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Rural population density and urban settlement population size, 2013 map

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Population

The population maps focus on current patterns of the settlement and demographic situation in the Baikal basin. They relate to a complex of underlying social, economic and ecological factors.

The population maps of the Baikal basin are based on the statistical data of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and National Statistical Office of Mongolia. Also important were the data from population censuses of Russia and Mongolia and the data of the current measurements of demographic events. The authors used statistical sources to calculate indicators for territories included into the Baikal basin.

The distribution of settlements within the Baikal basin is quite irregular. There are four locations of the regional concentration of the population. In Irkutsk oblast, the main settlement belt along the Trans-Siberian Railway stretches from the western border of the region up to Lake Baikal. Here, there are many agricultural settlements and the majority of large administrative and economic centers, where manufacturing sector dominates the economy. Irkutsk – a large multi-functional center – tops the group of these settlements. Only sparsely populated the Olkhon and Slyudyanka districts and part of the Irkutsk district fully lie within the Baikal basin. In the direct vicinity of Lake Baikal, but in the Angara basin, there are cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov. In the Republic of Buryatia, there is a major settlement area around Ulan-Ude with a maximum concentration to the south of the city. Geographic differences in the specialization of settlements have emerged. Settlements involved in manufacturing and transportation are overwhelmingly dominant along the Trans-Siberian Railway. In Southern Buryatia, there are mostly agricultural settlements. In Zabaikalsky krai, there are three settlement networks: settlements involved in manufacturing and transportation located along the railway; mining settlements near deposits; and agricultural settlements located south of Chita in the forest-steppe and steppe zone. In Mongolia, the population is mainly concentrated in the central region – from Ulaanbaatar in the south to Sukhbaatar in the north. Three largest cities of the country and more than a half of its population are located in this area. The other territories of the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin are sparsely populated.

Distribution of the population and the degree of the settlement of the territory are displayed on the maps “Density of population (as of 1.1.2013)”; “Density of rural population and population size of urban settlements (as of 1.1.1989)”; “Density of rural population and population size of urban settlements (as of 1.1.2013)”.

The Baikal region belongs to sparsely and unevenly populated territories. The population density of the Baikal basin is 17 times lower than the world’s average of 53 persons/km2. The population density in the Russian part of the basin is 2.9 persons/km2, which is nine times lower than in the European part of Russia (26 persons/km2).

The intra-regional differentiation of settlement patterns is stipulated by several spatial gradients of the population density decrease, with the main gradient leading from the center (capitals and administrative centers) to the periphery. Other gradients are also present in particular territories. Thus, in the Russian part of the basin, the population density tends to decrease as it goes from the south to the north and from the west to the east. The Russian-Mongolian border for the most part rather separates than unites the areas of settlement, except for one direction. The core of this direction is the Selenga Valley, where an area with a highly dense population has formed between Ulaanbaatar and Ulan-Ude.

The territories around large cities, like the regional centers Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude and Chita, are most densely populated. Along with the areas with dense population, there are also virtually unpopulated territories of tens of thousands square kilometers in area. The distribution of rural population is less contrasting than the urban one. The main clusters of rural population are located in the forest-steppe and steppe zones, where the density of population may reach 10-20 persons/km2. Rural population is mainly concentrated in the south of Irkutsk oblast (around Irkutsk) and in the central part of Buryatia (south of Ulan-Ude).

The major cities of the Russian part of the basin grew along the transportation lines. Thus, 11 out of 13 towns are located along the railways. Only Zakamensk and Kyakhta are located away from the railroad. In the Mongolian part of the basin, the connection of urban settlements to transportation lines is less pronounced with only five out of 12 towns being situated on the railways.

The map “Dynamics of the population size (1989-2013)” shows considerable changes in the population size – a situation, where a high concentration of the population in a few largest centers is followed by depopulation of vast territories.

In the Russian part of the basin, there were two clear patterns of the population size dynamics from 1989 to 2013. Firstly, the decrease of population tends to be more pronounced from the southwest to the northeast. Secondly, the population dynamics in regional centers (Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, and Chita) and their suburbs is relatively positive. Population growth is observed only in the Irkutsk, Shelekhov, and Olkhon districts of Irkutsk oblast, Ivolga district of the Republic of Buryatia and Chita district of Zabaikalsky krai. The record level growth of population (over 160 %) was recorded in the suburban Ivolginsky and Irkutsk districts. The biggest drop in the population takes place in the localities that are classified as districts of the Far North, with the Muisky and Severobaikalsky districts of the Republic of Buryatia loosing over half of their population.

In the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin, population growth is registered on over a half of the nation’s territory. The main Mongolian cities – Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, (244 % to the level of 1989), Erdenet, and Darkhan are the fastest growing cities. The Khovsgol and Selenga aimags also demonstrate a significant growth of population. The population in the four aimags of Arkhangai, Zavkhan, Tov, and Khentei decreases due to an outward migration of residents.

The contrasting nature of the population dynamics within the Baikal basin is quite distinct:

– The Russian part of the Baikal basin is characterized by the type of the population dynamics, where an outward migration is several times higher than a natural population decline;

–        The Mongolian part is characterized by the type of the population dynamics, where a natural increase of population prevails over inward migration.

Territorial specifics of demographic development are shown on the map “Natural increase of population”.

In the Baikal basin, different modes of reproduction of population exist along with a wide variety of quantitative parameters of demographic processes. In general, it is possible to identify two types of population reproduction. Thus, all of Mongolia, Tuva and part of Buryatia are characterized by an expanded type of reproduction with high birth rates, average mortality, and a significant natural growth. The Baikal region of Irkutsk oblast, Zabaikalsky krai, and most of Buryatia is characterized by a narrow type of reproduction with low birth rates, high mortality, and a natural population decline or insignificant natural growth. The annual natural growth of the population in Mongolian aimags is 17-19%. In the Russian part of the basin, natural movement of the population led to mixed results, where 23 municipalities showed population increase, while 10 municipalities had natural decline. With an average natural population increase of 1.4 per mille, there were significant variations – from the decline ranging from -5 to -6% (in the Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, Irkutsk and Olkhon districts) to the increase exceeding 10 pro mille (10.4% in the Dzhida district, 12.1% in the Kizhinga District, and 16.0% in the Tere-Khol district). The natural population increase in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar was 17.2%, while the increase in the Russian regional centers Ulan-Ude and Chita was 4.3% and 3.4%, respectively, with the decline of -2.7 % in Irkutsk.

The map “Urbanization of the territory” shows the proportion of urban population in Russian municipal districts and Mongolian aimags. The share of urban population exceeds 74% of the entire population and is composed of a few territories. The level of the urbanization of the population exceeds the world’s average (51%) by nearly one and half times, however, the level of the urbanization of the territory is low. Urban territories mainly include settlements located along the railways, as well as densely populated administrative centers. In the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin, only Ulaanbaatar and the Orkhon and Darkhan-uul aimags are highly urbanized, while the remaining nine aimags have only a small share of urban population (17.5%-34.9 %). In Mongolia, administrative centers of every aimag must be urban settlements. However, in Russia, the legislation does not mandate municipalities to have urban settlements. Therefore, in the Russian part of the basin, as of 2013, 14 districts did not have urban population at all. Some settlements (Barguzin, Ivolginsk, Kyren, and Khorinsk) rejected their urban status in the process of municipal reforms of the 2000s. The population of Mongolian towns within the basin nearly doubled in 1989-2013, with the population of Ulaanbaatar growing from 540.6 to 1,318.1 thousand people. The population of the largest cities in the Russian part of the basin did not change that much: in Irkutsk, it grew from 572.4 to 606.1 thousand people, in Ulan-Ude – from 352.5 to 416.1, while in Chita it declined from 365.8 to 331.3 thousand people.

The main results of migration processes in 2010-2012 are shown on the map “Migratory increase of population”.

In Russia, including the Baikal basin, the last two decades witnessed a significant decrease of migration activity of the population. However, outward migration from the region remains high and reproduces almost annually from the mid-1990s up to now. Population movement has mostly become intra-regional – the intra-regional migration turnover makes about 2/3 of relocations in the Baikal basin. The intra-Russian interregional migration causes migration losses, while migratory relationships with the CIS countries contribute to a considerable growth of population.

Redistribution of the population between the constituent parts of the Baikal region is intensive including some tens of thousands people annually. In 2010-2012, on average 66.5 thousand people arrived, and 58.6 thousand left. In the Baikal region, the average annual migration increment was 7.9 thousand people. However, it was due to the growth in the attractive for migrants cities of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk district (+9.3 thousand people), Ulan-Ude (+3.4 thousand people) and Chita (+2.9 thousand people). The total growth of the population in these cities was 15.6 thousand people. The rest of the region experienced the outflow of residents totaling 7.7 thousand people. Migration redistribution leads to the growth of the population in regional centers and their suburbs. Only 10 municipalities had a migratory growth, while the rest 24 showed a decline. The intensity of migrant arrivals is highest (twice as high as average) in the suburban Irkutsk and Ivolginsky districts, while the intensity of departures is highest (twice as high as average) in the undeveloped Dzhida, Kizhinga and Muisky districts. Against this backdrop, the Russian part of the Baikal basin has two migration poles – the Irkutsk and Dzhida districts, where an average annual migration balance is +47.4% and -46.0%, accordingly.

In general, the majority of territories is characterized by a progressive outward migration, which is compounded by unfavorable structural features of the outflow (with young and educated groups of people leaving the region). The results of migration movement are clearly expressed in terms of the center-periphery relationship: there are three areas of migration growth in the Russian part of the basin (Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, and Chita with their suburban districts) and one in the Mongolian part, which combines the capital Ulaanbaatar and the aimags lying to the north of it –  Selenge, Orkhon, and Darkhan.

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Slope exposure bottom of Lake Baikal map

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Slope exposure

The history of depth measurements in Lake Baikal goes back to 1798, when E. Kopylov and S. Smetanin, employees of a mine plant, carried out 28 measurements between the head of the Angara river and the mouth of the Selenga river. One of such measurements yielded a maximum depth of 1,238 m. Lake Baikal was immediately recognised as the second deepest lake in the world.

In the period of 1869-1876, B. Dybovsky and V. Godlevsky compiled a detailed and precise (for that time) map of Southern Baikal, which covered 11 cross-sections. Measurements of depth were carried out from the ice, which provided high accuracy [Dybovsky, Godlevsky, 1871, 1877].

In 1902 and 1908, the Pilot Chart of Lake Baikal and Atlas of Lake Baikal were published as a result of numerous hydrographic expeditions under the leadership of F. Drizhenko, in which the depths were shown in detail for the coastal areas of the lake.

In 1925, the USSR Academy of Sciences developed a long-term project under the supervision of G. Vereshchagin to study bathymetry of Lake Baikal. This initiative resulted in the organisation of Limnological Station, later reorganised into Limnological Institute. This project helped discover the deepest place in the lake and an underwater shallow ridge named the Akademichesky Ridge, which separates the northern basin from the central one. New bathymetric maps (scales 1:300,000 and 1:500,000) were compiled. They were demonstrated at the International Limnological Congress held in Rome in 1934.

In 1962, A. Rogozin and B. Lut compiled a new bathymetric map (scale 1:300,000) as a result of long-term bathymetric expeditions. Based on this map, the Central Department for Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR (CDNO) published maps  “Northern and Southern Areas of Lake Baikal”  in 1973 and 1974.

In the period of 1979-1985, CDNO carried out new systematic echo-sounding bathymetric measurements throughout the entire Lake Baikal. Traverses had a spacing of 100 and 250 m in the coastal waters and 1 km in the abyssal areas. As a result of these investigations, a four-sheet bathymetric map of Lake Baikal was published in 1992 (scale of 1:200,000). To date, this is the most reliable bathymetric map of Lake Baikal. However, it has some shortcomings:

  • Bathymetry is based only on some available original data;
  • Bathymetry is presented by the contours of isobaths that were taken manually;
  • Bathymetry is mainly represented by isobaths with a step of 100 m up to a depth of 1,000 m and 500 m for depths exceeding 1,000 m;
  • Recent investigations showed that significant discrepancies can exist between true depth values and echo-sounding measurements, which are attributed to discrepancies between the real acoustic speed in Lake Baikal and the calculated rate for the echo-sounder.

In 1999, an international group of experts was organised to jointly compile a new, more precise bathymetric map of Lake Baikal. It was necessary to carry out more detailed recalculations of measurement values, which were used for maps in 1992, to digitise and adjust them to the real acoustic speed, to integrate them with the echo-sounding data obtained earlier, and to compile a new more complete computer map of Lake Baikal based on all available measurement data. This project was financially supported by INTAS (International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union).

The CD ROM is available with final results of this project. Coordinates of points are in a Mercator’s projection, WGS 1984 ellipsoid. The latitude for all generated maps is 53o 0’ 00’’ N.

New bathymetric data made it possible to obtain specified morphometric information on Lake Baikal and to present it in tables. Taking into account that the lake surface is at 455.5 m a.s.l. (Baltic System of Heights), the deepest point of Lake Baikal is situated at 1186.5 m below the sea level.

The relief of the bottom of Lake Baikal is represented by isobaths with a step of 100 m. The lake consists of three basins: Northern basin – the most shallow one with a maximum depth of 904 m and an average depth of 598.4 m. Central basin is the deepest one. Its maximum depth is 1637 m, while the average depth is 856.7 m. Southern basin’s maximum depth is 1461 m with the average depth of 853.4 m. The existing Baikal depression is asymmetric: its northern and northwestern slopes are very steep, while the southern and southwestern slopes are more flat. Maximum depths are located at a distance of one third of the lake’s width from the steep northwestern slope. There is a shallow platform – a shelf - on the lake's northern and northwestern side, which is weakly developed. The shelf on the southern and southwestern coast is more pronounced.

Measurement results demonstrated that in the place of the supposed maximum depth of 1741 m, according to G. Y. Vereschagin, the actual depth is less than 1600 m - 1593-1596 m. Based on the data derived from echo sounding, the deepest part of Central Baikal is located between Cape Izhimei and Otto-Khushun. In 1972, control measurements using the NEL-5 echo-sounder showed the depth of 1637 m [Lut, 1987].

Numerous underwater works using Pisces, Mir-1, and Mir-2 submersibles offered an opportunity to visually examine morphologic and morphometric features of the underwater slopes and compare these data with the results of echo sounding. Northern and northwestern slope is sporadically covered with silt deposits with bed rock monoliths protruding between silty patches.

The steepest part of the underwater slope is located on the northern side of the depression near Cape Kolokolny, about 40 km from the southern edge of the depression. The total steepness of the slope here reaches 60-65 degrees, however, its steepness is lower than the steepness on the Baikal side of Olkhon Island by 10-15 degrees [Lut, 1987]. The steepness of northern and northwestern slopes reaches 60-40 degrees. According to the Pisces XI expedition on September 22, 1991, negative slopes at the depth of more than 700 m were observed. The steepness of the southern and southeastern slope is five to six times lower.  The average slope of the whole lake is four degrees.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

References

Drizhenko, F. K. (1902). Pilot Chart of Lake Baikal.

Drizhenko, F. K. (1908). Atlas of Lake Baikal.

Dybovsky, B., Godlevsky, V. (1871). Report on depth measurements in Lake Baikal carried out in spring of 1871. Bulletin of the East Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 2(5). p 6-16.

Dybovsky, B., Godlevsky, V. (1877). Report on experiments in 1876 (Profiles of Lake Baikal in the appendix Bulletin of the East Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, 8. p 115-135.

Lut, V. F. (1987). Morphology and morphometry of the Baikal basin. The way of knowing Baikal. Novosibirsk: Nauka. p 34-47.

Northern Area of Lake Baikal. Scale 1:300,000. (1973). Leningrad: GUNIO.

Southern Area of Lake Baikal. Scale 1:300,000. (1974). Leningrad: GUNIO.

Lake Baikal (4 sheets). Scale 1:200,000. (1991, 1992). Leningrad-St. P: GUNIO.

De Batist, M., Canals, M., Sherstyankin, P. P., Alekseev, S. P., and Teams (2002). The INTAS Project 99-1669, October 2002.

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Soil degradation and contamination map

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Soil degradation and contamination

The background basis of this map is the differentiation of the soil cover according to the conditions of its self-purification capacity, controlled by the processes of migration and accumulation of chemical elements. In this regard, the largest territory units are landscape-geochemical areas. They are distinguished based on the boundaries of the major lithological-geomorphological structures and bioclimatic conditions.

More fractional territory subdivisions are landscape-geochemical provinces, singled out based on a complex of factors of potential contamination of soils and their degradation in the process of different types of nature management. Among these factors is the zonal and altitude-belt specificity of bioclimatic conditions, determined by hydrothermal parameters of the territory. The possibility of involving elements-pollutants of the environment in the biological cycle and the food chain of living organisms depends on them. The rate of development of biochemical processes of pollutants transformation in the soil medium and neutralization of their toxic action also depends on the amount and ratio of heat and moisture. Another equally important factor of self-purification of the soil cover is the water migration of material. Criteria for determining the differentiation of the territory according to the intensity of material migration (IMM) are topography and true altitude (TA) of the area. Weak IMM is peculiar to lowland plain surfaces with TA below 200 m; medium IMM – to low-mountain relief terrain, and high and low plateau with TA from 400 to 600 m; high IMM – to middle altitudes and steep slopes with TA of 600-1000 m; and intensive IMM – to high mountains with TA above 1000 m. Mountain-depression landscapes widespread within the given territory are characterized by contrast migration: from intense to weak.

Geochemical classes, denoted by the indices of typomorphic elements, contain the integral characteristics of the soil medium, which is depositing with respect to the pollutants. The classes reflect alkaline-acid and redox conditions of the environment peculiar to different landscapes: the main factors of functioning of the migration-accumulation mechanism in soils and formation of various geochemical barriers, where elements-pollutants may deposit.

Based on these main criteria for evaluating the self-purification capacity of soils taking into account the location of currently functioning sources of industrial emissions into the environment within the territory, an assessment of the hazard level of its technogenic-chemical pollution was made.

Against the background of the degree of the potential hazard of soil contamination estimated according to the natural factors, the main sources of pollution are shown. They are industrial and boiler facilities of the towns of Slyudyanka, Baikalsk, Severobaikalsk, Nizhneangarsk, Listvyanka, Ulan-Ude, Gusinoozersk, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsk, Kyakhta, Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Erdenet, Zuunmod, etc. Virtually all industrial complexes are located in the conditions with insufficient self-purification of the environment, and those ones, emissions of which are heading toward the Baikal depression, represent a factor of environmental risk for it. The map shows the areas of soil contamination with the exceedance of pollutants MPC, their total emissions, industrial sources, and their contribution to air pollution. The pollution halos, 1-10 times exceeding the MPC values in the sum of the priority toxic elements (hazard class I-III), are contoured with a linear map sign. Emission rates into the atmosphere are presented in a pie chart for the sources with emissions of more than one thousand tons per year. The proportion (%) of different industries in the gross emissions is marked in the diagram. Halos with the emission sources of less than one thousand tons per year cover a small area, and in the given scale they are marked with point signs.

A significant contribution to the mechanical degradation and contamination of the soil cover in the Baikal basin, rich with various mineral resources, is made by their industrial development. Conventional signs mark the lands of mining industry (quarries, terricones, dumps, etc.). The most significant in size and intensive in the degree of disturbance of the soil cover and the geological environment are objects, registered in the Gusinoozersky and Erdenetsogt coal basins.

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