THE PARTICIPATION OF SOVIET GEOGRAPHERS IN THE WORK OF THE STALIN PLAN FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF NATURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000200030002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 11, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 25, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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The Participation of Soviet Geographers in
,__-?-.--t-..-, I- --
the Work of the Stalin Plan For the Trans
,.......,.... _.....- _,..... -. ~.
Problemy Fiziehesicoy Geogral'ii,
Volume XVI, pages 183-187.
Moscow: 19f1.
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THE PARTICIRATION OF SOVIET GFQ3RAPhER~3 IN THE WORK ON THE STALIN
PLAN FOR THE rLT ANSFORNA TION OF NA TURF
(From materials of the session of the Academic Board o? the Geo'
graphic Institute of the AN USSR, devoted to questions o? physical
geography connected with field -protection plantings.)
At the beginning of February in the current year, a broadened
session of the Academic Board was held in the Geographic Institute
of the AN USSR. It was devoted to the questions of physical
geography connected with the Stalin plan for the transformation of
nature in the steppe and wooded steppe belts of the European
territory of the USSR.
Nine scientific reports were read and discussed at the
session.
A number of scientifically founded practical proposals were
advanced by the participants in connection with. the concrete
measures for the implementation of the Stalin plan for trans-
Taming nature. These proposals were approved by the Academic
Board.
In his introductory speech, devoted to the tasks of Soviet
geography during the epoch of transition from socialism to comniun~
ism, Academician A. A~ On gorLyev noted that the new stage of
social development upon which our Fatherland had entered after the
Great Patriotic War makes special demands upon science, including
geography, as a result of the future tasks of econor?lic and cultural
development of our countryo
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An exceedingly high level of productive power in bath
industry and agriculture is necessary for the construction of a
communist society. One of the prerequisites for the attainment of
such a level in. agriculture is the tra ormation of the geographic
medium, thus assuring an ever increasing fertility of the soil, high
and reliable yieldsof agricultural crops, freed of dependence upon
droughts and other catastrophic phenomena, and assurinng as well a
high productivity in animal husbandrMy. The success of all measures
taken in this direction depends to a very great extent on the
knowledge of the general regularities that govern the development
of the geographic medium, since only such knowledge al :Lois the
accurate prediction of the results from the measures proposed for
the transformation of the geographical medium at any given stage
of that transformation.0 Thence derive the tasks that confront
physical geography in solving the problem of transforming nature.
They consist abocre all in an ever profounder study of the regular-
ities of development of the geograpt is medium, in the working out
of measures for its transformation, and in the accomplishment of
-these measures, with the purpose of introducing into practice the
results of research in physical geography. rihe framework of
this work, if we have the near future in mind, is n of confined to
the zones of steppe and wooded steppe, where a complex system of
operations for the transformation of nature is already under way or
will be initiated in the near future (creation of shelter belts
and pond systems, introduction of grassland agriculture). Grand-
iose works as well are under way for the water supply and irrigation
of huge terri?ries in the steppe and desert zones of the USSR, for
anchoring the drifting sands, afforesting the mountain slopes, etc.
All of these measures only constitute the initial stages of the great
Stalin plan for the transformation of nature in the USSR. There
is no doubt that in the course of the further creative process of
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calling ling this plan to life, the corresponding measures will take in
all zones, all regions of the USSR, all the variegated types o f
geographic mediums which are represented upon our territory.
Thus the development of the economy during the epoch of
socialism to communism places before our physical
transi tion from
r
geography complex and respozlsible tasks both in theory and :~rl the
of that theory into practice. These demands do not take
introduction
Soviet physical geography by surprise. Many years of work in
studying ng the process of development of the geographic medium, and
profound investigation by expeditions, have made it possible for
to partl.cipate iumediately in the practical operates
the geographers
a,ans connected with the transformation of nature, in steppe and
wooded steppe, and also in desert and taiga regions.
The tasks of Soviet economic geography -- which is principally
concerned with the study of the regularities in the distribution
productive forces and especially with the study of the e cono!iiic
of
development of the separate Republics and Rayons -w is considerab]Y
more complex during this stage in the development of the socialist
econozt!y than during the preceding Stalin Five-Rear Plans. This is
due both to the program of industrial development of the Soviet
Union, which is steadily becoming more and more complicated, and
to the immense changes which are to take place in agriculture as a
realization of the Stalin plan for the transformation
result of the
of nature.
The implementation of this plan will be made possible by the
changes in the geographic milieu, the increase in the productivity
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of numerous agricultural crops, and their introduction into new
regions. The first of these poses for economic geography the probe
lem of the proper location of a whole series of branches of indusx
try that are directly or indirectly connected with the processing
of agricultural raw materials, while the second poses the problem
of the rational redistribution of the agricultural crops.
A. profounder study of the regularities that govern the lo-
cation of socialist production is essential to the successful
solution of all these responsible tasks. The scientific institutions
can and must contribute their bit to this cause, especially on the
questions of regional planning, location of industry, and location
of agricultural crops.
In conclusion, Icadeiiuician A. A. Grigortyev pointed out that
it was because of the correct theoretical orientation of Soviet sci-
ence, founded as this orientation was, on the basis of dialectical
and historical materialism, that our science was also of practical
advantage, and itself, was developing upon a practical foundation.
In emphasizing the harmfulness of the pseudoscientific construc-
tions that dominated the science of the capitalistic countries,
1q cademician Grigori'yev summoned all Soviet scientists to an ir-
reconcilable strug ;!with the hour eois the .
g . ~ g oz eti cal constructions
and the bourgeois views that were springing up in our science,
which aright act as a brake upon the accomplishment of the great
plan of transforming nature.
Re pointed out that the tasks he had enumerated were so
sweeping and so variegated that a special session of the Academic
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and should be devoted to each of them. In this connection, although a
Bo r{
the Geographic Institute was doing more or less work an each of these
directions, the sesion in question would consider only questions
in the physical geography eography of shelter belts. The immediate parti.~
cipata.on of the Geographic Institute of the Academy of Sciences of
the USSR in the research work in physical geography connected with
the organization of state shelter belts, and in the introduction of
the data of physical geography into production, i.e., in laying out
state shelter belts of forest on the site, consisted
the lanes of
in the following. The field work was being done by workers of the
the following sites: (1) Yenza y Kamensk; (2) Don
Institute an
River area; (3) Stalingrad -Cherkessk; (h) Volga area (Kamyshin
Statingrad)? Urals (from Mt. Vishnevaya to the Caspian Sea); in
~
addition, two variant sites were being studied in Yergena Rayon.
Workers of the Institute were participating :in the investigation
of the northern (Beloprudsk) and the southern (Dzhanybek and Yergenr )
nurseries and i n the work of the scientific and technical conferen-
ces organized by the Mini-stry of Forest Economy USSR in Moscow,
Voronezh, Saratov, Stalingrad, Urai'sk, and Chkalov, and also in a
of sessions of the scientific and Technical Council of the
series
Central Shelter Belt Administration in Moscow. Nlany technical
projects for the establishment of government forest belts in various
sections were being drawn by workers of institute, or were subject
their careful editing. Two exhibitions of scientific materials
to
for the layout of government shelter belts had been organized in
Moscow and Saratov, respectively.
Before commencement of the field work, summaries of the
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materials (sketches) had been made for all shelter belt sites.
Most of the work concerned study of the eo
g nlox'Iahology and physical
geography of the sites. In addition, on the Kamyshinr.stalirt
grad
Cherkessk site and on the Ural line (from Mt. Vishneva a to
y Chkal,ov)
zoogeographic studies were made of the activities economic signi."-
ficance and distribution throughout the lands affected, of the
birds and mammals useful or harmful, to the forest plantings
and the
adjoining fields and steppe,, This work produced
new data of
irnportarlce to forestry.
Together Frith this work, affecting the east and southeast
of European USSR, the Geographic Institute also partici.~ate
~ d most
actively in preparing the draft of the Government decree on shelter
belts in the Central Asian republics,
l9L9 was the first year of the expanding operations
of
developing and accomplis] i,ng the great Stalin
plan for the trans...
formation of :nature. In 1950 and in the following years still greater
work stands before us, and for this reason it is exceedingly imM
portant, at the present time, to exchange our experience and dis-
cuss a series of urgent questions. And it is to this that the pre.-
sent session of the Academic board of the Geographic Institute
is
devoted.
After the introductory speech of Academician A. A. Grigor iy.e
v,
a series of reports was heard.
The report of Ye. Ye. Fedorov, Corresponding rber of the
Academy of Sciences USSR, and of L. A. Chubkov Doctor of Geographic
Sciences (The report is printed in full in this number
of this jour-
nj,
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nal.) "The Formation of Drought Weather Conditions and the
Methods for their Transformationtt considered the most important
reasons for the formation of drought weather conditions on the
plains of the European part of the USER.
The report of G. D. Rikhtex', Doctor of Geographic Sciences
(The report ? is printed in full in this number of 1.his journal.),
entitled, "Snow Cover and Shelters-Belt Forestry" pointed out the
need for differential selection of the methods for regulating snow
accumulation, taking account of the wide variation in the structure
~.an,
and properties of snow in the various climatic regions, and also
according to the purpose of the operation (general increase in the
ac cumuiation of winter precipitation, distribution of moistux'e
stocks in snow over a certain area, or regulating temperature
conditions in. the soil.)
Professor ~1. I. L'vovich (State Hydrological Institute)
pointed out in his report "On the Transformation of the Hydrological
Process under the Influence of the Dokuchayev_Irostychev-vii yams
Comp lex't, that in our socialist state action upon nature is being
carried out on a scale never before seen.
The most grandiose measure of this order is the Stalin plan
for the transformation of nature in the steppe and wooded steppe
regions of the European part of the USSR.
The plan envisages a complex of measures worked out on the
basis of the teachings of Dokuchayev, Kostychev and Vil'yams and
the achievements of Mi.churin's agrobiological science. A radical
transformation of nature in a direction assuring high and reliable
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y:Lelds will be attained by these measures. 1t will be accorrtpanied
by a fundarnenta1 transformation of the hydronteteorological. process
as well . Sianuitaneously with the realization of the principal
agricultural task, reorganization of the hydrological regime of
rivers will also be achieved.
At the present time investigations into all aspects of the
reorganization of the hydroraeteorological process are being con-
ducted. They are directed towards the solution of practical
problems, of which the most important are: (a) development of sta-
tistical methods for the hydrometeoroiogical planning of agri-
cultural and forest melioration works with the object of further
enhancing their effectiveness; (b) evaluation of the influence of
measures of the Dokuchayev-KastychevWVil1yams complex on the
hydrological regime of rivers.
The atmospheric processes act through the soil on the water
conditions in the rivers. The soil is the intermediary between
the climate (the meteorological elements) arid the hydrological
regime of rivers.
An important consequence follows from this thesis: change
in the regime of rivers occurs not only under the influence of
climatic transformation, but also as a resuitaf' artificial action
upon the soil. This makes it clear how agriculture affects the de-
velopment of the hydrological regime of rivers, for cultivation of
the land and action upon the soil are carried out cn very large scales,
and in regions of insufficient moisture, reduce down to the accumu-
lation of water in the soil.
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takes place:
p+Ap
side of the balance sheet
is t11E increase on the lncaming
whe x e L~ p
Lion under the influence of the
d be increase of preca.ptita
cause y the cessation of
of the internal moisture turnover,
siren ;the r)a.ng
the fields , and the re duce tia n of eva.p -
oration snow .being from thblowne away from tr~ s is the retention of surface run-
snow cover,.
as;,la.nd rotations and the soils
f b ruetured soils under gr ~
off the s~t
1. is the grass expendxtv.re of r~rQund
rider the shelter belts;
u
water u is the increase in water fed to
.
in evapox'at~on, arid
underground rivers.
isture_absorbing capacity in the
porest soil. "TossesseS mo
the same time d~.stinguished by permea
highest degree, arid is at
highest degree .. ,'~ (V. R. V11' yams ,
the
bility, similarly in th -
s osnavami pochvavedeniya (Soil s cie rice.
mle~, e ....--------- ri '
Pochvavedeniye. Z-----------------------------------------
nth ~ NI?sco~r,
with the Principles of Soil Science.
Agriculture SEL' KhO LAG] S, 19L6.)
the roper't1es of forest
ils of sheltez' belts acquire p
-
so
The laced in re
even in small areas, if properly p
soils; and therefore, s fol-
~ ation of forest belts on the slope,
lation to the relief ,loc
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eve1o moni; of the hydrola~ical
In the lase s.zialysa.s, the d
process as found to be linked to the yield of cxaps, and
~.nt~.ma.tely high and reliable yields exert a pro-
the measures for obtaining rocess,
sforn~ataon of the hydrological p
i'ouzld influence on the trap
pokuchayev-Kostychev-Vil'gams
Under the a.nfluer~ce of the sheet
ansforrr~ta.ons of the water balance
carripl~;x, the fol].awa.ng tr
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lowing a general horontal direction) they are a powerful means of
n
accumulating additional water fox agricultural fields.
Under contemporary conditions the gross evaporation for the
average agricultural field amounts to ,3L0 rnilimeters, while the ext-
enditure on transpiration is 112 milimF,terS and the non-produc-
p
tive expenditure on evaporation, i.e., the evaporation from the
soil, is 228 milimeters. Under the conditions of a transformed
hydrological proce5, this ratio should be the following. The eva-
poraLion is 396 milimeters; the increase in evaporation is due to
the increased amount of precipitation and to increased retention
of surface runoff ..w a very important item of gain, which yields
about 60 milimeters of water, or over 600 cubic meters per hectare.
1
Expenditure on transpiration is increased to 12L milimeters, or to
more than double, while the nonproductive evaporation from the soil
drops to 62 milimetersa
With the increase in the absolute amount of evaporation and
the modification of the ratio between productive and non-productive
evaporation, a favorable situation for the control of drought will
be established. While under conherrporary cond:.tions the ratio of
productive evaporation to the total evaporation amounts to roughly
a third, that is, only a third of the moisture accumulated by the
soil is productively expended on transpiration; under the condit-
ions of a transformed hydrometeorological process, two thirds of the
moisture will be expended on transpiration and only o ne third on un-
productive evaporation.
It must of course, be understood that these figures cannot
10
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be considered limiting, for further imporovement of the ratio be~
tween productive and unproductive evaporation a:Lso lies in the
hands of man, and further measures to enhance the effectiveness
of shelter belts, together with subsequent advances in the methods
of agricultural technology wall probably lead to the value of trans-
p:.ration approaching unity4
In examining the last element of the balance sheet -- the
percolation of water into the depths to. feed underground water
courses -- the speaker came, after detailed analysis, to the con-
elusion that the thesis of G. N. Vysotskay to the effect that a for-
est moistens the mountain and dries the plain is incorrect, and that
if soil moisture increases under the conditions of steppe affores-
tation, the feed to ground water correspondingly increases.
Professor L'vovich then took up the question as to whether
the hydrological process would change, with time, under the influ-
ence of the aggregate of measures for transforming nature; and he
considered this question in the light of the illustration of the
retention of surface runoff. With regard to the retention of
surface runoff by the structured soils in the fields under grass-
land crop rotations, the problem was fairly simple to solve, for
experience had shown that after the first complete cycle of crop
rotations, i.e., in 8 - 10 years, according to the number of fields
invovled in the rotation scheme, the soils became structured and
their permeability sharply enhanced. Consequently the retention
of surface runoff by fields under crop rotation attains its full
extent in 8 to 10 years after grassland rotation is first intro-
duced.
The question of the retention of runoff by soils is some-
what more complex. On the basis of the calculations made, it may
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be consider4 within the limits of accuracy of all calculations,
that in 20 to 2 years the water retaining power of the shelter
belt soils. will have reached its full value.
In conclusion the speaker noted that the conclus:Lons drawn
to the evaluation of the influence of the complex of
with respect
easureS On change of the hydrologic process were to be considered
m
as first approximations, requiring elaboration and development. But
they might serve as a scheme on the basis of which the development
of further research was necessary.
M. I. Uudyko, Senior Scientist of the Central Geophysical
Observatory imen'A. I. Voyeykov, in his report "On the Hydrometeor-
olo ical Effectiveness of Shelter Belt Afforestation, t' gave the r&
suits of the investigations into the mathematical physics of the in-
fluence of shelter belt afforestation on the water balance sheet
of the soil.
Based on previously_established regularities in the mutual
influence of water and thermal balance sheets on the surface of
the dry land, the speaker constructed a system of equations that
permit calculation of the change that would result from shelter belt
afforestation in the amount of free (productive) moisture in the
upper layers of the soil as compared with presently existing con.-
diti.ons.
In his report he presented as an illustration the data
from the calculations of the changes in soil moisture of the
upper layer of the soil for the mean conditions of Central and
Eastern Ukraine. These calculations established that after
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the completion of the plan for shelter belt afforestation, the quan~
City of free moisture in the upper layer of the soil in spring and
at the beginning of summer would increase by not less than 30 - I.~Q
percent which would assure a sharp increase in productivity. It
followed from his analysis that this increase in soil moisture
would be mainly due to the reduction in the surface runoff in
the spring, reduction in the coefficient of turbulent exchange, and
to a certain increase in the summer preoJpi'tation.
S. A. Sapozhnikov, Doctor of Geographic Sciences, (Central
Geophysical Observatory imeni A. I. Voyeykov.), in his report
"Meteorological Investigations Applicable to the Problem of Trans-
fornu.rig Nature in the Arid Regions of the USSR, II gave a characteri-
zation of the work of the observatory that was connected with the
Stalin plan for transforrnLng nature, The GGO collective had been
able to carry out, in a short space of time, a series of investigat-
ions into the meteorological effectiveness of the measures far
controlling droughts and dry winds -- including the effectiveness
of shelter belts in general and of the government shelter belts
in particular -- and into the influence of the whole complex of
measures on atmospheric precipitation.
A considerable amount of work was also done on the clima-
tology of the regions of shelter belt afforestation in the European
part of the USSR ? The section for Agricultural Meteorology of the
Central Forecasting Institute of the GIDROMETSLUZHBA participated
in this work.
Declassified
On the basis of his experience in the l9L~9 operations, the
i
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speaker expressed crit c al consideration co.ric,erning the irn~
adequacies o:' the current appraisals of the meteorological effec-
tiveness of the measures to combat droufht and dry winds. At the
same time he noted the tasks for i'urther research at the specially
organized hydrometeorological stations.
In the report of Professor B. A. Apollov (Institute of
Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences USSR) "Inx'luence of the
Caspian Sea on the Cl'rate of the Northern Coast of the Cas-
pian" (Report will be printed in full in No in of this journal ),
the important role of the Caspian Sea in humidifying the climate d'
its northern coast wa,a emphasized. This influence is expressed
with particular vigor by the increased precipitation during the
winter.
Taking into account the serious influence towards rrtildness
that the Caspian Sea exerts on the climate of the neighboring
regions, as well as its important role in the national economy of
the whole country, the speaker considered the time o pportune for
posing to question as to an active campaign against the contin-
uous shallowing of the Caspian. The measures to regulate the sur-
face runoff in connection with shelter belt afforestation will
probably reduce the discharge of the rivers into the Caspian, which
will undoubtedly be reflectein its water balance. For this reasar~
the question as to the future water balance of the Caspian Sea must
be posed at the same time as the general plan of measures for shel-
ter belt afforestation.
The report of I. P. Gerasimov, corresponding member of the
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Academy of Sciences USSR, "Ravines and Gorges of the Steppe Seltn
(Report will be printed in full in No 17 of this journal.) was con-
cerned with the problems of ravine formation and of measures to
combat the active forms of ravine erosion. Based on the classical
work of V. V. Dokuchayev, V. V. Nasal ' skiy, and A. P. Pavlov on
the genetic link between rav;i..nes and gorges, and river valleys,
the speaker connected the formation of most of the contemporary
ravines of the steppe belt with a change in the surface runoff
caused by the unorganized reclamation of new land, the destruc-
tion of the forests and the great amount of land being plowed up.
Depending on the interrelation of the ancient gorge-valley forms
and the modern ravine fortri.s that have arisen on the bases of the
fanner, three basic types of ravines should, in the opinlon of the
speaker, be distinguished: bottom, slide wail, and top -- and
various methods of forest melioration should be set up for regions
where ravines are prevalent. The general basis for local anti-
ravine field-and-forest melioration works is the introduction
of grassland agriculture, which regulates the surface runoff,
and under the conditions of which the currently active ravine
formation will be liquidated.
Yee M. Lavrenko, corresponding member of the Academy of
Sciences USSR, (Botanical Institute of the Academy of Sciences
USSR), in his report "The Sppe Question at a Wew Stage" (Printed
in full in this number of this journal.), analyzed the growing con-
ditions of forests and the reasons for the present natural tree-
lessness of the steppes in various subzones of the steppe zone.
1;
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A. N. Formozov, Doctor of Biological Sciences (Geographic
Institute of the Academy of Sciences USSR) in his report (Printed
in full in this riuiiber of this journal.), characterized the ac~
tivity of arirna1S which hindered or helped the work of establishing
shelter belts.
AG. Doskach
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