THE IMPACT OF EROSION-CHANNEL SYSTEMS ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF SETTLEMENTS IN THE EUROPEAN PART OF RUSSIA

Abstract

The infrastructure of any settlement, whether it is a village or an urban agglomeration, ensures the functioning of the systems that serve the needs of the population. Regardless of the age of the settlement, its size and layout, the system of engineering communications depends on the features of the relief and erosion-channel processes in this area. To identify the impact of gully erosion and riverbed processes on the functioning of infrastructure, the southern megaslope of the Russian Plain was selected. There is a high degree of erosive dissection and activity of riverbed processes. Satellite images and cartographic material were used to assess the impact of erosion-channel processes. For the basins of the Volga, Oka, Don, and Dnieper rivers (within the territory of the Russian Federation), a map of the impact of erosion-channel processes on the infrastructure of settlements has been compiled. The basis for drawing up the map was a physical and geographical map of Russia on a scale of 1:8,000,000 and a map of the hazardousness of channel processes on the rivers of Russia. The resulting map shows 120 settlements: 84 – in the Volga River basin, 13 – in the Don River basin, and 24 – in the Dnieper River basin (within the Russian Federation). According to the developed methodology, each settlement was assigned a score of the impact of erosion and riverbed processes on the infrastructure. The most common are small values of such impact: 1 point – 45%, 2 points – 29.5%, 3 points – 23%, 4 points – 2.5% (only 3 settlements). The lowest (1–2 points) impact on the infrastructure corresponds to the territories within the lowlands and relicts of glacial relief. Settlements on the Central Russian and Volga Uplands are more dependent on gully erosion (3–5 points) and show a weak dependence on riverbed processes. The research results indicate an ambiguous impact of erosion and riverbed processes on the infrastructure of the settlements. Large and big cities are less dependent on erosion and riverbed processes, in contrast to small and medium-sized ones.