The duration of neotectonic stage, of which the earth's crust movements formed the main features of present-day relief, is comparable with the lifetime of the ice cover. The landforms were developed under peculiar condition of inhibiting the lithodynamic processes of relief formation and thence are the most objective indicators of concurrent tectonic movements.

The problem of ocean floor origin is discussed from two alternative points of view: rifting and continental crust oceanization. Both concepts have their raison d'etre, because some problems of ocean floor evolution are still unsolved.

Author elaborates the idea of channel processes discreteness, put forward by N.E. Kondrat'ev. The philosophical concept of discreteness was applied to temporal manifestation of channel processes. The inseparability of discrete and continual approach to the investigation of channel forms and dynamics is shown.

The map of earth's surface deformation is compiled for the territory of the city. Deformations are caused by natural factors - frost heave, landslides, karst, suffusion, recent crustal movements and by anthropogenic factors - compacting of technogenic grounds, subsurface constructing, technogenic watering, static and dynamic loads by edifices and transport, water pumping etc. Total surface deformations reach their maximum in the central parts of the city, where the velocity of the subsidence consists 1-2 mm/year and the amount of buildings deformed reaches 30-50 per km². In the peripheral districts the subsidence is less than 1 mm/year and damaged communications and buildings don't exceed 1-6 per km². The dividing of the city into districts with different stability to dynamic (including seismic) forces is fulfilled. The earthquake of I = 3-4 may be intensified up to I = 5-7 in the unstable areas.

The analysis of the latter-day investigations in the field of shelf ecology was fulfilled. It helped systematizing the methodological foundations of the ecologic-geomorphologic approach to the expert assessment of the recent sea-land strip state for the conditions of the predominance of the mechanical and chemical forms of the natural-technogenic forms of influence. The system of principles of the conceptual model of the distinguishing (zoning) the problem areas technology is explicated within the framework of the approach. The technology suggested is based on the assessment experience of the ecologic-geomorphologic, ecologic-geochemical and sanitary-chemical state of the abiotic (in general) component of the geo(eco)systems of the south-eastern Baltic and deltaic watercourses of Volga. The technological developments may serve as one of the optimization basements of the strategy and tactic of littoral zone economy.

The investigation of large landslides and rock-falls in Chagan-river valley along with the seismic microdeforma-tions of glacial sediments in Chagan section prove seismic activity of SE Altai in the Pleistocene-Holocene. Magnitude of paleoearthquake which caused the largest landslide in the left wall of Chagan-river valley is estimated together with the total volume of material displaced in this part of the valley by the whole Holocene seismic activity.

The hierarchy of the morphological structure of the territory under investigation can be represented at three levels. Mega- and mezomorphosystems are distinguished by dominant and subdominant types of the elementary regional morphosystems (ERMS). ERMS are considered in our study as soil - geomorphological component of undisturbed (quasi-natural) landscape. Similar set of exogenic processes and equal intensity of each process taking place in ERMS determine it as initial object for evaluating human-induced destructive disturbances of the morphostructures' surface. Mega- and mezomorphosystems are differentiated with several types of antropogenic loads.

Riverbed displacements at 55 test sites on the streams of different orders were analysed. The intensity of the riverbed score depends on different natural factors and human activity within the drainage basin.

The specific type of gravitational-fluvial screes is revealed by means of multiannual stationary measurements and phototheodolite survey. The tail is situated under the high bench and is forming of the wash of the hollow, which drains the mountain slope. In the tail's deposits, the breakstone is predominant. When the tail reaches the floodplain of the river, low floods do not change solid runoff regime, but the high floods may generate the mudflow. Dynamics of the scree reveals strong correlation with the cycles of solar activity: the latter controls the accumulation of uncon-solidated sediments in the scree.

The Ksur heights are situated between Great Eastern Erg and Gabes bay in the North Africa. The beginning of the tectonic uplift is dated to the Pliocene-Early Pleistocene, upward movements continued during the Pleistocene when erosion dissection took place. In the Holocene the Ksur heights underwent strong deflation. The new data on distribution of the Holocene eolian deposits in the North Africa and in the depression of Tunis shotts (the El'Garsa shott as an example) are discussed. Of seven Holocene layers of the El'Garsa shott five are eolain, which indicates long and intensive deflation within the Great Eastern Erg and western slope of Ksur heights. The questions of anthropogenic relief formation are discussed in details. Two stage of man-induced destruction may be distinguished: the epoch of Rome and the colonial period in the XX and XXI century. The impact of hostility may (in places) overpass the relief destruction during peace periods. The importance of war action for the arid regions destruction is emphasized.

During the Pleistocene, the Manych depression served repeatedly as a strait connecting the Caspian and the Black seas basins. The geological structure and fossil mollusks give evidence of in interactions between these basins. Migration of Caspian mollusks to the Black Sea dominated over the backward one.

О конференции “Эстетическая геоморфология и культурный ландшафт”