Resent changes of erosion processes in Africa in different climatic zones are characterized on the basis of published solid runoff data. The main factor of erosion variability within the continent is human activity: disforestation, breaking the grounds, pasturage. The influence of climatic factor is clear manifested only under relatively weak human impact.

Accumulation in the bottom gullies activates the filling of the bank gullies and retards their heads growth. Cyclic alternation of gullies deepening and filling is caused by internal regularities of erosion-accumulation process. Bottom accumulation in gullies may be used in slope erosion protection.

Zonal geomorphologic processes have a strong effect on the gully erosion development. Within tundra zone those are thermal erosion, privation, solifluction, and thermokarst. In recent years much attention was given to thermal erosion and some progress has been made in this field, while privation and runoff redistribution caused by snow-patches were out of notice. They are not taken into consideration in the gullies development models, nor in prognostic estimations. It is privation that governs the types and subtypes of geomorphologic structure of gullies in tundra. Solifluction leads to flattening of slopes and thus forbids the gullies' growth.

The article presents a review of natural and artificial radionuclides' usage in the research of erosion and accumulation processes. Special attention is paid to 13778 usage. Some details of radiocaesium method are under close discussion, examples of its application in the study of erosion-accumulation processes on the Russian Plain are given.

Morphostructural regionalization has been fulfilled and morphostructural units of four orders were distinguished. For these units the estimate of vertical neotectonic movements was obtained. Evidences of lateral movements were discerned on the shelf and on the adjacent land. Neotectonic stress field, seismicity, and paleoseismicity of the region are closely interconnected. The results are of importance for appreciation of oil-and-gas capacity of the southern shelf of Barents Sea.

The studies of hydraulic and morphometric characteristics have been fulfilled, taking into consideration calculated runoff at the boundaries of adjacent types of river channels.

The interrelations of gully-balka systems morphometry and hydrological characteristics are analyzed. Runoff transformations were calculated, using morphometric parameters of drainage basins and observations at one of the typical gully-balka watersheds in the control part of the Russian Plain. The relation between mean-maximal runoff and stream's order of the upper links of the drainage network has been obtained: Q_n = Q₁Nⁿ, where Q_n - runoff of the nth order stream, Q₁ - runoff of the 1st order stream, n - empirical coefficient. "n" equals to 2,7 for mean-maximal runoffs, it differs in regions with different natural conditions and depends mainly on morphometry of basins of low orders. It changes also with time.

While gravitational processes on slopes occur during warm period, deflation takes place in winter. It makes possible to correlate eolian deposits with deflated material by granulometric composition. Coarse dust, to lesser extent thin dust, and clay particles appear due to frost weathering of sandy grains on the slope and their fragmentation in the windblast. The amount of eolian particles depends on intensity of wind.

The territory under consideration occupies the southern boundary of Altai Mounts. The manifestation of Cenozoic orogenic movements was relatively weak here and one may assume the relief of the area to be akin to the central part of Altai in the end of Neogene. The progressive growth of mountains from the center to the margins is clearly seen within territory studied. Weak but continuous compression is the factor of morphotectonic evolution of the region. It is sustained by deformations of Late Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments in the outcrops of tectonic scarps.

Pre-Upper Pleistocene outwash plains occur in the valleys of mountain-glacier regions, their morphological features are described. The structure of sediment masses of different genesis is under consideration. Morphological and lithological characteristics prove the existence of ancient mountain-valley glaciers here. The cut-off lobes of different morphology appear to be ancient rock bars, and thence constitute a new genetic type of cut-off lobes - glacial type.

The mechanism of erosion-accumulation processes in the mountain river valley was studied. The data on precipitation, seismic activity, hydraulic regime as well as phototheodolite images of test sites during 27 years observations were used. Two phases were revealed in the valley development: accumulative and erosional. Together they constitute 26-27-year cycle. The latter corresponds to two II-year cycles of solar activity, thence atmospheric circulation appears to be the main factor of erosion changes.

14-16 сентября 1999 г. в г. Уфе на базе Башкирского государственного университета состоялось очередное - 14-е пленарное совещание Межвузовского научно-координационного Совета по проблеме эрозионных, русловых и устьевых процессов при МГУ. В совещании приняли участие ученые вузов, объединяемых Советом - Алтайского, Башкирского, Казанского, Московского, Пермского, Удмуртского государственных университетов, Брянского, Волгоградского государственных педагогических университетов, Московского педагогического государственного университета, Кубанского государственного аграрного университета, Галльского университета (Германия), а также Башкирского государственного педагогического университета, Абхазского университета, республиканских и местных заинтересованных научно-исследовательских, проектных, производственных организаций и ведомств.

Основное внимание в работе конференции было уделено результатам исследований по проблемам проявления эрозионно-аккумулятивных процессов в различных природных и природно-антропогенных условиях. Затронуты вопросы динамики русловых потоков, гидравлических сопротивлений, формирования стока наносов, математического моделирования эрозионных и русловых процессов.

Периодически проводятся в Иркутске геоморфологические семинары, организуемые Геоморфологической комиссией РАН, Институтом земной коры СО РАН и Восточно-Сибирским отделением Русского Географического общества. Очередной семинар состоялся 5-7 октября 1999 г. К началу семинара был опубликован сборник тезисов докладов "Морфология рельефа" ученых России, Украины, Германии и Польши. Тематика заявленных 58 докладов охватывала широкий круг вопросов, касающихся морфологии рельефа.

Владимир Федорович Шувалов (1932-1999)

Памяти Варламова Ивана Павловича