Life and Earth Sciences and Sustainable Global and Regional Development (AKTRU2019)
International Symposium and Summer Schools

Meeting Profile

The meeting program combines symposium, two summer schools, research field trip and satellite workshops. The program of the symposium includes plenary talks in the morning, and parallel sessions (oral and poster presentations) in the afternoon.

Symposium and the AFRUSS workshop will be held at the tourist resort Manzerok on July 8-10 and July 11-3, respectively.

For information about the schools and the research field trip, please, visit the Summer Schools page.

Guidelines for the presentations: Tutorial lectures are 45 minutes and invited papers at the symposium are 30 minutes including questions and a break; contributed oral papers - 15 and 20 minutes.

Related topics are grouped together with the section chairs. Sections are mainly to streamline the meeting organization (click on section titles for details):

• Summer Schools

  Chairs: Sergey Kirpotin, Nina Kocheeva and Alexander Shmakov

• Biodiversity of Mountain Regions

  Chairs: Mary Barkworth and Alexander Shmakov

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  Biodiversity of Mountain Regions

  Mountainous regions are the most important biodiversity spots. Their study plays a key role in understanding how flora and fauna on the Earth have been formed. One of the most fascinating and crucial mountainous areas in the world is the highest elevation of the northern Asia, that is Altai, which takes a trans border position between the subcontinents of the northern and central Asia at the joint of four countries (Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia) and different types of flora (Boreal, Euro-Siberian, Steppe and Ancient Mediterranean). A high level of endemism, a complex biogeographical composition, a significant taxonomic composition are among the essential characteristics of the Altai flora and fauna. Moreover, a high resource potential of the region's biota is of great interest for applied strategic objectives in the spheres of food supply security and public health protection. Altai is being under active study and is a perfect ground to share experience and to present positive international practices as well as the results of studying mountainous countries in general and Altai in particular.

  The section will cover the following topics:

  • flora;
  • fauna;
  • biogeography;
  • endemism;
  • phylogeography;
  • phylogenetics;
  • methods of studying mountain regions.

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• Geomorphology, Paleogeography and Environmental Management of Arctic and High Mountain Areas in Memory of Alexey Rudoy

  Chairs: Alexander Erofeev and Victor Rudskiy

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  Geomorphology, Paleogeography and Environmental Management of Arctic and High Mountain Areas in Memory of Alexey Rudoy

  Despite an increased interest in the exploration of Arctic and high mountain areas for both we know remarkably little about the actual formation of this areas and its changing relief and paleogeography through time. The increase in human economic activity in Arctic and highland areas, the influx of tourists to previously difficult for access glacial areas increases the risk of both human and financial losses. It is very important to conduct a study of past natural disasters, their mechanisms and consequences. It is important to identify potentially hazardous areas and assess the likelihood and magnitude of catastrophic events, forecast glacier shrinkage with upcoming climate change and the associated catastrophic consequences.
  The section will cover the following topics:

  • glacial geomorphology;
  • structural geomorphology and neotectonics;
  • alluvial processes and relief;
  • eolian processes;
  • denudation and slope processes;
  • practical geomorphology;
  • prediction of hazardous fluvial and glacial processes and phenomena;
  • methods and modern technology of geomorphological and paleogeographical reconstructions;
  • natural resources and environmental management systems;
  • recreational resources and tourism.

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• Holocene Glacier Fluctuations and Climate Change

  Chair: Olga Solomina

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  Holocene Glacier Fluctuations and Climate Change

  Glaciers are sensitive indicators of environmental change. They respond to changes in climate by adjusting their width, length, and thickness. Because most valley glaciers are laterally constrained and ice deforms under its own weight, fluctuations in length are the most common response to long-term changes in climate. Glaciers determine the regime and volume of runoff. They play a major role in shaping the conditions for the occurrence of hazardous hydrological processes, including floods, mudflows, low water, and dangerous channel processes. The melting of glaciers is an important source of water resources for agriculture in the summer-autumn period. Long-term studies of glaciers are essential for understanding the response of glaciers to climate change, assessing regional changes in water resources and global sea-level rise.
  The section will cover the following topics:

  • spatial and temporal dynamics and regime of glaciers;
  • methods for determining the glacier mass balance and glacier-derived runoff;
  • physical and mathematical modeling of the glacier mass balance;
  • prediction of hazardous negative glacial processes and phenomena;
  • methods of glacier fluctuations research;
  • dendrochronological dating of moraines;
  • glacial catastrophic processes in the mountains;
  • evaluation of spatial changes in glaciers;
  • analysis of ice cores;
  • transport and deposition of atmospheric dust in glaciers;
  • glacier volume measurement and modeling.

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• Hydrology and Water Resource Management

  Chairs: Hiroshi Matsuyama and Valery Zemtsov

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  Hydrology and Water Resource Management

  Hydrologic cycle is a crucial element of climate change, significantly influencing ecosystem dynamics, economic development and human life. At the same time, the increasing scale of anthropogenic impact on water bodies and watershed areas needs to be monitored, understood and controled in scientifically sound and environmentally friendly way. Altai is an unique transboundary region with great variety of almost untouched but vulnerable water bodies: glaciers, rivers, lakes, headwater area of great Siberian rivers. The section will include the following topics:

  • hydrological implications of climate change;
  • prediction of hazardous hydrologic processes and phenomena;
  • water flow formation: observations and modeling;
  • sediment flow and fluvial processes;
  • transboundary water resource management;
  • educational issues, the Erasmus+ international project “TREASURE-WATER”.

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• Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions in Polar and Alpine Regions

  Chairs: TBD

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  Palaeoenvironmental Reconstructions in Polar and Alpine Regions

  Polar and alpine areas are one of the most sensitive and vulnerable regions on earth. The long-term interactions between climate, ecosystems and humans in polar and alpine regions are still poorly understood. Reconstructions of past environmental variability of polar and alpine ecosystems using variety of paleo-records and modelling provide invaluable data for a better understanding of the past environments and climate of polar and alpine areas and its interactions with the global earth system.
  This section aims to explore and discuss new palaeoarchives, records, methods and models for Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in polar and alpine regions based on the multi-proxy approach includes the analyses of:

  • Pollen;
  • Diatoms;
  • Chironomids;
  • Ancient DNA in sediments;
  • Geochemical and physical sediment properties;
  • Multivariate statistics for palaeoenvironmental and climatic modeling.

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• Organic Carbon in Permafrost Soils

  Chair: TBD

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  Organic Carbon in Permafrost Soils

  The last decade has seen a surge in scientific publications on the permafrost carbon – climate feedback. This research is motivated by the large stocks of organic carbon stored in soils and Quaternary deposits of the northern permafrost region, which can become vulnerable to decomposition under conditions of global warming and permafrost thawing. An analysis of the current database on organic carbon stocks shows a paucity of data in certain geographic sectors, like the High Arctic, Central Siberia and mountain permafrost areas. In order to fill these data gaps, new organic carbon inventories have been conducted or planned, among others in the Aktru Valley of the High Altai Mountains in Russia. Whereas most lowland permafrost areas are expected to cause a positive feedback on warming and thawing (due to enhanced decomposition of large organic carbon stocks), certain mountain permafrost areas can represent a negative feedback (due to high alpine areas with new vegetation and soil development). The section will include the following research topics:

  • The northern permafrost region organic carbon stocks;
  • The fate of these organic carbon stocks under warming and thawing;
  • Lowland vs mountain permafrost areas;
  • Ecosystem carbon balance in mountain permafrost areas;
  • Organic carbon stocks in Aktru Valley and the adjacent Kuray Basin;
  • A positive vs negative feedback on global warming.

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• Analytical Methods in Life and Earth Sciences

  Chair: Victor Dyomin

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  Analytical Methods in Life and Earth Sciences

  Diversity and complexity are the key characteristics of the life and earth sciences. In the past centuries those sciences were primarily based on visual description of the objects and simple statistical methods. Nowadays life and earth sciences are unthinkable without most advanced analytical methods and complex computational models. Molecular approaches by now have assumed an enormous influence on most fields of biology and geology alike. Covering all these technique and applications in a small workshop is not realistic. However the organizers challenge potential experts in application of analytical and computational methods in life and earth sciences to share their research results and/or tutorials with participants of our forum including but not limited to:

  • Optical methods in atmosphere and hydrology;
  • X-ray spectroscopy and powder diffraction in geology;
  • Gas and liquid chromatography in biological, environmental and geochemical studies;
  • Biodiversity assessment using genes analysis;
  • Mass spectrometry and isotopes analysis in bio- and geochemistry;
  • Computational modeling and big data analysis in geochemical, environmental, and soil science.

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• Discovery and Poster Sessions

  Chairs: Alevtina Evgrafova and Polina Gudkova

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  Discovery and Poster Sessions

  We expect many distinguished scientists as invited speakers at our Symposium and time slots for contributed oral papers may be limited. The conference organizers will establish sessions for contributed papers (discovery sessions) and posters at the Symposium designated for papers from students, post-docs, and early career professors and researchers. All abstracts, which have been submitted with a request for oral presentation, will be reviewed by a selection committee.

  The selection process may require some additional time, however, some of the conference participants need prompt approval in order to apply for visa or/and funding for travel. For those participants we are offering prompt approval of abstracts for poster presentation. These abstracts will still receive subsequent consideration for oral presentation.

  All papers selected for oral presentation may also be presented as posters. Thus, initial approval for poster presentation with the subsequent selection as a contributed oral talk does not exclude the option of presenting a poster in addition to the oral presentation. This will allow for further interaction and discussion with attendees interested in your research.

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• Satellite Workshop: Renewable Energy for Remote Regions

  Chair: Stephen Goodnick

• Satellite Workshop: Altai Forum of Russian-speaking Scientists

  Chairs: Anatoli Korkin and Andrei Rostovtsev

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