The object of the study is the microelement composition of mountain alluvial soils, the formation of which occurs quite intensively due to the activity of processes that determine the development of soil cover in mountainous relief conditions. The study is based on the analysis of features forming the system of soil compounds of microelements in alluvial soils of river valleys of the Western Caucasus using the example of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River valley. The study specified that alluvial soils are characterized by a constant supply of microelements in the composition of suspensions and dissolved substances in river waters, which during flood spills flood the flood-plain part of river valleys. In addition, microelements are supplied mechanically from the mountain slopes directly adjacent to the river valley. A certain role is played by the processes of aerial transfer of dust particles with air flows, including those of a transboundary nature. Rising groundwater also causes the movement of dissolved forms of trace elements in mountain alluvial soils in both radial and lateral directions. Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that mountain alluvial soils are characterized by a strong connection with soil-forming rocks, which are the most important source of microelements. Features of the development of the system of soil compounds of microelements in mountain alluvial soils are determined by the specific conditions for the occurrence of soil-forming processes in them. Their study is necessary due to the important environment-forming significance of mountain alluvial soils in modern landscapes of river valleys, which are the most developed areas of mountainous countries.

The object of the study is the soils of the Orenburg region, Buzuluk district, contaminated with pollutants. The aim of the study is to identify patterns of accumulation of heavy metals in southern chernozems that have been subjected to hydrogen pollution and the studied conglomerate by pollutants of the European part of the steppes of Russia. As well as the establishment of a set of factors and confirmation of their influence on the stability of landscapes in conditions of soil degradation and further formation of geochemical barriers formed by pollutants. The materials and methods of research are the literature of leading Russian specialists studying this issue, as well as regulatory and legal documentation: GOST standards, SanPiNs, Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Cartographic and graphic materials have been built that display sampling points, the content and dependence of elements on pollutants. A field survey (reconnaissance of the area) was conducted in the conditions of eluvial formation of soil and soil-forming accumulation, against the background of changes in the processes of formation of geochemical chains. Soil samples were taken from the site, and a syntaxoid analysis was performed. The total value of the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants in the soils of the studied area within the boundaries of the administrative region of three oil fields has been determined. According to the results of the study, a pattern of accumulation of heavy metals from the area of the geochemical barrier formed by pollution with petroleum products was revealed. The perspective of the development of the influence of accumulations of pollutants on the transformation of the natural landscape is visualized. In areas contaminated with pollutants, it is necessary to carry out reclamation works: technical and biological stages, in compliance with environmental protection.

The object of the study is the urban landscapes of the city of Essentuki. The aim of the work is to study spatial-temporal dynamics of thermal pollution of the environment in Essentuki and identify the factors influencing this process. The key task of the study is to identify the dependence of changes in the temperature of the earth’s surface on the degree of residential development and landscape. Methods of remote sensing and geographic information systems have been applied. Satellite images of the Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 satellites were used for the analysis. The work involves channels – infrared near and thermal (Landsat 8 satellite), as well as the visible range. The average, maximum and minimum values of surface temperature for microdistricts are calculated. For a comparative analysis, the coefficients of landscaping, urban planning load and free territory were applied. Data processing has been verified in the QGIS environment. The average, maximum and minimum values of surface temperature for microdistricts are calculated. The coefficients of landscaping, urban planning load and free territory are calculated. Based on the results of the work, the spatial features of the distribution of thermal anomalies associated with the active development of microdistricts of the city were established. Cartographic material on the temperature of the earth’s surface for 2014, 2018 and 2022 years has been created and the areas of built-up areas and green infrastructure have been calculated. Such studies provide a comprehensive assessment of such a phenomenon as “heat islands” and make a significant contribution to the study of the city’s climate and the impact of urbanization processes on the environment, allowing to control the microclimate of urban areas, identify the direction and dynamics of changes existing in the urban environment. When planning a city, it is necessary to take into account the results of the study in order to compensate for the impact of the urban heat island. The primary task is to transfer knowledge about the urban climate into the daily practice of urban planning and design.

The article attempts to identify and analyze students’ mental and geographical representations of urban space. The two largest cities of the Stavropol Territory, which are student centers in the region, are considered. The information base of the study is based on social mapping during a survey of students in Stavropol and Pyatigorsk. The views and ideas of modern geographers on mental mapping of cities are analyzed and used in practice. The research methodology is based on the study of mental maps created directly by students. Using the spatial approach, the mental and geographical structure of the selected cities was identified and investigated. Student mental maps have a linear-node type of structure, in which linear elements correspond to the streets of the city, nodes are represented by different types of points of interest. Generalization of the collected data made it possible to compile and study a mental and geographical model of Stavropol and Pyatigorsk. In these models, mental clusters and the factors of their formation are identified and investigated. Universities have played an important role in the formation of mental constructions about urban areas among students. The quality of student mental maps depends on their location, place in the history of cities, and participation in urban processes. Using the example of urban transport, trade and food networks, a number of cases and practices of forming mental elements in students are considered. In the course of a comparative analysis of cities, their similar and specific features are determined from the point of view of student perception of urban space. Quantitative comparisons of cities are not possible, the potential of similar studies lies in highlighting urban uniqueness and solving local urban problems.

The paper examines the issues of integrating geodata from different sources for geoinformation mapping of the transformation of rural settlement. The object of the study is the change in the population settlement network in the Khorezm oasis and the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.

The study is based on the use of materials from official state statistics on the population in the context of individual settlements, cartographic materials and satellite imagery, and the results of field surveys for geoinformation mapping.

An algorithm for geoinformation research of changes in the area and population of settlements over 1959-2023 is proposed. OpenStreet Map geodata are used as a base map, the detail and geometric accuracy of which are sufficient to calculate the quantitative characteristics of the transformation. Multi-temporal topographic maps at a scale of 1:200,000 for 1959, 1979 and 1989 are used to create geodata in vector format. Geocoding of source materials was carried out to form a database consisting of blocks for several dates. The results of the automatically calculated areas of each settlement were used to calculate their growth. Remote sensing materials, in particular, space materials obtained from the Landsat satellite for 1994, Landsat / Copernicus Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GE- BCO April 10, 2013–December 14, 2015, October 4–December 14, 2023, and posted on Google Earth Pro, are used to update data geometry. ArcGIS Online services are used for interactive mapping. Data on the population of each locality on the indicated dates were used to calculate growth for the periods 1959–1979, 1979–1989, 1989–2023.

Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that at certain stages of development the transformation process is characterized by qualitative and quantitative changes in the settlement network. Methods of geospatial analysis were used to identify changes in the types and forms of settlement that characterize the features of the transformation.

The paper analyzes the dynamics of such anomalous weather phenomenon as a thunderstorm. The thunderstorm process that took place in the North Caucasus on June 27, 2023 is considered. The thunderstorm process under consideration differed significantly from the statistical average, both in duration and in lightning parameters. The analysis was carried out using the example of the Stavropol Krai, although anomalous thunderstorms on June 27, 2023 also occurred in other regions of the North Caucasus.

The work used the lightning direction network of the Federal State Budgetary Institution VGI with spatially separated sensors LS8000 and LS7002. To determine the characteristics of thunderstorm activity, the work used long-term data from the specified lightning direction network. Studies of thunderstorm activity were carried out in conjunction with the characteristics of convective clouds determined by MRL-5 weather radars. The Federal State Budgetary Institution VGI has organized the uptake, processing, archiving and transmission to the ASPD network of Roshydromet of radar information from all MRL-5 weather radars of the anti-hail services of the North Caucasus.

During the day, about 30,000 lightning strikes were recorded by VGI in this territory. Of these, 3,713 were ground discharges. Of the registered 3,713 ground-based lightning discharges in the Stavropol Krai, negative lightning amounted to 2,901, and the positive one – 812. The share of negative lightning discharges from the total number of ground-based lightning discharges in the specified territory was 78%. The largest number of negative lightning (more than 70%) had values up to 20 kA. More than 40% of positive lightning discharges had values from 21 to 40 kA. The average value of currents of negative polarity was -18.6 kA, and that of positive polarity was +53.2 kA.

The object of the study is landslide activity in the Mozdok administrative region of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The work examines the results of systematization and analysis of various sources containing information about the activity and danger of landslide processes in this area in the 21st century. The conditions, causes, activity and danger of landslide activations in the region are characterized. It is noted that the activity of landslide processes in the study area is mainly due to natural factors, however, recently the emergence of new landslide forms and the activation of old ones most often occur under technogenic influence. Landslide activity in the region is observed on the ledge of the right bank alluvial-accumulative terrace of the river. Terek, where most of the settlements of the region are located, as well as the northern slope of the Tersky ridge and in the area of the watershed ridge of the Sunzhensky ridge. The most significant activation of landslide processes (causing deformation of residential buildings and roadways of streets) was observed in the villages of Maly Malgobek, Predgornoye and Sukhotskoye. Since 2021, after the reconstruction of the Zilga – Mozdok highway, significant landslide deformations and destruction of the roadway have been observed on the section of the road between the villages of Khurikau (Mozdok district) and Old Batako (Right Bank district). The article provides information about the activity of landslide activity and the scale of deformations and destruction of residential and transport infrastructure that occurred in the area. Analysis of the socio-economic consequences of the landslide activations shows a significant degree of their danger to the life of the population in the Mozdok region.

The problem is studied by the example of gas condensate fields at the final stage of development, where production wells have abnormally low reservoir pressures and their killing for repair work is a serious challenge requiring a search for new solutions. The work is motivated by the need to create a method for controlling hydrodynamic processes in a pre-blocked bottom-hole zone of the formation, for carrying out repair work in wells, preventing destruction of the reservoir formation and ensuring the preservation of its fluid-capacitance properties. The possibilities of an integrated approach to killing wells under conditions of extremely low formation pressures are considered, which includes controlling hydrodynamic processes in the “well-reservoir” system, previously blocked in the near-wellbore zone by special process fluids. It has been specified that the use of blocking fluids (with filler) helps to level the injectivity profile and form an insulating screen in the bottomhole zone of the formation, creating the necessary conditions for killing wells in order to carry out repair work in them. To control hydrodynamic processes, a mathematical model of the blocking process in the near-wellbore formation zone is proposed. It has a three-stage scheme that ensures equalization of the injectivity profile under conditions of extremely low formation pressures. The possibilities of using gel-forming blocking fluids with filler to create a temporary screen that prevents the penetration of killing fluid into highly permeable formations from abnormally low formation pressures have been explored. Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that the control of hydrodynamic processes in the near-wellbore zone of the formation at abnormally low formation pressures creates the necessary condition for effective blocking of the productive horizon in gas and gas-condensate wells, and due to the sequential treatment of the formation with a special liquid to level the injectivity profile and gel-forming blocking composition, allows one to kill the well and prevents the working fluid from penetrating into the depths of the formation during work.