accumulative terrace and the appearance of emerged land were documented in this section of delta. The central section is forming under the influence of significant increase in alongshore sediment runoff from the northern sector, changes in discharge in the Starostambul and Novostambul channels, as well as the most recent cuts of the Tsyganka and Musur channels. The southern section of the Kiliya delta is most dynamic. Redistribution of water runoff and bottom sediments, restructuring of the relief; formation of new channels (Yuzhny), current development of lakes (Tsyganka, Musura, Sulinsk), as well as new delta islands, Novaya Zemlya are recorded in the southern delta section. An attempt to forecast further development of the southern delta section has been made for the next 20–30 years. Future changes may affect not only the natural delta environment, but also economic facilities (the ports of YuzhnoDunaisk and Sulina, a navigable canal at the entrance to the Bystry branch), and create problems of delimitation of the state border with Romania.