PRESENT-DAY AEOLIAN MORPHOLITHOGENESIS: STATE OF KNOWLEDGE AND REGIONAL MANIFESTATIONS

The relevance of the research of exogenous processes, including deflation, is caused by both positive and negative impact of the processes on landscape components and economic activity. Besides, features of regional material migration under the action of aeolian processes, the accumulation intensity of deposits, and their material composition are poorly understood. Environmental conditions and anthropogenic impact cause the development of wind erosion and deflation in geosystems of Tomsk region. The main aim of this study is to estimate accumulation intensity of aeolian deposits and determine its material composition for the landscapes in the southeast of Tomsk region. Objects of the research are natural and anthropogenic landscapes of the Tom-Yaya interfluve within the Basandayka river basin (the right tributary of the Tom river). Methods: field measurements with sampling, laboratory analyses, analytical studies. Results of the study have revealed based on long-term observations that aeolian processes in the agricultural landscapes of the southeast of the forest zone in the West Siberia appear annually. The intensity of the processes has a variety from year to year and reaches the maximum values in dry winters. Dust prevails in the grain size distribution of aeolian deposits. Quartz and muscovite are dominant in total mineral composition. Aeolian deposits contain a significant amount of plant nutrients (humus – up to 10 %) in many cases. The authors consider that the bulk of the aeolian deposits within the key area (southeast of the Tomsk region) in the cold season has a local origin. The strong similarity of the grain size distribution, chemical and mineral compositions of deposits with soils of the area are indicative of that.