The Kerch Peninsula is washed on three sides by the waters of the Azov and Black Seas. The western border runs along the Akmonai Isthmus. Area - about 3060 km 2.

The nature of the Kerch Peninsula is extremely unique and diverse. Here there are landscape complexes of meadow-hodgepodge and wormwood semi-deserts, similar denudation-remnant steppe plains characteristic of the Sivash region. Crimean foothills and Tarkhankut Peninsula. The warm, frost-free winter of the coast of the Feodosia Gulf and the significant participation of Mediterranean species in the vegetation cover bring it closer to the southern coast of Crimea; diopyr folds and mud volcanism are related to the Taman Peninsula.

At the base of the peninsula lie Oligocene and Lower Miocene dark shale clays (Maikop series). These clays come to the surface in the southwestern part and in the eroded cores of anticlines. In the northern, northeastern and eastern parts of the Kerch Peninsula, the Maikop clays are overlain by Middle Miocene and Upper Miocene (Sarmatian) sediments, represented by clays, sands, marls and limestones. In the synclines of the central and eastern parts of the Kerch Peninsula, as well as in some

In anticlinal basins, Sarmatian deposits are overlain by rocks of Meotic, Pliocene and Anthropogenic age.

The tectonic structures of the Kerch Peninsula are fragmented. Characteristic is the alternation of anticlinal structures formed by a system of brachyanticlinal folds and synclinal troughs (troughs).

According to M.V. Muratov (1960), the formation of anticlinal folds began even before the Middle Miocene and continued until the end of the Pliocene. At the same time, their destruction occurred under the influence of abrasion and erosion-denudation processes. Their central parts, composed of Maikop clays, were destroyed; anticlinal basins and ring outlier hills, so characteristic of the Kerch Peninsula, were formed. Marine erosion played a decisive role in the formation of the southwestern plain of the peninsula.

The Anthropocene period in the development of the peninsula's relief is characterized by repeated changes in the direction of its development due to neotectonic movements and changes in sea level. Either accumulative processes predominated, when loess-like loams and clays accumulated, or denudation processes developed, which, however, were not very intense due to the shallow depth of local erosion bases and dry climate. Currently, the peninsula is characterized by abrasion-denudation, abrasion-denudation-remnant and accumulative plains.

The climate of the Kerch Peninsula is arid with relatively mild winters. Winter is relatively stable. The period with temperatures below freezing ranges from 33 days in the southwest to 60 days in the northeast. In the same direction, the average temperature of the coldest month of February changes from -0.2 to -1.7°.

Every year there are frosts down to -15°, and occasionally down to -30°. Spring is relatively late and cold. Summer is hot and dry. The frost-free period ranges from 220-225 days on the coast of the Azov and Black Seas to 200 days in the center of the peninsula. The period with temperatures above 10° varies within small limits from 187 days in the center and northeast to 191 - 193 days on the southwest coast. Frosts dangerous to crops rarely occur. There is little precipitation - from 253-300 mm on the southern and northern coasts d 0 400-438 mm, in the center and on the eastern edge of the peninsula. About 60% of precipitation falls in the warm season.

The hydrographic network of the peninsula is represented by dry rivers and gullies. The largest of the dry rivers of Somarly, the width of its valley with a well-defined first terrace above the floodplain reaches one kilometer.

Maximum drain - 50 m 3 / s., but in summer the river, like other watercourses, dries up. The largest lakes of the peninsula - Aktshskoye, Chokrakskoye, Churubashskoye, Tobechikskoye, Opukskoye and Uzunlaskoye - are located along the seashore and are of lagoon-marine origin.

Groundwater occurs at different depths. In the area of ​​lakes, the sea coast and in basins, groundwater lies at a depth of 0.5 to 3 m, on watersheds at a depth of 10 meters or more. Most of the groundwater is saline both due to seawater (on the coast of the sea and lagoon lakes) and due to the dissolution of salts from the Sarmate and Maikop salt-bearing clays.

The soil cover of the peninsula is characterized by great diversity and is formed by a combination of southern chernozems, chestnut brackish soils, solonetzes and solonchaks.

The distribution of soil differences, the degree of salinity, and the thickness of the soil horizon are mainly determined by the altitude above sea level and the nature of the soil-forming rocks. The richest chernozem and dark chestnut soils were formed on loess-like clays in synclinal basins and on limestone-deluvial deposits in anticlinal structures.

The zonal type of vegetation cover on the peninsula is feather grass-fescue and fescue-wormwood steppes. Other types of vegetation include mesophytic and halophytic hectares, wormwood-hodgepodge semi-deserts and petrophytic steppes.

Plowed area is about 32% of the area. 25% of the land is suitable for agriculture, the remaining area is used for hayfields and pastures.

The Kerch Peninsula is characterized by landscape differentiation, which, manifesting itself together with other factors, determines its landscape structure.

Abrasive-denudation-remnant steppe areas occupy a relatively small area (21.5%), but it is they that give unique natural features to the entire peninsula. There are three types of remnants here - ring-shaped, ridge-shaped and watershed dome-shaped. All of them are composed of relatively hard rocks, mainly limestone.

The described types of terrain are characterized by a predominance of slope tracts. The most common are gentle slopes with a steepness of 1 to 10° (84%), slopes of average steepness from 10 to 15%, and rocks and steep slopes (steeper than 20°) only 1%.

On steep slopes the soil is chernozem-carbonate rocky-crushed stone, on gentle slopes it is thicker. The vegetation cover is dominated by shrub-forb steppes. Among

shrubs have hawthorn, rose hips and thorns. Steep and moderately steep slopes of this type of terrain can be used for forest plantings, which work well here. On gentle slopes you can
place gardens and hayfields. Significant areas of these slopes with
more powerful soils with strict adherence to anti-erosion measures
activities can be allocated to arable land with grain and fodder
crop rotations and strict adherence to anti-erosion measures. The abrasion-denudation-remnant feather-grass-fescue-petrophyte-steppe type of terrain is distributed mainly in the central part of the peninsula. It is characterized by greater rockiness; it is characterized by tracts of petrophyte steppes on thin gravelly soils, feather-fescue steppes and, less frequently, tracts of feather-grass-forb steppes. On the farm it is used mainly for grazing. Improving its economic value will require radical reclamation.

The denudation-plain feather grass-fescue-steppe type of terrain is one of the dominant ones on the peninsula (22.5%), but its economic value is low, since thin, often gravelly or moderately and highly saline soils are common here. The best of them are weakly solonetzic carbonate chernozems and dark chestnut soils formed on limestone colluvium; when well cultivated, they produce high yields of grain, sunflower and other crops.

The abrasion-denudation-plain fescue-wormwood steppe type of terrain developed in the north of the southwestern plain and in anticlinal basins, where groundwater lies relatively deep.

Dark chestnut medium and highly solonetzic soils in combination with solonetzic chernozems, formed on colluvium of saline Sarmatian and Maikop clays, are distinguished by a heavy mechanical composition and silty structure. In wet years, subject to agrotechnical cultivation rules, these soils produce good grain yields.

Among the denudation-plain and abrasion-denudation-plain steppe areas there are tracts characteristic of the Kerch Peninsula - mud volcanoes. They are expressed either as cone-shaped hills, or as a cloak of mud-stone material, which only slightly rises above the surrounding plain. They are not used agriculturally and are classified as inconvenient lands.

The accumulative-plain feather grass-fescue-steppe type of terrain is confined to synclinal basins; it occupies relatively small areas (16.9%), but is the main breadbasket of the peninsula. These plains are composed of a thick layer of carbonate loams and loess-like clays. Soils such as southern chernozems are usually dense, contain up to 3-4% humus, are relatively provided with mobile forms of phosphorus and nitrogen, and are not inferior in fertility to the same soils of the steppe Crimea. Accumulative plains in the past were occupied by typical feather grass steppes. Now most of them are plowed. This type of terrain is located at altitudes of 40-100 m and convenient for irrigation. With the construction of the North Crimean Canal, the main tracts of irrigated land will be located here.

Poorly drained meadow-saltland type of terrain is common in the southwest and on low-lying coasts in the area of ​​lagoon lakes of the Kerch Peninsula. This type of terrain is characterized by drainless depressions - “ if", filling with water in the spring and drying up in the summer, depressions of permanent continental salt lakes, low-lying coastal areas and the mouths of wide ravines. All soils here are saline, solonetzes in combination with solonchaks are widespread. The vegetation is represented by various types of halophytic meadows of creeping wheatgrass, salt wormwood, Kermek, bromegrass, immortelle, pigweed, beckmania and other species. The most humid places on the shores of the Kazantip and Feodosia bays are occupied by reed, rush and cattail swamps. Most of the described type of terrain is used as a pasture loop.

The meadow-beam type of terrain is widespread, although it occupies only 8.9% of the area. It is characterized by tracts of beams and dry rivers. Beams play an important role as natural drainages, through which flood waters are removed and washed away

from the soil salt. Sukhorechya, unlike ravines, have a well-defined floodplain and the first terrace above the floodplain. The width of the valleys ranges from 200 to 1000 m. Good moisture, thick meadow-chernozem soils ensure the development of clover-wheatgrass, wheatgrass-bekmania and wheatgrass-forb meadows, with a harvest of up to 20 c/ha valuable forage herbs. Some areas of these valleys can be used for gardens and vegetable gardens.

According to the nature of the geological-geomorphological structure and landscape structure, the Kerch Peninsula is divided into two physical-geographical regions - southwestern region of the structural erosion plain And north-eastern region of the ridge-hill erosion-denudation plain. The border between them runs along the limestone Parpach ridge (Fig. 18).

In conclusion, it should be noted that the lands of the Kerch Peninsula are poorly used in agriculture. Arable land accounts for only 32% of the district's territory. The construction of the North Crimean Canal will make it possible to involve significant tracts of land into intensive agricultural use and bring the area under cultivation to 50-60%. Early and mid-ripening grape varieties and many garden crops, including apricots, cherries and apples, ripen well here. Good yields are produced by grain crops: winter wheat, spring and winter barley. Along with this, significant areas should be allocated for forests and forest wind-protective and anti-erosion forest belts. The current density of forest belts does not exceed 1% of the area and is clearly insufficient. And the two large forests that have been planted are developing well.

568
SECTION IV.

UKRAINIAN CARPATHIANS,

RELIEF OF CRIMEA

According to the nature of the relief, Crimea is divided into three main parts: the southern - mountainous, the northern - flat and the Kerch Peninsula, characterized by a peculiar hilly-ridge topography.

Crimean mountains, occupying the smaller, southern part of the Crimean Peninsula, stretch for 160 km along the Black Sea coast from Aya Cape in the west to Ilya Cape in the east, reaching a maximum width of 50-60 km. Within the mountainous Crimea, the following orographic parts are distinguished: the Main Ridge, the Southern Coast and the Foothill Ridges (Inner and Outer Ridges).

Plain Crimea occupies most of the peninsula - northern and central. It is a relatively flat surface, gradually rising to the south, towards the Crimean Mountains. Lowland plains predominate (with heights of 0.5-30 m) - Prisivashskaya, Indolskaya, Alminskaya (Evpatoria). A somewhat larger area is occupied by the elevated plains - Tarkhankutskaya and Central Crimean. In general, the topography of the peninsula is favorable for agricultural development of land, laying roads, and construction. Typically, plains that have a height of more than 200 m are called elevated. And in Crimea, the highest point of the Tarkhankut Upland is only 179 m (the proximity of the sea emphasizes the contrasts in the relief).

Kerch Peninsula According to the relief, it is divided into two parts, delimited by the low Parpach ridge.

Southwestern part is a gently undulating plain, the monotonous appearance of which is broken only by isolated hills. It slopes towards the sea, in the north and northeast there are low mountains and limestone ridges.

For northeast Parts are characterized by hilly ridge topography. In the basins that separate ridges that are often elliptical in shape, here and there rise the hills of mud volcanoes characteristic of the peninsula.

There are more than 50 mud volcanoes on the Kerch Peninsula. The largest of them is JAU-TEPE (Enemy Mountain). Its height is 60 m. The diameter at the base is 500 m. On some hills, eruptions occur constantly

Near Cape Opuk on the Kerch Peninsula there are bizarrely shaped rocks, which are one of the natural symbols of the region.

TRANSFORMATION OF SOILS AND LANDSCAPES OF THE KERCH PENINSULA AT THE CURRENT STAGE OF NATURE MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Relevance of the problem under consideration

Agricultural use of the territory is the most widespread type of anthropogenic transformation. At the same time, complexities arise in the interactions of natural and socio-economic factors. Within the boundaries of agricultural land, natural biogeocenoses are transformed into agrocenoses and natural landscapes - into agrolandscapes - natural production systems that were formed and that function as a result of the constant interaction of agriculture and the natural environment, the natural landscape.

The object of study was the soils and landscapes of the Kerch Peninsula, within which the transformation of agricultural lands took place.

Based on a preliminary study of the issue, the purpose and objectives of the study were formulated.

Purpose of the study

To analyze the role of physical-geographical and technogenic factors in the formation of natural-anthropogenic transformation of soils and landscapes of the Kerch Peninsula, to show the patterns of transformation processes.

To achieve the goal, the following were decided tasks:

1. Give a physical and geographical description of the Kerch Peninsula, paying special attention to the factors that control processes in the soil cover.

2. Analyze the main processes of anthropogenic transformation of soils and landscapes of the territory, periods of anthropogenic transformation, consider secondary soil processes, characterize the state of agricultural landscapes and soil conditions.

3. Describe the importance of monitoring the condition of the soil cover and landscapes of the territory.

During the work, a connection was established between land transformation and the level of agricultural activity.

The transformation of soils and landscapes of the Kerch Peninsula is a multifaceted process, including the replacement of natural landscapes with natural-anthropogenic (including man-made) ones, with changes in geocomponents due to the development of secondary processes (waterlogging, karst, dehumification, pollution, etc.).

The most powerful factor in soil transformation is irrigation, which causes a whole range of consequences expressed in changes in the characteristics of the soil cover. The changes that occurred under the influence of irrigation cannot be considered unambiguously negative, since the assessment itself may vary depending on the goals and objectives of the region’s functioning.

Irrigated lands produce higher yields, but water is not always used rationally; a lot of it is lost when irrigated with outdated types of sprinklers. About 20% of the water is used for technological discharge and filtration from temporary sprinklers. Annual cutting and filling of the latter leads to the destruction and washing away of the fertile surface layer of soil.

Irrigation causes the destruction of soil aggregates, promotes the formation of cemented (fused) fragments of the soil profile, an increase in bulk mass, and compaction, especially in chernozems. The reason for the deterioration of these properties is intrasoil weathering, redistribution of the silt fraction along the profile, solonetsization, and solodization.

Flooding of rice paddies causes the development of anaerobiosis in the surface soil horizons, consequently, gleyification and removal of silt, Mg, Ca from the surface horizons, and a decrease in the boiling point of carbonates. At the same time, there is a relative accumulation of silica, aggregate iron and manganese in nodular neoplasms. The depth of soil transformation under the influence of rice cultivation, their degradation is quite rapid, especially in cases of non-compliance with scientifically based agricultural technology. After 4 years, the changes are pronounced. Gley formation under conditions of long-term stagnant-washing conditions leads to texture-clay differentiation of the profile, whitening of surface horizons. Traits of more humid soils are acquired.

CHAPTER 1. PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TERRITORY

1.1 Geographical location

Crimea is located in the south of Ukraine within 44 ° 23 ´ (Cape Sarych) and 46 ° 15 ´ (Perekopsky Ditch) northern latitude, 32 ° 30 ´ (Cape Karamrun) and 36 ° 40 ´ (Cape Lantern) eastern longitude. The area of ​​the Crimean Peninsula is 26.0 thousand km 2. The maximum distance from north to south is 205 km, from west to east – 325. The total length of the borders of Crimea exceeds 2500 km. The coasts of Crimea are slightly indented, the Black Sea forms 3 large bays: Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky, and Feodosiya; The Sea of ​​Azov also formed 3 bays: Kazantipsky, Arabatsky and Sivashsky.

Kerch Peninsula– the eastern part of the Crimean Peninsula (Fig. 1). The length from west to east is about 90 km, from north to south from 17 to 50 km.

The area is about 2700 - 3000 km². The peninsula is washed in the north by the Sea of ​​Azov, in the western part by the Sivash Bay, in the east by the Kerch Strait, and in the south by the Black Sea. In the west, the peninsula is connected to the rest of Crimea by the Akmanay Isthmus, about 17 km wide. In some elevated places of the isthmus, both seas are visible at the same time: both the Azov and the Black.

1.2 Tectonics, geological structure and relief characteristics

The importance of relief as a factor in landscape formation is enormous. It largely determines the mosaic of other landscape components. The slope of the surface determines the direction of river flow and the movement of surface loose rocks. On low plains, air masses move freely over long distances, but mountains block their path. Mountains prevent the spread of plants and animals.

The nature of the surface is of great importance for human life and economic activity. Plains are more convenient for settling people, for laying communication routes, for agriculture and the construction of industrial enterprises. Mining enterprises, livestock farming, and recreation are usually associated with mountains.

According to the relief, the Crimean Peninsula is divided into three unequal parts: flat Crimea, the Kerch Peninsula with a peculiar ridge-undulating-plain surface and mountainous Crimea. This division is due primarily to the unequal structure of the earth's crust and the history of the formation of the regions.

The ridge-undulating-plain Kerch Peninsula is connected in origin, on the one hand, with the nearby mountainous Crimea, complex in structure, and on the other, with the folded mountains of the Greater Caucasus. Within its boundaries there is also a part of the Indolo-Kuban foothill trough common to the mountains of Crimea and the Caucasus, which is part of the Scythian platform (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Tectonics of the Kerch Peninsula

In this regard, according to the nature of the relief and geological structure, the Kerch Peninsula is divided into two parts. The southwestern part, which corresponds to the submerged part of the Crimean meganticlinorium, is composed of folded Maikop clays. They form a slightly undulating plain. The northeastern, larger part of the peninsula has a finely dissected topography. It is formed by various rocks of numerous small short anticlinal and synclinal folds of ellipsoidal shape. The margins of the folds consist of Miocene laminated limestones, marls, sandstones and mounded hard bryozoan reef limestones. The fold cores consist mainly of Maikop and Sarmatian clays (Fig. 3). Due to the erosion of these pliable clays, anticlinal basins with ring-shaped ridges of harder rocks formed (Fig. 4). Iron ore deposits and loess-like loams have accumulated in many synclinal folds. The original shapes are formed by the hills of mud volcanoes.

Within the southwestern part of the Kerch Peninsula, the folds of the mountainous Crimea ending here are subsiding, that is, their gradual transition into the Indolo-Kuban foothill trough of the Scythian platform is observed. In this regard, the peninsula is also divided into two parts according to its relief, delimited by the low Parpach ridge. The southwestern part is a gently undulating plain, the monotonous appearance of which is broken only by isolated hills (Konchek, Dyurmen, the Jau-Tepe mud hill). The folds here are formed by easily eroded, so-called Maikop, clays, so over a long time they turned out to be eroded and the surface of this area took on the appearance of a hilly plain slightly inclined towards the sea. The northeastern part is characterized by hilly-ridge topography. A significant part of the ridges are elongated and short in length. The arches and cores (central parts) of these folds are in most cases composed of soft clays and therefore, being destroyed more quickly, are expressed in relief by erosion valleys (depressions) bordered by limestone ring-shaped ridges.

Rice. 3. Pre-Quaternary deposits of the Kerch Peninsula.

Rice. 4. Scheme of relationships between horizons in the folds of the Kerch Peninsula in the section through the Kerch syncline: 1-upper Pliocene; 2-middle Pliocene; 3-pontic tier; 4-maeotic stage: a-clays, b-limestones, c-reef limestones; 5-sarmatian; 6-middle Miocene; 7-Maikop series; 8-volcanic deposits.

The slopes of the ridges facing the internal depressions are usually rocky and steep, while the opposite ones, scattering along the periphery, are gentle and often form a complex system of processes. In this case, the ridges are formed by bryozoan reefs of the former Meotic sea (Upper Tertiary time). Such reef ridges, being natural monuments, are of great scientific interest.

The highest point of the Kerch Peninsula - Mount Pikhbopai (190 m) - is crowned by the Mithridates ridge near Kerch. Limestones of the Kerch ridges are an excellent building stone. They are also used as fluxes in the production of sinter from Kerch iron ore at the Kamysh-Burun iron ore plant.

The vast expanses of the Kerch hills are replete with original relief forms associated with mud volcanic activity. Eruptions of ancient mud volcanoes contributed to the formation of extensive subsidence depressions in the relief, which were filled with hill deposits (breccia). Some of the active mud hills are interesting natural monuments that imitate real volcanoes in miniature (Fig. 5).

Mud volcanoes, otherwise called salsas or hills, have nothing in common with real volcanism. They illustrate the oil and gas potential of the Kerch Peninsula, spewing out cold mud squeezed out from the depths of the earth's crust by flammable natural gases. Due to periodic outpourings of dirt spreading far to the sides from the hole - the crater, the area adjacent to the hill cones usually has a lifeless, dull appearance. Only in the craters does liquid mud slowly pulsate under the pressure of gases. Currently, more than 30 mud hills and vast hill fields can be found on the Kerch Peninsula. Mud hills are usually small, varied in shape and rise above the surrounding area from 2-3 to 50 m.

Mud volcanoes of the Kerch Peninsula form a number of isolated groups near the villages of Bondarenkovo, Opasnoe, Mayak, near Kerch and other places. Each of them has several hills, on the slopes of which there are usually from 1 to 15 or more craters.

Hill mud plays a significant role in the formation of the modern relief of the Kerch Peninsula. They contain silica, alumina, red iron ore, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and other components. Currently, hill mud is partially used in brick and tile production and for medicinal purposes. However, the most interesting of the mud hills of the Kerch Peninsula must be preserved as scientific and educational objects.

1.3 Climate and inland waters

Climate

Climate is one of the most important factors in the formation of landscapes. It affects, first of all, seasonal variations in the direction and intensity of the formation of their relief, soil-forming rocks, surface and groundwater, soils, flora and fauna. Climate as a whole determines the main pattern of landscape geography - their latitudinal zonation. Climatic resources and conditions also determine the living conditions of human economic activity. In turn, climate is one of the intangible energy components of the landscape, since it reflects, first of all, the temperature and wind properties of the surface layer of the atmosphere. In this regard, climate properties and their changes are best known indirectly through the state and direction of changes in other material components of the landscape, such as vegetation and soil cover. The climate of any territory is formed by three mutually related atmospheric processes: heat exchange, moisture circulation and general atmospheric circulation.

The climate of the Kerch Peninsula is moderate continental, experiencing the softening influence of the Black and Azov Seas. The average annual air temperature is +11°C, the lowest in January is −0.5°C, the highest is in July +22.8°C (Table 1). The average annual temperature of sea water in the surface layer is +12.7°C. The lowest average monthly air temperature in January -8.4 °C was recorded in 1972, the highest +6.6 °C - in 1915. The lowest average monthly temperature in July +20.3 °C was observed in 1912, the highest +26.6 °C – in 1938

The absolute minimum air temperature was −26.3 °C recorded on February 6, 1954, the absolute maximum was 37.4 °C on July 28, 1971.

Table 1 Air temperature by month (°C)

Temperature	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	Year
Average	-0,5	0,0	3,2	9,8	15,4	20,1	22,8	22,2	17,6	11,4	6,7	2,9	11
Daily max.	2	3	6	12	18	23	26	26	21	15	10	6	14
Night min.	-3	-2	0	7	12	17	20	19	15	9	4	0	8

Over the past 100–120 years, air temperatures have tended to increase. During this period, the average annual air temperature increased by approximately 1.0 °C. The greatest increase in temperature occurred in the first half of the year. The Kerch Peninsula is located in the southern part of the temperate climate zone, which is characterized by mild cloudy winters and very warm, dry summers. In winter there are stormy cold north-easterly winds. Frequent passage of cyclones at this time ensures unstable weather. In summer the weather is usually calm and clear. For almost the entire year, northeastern and eastern winds prevail over the Kerch Peninsula (Table 2). The highest wind speed is in February, the lowest in September. In January it is on average 5.8 m/s, in July – 4.6 m/s (Table 3).

Table 2 Frequency of wind in different directions, (%)

Table 3 Wind speed by month, (m/s)

I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	Year
5,8	5,9	5,7	5,0	4,5	4,4	4,6	4,5	4,3	4,6	4,9	5,3	5,0

According to the Kerch weather station.

The average monthly wind speed throughout the year is 3-7 m/s, and in the cold period it is higher than in the warm period. Calms are rare, their frequency usually does not exceed 10%. In summer, winds of 17 m/s or more are observed during the passage of cold fronts. Most often they are squally and accompanied by thunderstorms and downpours. There is usually high air temperature before squalls. Breezes in the warm season are observed along the entire coast of the peninsula. The sea breeze sets in by noon and reaches its maximum development by 16:00. By 19:00 it weakens and stops after sunset. The coastal breeze begins to blow from midnight and continues until about 8-10 o'clock. The average speed of the sea breeze is 3-4 m/s, the coastal breeze is 1-3 m/s.

The annual number of days with fogs ranges from 30 to 55. The highest frequency of fogs is observed from October to April. From May to August, fogs are rare and do not occur every year. During this period, fogs in most cases occur at night and in the morning in calm, clear weather.

The average annual precipitation is 434 mm, the least in October, the most in December (Table 4).

Table 4 Average precipitation, (mm)

I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	Year
34	31	28	30	36	48	33	44	36	26	37	51	434

According to the Kerch weather station.

The minimum annual precipitation (207 mm) was observed in 1885, the maximum (777 mm) in 1925. The maximum daily precipitation (146 mm) was recorded on June 6, 1945. On average, 103 days with precipitation are observed in the city per year; the fewest of them (5) are in August, the most (14) in December. The average annual relative humidity is 77%, the lowest in July (66%), the highest in December.

Inland waters.

Water in the landscape, like blood in the body, provides it with life. In addition, it serves as a source of formation of water resources, which are so necessary for people and the economy. The intensification of agriculture and reclamation measures affect the conditions of formation and quality of surface and inland waters. Consequently, the protection and rational use of soil moisture resources in landscapes should be a constant concern not only of agriculture, but also of water management.

Moisture reserves in the landscape depend, on the one hand, on the amount of precipitation, condensation moisture, surface and underground water influx, and on the other hand, on its evaporation, surface and underground runoff.

On the Kerch Peninsula, when taking into account all low-water and dry gullies, the density of the river network reaches 0.15-0.28 km/km² (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. Hydrographic network of the Crimean Peninsula.

The beams of the Kerch Peninsula are longer in its northern and northeastern parts. The longest of them are Samarli (51 km), Ali-Bai, Saraiminskaya, etc. With a significant degree of convention, only one river can be named here - Melek-Cheshme, in the valley of which the hero-city of Kerch is located. The river only has water for a few months of the year.

According to the conditions of distribution of groundwater, the Kerch Peninsula is divided into two parts. In the southwestern part of the peninsula there are practically no exploitable groundwater reserves due to the fact that it consists of waterproof Maikop clays. In the northeastern part there are a number of isolated small artesian basins in local synclines-troughs. Groundwater recharge here occurs mainly within local anticlines and the sides of synclines.

The North Crimean Canal is of great economic importance (Fig. 7).

Dnieper water came to Crimea on October 17, 1963. In 1975, construction of the first stage of the canal was completed. The hero city of Kerch received water from the Dnieper. The canal is the largest structure of its kind in Europe. To improve the water supply to the population, primarily the cities of Feodosia and Kerch, near them near the village. Large reservoirs have been created at the Front, which are filled with canal waters in spring and autumn. In summer, water is supplied for irrigation, but in winter, the canal bed is without water: it is being repaired.

1.4 Vegetation

Plant communities play an important role in landscapes. In the process of development, they simultaneously adapt to changes in other components of natural complexes and, on the contrary, actively transform and stabilize them for themselves (preventing, for example, the development of soil erosion). These communities most fully reflect the trend of landscape development under the influence of both natural processes and human activity. Consequently, plant communities, developing under the influence of other landscape components, simultaneously act as a factor in the protection of resources, the environment and the reproduction of the landscapes themselves.

In Crimea, botanists count 2602 species of wild plants, and together with cultivated ones - over 3600 species of plants - ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Within the Kerch Peninsula, about 1,200 plant species are known, belonging to 80 families and 433 genera. Essentially, there is only one type of vegetation present here - the steppe type of vegetation. A significant part of the territory of the Kerch Peninsula is currently plowed under grain and industrial crops, as well as vineyards. The areas remaining unplowed are intensively used as pasture lands.

The Kerch Peninsula is characterized by a combination of a wide variety of steppes (desert, petrophytic, typical, meadow) and halophytic meadows. This region, quite variegated in terms of vegetation composition, is in turn divided into subregions: a) southwestern, a feature of which is a combination of halophytic meadows and desert steppes; b) eastern, almost entirely represented by meadow steppes; c) northern, where feather grass-fescue steppes predominate, although petrophytic and psammophytic steppes and halophytic meadows occur here (Fig. 8).

Real (typical) steppes are characterized by the complete predominance of perennial xerophilous plants (i.e., plants of arid habitats), mainly grasses, of which the most common are four species of feather grass and fescue. The grass stand of typical steppes is somewhat sparse (in most cases it does not completely cover the soil), about 40-50 cm high. The upper tier is composed mainly of feather grass or tyrsa, while the lower tier is dominated by fescue. Among the less significant but constant components of the steppe one can name such cereals as keleria, wheatgrass, bulbous bluegrass, and among forbs - sage, adonis, tulip, zopnik, and legumes - clover, alfalfa. The appearance of some plants is associated with livestock grazing; such as, for example, spurge and Austrian flax. These plants are not eaten by livestock, and therefore their role in the composition of the grass stand often increases at the expense of cereals and other, better eaten forbs.

Rice. 8. Vegetation of the Kerch Peninsula.

Petrophytic steppes. Petrophytic (gr. petra - rock, stone + gr. phyton - plant) are plants in rocky habitats. The grass cover of these steppes is sparse. Although it is also dominated by feather grass, fescue, and keleria, along with these steppe grasses and forbs common to steppes, subshrubs characteristic of heavily crushed soils are constantly found. These are some types of thyme, dubrovnik, gorse, and sunflower. Wormwoods especially stand out - Caucasian and Lerch wormwood. The category of petrophytic steppes also includes areas occupied by peculiar communities with a predominance of Crimean asphodelina - a tall (up to 50-60 cm), spring-blooming plant from the lily family. Such asphodeline communities seem to “bring” the steppe Crimea closer to the mountainous Crimea.

On Mount Opuk one can find the rarest lichen of the Crimea - Roccella fuciformes. Roccella is a relict lower plant, known since the Paleogene, that is, for 65 million years. This brownish plant is distributed in the Mediterranean region, Africa, Central and South America, and also in Australia. In the CIS countries it is found only on the Kerch Peninsula and Karadag.

Psammophytic steppes are entirely associated with sandy or sandy-shell soils that form on sea coasts. They are found in very small, fragmented areas, where the conditions for their preservation were more or less favorable (lack of grazing, plowing, intensive beach use of the sandy coast). Currently, such fragments of psammophytic steppes are still preserved in some places on the northern coast of the Kerch Peninsula (the shore of the Kazantip Bay). In these communities, the grass stand is quite dense, its height is 45-50 cm. The predominant grasses are special, very characteristic of sandy soils - sandy fescue, Dnieper feather grass. No less typical for such habitats are Colchis sedge with thin long cord-like rhizomes, chondrilla, thistle, pigweed, plantain, Russian navel, and burnet. Along with these plants, shrubs – tamarix – are common here, sometimes growing in the form of small trees.

Desert steppes. The most characteristic feature of desert steppes is the significant sparseness of their grass stand, in the formation of which semi-shrub Crimean wormwood always participates in significant quantities, although steppe grasses (fescue, feather grass, wheatgrass) retain their dominant position, but only in cases where the desert-steppe community does not disturbed by long-term grazing. Under the influence of grazing, grasses fall out of the grass stand, and wormwood takes on the role of a dominant plant.

Since desert steppes are characterized by saline soils, their grass contains some salt-tolerant plants that have adapted to life on salt marshes, also called halophytes. Among them are kochia, camphorosma, petrosimonia, saltwort and solyanka. In autumn, in October-November, under the influence of low temperatures, solyankas take on a wide variety of colors - from lilac and crimson to pink and lemon yellow. Experiments conducted on saltwort, a small (10-30 cm in height) leafless annual with very succulent, jointed shoots, showed that salinity has a stimulating effect on the growth and development of this plant: in the absence of a sufficient salt concentration in the nutrient solution, the growth of saltwort was greatly slowed down.

Halophytic meadows belong to a special category, since they are dominated by salt-tolerant (halophytic) plants. The most characteristic of halophytic meadows are communities dominated by a small grass - anesquillum, along with which another squat halophilic grass - litorelica - is often found in the herbage. Plants that are typical for salt marshes are quite common here - saltwort, petrosimonia. Other plants include wheatgrass, wheat grass, and legumes include some types of clover. Let us note, by the way, that Crimea is especially rich in wild clovers - there are about 30 species! Reeds grow in wetlands. In some places, very dense thickets are formed by thorns.

Medicinal plants of the Kerch Peninsula, accepted by the pharmacopoeia: black henbane, adonis, or adonis, St. John's wort, yarrow, celandine, chamomile, immortelle, shepherd's purse, coltsfoot, thyme, string, plantain (Fig. 9).

Poisonous plants of the Kerch Peninsula are represented by several species: black henbane, common datura, spotted hemlock, common privet.

Black henbane is a biennial herbaceous plant with an unpleasant odor. Grows in weedy places, in vegetable gardens. The flowers are large, dirty yellow with purple streaks. The fruit is a pitcher-shaped capsule surrounded by a spiny calyx. The seeds are small, poppy-like. The entire plant is very poisonous; in severe cases of poisoning, death occurs within the first 24 hours from respiratory paralysis.

Datura common, or stinking dope, is an annual herbaceous plant up to 1.5 m high. The leaves are larger, petiolate, deeply notched. The flowers are large, fragrant, white, funnel-shaped. The fruit is a round, spiny capsule. The seeds are large and black. The whole plant has a strong odor, reminiscent of tobacco. The entire plant is poisonous.

Spotted hemlock is a biennial herbaceous plant. The stem is tall, up to 1.5 m, completely bare, with dark red spots at the base. The leaves are dark above and light green below. Complex umbels with seven to ten rays, slightly convex. The whole plant has a heavy “mouse” smell. It grows in open places near roads, near housing, in landfills, in vegetable gardens, and along ravines. The entire plant is poisonous; poison that gets into the stomach is especially dangerous. The poison is easily absorbed into the blood.

Common privet is a branched shrub. Leaves are lanceolate and leathery. The flowers are white, small, fragrant, similar to lilac flowers. The fruit is a dryish black leathery berry. The seeds are purple. The plant is used for hedges. The leaves and fruits of the plant are poisonous.

1.5 Characteristics of soil cover

Soil formation occurs continuously along with the development of landscapes. Therefore, the famous soil scientist V.V. Dokuchaev called the soil a “mirror of the landscape.” The soil-forming process includes a variety of chemical, physical and biological phenomena, that is, the decomposition of plant and animal organisms, minerals and rocks, the formation of humus and secondary minerals. Climate determines the duration and intensity of biological processes of soil formation and determines the main pattern of soil geography - their latitudinal zonation.

In Crimea, the most widespread zonal soils are chernozems. On the Kerch Peninsula, solonetzic, residually saline clayey chernozems formed on Maikop and Sarmatian clays. Their reclamation requires deep plantation plowing and gypsum.

In the northeastern part of the Kerch Peninsula, carbonate, lightly humified, heavy loamy and light clayey chernozems with varying degrees of rubble and pebbles are widespread on weathering products of carbonate and carbonated rocks. They are distributed over an area of ​​over 240 thousand hectares.

On the territory of the plains of the Kerch Peninsula, chestnut soils were formed under wormwood-fescue-feather grass dry-steppe communities on flat interfluve spaces. They are represented by two subtypes: dark chestnut and chestnut. The area of ​​the former is over 225 thousand hectares, and the latter - only 8 thousand hectares. The most widespread (about 195 thousand hectares) are dark chestnut, weakly and moderately solonetzic soils and their combinations with steppe solonetzes. To increase fertility, it is recommended to perform deep plowing and gypsuming. The soils are suitable for irrigation. At the same time, strict control over changes in groundwater levels is necessary to prevent secondary salinization.

Meadow-chestnut solonetzic soils and their combinations with meadow-steppe solonetzes are common in the ravines, hollows, and depressions of the Kerch Peninsula.

Salt licks and solonchaks are also common on the Kerch Peninsula. Solonetzes are often formed as a result of desalinization of salt marshes. Solonetz soils are unfavorable for growing crops. The arable layer in them floats when wet, the dried layer becomes covered with a dense crust and cracks.

Solonchak soils are saline soils in which readily soluble salts (more than 1%) are contained throughout their entire profile. This concentration of salts is generally harmful to plants. Salt marshes are not suitable for use in agriculture.

There are also meadow soils. They form under meadow vegetation under the influence of fresh groundwater, mainly in river valleys and ravines (Fig. 10).

Rice. 10. Soils of the Kerch Peninsula.

1.6 Characteristics of the territory’s landscapes

A geographic landscape is a natural geographical complex in which all the main components: relief, climate, water, soil, vegetation and fauna are in complex interaction and interdependence, forming a single inextricable system.

The land surface is the place of the most active interaction between the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, spheres of life and human activity. Territorial differences in the properties of surface rocks, ground layers of air, surface and underground waters, vegetation and fauna as parts of integral natural formations led to the emergence of qualitatively different landscape complexes of varying sizes and complexity of internal structure (for example, tundra, taiga, steppes, deserts, savannas, equatorial forests, etc.) Together they formed a mosaic structure of the nature of the earth's surface. The leading role in the isolation of the main units of landscape complexes, according to most scientists, belongs to geological and relief factors. Under their influence, water is redistributed, local climates, vegetation, soils and other natural components of smaller landscape complexes and the conditions for their use by humans are formed.

The nature of the Kerch Peninsula is extremely unique and diverse. It combines landscape complexes characteristic of the Sivash region, the Tarkhankut Peninsula and the foothills of the Crimea. The landscape originality of the peninsula is mainly due to the sharp difference in the properties of the rocks common here and the relief forms formed by them.

Zonal systems of the Kerch Peninsula are formed within the hydromorphic and upland landscape levels.

The hydromorphic level is represented by fragments of low-lying plains on the Kerch Peninsula. The lowlands are flat in nature with a pronounced microrelief, which determines the geochemical heterogeneity of the soil cover.

The upland level is the elevated part of the Kerch Peninsula. This level is distinguished by valley-beam and denudation-remnant relief. According to G.E. Grishankova, differentiation into zones within the hydromorphic and upland landscape levels occurs in connection with the depth of the groundwater level. The differences between the soils of these zones are within adjacent latitudinal-zonal types. However, it should be noted that zonal steppe soils are formed in an automorphic regime, i.e. when the groundwater level is deeper than 7 m (Table 5).

Table 5 Conditioning of soils on the Kerch Peninsula by natural factors

The basis of the landscape complexes of the gently undulating Southwestern Plain is formed by saline Maykop clays, and the elliptical ridges and crowning hills of the northeastern part of the peninsula are formed by layered and bryozoan reef Neogene limestones. Maikop and Sarmatian clayey loams are common in anticlinal basins, and Pliocene sands and clays, as well as anthropogenic loess-like loams, are common in synclines.

The climate is very arid, moderately hot, with mild winters. The degree of diversity in the properties of local landscape complexes relatively well reflects the diversity of degrees of salinity, thickness, combinations of southern chernozems, chestnut solonetzic soils, solonetzes and solonchaks.

Within the Kerch Peninsula, two physical-geographical regions are distinguished: South-Western and North-Eastern. The share of arable land in the region is only about 35%, which is the smallest value among other regions of the steppe Crimea.

The Kerch Peninsula is rich in natural monuments. There are 9 landscape and 5 adjacent coastal aquatic protected areas. Among them are the Astana floodplains with an abundance of migratory and nesting waterfowl, the mud hills of Dzhau-Tepe, Andrusov, Vernadsky, Obruchev, forest parks near the village. Lenino, paleontological site at Cape Chauda, ​​etc.

CHAPTER 2. MAIN PROCESSES OF ANTHROPOGENIC TRANSFORMATION OF SOILS AND LANDSCAPES OF THE TERRITORY

2.1 State of agricultural landscapes. Characteristics of PCTS

Agricultural use of the territory is the most common form of anthropogenic transformation of natural landscapes. At the same time, the influence of agricultural activities on landscapes occurs in several directions:

Spatial and functional restructuring of the landscape structure and its individual components;

Removal of part of biological products;

Bringing matter and energy into the landscape;

Creation of engineering structures and the use of mechanized technologies (brings the greatest impact on the components of the landscape);

As a result of this relationship between agricultural production and landscapes, agrolandscape systems (agrolandscapes) are formed. In modern geographical science, the agricultural landscape is defined in the most general form as a natural production system, which in its structure consists of two interconnected blocks (subsystems): natural and agricultural.

A necessary condition for the development of agriculture is the use of land as a method of production. To a large extent, the structure, dynamics of functioning, and development trends of agricultural landscapes are influenced by the natural geographical properties, features and components of the basic natural foundation (hydrogeology, geomorphology, soil cover, microclimate). On the other hand, under the influence of human activity, landscapes are formed, which, despite their natural character and dependence on natural laws, also have an “anthropogenic” component in the form of cultivated plants, altered soil properties, and altered ground and surface water regimes. Agricultural landscapes are subject to especially intensive changes using active and long-term reclamation. And although the production components of agricultural landscapes make it possible to significantly regulate and manage natural processes on cultivated lands, in most cases it is not possible to compensate for the costs to which the natural subsystem is exposed.

Natural ecosystems transformed as a result of agricultural activities slowly lose the ability to self-regulate and implement adaptive connections with the environment. They become at first partially and then completely dependent on the person. As a result, agroecosystems of different levels of anthropogenic transformation are formed:

1. Quasi-natural - agroecosystems that are closest to natural ecosystems, which are self-regulating and differ only in slightly disturbed vegetation cover (natural meadows with moderate grazing)

2. Semi-natural – moderately and severely disturbed ecosystems capable of partial self-regulation (improved hayfields and pastures)

3. Anthropogenic ecological complexes - agroecosystems that are highly modified or created by humans, the functioning of which occurs with the obligatory participation of man and under her control (crop rotation fields with the application of fertilizers, perennial plantings, fields of irrigated agriculture).

Such artificial ecological complexes are unstable complexes of loosely interconnected living organisms that are only to a small extent capable of self-regulation, and the renewal of the main components of their biota and the regular repetition of biological cycles is possible only with the active participation of humans.

As a result, the natural territorial complex as a dialectical set of interconnected components becomes the actual object of land use. Therefore, during reclamation, it is necessary to expediently rearrange its functioning by influencing mainly moisture exchange, biogenic components, and partly geochemical features and gravitational processes. The reason for failures and mistakes in most cases is a one-sided approach to land reclamation, when not the agricultural landscape as a whole is considered as an object, but only its individual component.

An analysis of modern research has shown that the agrolandscape approach, which makes it possible to study the entire complex of natural-geographical and economic components, as well as to detect their internal and external connections, the dynamics of changes in the landscape, is the most promising in the search for new principles of agricultural organization of the territory. Most researchers emphasize the following provisions of agrolandscape land management:

The foundation on which the farming system is formed, regardless of the category of land users and forms of ownership, should be an environmentally balanced soil and water conservation organization of the territory;

The agrotechnical or technological block (structure of sown areas, crop rotation, tillage systems, land reclamation) must correspond to the created soil and water protection structure of the agricultural landscape.

Geographers insist on the need to transition to landscape-contour and reclamation-contour land use systems, common in all developed countries of the world. Such developments were supported by the majority of agricultural specialists, and at this time the so-called agrolandscape territorial organization of rural areas is being gradually introduced. The agrolandscape organization of the territory combines the principles of landscape and reclamation-contour land use, on the one hand, and the formation of national, regional and local systems of ecological networks, on the other. Agrolandscape organization of rural areas is the basis for the sustainable development of the country as a whole and its individual regions.

Thus, the relevance of developing methods of applied zoning on an agrolandscape basis for agricultural purposes and, in particular, for conducting a cadastre of agricultural lands, is due to the need to develop new, integrated approaches to the organization of territory, since most miscalculations and failures in environmental management stem from ignorance or ignoring the relationships between individual components of the natural environment.

A general model of a natural-economic system, where the economic and natural subsystems form an integral unity, and the anthropogenic factor is an internal element of the development of the system, was proposed by G.I. Schwebs. According to the author, the complex development of a territory encounters objects of two types: on the one hand, complexes weakly transformed by economic activity, the properties and functioning of which are determined by the natural environment, on the other hand, natural-economic formations (systems) secondary to natural complexes. By natural-economic territorial system (PHTS), G.I. Shvebs understands the form of existence and development of the geographical environment in its integrity and specificity. PHTS form a hierarchical system. An elementary unit is called a natural-economic contour (PH-contour), and higher-ranking units include a natural-economic massif (PH-massif), a natural-economic terrain (PH-terrain), a natural-economic area (PH-region) and natural economic district (PH-district). So, PCTS is a functioning whole, changing the natural basis, participating in the formation of the anthropogenic landscape and the technological product of economic activity.

All PCTS can be divided depending on the degree and direction of economic impact into three types:

1) natural, weakly transformed;

2) constructive;

3) derivatives, with varying degrees of degradation of PCTS.

Natural weakly transformed PHTS (forest, steppe, desert, environmental protection, etc.) are experiencing an increasing influence of the anthropogenic factor. This led to a targeted change in natural landscapes and their acquisition of new properties that contributed to the preservation of the landscape complex in changed conditions.

Structural ones include PHTS created according to a specific special project. These are recreational, park, residential, industrial, agrolandscape, etc. Unlike natural ones, these PHTS are regulated in direction, nature and strength of impact. One of the tasks of their creation is to develop a mechanism for combining natural and economic subsystems.

When constructive PCTS interact with natural ones, a type of PCTS derivatives is formed. They arise spontaneously, as a result of exposure to fundamental disturbances of natural landscapes and the formation of degraded geosystems in their place (stages of digression of the original geosystems as a result of pasture or other load), that is, when changes have affected all components, forming a new geosystem.

2.2 Soil transformation

Agroeconomic assessment of soils

In the agroeconomic assessment of soil resources, soils are the object of assessment, and agricultural crops are the subject.

The specificity of this assessment lies in the priority of identifying the level of potential soil fertility and taking into account its relative nature, which is associated with the unequal requirements of different crops for edaphic growing conditions. Therefore, the main criterion for this assessment is static (time-stable) soil properties, correlative with plant productivity. Indicators of natural soil properties characterize the level of potential fertility, which at the same time depends on secondary soil processes developing during the economic use of land. To date, the theoretical foundations for assessing soil fertility have already been developed, and methods for grading soil resources have been created and introduced into assessment practice.

An indicator of soil quality (the level of potential fertility) is the bonitet score in relation to the best (reference) soil, the score of which is taken to be 100. The reference indicators of soil properties for each crop are different and correspond to its requirements for the edaphic environment. The static properties of soils were taken to be not only stable over time, but also quite fully reflecting the essence of soil fertility: humus content (%), physical clay (%), thickness of the humus horizon (cm). Such properties of the soil environment as low profile thickness, erosion, skeletality, solonetz content, salinity and some others, which negatively affect growth, development, and, consequently, the yield and its quality, were taken into account using correction factors.

Table 6 shows the results of an agroecological assessment of normally developed soils in relation to the main agricultural crops grown on the Kerch Peninsula.

Table 6 Potential fertility (in points) of soils on the Kerch Peninsula for main agricultural crops

All soils discussed above are widely used in agriculture (Figure 11).

Rice. 11. Plowed land in Crimea (% of the total area of ​​agricultural land).

The eastern part of the Kerch Peninsula is the most heavily plowed, 80-90%. The central part of the peninsula is also quite heavily plowed - 60-80%. The western part is plowed to a lesser extent - 60%, as well as the sea coasts - 40-50%.

Most of the area of ​​arable land is subject to negative processes and phenomena intensified by economic activity.

Secondary soil processes

The involvement of natural ecosystems in the economic sphere inevitably leads to changes in landscape conditions, which can cause the emergence of new, secondary soil processes, transformation of the structure of the soil cover and the formation of natural landscapes of natural economic systems in place: agricultural landscapes, residential, industrial, transport and communication, environmental and others.

Agricultural use of the territory is the most common type of anthropogenic transformation of soil resources.

Along with the simplification of the soil cover during its plowing, in large areas there is the development of secondary degradation processes, such as solonetzation, salinization, gleyization, solodization, slitization, pollution with ballast components of fertilizers, residual amounts of pesticides, etc. (Fig. 12).

On the Kerch Peninsula, such negative processes as secondary salinization (southwestern part of the peninsula), erosion (western and eastern parts), deflation (central part), solonetzization (northeastern and central parts), dehumification (eastern and western parts), slitization (central part).

The plowing of land contributed to the manifestation of deflationary and erosion processes. There is a tendency for a further increase in the areas of deflated and eroded lands. The use of heavy tillage equipment in the fields leads to soil compaction, the formation of a plow “sole”, merged “paths” in perennial plantings, as a result of which a technogenic micro-complexity of the soil cover is formed.

Rice. 12. Geography of negative processes in the soil cover of Crimea

Legend: 1-borders of soil areas with the same negative processes; negative soil processes: 2 – flooding; 3 – secondary salinization; 4 – solonetsization; 5 – soda manifestation; 6 – removal of water-soluble compounds during irrigation; 7 – solodization; 8 – crust formation; 9 – colmatage; 10 – gleying; 11 – erosion; 12 – local manifestation of the process; 13 – slitization; 14 – disturbance of the soil profile; 15 – deflation; 16 – chemical pollution; 17 – dehumification; 18 – burial of soils by mudflows; 19 – landslides; 20 – secondary karst.

The influence of irrigation on soil processes

One of the most powerful types of anthropogenic impact on geochemical and geophysical processes in landscapes is irrigation. In the soils of eastern Crimea, where irrigation is widely used, this type of reclamation significantly affects the nature of soil processes. Increased moisture, which is unusual for the natural genesis of these soils, creates trends of profound changes in the direction and intensity of chemical, physicochemical, physical, biological and other soil processes. In most cases, secondary processes occurring in irrigated soils are assessed as degradation. The most important of them are salinization, solonetzization, agro-irrigation compaction, dehumification, and loss of agronomically valuable structure. On a geological time scale, these processes are relatively fast. Of the secondary processes, later in the stage of development, such as gleyization, solodization, and slitization often appear. The lands of the Kerch Peninsula are irrigated mainly from the North Crimean Canal system (Fig. 13).

Rice. 13. Irrigated lands of Crimea (% of the total area of ​​agricultural land of farms)

The total area of ​​irrigated land on the Kerch Peninsula reaches 20%. The efficiency of use of irrigated land is shown in Table 7.

Table 7 Efficiency of use of irrigated land, water and electricity for irrigation on the Kerch Peninsula

All of the above facts force us to look for new methods of irrigating Crimean lands and alternatives to using water from the North Crimean Canal in general. One irrigation method that completely eliminates soil erosion is the “alternative irrigation design.” It consists of the following: when preparing the soil for sowing, granules with moisture contained in them are placed in the ground, in which, if necessary, mineral salts and microelements are also dissolved.

Upon contact with the soil, the shells of the granules are destroyed, thus releasing the contents and moistening the peri-root system. Granules are selected with walls of different thicknesses in accordance with the development time of various plants. This project solves the problem of growing rice as a moisture-loving crop (now there is a question of stopping the cultivation of rice in Crimea due to a lack of fresh water).

The monetary cost of the project is much less than the amount required for annual maintenance of the SKK irrigation system. The cost of the project according to the business plan is 10.3 million. dollars for 6 years (1.5-2.5 million dollars per year), taking into account the development of technology for the production and introduction of moisture carriers into the soil, and the creation of a pilot batch of relevant equipment and new agricultural machinery. The author of the project is the late academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine V.I. Belyaev, who presented this project to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, but the Innovation Fund of Ukraine did not find funds to finance the project. Thus, it remained untested.

Another method, alternative to the use of Dnieper water, is the method of desalination of sea water, of which there is no shortage in Crimea. But again, its development requires large cash injections for the purchase of equipment and the construction of desalination plants. However, this is more practical than transporting water from other sources. But the problem of replacing fresh water supply with sea water, that is, the direct use of sea water, is especially relevant for coastal areas. The foreign experience of the USA, Saudi Arabia and Japan in the use of sea water for industrial purposes allows us to hope that in Crimea, the use of colossal sea water resources will reduce the shortage of fresh water.

In any case, the government of Ukraine should pay attention to this problem and choose ways to develop the water management complex of Crimea.

If this is the further operation of the SCC, then it is necessary to ensure monitoring of the system and timely high-quality technical maintenance, full repair and restoration work to maintain the components of the canal in working condition, otherwise, after the destruction of the entire complex, it will no longer be possible for Crimea to restore it , nor Ukraine.

If the path of alternative methods is chosen, then it is necessary to ensure the filling of the Innovation Fund to support the development of scientific research.

In both cases, changes are needed, otherwise, if you turn a blind eye to the problem of water use in Crimea, this can lead to irreversible processes that will affect all spheres of the economy and life of Crimea.

Anthropogenic transformation of soils

Anthropogenic transformation of soils is usually understood as a directed change in their characteristics that occurs under the influence of anthropogenic factors. Transformation, in contrast to the dynamics of properties, is characterized by a stable transformation of an object. The degree of anthropogenic transformation of lands is determined not only by the nature of use and the strength of economic impact on them, but also by the entire complex of properties on which the sustainability of landscapes depends.

The concept of stability of geosystems is based on the concept of dynamic equilibrium as a form of their existence. In assessing sustainability, the properties of plasticity, inertia, and buffering are used, that is, the ability of geosystems to maintain the structural and functional core in changing environmental conditions and return to their original state. Stability is ensured by reversible, predominantly cyclical, processes, manifested in stabilizing dynamics and the ability to recover after removal of loads. The criteria for assessing stability are different depending on the natural characteristics of geosystems.

For steppes on plains, stability is largely determined by the direction of the water-salt regime of soils, the capacity of the colloidal complex of soils, their buffering capacity, which in turn is determined by the composition of absorbed bases and the degree of humus content.

An integral indicator of the stability of geosystems, obviously, can be stable bioproductivity that corresponds to the level of fertility of specific soils as components of specific landscapes. The more stable the geosystem, the lower the degree of its transformation, even under strong economic pressure. Therefore, the transformation of agricultural lands should be understood as changes in their properties in comparison with the initial state (natural landscape) with the inability to fully restore these properties after the cessation of loads. In addition, this refers to the degree of deviation of the quality of agricultural land from the optimal variant of the cultural landscape, in which the manifestations of negative soil processes are minimal.

The process of changing landscapes occurred following a change in the socio-economic situation in Crimea, settlement and development of its territory. The use of data on past stages of the development of Crimea will make it possible in the future to more accurately solve the problems of forecasting and operational management of landscapes. Many authors have paid attention to the study of the influence of long-term land use on the landscapes and soil cover of individual territories of Crimea. This allows the process of anthropogenic transformation of Crimean soils to be divided into several stages.

First stage.

Minimal impact on the soils of Crimea (100–35 thousand years ago).

For a long time, ancient man had minimal impact on nature, since his main occupation was gathering and hunting.

Second phase.

Minor impact on the soils of Crimea (35–3 thousand years ago).

During this period, hunting and cattle breeding formed the basis of the economy in Crimea. Population density was low. Its rate was 1 person per 25 km 2 .

Third stage.

Variable-active impact on the soils of Crimea (3rd–1st millennium BC)

At the end of the Neolithic era (3.2–1.9 thousand years ago), developed agriculture was formed in Crimea (the land began to be cultivated with hoes), and the population was engaged in breeding domestic animals. A “Neolithic revolution” is taking place - a transition from an appropriating economy to a producing economy.

End of the 2nd – beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. (Bronze Age - beginning of the Iron Age). It is characterized by significant areas of settlements, compared to previous eras, and the presence of stone residential and utility buildings. Bones of domestic animals, stone grain grinders, silicon inserts of sickles are indicators of an established cattle-breeding (production) economy. At this time, one settlement of 6,200 people had to support a herd of cattle with a head count of 120 heads or 730 sheep. For three settlements, their number increased respectively to 360 or 2190 heads. To support such a number of cattle, 549 hectares of pasture are needed, for sheep - 2580 hectares. This does not take into account the areas of land for grazing horses, hayfields, and cultivated soil. The load on natural landscape complexes and soils has increased. Clearly defined anthropogenic landscapes are appearing. But this load was not constant.

Fourth stage.

Significant impact on soils (1st millennium BC – 3rd century AD).

Quite large settlements are being formed on the territory of Crimea, with a higher population density compared to the previously described periods. The entire territory of Crimea is divided between various state-territorial entities. Farming systems emerge that significantly affect the soil layer and flora of the peninsula. It should be noted that there are traces of ancient demarcation of agricultural land in the choir of Chersonesos, the so-called. claires (fences of land plots (up to 100 km 2), which are especially clearly visible on the surface of the Heraclea, Mayachny, Tarkhankutsky peninsulas.

Agricultural products are produced not only for domestic consumption by the farm, but also for trade exchange. The population is located along river valleys in areas with fertile soils; the slopes of mountains, gullies, and yayl plateaus, inconvenient for agriculture, are used for cattle breeding.

The Greek colonization of the region is associated with the introduction of intensive forms of agriculture, the introduction of Mediterranean fruit, ornamental and industrial crops, and vineyards.

The basis of the Bosporus was agriculture, the main crops of which were grains and legumes. Near the village of Semenovka, during excavations of the settlement, ploughshares were discovered that allowed plowing to a depth of up to 9 cm. Harvests in the Bosporan kingdom averaged 10 hectoliters (about 50 poods) of grain per hectare (14.74 c/ha).

The Scythian nomads remained in one place for as long as there was enough grass for herds of horses and cows, and then moved to another section of the steppe. With this method of using steppe vegetation, it was not subject to harmful livestock slaughter. Moderate grazing was even beneficial for her, as it prevented the growth of weeds. The soil layer was slightly deformed. However, its physical properties changed due to compaction, dynamics of mechanical and granulometric composition.

With the emergence of the Late Scythian state, the main occupation of the local population remained agriculture and viticulture. They grew mainly grains and legumes. On significant areas of cultivated land, the yield of wheat in the Crimea could be as high as six (about 5 c/ha), and for barley as high as five (about 4 c/ha). Cattle breeding also played a significant role in the economy of the late Scythians. They raised mainly small cattle. In the first centuries, the number of cattle increased. Steppe fires had a negative impact on the humus state and physical properties of soils, since the Scythians (especially in wartime) burned out the grass, using the “tactics of devastated land.”

Fifth stage.

The restoration stage of the dynamics of the soil cover of Crimea

(3rd–13th century AD)

After the collapse of the Scythian and Bosporan states and the decline of Chersonesos, a period of restoration of the soil cover was established in a large territory of Crimea. At the turn of the 4th–5th centuries. AD, with the beginning of the Great Migration process, the Middle Ages began.

The nomads who lived in the southern Black Sea region, and later the Crimean Tatars, had the same attitude towards nature, since their way of life had many common features. Their impact on the landscapes of Crimea was limited to moderate grazing and burning of grass vegetation. The ratio of areas occupied by steppe and forest remained almost unchanged from the time of Herodotus until the mid-18th century AD. At this time, grassy steppes dominated other lands.

Sixth stage

Active use of soils and landscapes.

In the 13th century In the Crimea, the principalities of Feodoro and Kyrk-Orskoye were separated, the population of which was engaged in field cultivation, fruit and vegetable growing and viticulture, as well as mountain cattle breeding. In mountainous areas, forest gardens - chairs - were created. In the Crimean forests you can still find fragments of former mountain fruit growing. With the development of cattle breeding in the mountainous Crimea, the anthropogenic load on the landscapes of foothill and mountainous areas increases. Forests are cut down and pastures are created in their place, and later the forests are destroyed due to the use of wood in construction.

With the penetration of the Venetians and Genoese into Crimea, active anthropogenic impact continues on the landscapes of the South Coast and the Southern slopes of the Main Ridge, where viticulture is developing.

Seventh stage.

Intensive transformation of soils in Crimea (18th - early 20th centuries)

The most decisive turning point in the history of the peoples of the steppe zone of Crimea occurred in the period under review. The transition of the Black Sea and Azov steppe coasts into the possession of the Russian Empire entailed the rapid settlement of this territory by Ukrainians and Russians. The number of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples has decreased. Due to changes in population, the nature of the steppe zone of the Northern Black Sea region of Crimea is also being transformed. The area of ​​arable land has increased. In general, due to the remoteness of Crimea and the peculiarities of the political and economic situation, the pace of development of the Tauride province was lower than in the neighboring provinces: Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Bessarabia. By the end of the 18th century. plowing of the Kherson province was 10%, Ekaterinoslav - 32%, Bessarabian - 38%, and Tauride - only 18% of the area of ​​agricultural land. An extremely large increase in the absolute size of arable area in all provinces was observed in the period 1861 - 1887.

In the Tauride province from 1881 to 1888. the sown area increased by only 16.2%, and from 1888 to 1899 it increased by 35%. The main increase in arable land occurred in the Dnieper, Perekop, Evpatoria, Feodosia and Simferopol districts. Particularly great changes occurred in the steppe part, where, due to a new increase in demand for wheat, this crop occupied significant areas. In 1889-1900 its crops accounted for 43.1% of the total grain crop area.

Population of Crimea from 1865 to 1890. has doubled. The forests were quickly cleared. Secondary forests or shiblyak-type thickets arose on the southern coast.

During the period from 1860 to 1917, the area of ​​land occupied by forests decreased by one third and amounted to 221 thousand hectares. At this time, there was a transition from fallow to fallow grain cropping systems. Significant changes occurred in the soil cultivation system. According to the instructions of landowners or managers of farms and estates, plowers had to raise the fallow field an average of 3.5 inches (15.6 cm), there should have been 7-8 furrows per fathom (2.13 m). Due to the intensive development of sheep farming, virgin steppes turned into cattle slaughterhouses.

Such a rapid transformation of natural landscapes led to processes of soil destruction and the development of intense erosion processes. The replacement of natural vegetation by humans led to the formation of agricultural landscapes during this period - a special independent category of geosystems that combines natural and anthropogenic properties.

Eighth stage.

Minor restoration of soil cover

1913-mid 20s

With the outbreak of the First World War, a short-term period of restoration of the natural landscapes of Crimea began. By 1913, the sown area again decreased to 655 thousand dessiatines (715 thousand hectares). The number of sheep is decreasing. In 1919, Crimea was predominantly agricultural. Of the total area of ​​agricultural land in Crimea of ​​2360.4 thousand dessiatines (2577.6 thousand hectares), 1588.3 thousand dessiatines (1734.4 thousand hectares) or 63% were under agricultural crops and farmland. These lands were mainly occupied by arable land.

Ninth stage

Late 20s - late 90s.

Maximum impact on geosystems.

This period was characterized by intensive development of the national economy. Especially in the second half of the 20th century, anthropogenic pressures led to a radical transformation of landscapes. Among them, we highlight the main reasons for the transformation of geosystems:

Increasing the area of ​​arable land, decreasing the area of ​​pastures;

Increasing the area under vineyards, essential oil crops, orchards;

Secondary salinization, flooding of lands;

Increased use of herbicides, pesticides, mineral fertilizers

Construction of chemical plants;

Construction of reservoirs, transport routes, communications networks;

Creation of resort infrastructure enterprises;

Increasing the density of settlements.

Currently, the Crimean Peninsula is one of the agriculturally intensively developed territories. It is characterized by grain farming and intensive branches of agriculture - horticulture and viticulture. As a result of the extensive development of agricultural production and failure to take into account the landscape features of the territory, a significant transformation of land occurred on the Crimean Peninsula. In the steppe Crimea, natural landscapes have practically disappeared. Anthropogenic impact on landscapes, and especially on soils, increased with the introduction of the North Crimean Canal. The expansion of irrigated areas made it possible to move to a more progressive farming system. But significant areas of irrigated land turned out to be flooded and partly saline, damaged by erosion (Tables 8 and 9).

Table 8 Areas of erosion-hazardous lands (thousand hectares)

No.,pp	Natural-agricultural-economic region of Crimea	Total land area	Deflationary-dangerous	Subject to the combined effects of water and wind erosion	Susceptible to water erosion
Black Sea	417,3	375,9	54,5	67,7
Krasnogvardeisky	322,9	266,1	10,2	15,5
Saki	193,2	162,7	26,7	24,6
Kerch	244,3	183,1	4,7	28,3
Dzhankoysky	427,0	317,0	4,6	4,7
Simferopol	283,8	149,0	8,5	86,6
7.	Yuzhnoberezhny	41,3	-	-	17,0
8.	Mountain	48,2	-	-	25,4

Table 9 Areas of Crimean agricultural landscapes subject to erosion

	Types of agricultural land	Wind erosion		Water erosion		Co-exposed
		total thousand hectares.	in % to type of land	total thousand hectares.	in % to type of land	total thousand hectares.	in % to type of land
1	Arable land	823,2	66,0	96,0	7,6	31,8	2,5
2	Perennial plantings	46,8	37,4	10,8	8,6	0,3	0,2
3	Deposits	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Haymaking	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	pastures	247,2	62,2	92,5	23,3	15,8	4,0
6	Total agricultural lands	1117,2	63,1	199,3	11,3	47,9	2,7

As can be seen from the tables, the Kerch Peninsula is quite susceptible to anthropogenic transformation. The areas with the lowest transformation are those where low natural soil fertility precludes their agricultural use. Areas dominated by saline soils and thin soils with rock outcrops are characterized by weak transformation, which determined their use in the case of unproductive pastures. The areas where irrigated agriculture is developed are characterized by the greatest transformation.

Chapter 3. Monitoring the condition of the soil cover and landscape of the territory

anthropogenic transformation soil landscape

Work on the protection of soils and landscapes requires the availability of information about their condition, about their changes under the influence of anthropogenic loads.

The ecological role of the soil as a node of connections of the biosphere, where all metabolic processes between the earth's crust, hydrosphere, atmosphere and land-dwelling organisms occur most intensively, determines the need for a special organization of soil monitoring as an integral part of general environmental monitoring.

Soil and landscape monitoring is an information system for observing, assessing and forecasting changes in soils and landscapes under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. Every year the need to organize a soil and landscape monitoring service becomes more and more urgent, since the size of anthropogenic loads on them is constantly increasing.

The most important tasks of soil monitoring at present are the following:

Assessment of average annual losses of soil resources due to water, irrigation erosion and deflation;

Detection of regions with a deficient balance of essential plant nutrients, identification and assessment of the rate of loss of humus, nitrogen, and phosphorus; monitoring the content of plant nutrients;

Control of acid-base indicators of soils, which is especially important in areas of irrigation, the use of high doses of mineral fertilizers and industrial wastes as ameliorants, as well as in large industrial centers and adjacent areas where precipitation is highly acidic;

Observations of the salt regime of irrigated soils;

Control of soil contamination with heavy metals due to global fallout and fertilizer use;

Control of local soil contamination with heavy metals in the zone of influence of industrial enterprises and transport routes, as well as pesticides in regions of their constant use, detergents and household waste in areas with high population density;

Long-term and seasonal (during the growing season of plants) control of humidity, temperature, structural state, water-physical properties of soils;

Assessment of probable changes in soil properties during the design of hydraulic construction, land reclamation, introduction of new farming and fertilizer systems, etc.;

Inspection control of the size and correctness of the alienation of arable soils for industrial and municipal purposes.

This is probably not a complete list of tasks facing soil monitoring. In addition to those listed, in the future new, additional tasks may appear that will be associated with new technological processes and the expansion of the range of organic and mineral substances synthesized by the chemical industry. At the same time, some of today's tasks will be removed, for example, with the transition of industrial enterprises to waste-free technology, and the need to control chemical contamination of soils in adjacent areas will no longer be necessary.

Monitoring begins with the study of existing materials about the conditions and factors of soil formation, existing soil maps, field history books, information about farming systems, fertilizers, etc.

It should be noted that successful monitoring of the condition of soils and soil cover cannot do without the use of a comparison standard. In this case, this concept includes the designation of a certain conventional reference point in the characteristics of typical soil in a particular region. This term is also used in a number of other interpretations - standard as “reference soil”, or reference soil, “standard of fertility”. For monitoring purposes, it is important to have characteristics of the initial (beginning of observations) soil condition.

Based on the results of the analysis of the collected materials, monitoring objects are selected. They should reflect typical natural ecosystems and agroecosystems and serve as standards where anthropogenic influence is practically absent or reduced to a minimum, as well as areas within which there is very high anthropogenic pressure. To select observation objects, it is necessary to use not only medium- and large-scale soil maps, but also various cartograms (erosion, salinity, pollution, etc.), which are used to determine the degree of soil degradation.

An important part of soil monitoring is the selection of their properties, which should be monitored over time in order to detect changes, both natural and anthropogenic. Indicators of changes may be signs of the onset of the development of negative processes, persistent degradation and irreversible degradation.

If there is a significant amount of information collected before the start of observations (retrospective monitoring) and during monitoring at selected objects, a database is created for their further systematization, processing and storage. The monitoring results are used by a special service for operational warning of negative soil processes.

Only with a developed soil monitoring infrastructure, similar to those that operate in the advanced countries of the world, can the adjustment of soil surveys be reduced to a minimum and limited to interpolation of the results of monitoring studies over large areas. At the same time, one should adhere to the rule that the transfer of research results carried out as part of monitoring can only be transferred to genetically related soils.

Soil cover monitoring has its own specifics, providing control of the component composition - a set of elementary soil areas, their geometry, percentage, level of contrast and complexity. It can be carried out when adjusting large-scale maps compiled during the period of previous surveys, as well as within the framework of national monitoring of land resources using remote and ground-based methods. Monitoring of soil cover is especially relevant in areas of intensive reclamation (drainage, irrigation) and in areas of crisis situations. It can be performed on special analogue keys.

Conclusion

On the territory of the Kerch Peninsula, transformation of soils and landscapes occurs under the influence of various factors and mechanisms. Natural conditions form a certain background, which serves as the basis for the development of chains of consequences caused by anthropogenic factors. The latter cause a disruption of the established balance. Due to the strong transformation of ecosystems and the almost complete absence of natural phytocenoses, regulatory mechanisms work poorly. In addition, the imbalance spreads to other ecosystems, which further reduces the level of stabilization.

As a result of the work performed, I received the following conclusions: the transformation of agricultural lands of the Kerch Peninsula includes at least two components: 1) transformation of natural landscapes into natural-anthropogenic landscapes (agricultural landscapes of various types), 2) transformation of soils: changes in chemistry, humidity, mechanical composition, density, the manifestation of new types of processes (for example, irrigation erosion, solodization, slitization, dehumification, etc. In the first case, we are talking about the replacement of natural components - vegetation, soils, climate (at the local climate level), relief (at the microrelief level and, sometimes , mesorelief) - artificial - vegetation of gardens, vineyards, grain and row crops, perennial grasses, artificial soils, artificial terraces, reservoirs, buildings, etc. Replacements of this kind cannot be unambiguously determined within the framework of the good - bad assessment, since they are anthropogenic systems are necessary for human existence.We can only talk about the need to search for reasonable territorial proportions between natural and anthropogenic systems. In the second case, we are talking about transforming landscape components without changing the very essence of the components, for example, changing soil characteristics. These changes are in most cases unfavorable.

Often there is a complex interweaving of natural and anthropogenic processes, the occurrence of so-called chain reactions. Chain reactions also involve areas located next to those where the influences occur. Often the consequences of an act extend to areas far from the scene of the act.

Literature

1. Atlas of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea / [Ed. N.V. Bagrova]. – Simferopol: 2003. – 80 p.

2. Dragan N.A. Soil resources of Crimea / Dragan N.A. – Simferopol: Share, 2004. – 207 p. - (Tutorial).

3. Dragan N.A. Soil protection / Dragan N.A. – Simferopol: Share, 2004. – 160 p. - (Tutorial).

4. Dragan N.A. The influence of irrigation on the soil cover of the Crimean plain. Sat. Issues of development of Crimea / issue 4 – Simferopol. Tavria, 1997 – p. 61-66.

5. Ergina E.I. Periodization of anthropogenic transformation of Crimean landscapes / Ergina E.I. // Culture of the peoples of the Black Sea region - 2005 - No. 52, 5-8 p.

6. Use of water resources in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Scientific works of KIPKS / Sustainable Crimea. Action plan. Kyiv – Simferopol, 1999 p. 181-201.

7. Lvova E.V. Plain Crimea / Lvova E.V. - K., 1978. - 188 p.

8. Key to higher plants of Crimea / [Ed. N.I. Rubtsova]. - L., 1972. - 550 p.

9. Podgorodetsky P. D. Crimea. Nature / Podgorodetsky P.D. – Simferopol: Tavria, 1988. - 192 p.

10. Rubtsov N.I. Flora of Crimea / Rubtsov N.I. – Simferopol: Tavria, 1978. – 128 p.

11. Kerch Peninsula [Electronic resource] / Free encyclopedia Wikipedia. – 2009 – Access mode: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerch_peninsula.htm

12. Kerch Hills [Electronic resource] / 2008. – Access mode: http://www.onixtour.com.ua/books/91c2e61/part04.htm

13. Climate [Electronic resource] / 2008. – Access mode: http://bospor.org/climate.htm

Introduction

The Kerch Strait is an important fishing area for many fish species, as it connects the Azov and Black Seas and is a fish migration route. One of the favorable conditions for fishing in the Kerch Strait is its shallowness. Putin's fishing in the strait begins in October-November and continues for a number of months.

The living resources of the Azov and Black Seas, which are found in the Kerch Strait, play a huge role in the economy of the state. Their condition is closely related to the unique structure of the basin, the huge catchment area, the interstate affiliation of reservoirs, as well as the modern environmental situation and the international legal regime of fishing.

In the Kerch Strait there are species of fish that breed and feed in the Sea of ​​Azov. Among them, species that permanently live in the Sea of ​​Azov stand out. These are pilengas, glossa, sprat, percarina, needle fish and most species of gobies. And finally, there is a large group of fish that make regular migrations passing through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. These include: Azov anchovy, Black Sea herring, mullet, singil, sharpnose, mullet, horse mackerel, mackerel, etc.

In the Kerch Strait there are fish of a local complex, these include: gobies, sole; and the fish that migrate from Azov to Chernoye include: Azov anchovy, mullet, silverside.

There are also species that sometimes enter the Kerch Strait: Black Sea anchovy.

Among the valuable commercial species that live in the Kerch Strait are: Black Sea Kalkan, Black Sea flounder, Round Goby, Sirman Goby, Black Sea Mullet, and Sea Cat.

The Azov Sea basin has always been considered one of the most productive in the World Ocean. The natural productivity of the waters contributed to the creation of high fishing potential.

Hydrometeorological regime of the Kerch Strait

The Kerch Strait plays an important role in the formation of the oceanographic regime of the Black and Azov Seas, which it connects. The length of the Kerch Strait in a straight line is about 43 km, along the fairway - 48 km. The width of the strait varies widely: from 3.7 to 42 km. The strait is shallow: the greatest depths when entering the strait from the side of the Azov Sea do not exceed 10.5 m, from the Black Sea - 18 m. As you move towards the middle of the strait, the depths gradually decrease and over a larger area are about 5.5 m. The total area of ​​the Kerch The strait is approximately equal to 805 square meters. km., water volume - 4.56 cubic km. The strait plays a significant role in shaping the characteristics of the hydrological and hydrochemical regime of the Azov-Black Sea basin and is the most important fishing area and shipping route.

According to YugNIRO research, the state of the marine environment of the Kerch Strait is characterized by the following indicators: salinity 11-17%. The content of suspended matter is from 0.5 to 5.0 mg/l, the average concentrations of organic nitrogen are at the level of 0.8 mg/l, salt ammonium, nitrate and nitrite nitrogen are 0.04, 0.01 and 0.006 mg/l, respectively. Concentrations of nitrogen group substances experience seasonal fluctuations.

According to the value of the water pollution index (WPI), in 2001 the waters of the Kerch Strait in its northern narrowness were classified as clean (WPI = 0.36, quality class II). In 2002, the quality of the waters deteriorated and they became moderately polluted (WPI increased to 0.84, which corresponds to water quality class III).

The Kerch Strait is a historically formed ecological corridor for the Azov-Black Sea faunistic and floristic biocinoses, representatives of which freely penetrate through the strait. Thus, a significant number of commercial fish migrate through the strait from the Azov Sea to the Black Sea, for which migration is essential in their life cycle. These include Azov anchovy, herring, red mullet, pilengas, mullet, herring, and sturgeon. In addition, the shallow water zone in the eastern part of the Kerch Strait and the adjacent Taman Bay are feeding grounds for mullet and native mullet. Until the early 50s of the 20th century, when regulation of the flow of the Don and Kuban rivers began, the ecosystems of the Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait were adapted to natural water exchange with the Black Sea and to the distribution of depths in the Kerch Strait, which ensured high fishery productivity of these waters.

After regulating the flow of the Don and Kuban due to the creation of a cascade of reservoirs and the development of irrigation agriculture in the basins, the hydrobiological state of the Sea of ​​Azov noticeably deteriorated due to an increase in its salinity (on average by 1 - 2%), changes in the intra-annual distribution of river flow and the ratio of various forms of nitrogen compounds and phosphorus entering the Sea of ​​Azov with rivers.

In the area of ​​the Kerch Strait, wind conditions are quite varied. In general, along the coast in winter, northern and northeastern winds are more often observed (frequency rate from 10 to 47%).

In spring, as in winter, northern and northeastern winds are most often observed with a frequency of 8-34‰.

In summer, the wind regime is unstable, but southwest winds with a frequency of 11-24% still have some advantage.

In autumn, winds from the northern and northeastern directions dominate, the frequency of each of them can reach 40-46%.

The average annual wind speed is 5.3--6.9 m/s. In the annual variation of wind speed, the maximum occurs in one of the months of the period October-April, the minimum - in one of the months of the period July-September. The change in average monthly wind speeds from month to month is 1.0--1.3 m/s. The average wind speed in some years differs significantly from the long-term average. Wind speed in any direction depends significantly on the season of the year. As a rule, it is less in warm weather than in cold weather. The speed of eastern and northeastern winds decreases especially in summer. During the year, weak winds (speed 0-5 m/s) prevail, the frequency of which is 60-70%. The share of moderate winds is about 23%, the share of strong winds (10 m/s) is 10-20%. In summer, the frequency of weak winds slightly increases and the frequency of strong winds decreases. Storm winds with a speed of up to 20 m/s are observed at any time of the year, and with a speed of more than 20 m/s - only from October to April.

Sea level. Changes in sea level are caused, first of all, by the stability of strong winds and characterize the intensity and features of surge processes. Significant spatiotemporal variability of the wind, combined with complex morphometry, determines the complex nature of level changes along the shores of the Kerch Strait, leading to multi-stage deformation of the surge wave. In Kerch Bay, the surge wave is a combination of a translational and a standing wave, that is, it can be considered as translational with a changing amplitude. In a forward wave, the level is in the same phase with the flow speed; in a standing wave, there is a constant phase difference between level fluctuations and changes in the flow. As a result of the addition of these two wave systems, a complex system of level fluctuations and currents arises. The complexity of the level topography leads to the fact that at any given moment in time the levels in the bay are higher or lower than the levels in the adjacent areas of the strait and seas.

Due to the shallowness of the Kerch Strait, sea level quickly responds to wind influences. The average rate of rise and fall of the level is 6-10 cm/h, the maximum is up to 26 cm/h. The duration of surges or surges varies widely from several hours to several days. The onset of the level extremum during surges and surges occurs in most cases 3-5 hours after the maximum speed is established

In the waters of the Kerch Strait, waves are predominantly of the wind type; the appearance of swell is very rare. Wind waves develop very quickly; already 2-3 hours after the start of the wind, the growth of waves stops due to the shallow depth, so the duration of the wind does not play a decisive role. On windward shores, the development of waves is limited by depth, while on leeward shores, not only wind speed and depth influence, but also wave acceleration.

With the strongest storm winds with speeds above 20-25 m/s, wave growth is also limited by depth. However, these winds are observed extremely rarely and mainly in the autumn-winter period.

The parameters of the excitement of 50% security are average values, and the excitement of 1% security can be considered as the maximum.

Although the formation of the current field depends on many conditions, the main role belongs to the wind dominant over the water area of ​​the strait with adjacent sea areas, the difference in levels at the ends of the strait caused by surges and surges, and the difference in the balance of fresh waters of the Black and Azov seas. Moreover, the latter factor creates mainly background (long-period) changes in sea level and water transport (water exchange), which are superimposed by short-period fluctuations determined by wind activity. The effect of the wind is manifested in two ways: on the one hand, it causes level fluctuations at the ends and in the strait itself, causing the emergence of gradient currents, and on the other, it directly affects the water surface and, due to tangential stress, contributes to a change in speed and sometimes direction currents.

Currents in the coastal zone are a system of gyres formed from the main flow. In the zone of gyres, the current regime is strongly influenced by the configuration of the banks and the bottom topography. In this case, local gyres and countercurrents are formed in the bays. Due to the "wandering" of the main flow, coastal currents are quite unstable both in speed and direction.

Characteristics of current velocities indicate the possible contribution of inertial, wind and seiche oscillations to the total energy of the process. The lifetime of medium vortices is estimated at 1-1.5 hours, during which time they travel a distance of 1-1.5 km. The characteristic spatial scales of the phenomenon are well correlated with the morphometry of the strait.

In the coastal zone, currents are in most cases directed along the coastline; these directions include the maximum current speeds.

Vertically, in most cases, the currents are unidirectional; in the case of wind steady currents, the speed decreases slightly with depth. In the bottom layer, current directions will deviate towards greater depths.

Under the same weather conditions, an increase in speeds from 7-10 to 40-46 cm/s can be observed, but there are cases when speeds of 6-15 cm/s can be maintained for 2-3 days. With distance from the coast, the stability of currents increases.

In coastal areas, the local wind has a decisive influence on currents. With stable winds at a speed of 6-8 m/s, currents on the sea surface are established within 2-3 hours after the start of the wind. In some cases, currents are observed that are opposite to the action of the wind, or they deviate from it by more than 90°. Within the 300-400-meter coastal zone, during surge and surge winds, as well as in the case of breeze winds, currents directed along the break to the shore are observed. Moreover, during surges in this zone, the currents are directed to the sea (convergence of flows), and during surges - to the shore (divergence of flows).

Water exchange in the Kerch Strait, regardless of the reasons causing them, is divided into three main types: stable Azov - from the Azov Sea, stable Black Sea - from the Black Sea and unsteady mixed type (variable in direction and usually weak current). The relatively high average speeds of the Black Sea currents compared to the Azov currents are associated with the peculiarities of the level topography of the areas.

During periods of calm, Azov currents predominate, which is explained by the positive freshwater balance of the Azov Sea. During the year, the Azov currents also prevail (44%) over the Black Sea ones (39%). The percentage of unstable situations (17%) is relatively low.

Water masses in the Kerch Strait are well identified by salinity and content of nutrients. Visually - by the color and transparency of the water.

Azov waters have a greenish-brown color and contain a large amount of suspended matter. Water transparency usually does not exceed 0.3-0.5 meters. The salinity of Azov waters varies within 10-13 ‰, phosphates - 0.45-0.78 µg/l, silicic acid - 21-30 µg/l.

In the Black Sea waters, transparency reaches 2-3 meters, salinity is 16-17 ‰, phosphate content is in the range of 0.21-0.26 µg/l, silicic acid - 12-17 µg/l.

The main indicator of water exchange is water salinity. The studied water area is characterized by sharp changes: from 11.0 to 18.0 ‰. Quite large horizontal gradients are also observed here: over 1-1.5 km, salinity can change by 3-4 ‰.

Northern and northeastern winds help reduce salinity to 11 ‰. In this case, salinity is most often constant throughout the entire thickness, especially in the shallow water adjacent to the shore.

Southern and southwestern winds push Black Sea waters into the strait with a salinity of up to 17 ‰, which can spread until they reach the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Sea of ​​Azov as a whole belongs to the type of freezing seas with seasonal ice cover. A significant part of the sea area is covered with ice every year. It has been established that sea ice cover (the water area covered by ice) is in good agreement with the sum of average daily negative air temperatures in the ports of Kerch, Taganrog, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Genichesk. On this basis, severe, moderate and mild winters are distinguished. The sum of degree-days of frost for mild winters in the Sea of ​​Azov is less than 200, for moderate winters it is 200-400, for severe winters it is more than 400.

Mild winters are caused by the predominance of cyclonic circulation in atmospheric processes. Positive air temperatures are often observed. Low values ​​persist for a short time. Therefore, during mild winters, unstable ice conditions are observed.

In severe winters, the weather is determined by a well-developed Euro-Asian anticyclone. Cold air constantly flows from the mainland into the waters of the Sea of ​​Azov, promoting rapid cooling of waters and intensive, stable ice formation.

In moderate winters, the weather is formed under the influence of Scandinavian anticyclones and cyclones from the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. This causes an unstable temperature background that is higher than in severe winters.

Directly in the Kerch Strait, although ice appears annually, it is much later and less powerful than in other areas of the Sea of ​​​​Azov, which is explained by the close proximity of the warm Black Sea and the penetration of Black Sea waters into the strait.

The most icy areas are the northern part of the strait (up to the Tuzla Spit) and the Taman Bay.

The first appearance of initial forms of ice is observed in severe winters in the second - third ten days of December; in moderate periods - in the second half of the first ten days of January; in mild ones - at the end of the second - beginning of the third decade of January.

The process of ice formation in the strait proceeds slowly. At the beginning of the second ten days of January, ice appears in the form of shores in Kerch Bay, from where it gradually spreads to the rest of the coastline. Its power and area of ​​distribution depend on the severity of winter. A continuous ice cover up to 45 cm thick is established only in the northern part of the strait up to the Tuzla Spit. The formation of such ice is possible in severe and moderate winters no earlier than January due to the freezing of floating ice carried out from the Sea of ​​Azov.

Only in the very harsh winter of 1953/54. At the village of Zavetnoe, the sea was completely frozen.

During the winter, there are repeated openings and freezing of the strait. This is facilitated by frequent changes in negative and positive air temperatures.

The presence of ice in the strait is noted in mild winters in January-February, in moderate and severe winters - from December to April.

During severe frosts, the strait, especially its northern half, quickly becomes covered with solid ice. With southern winds and currents, the strait is also quickly cleared of ice. Strong northern and northeastern winds create large accumulations of ice at the entrance to the strait, making navigation difficult.

Complete clearing of the strait in severe, moderate and mild winters is observed respectively at the end of April, mid-March and early March.

Temperature regime of the waters of the Kerch Strait.

The temperature regime of the waters of the Kerch Strait is determined by the following physical-geographical and climatic conditions: air temperature, distribution of depth and salinity, currents, water exchange with the Black and Azov Seas. The influence of water exchange is most pronounced in Kerch Bay in the autumn, when the influx of Black Sea waters predominates.

The temperature in the coastal zone has a clearly defined annual cycle and is characterized by large fluctuations throughout the month and year. From January to February, the average temperature remains almost unchanged and remains around 1 °C. Temperature increases from February to March. The water heats up most intensely in April and May. The highest average monthly temperatures are observed in July. The decrease in temperature begins in August, and intense cooling occurs in September and October.

The average annual temperature in the Kerch Strait is 13-14 °C.

The Kerch Strait, connecting the Black and Azov Seas, is characterized by variability of the coastline and sea depths. The shores of the Kerch Strait are high and dissected by bays and bays. The largest of them are the Kamysh-Burunskaya and Kerch bays in the west and the vast Taman Bay in the east. Low-lying sand spits protrude from the shores of the strait. Of these, the largest are the Tuzla and Chushka spits, bordering the Taman Bay from the west.

The bottom topography of the Kerch Strait has a relatively complex structure. The transverse profile of the strait's bed is asymmetrical, and the strait itself is delimited by two bridges into three parts. The channel passage with shallow depths is pressed against the Kerch coast, and wide shallow water contours it along the low-lying coast of the Taman Peninsula. The eastern part of the strait is complicated by extensive accumulative formations: o. Tuzla Spit, Chushka Spit and numerous shallows. Kosa Chushka and Fr. Tuzla Spit is separated from the island part of the Taman Bay Strait. The morphology of the bottom of the Kerch Strait and the coastal strip is complicated by the sea passages and underwater channels of the ports and the Crimea-Caucasus ferry crossing.

The bottom of the sea is very flat, only shallows extend from the spits. The soil is mostly soft. Along the coast there is a wide strip of sandy soils with an admixture of shells. The bottom of the central part of the sea is covered with soft silt. Rocky soil is found only near the southern coast of the sea.

The softness of the soil determines the intensity of sedimentation in channels and fairways. Therefore, every time you intend to enter a port, you should definitely inquire about the depth of the channel or fairway leading to it.

Study of bottom sediments

The modern bottom of the Kerch Strait is composed of sediments of the New Black Sea age, which lie on the main part of the strait on more ancient Quaternary rocks, and in the fairway - on sediments of the Old Black Sea horizon. In terms of lithological and granulometric composition, the bottom sediments of the strait are quite diverse. Data from geological and lithological surveys from different years give grounds to draw a conclusion about certain patterns of spatial distribution of modern sediments in the Kerch Strait. Along the periphery of the strait there is a strip of sandbanks, in places dissected by sections of abrasive shores. The sands make up about. Tuzla Spit, Chushka Spit, separate shallows. The depth of the sand is 3-5 m. The shores (carbonate) are coarse- and medium-grained, the eastern shores (quartz) are fine-grained, and less often medium-grained. In the deeper parts of the Kerch Strait, bottom sediments are represented by fine silty and silty-clayey silts. On the known lithological maps of the modern section, bottom sediments of the island. Tuzla Spit is classified as a field of quartz sands, which in the northeast direction are replaced by a field of fine aleurite silts.

We continue to talk about the national economy of different regions of Crimea. We will dedicate this program to the economy of the Kerch Peninsula. It is known as an important tourist site. Here you can choose from the Black or Azov Sea, the famous healing mud, but today we will focus on something else: industry, transport and agriculture.

Let's start with the city of Kerch. The main sectors of the economy are shipbuilding, ship repair, fish production and processing. Transport also plays a key role. The Kerch sea trade port is located here. Not to be confused with the ferry crossing. The export of Crimean grain to other countries and the supply of gasoline, crushed stone, sand and mineral fertilizers to the peninsula passes through it. A railroad track is approaching your mouth. This allows goods to be transferred from ship to wagons and vice versa.




The geographical position of Kerch is very favorable. Crimea trades with the mainland through it. The ferry crossing - Port Crimea - Port Caucasus is operating at full capacity.






The transit position of the city provides a useful load for all types of freight and passenger transportation, as well as related industries - repair and maintenance of transport. Kerch seaports and Kerch ATP - Motor Transport Enterprise are significant taxpayers of the Crimean budget.

Let's move on to the industry of the city of Kerch. Its calling card is shipbuilding. The main representatives of the industry are the Zaliv plant, the Fregat shipyard and the Tral company. Kerch shipbuilders build passenger ships, tugs, ferries and even tankers. They also do ship repairs. For example, the Gulf can produce new ships and repair existing ones. Its dock served Volgo-Don type vessels, ferries and even a self-propelled floating platform.




The next direction of the Kerch economy is fishing and fish processing. In the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, anchovy, goby, sprat, sprat, and horse mackerel are caught. Among the numerous enterprises in the industry, the Kerch fish processing plant and the Strait plant stand out.




Within the Free Economic Zone, new enterprises in this direction regularly appear, including those with a full cycle: from fishing to selling finished products.

The Black Sea Fishing Company is starting a very important project. She is building a fish collection point. Now they are catching a lot of fish, and the infrastructure cannot cope. There is not enough space for unloading fishing vessels, freezing and storing fish. So the idea is very timely.

The city has its own electricity producer - Kamysh Burunskaya CHPP. It has always been seen as a backup source. But during an energy shortage, it went from being a backup to being the main one. The power of the thermal power plant was not enough for the entire city, but within the limits of their capabilities, the power plant employees worked to the limit. Starting from the blackout, as well as after it, the power of the Kamysh Burun CHPP gradually increased and from the initial 6 megawatts it was increased to 32.


Since ancient times, on the Kerch Peninsula - since the times of Panticapaeum - iron ore has been mined and metal products have been produced. In the mid-19th century, a cast iron factory was built here, but it was destroyed by the British during the Crimean War. The revival of metallurgical production took place half a century later in 1900. Currently, the once single industrial giant is divided into two enterprises - a metallurgical complex and a switch plant.


The metallurgical complex produces enameled steel utensils, and the switch plant produces railway switches and castings - steel and cast iron - for example, wheels for tower cranes, sewer hatches and storm grates.






I will also mention the cement plant. It is being built by the company "Gen Invest". This is a major project within the Free Economic Zone. Implemented on the basis of an agreement with the Government of Crimea. The amount of capital investment is very large - almost a billion rubles. Production capacity is 30 thousand tons of cement per month. The implementation of the project will provide 450 jobs to the region.


Another interesting enterprise is called Algeal. Last year it appeared in government reports as having increased production. It produces plastic handles for dishes, wine stoppers, and plastic bags.






I will briefly name a few more enterprises in the city of Kerch. These are two bakeries, the Sarmat brick factory (by the way, it is already 80 years old). Enterprise South Inter Pack. For 60 years it has been producing metal stoppers, the so-called crown caps.




Today we are not talking about the sanatorium-resort complex, but for reference I will add that there are 15 operating health resorts in Kerch. These are hotels, sanatoriums and recreation centers. Geographical proximity to the mainland makes the city a convenient holiday destination for residents of Russia.

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We continue to talk about the economy of the Kerch Peninsula. Next we will discuss the Leninsky district. In terms of area it is the largest in Crimea. Occupies most of the Kerch Peninsula. It has access to two seas - the Black and Azov. The basis of the economy is the agro-industrial complex. It employs a third of the population. The leading enterprises are Vostok and Zolotoy Kolos. Both are engaged in field farming. Wheat, barley and peas are grown.




In total, there are 84 enterprises in the agricultural sector in the Leninsky district. Of these, 40 are legal entities and 44 are farms. The main crop in the fields is winter wheat. In second place is winter barley, in third place is spring barley. Let me remind you that winter crops are planted in the fall and left to winter, and spring crops are planted in the spring. Also in the Leninsky district, a lot of peas are grown, and flax, sunflower and coriander predominate among oilseeds.




There are two major fruit growing projects within the Free Economic Zone. Each of them has an investment of 90 million rubles.

Dairy cattle breeding, pig and sheep breeding are also represented here.




There is an interesting feature in the Leninsky district. However, it is typical for the whole of Crimea. The main livestock population is concentrated not in livestock enterprises, but in personal subsidiary plots. This is one of the reasons for high meat prices. Large agricultural enterprises have more opportunities to reduce product prices. They have less expenses for an individual animal. But for an individual owner, the costs for each individual are higher, so he sells at a high price, otherwise it is not profitable for him.

Leninsky district lives not only by agriculture. Gas production is underway on the shelf of the Azov Sea. These are the East Kazantip and North Bulganak fields. The work is being carried out by Chernomorneftegaz. Oil has been extracted on land from the Semenovskoye field for more than 30 years. But the volumes there are not large. This oil is used to make fuel oil, and part of it is consumed by Chernomorneftegaz itself for technical needs. The Subbotin oil field is in preparation for the start of production. It is located in the Black Sea south of the Kerch Peninsula.




Other industrial facilities are a plant for the production of aerated concrete, the Arctic cannery and the Alef-Vinal Crimea vintage cognac plant. By the way, Aleph Vinal received gratitude from Sergei Aksenov at the end of 2015. The head of Crimea noted the high tax revenues from this enterprise.

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