THE MAKKAVEEV LABORATORY OF SOIL EROSION AND FLUVIAL PROCESSES

Founder and first scientific leader (1969-1983): Professor, Doctor of Geography, Honoured scientist of the Russian Federation Nikolay Ivanovich Makkaveev (1908-1983).
Current Head of the Laboratory: Professor, Doctor of Geography, holder of the government of the Russian Federation Award for scientists, Roman Sergeevich Chalov.
Employees of the Laboratory received awards of the Russian Federation government, William's Award, Lomonosov's Award, D.N. Anuchin's Award and premiums of Science Council of the MSU Faculty of Geography.

Major accomplished research programs
 Development of fluvial system theory.
 Concept of detrimental effects of soil erosion, gully erosion and channel processes and regional protective measures.
 Hydrophysical model of soil erosion.
 Complex methods for quantification potential and rates of soil erosion and forecasting of erosional risk of agricultural Land.
 Studies of fluvial processes within small catchments in the upper parts of drainage network.
 Development of soil-protective measures in different climatic zones.
 Design of the method for quantitative assessment of gully erosion potential, gully network pattern and density.
 Studies of zonal and regional specifics of gully development.
 Development of the dynamical model of gully formation and evolution.
 Morphodynamic classification of channel processes and river channels.
 Development of methods for river channel processes mapping. Published individual maps and map series in "Ecological atlas of Russia", "Atlas of the Khanty-Mansiysk Region" and "National Atlas of Russia". Individual maps in other regional atlases of natural processes.
 Investigation of zonal and regional specifics of Northern Eurasian rivers hydrological regime.
 Development of principles and methods for evaluation of human-induced changes of river channels, and their considerations in water resource management and construction design.
 Palaeochannel analysis (for prehistorical period) and retrospective historical analysis of river channel dynamics (for historical period)
 Development of methods and approaches for prediction of channel deformations under global environmental change.
 Recommendations for sustainable management of river channels of Russia related to practical needs and environmental protection requirements.
 Development of methods for fluvial processes theory application for placers prospecting.
 Studies of river mouths and delta formation processes, channel regimes of deltaic branches in mouths of Volga, Kuban and Siberian rivers.
 Geomorphic concept of river delta formation.
 Basic principles for river mouth management and development of recommendations for improving navigation conditions in river deltas and within barred mouths.
 Ecological assessment of river channels and river mouths of Russia.
 Regionalization of the Russian territory according to river ecological conditions caused by soil erosion, gully formation and detrimental effects of river channel processes.
 Application of novel geophysical methods of hydro location, acoustic sounding and GPS geodetic survey in field investigations practice.

Major fields of theoretical and applied research
 Theoretical and experimental (laboratory and field) investigations of fluvial processes in different elements of fluvial systems under various natural conditions.
 Development of basin-scale models of fluvial processes.
 Numerical and computer modeling of soil erosion, gully erosion and river channel processes.
 Development of scientific basis for prognosis of soil and gully erosion and protective measures substantiation.
 Design of methods for sustainable management of river channels and mouths. Hydrographical and hydrotechnical surveys for projects substantiation.
 Design of methods for regional forecast and quantitative assessment of erosion risks as a basis for development of sustainable agriculture technologies and soil protection measures under present economical conditions.
 Forecast of gully erosion on agricultural land and in urbanized areas.
 Investigation of soil and gully erosion and their features under different natural and anthropogenic conditions, development of methods for assessment of erosion processes influence on soil and water resources.
 Development of methods for evaluation of dangerous effects of erosion and river channel processes in different regions.
 Development of methods for prognosis of river channel and river mouth processes under natural and anthropogenic environmental fluctuations, including global climatic changes.
 Design of concept for scientific monitoring of soil erosion, river channel and mouth processes.
The Laboratory carries out research work sponsored by the Russian Fund for Basic Research (RFBR), various federal and scientific-technical programs, the President of Russia support program for leading scientific schools and for individual young scientists. A number of applied research projects are carried out by state contracts and individual agreements with various governmental organizations and private enterprises.

Scientific contacts
The Laboratory cooperates with other departments (Hydrology; Geomorphology and Palaeogeography; Cartography and Geoinformatics) and scientific laboratories (Complex Mapping; Snow Avalanches and Debris Flows) of the MSU Faculty of Geography, and with Faculties of Soil Science, Physics and Geology.
The Laboratory is a leading organization of The Interinsitutional Scientific Council on Erosion, River Channel and Mouth Processes. The Council includes over 60 universities, academies and institutes from Russia, CIS states, Poland, Serbia and China.
The Laboratory actively participates in the Section of river channel research and river reclamation of the Russian Academy of Water Resource Sciences.
Active cooperation is maintained with institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Institutes of Water Problems, Geography, Oceanology, Geoecology) and Academy's regional branches, State Hydrological Institute (Saint Petersburg), regional research institutes (agricultural and hydrometeorological).
The Laboratory hosts national and international conferences, workshops and seminars. Actively developing international contacts are established with colleagues from USA, Poland, China, Australia, Germany, CIS countries, Lithuania, UK, Norway.
In 2007 the 10th International Symposium on River Sedimentation (3-annual meeting organized by the World Association on Sediment and Erosion Research – WASER) was carried out in the Moscow State University with the Laboratory as the main organizing body.

Educational activities
Lecture courses "River channel processes", "Erosion and channel processes", "Water engineering surveys", special course "Gully erosion" and practical sessions for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Students from the Faculty of Geography annually take part in summer fieldworks carried out by the Laboratory. The Laboratory staff takes part in supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Dissertations
12 Doctor of Geography and more than 50 Ph.D. dissertations have been prepared in the Laboratory, including authors from China, Lithuania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Major publications
Belotserkovskiy M.Yu. Economic-geographical methods for designing erosion countermeasures. Moscow. 1979.
Zaslavskiy M.N. Soil erosion research. Moscow. 1983.
The Lena River Basin water transportation routes. Moscow. 1995.
Korotaev V.N. Geomorphology of river deltas. Moscow. 1991.
Larionov G.A. Soil erosion by water and wind. Moscow. 1993.
Makkaveev N.I. and Chalov R.S. River channel processes. Moscow. 1986.
Zorina E.F. Gully erosion: development laws and potential. Moscow. 2003.
Litvin L.F. Geography of soil erosion on agricultural land of Russia. Moscow. 2002.
Berkovich K.M. Geographical analysis of anthropogenic changes in river channel processes. Moscow.2003.
Berkovich K.M., Chalov R.S., Chernov A.V. Research of river channel ecology. Moscow. 2000.
Environmental conditions of fluvial systems of Russia. Moscow. 2002.
Golosov V.N. Erosion and deposition processes in river basins of cultivated plain regions. Moscow, 2006.
Geography of gully erosion. Moscow. 2006.
Morphology and dynamics of river channels of the European Russia and neighboring states (Map).
Channel processes and water transportation routes on rivers of the Ob' River Basin. Novosibirsk. 2001.
Khmeleva N.V., Vinogradova N.N., Samoylova A.A., Shevchenko B.F. Mountain river basin and exogenic processes within its limits. Moscow. 2004.
Chalov R.S., Zavadskiy A.S., Panin A.V. River meanders. Moscow. 2006.
Chalov R.S. River channel research: theory, experiment and applications. Volume 1. River channel processes: factors, mechanisms, conditions of formation and morphology of channels. Moscow. 2008.
Estuarine and deltaic systems of rivers of Russia and China. Moscow. 2007.
Channel processes on rivers of the USSR (Map). Scale 1:4000000. Moscow, GUGK. 1990.
Channel processes on the Altay Region rivers (Map). Scale 1:1000000. Moscow, GUGK. 1991.
Atlas of morphodynamics of the Lower Volga River channel (Volgograd-Astrakhan). Moscow. 2009.
Channel regimes of the Northern Eurasian rivers. Moscow. 1994.
Sidorchuk A.Yu. Structure of river channel relief. Saint Petersburg. 1992.
Chalov R.S. Geographical studies of river channel processes. Moscow. 1979.
Chalov R.S., Alabyan A.M., Ivanov V.V. et al. Morphodynamics of lowland river channels. M. 1998.
Chernov A.V. Geomorphology of lowland river floodplains. M. 1983.
Soil erosion and river channel processes. M.: MSU Publishing. 1970-2006. Volumes 1-15.
Republication of works of the Laboratory founder, professor N.I. Makkaveev:
Erosion and deposition processes and river channel relief (selected papers). Moscow. 1998.
River channel and erosion in its basin. Moscow. 2003 (first published in 1953).
Theoretical and applied problems of soil science and river channel research (selected papers). Moscow. 2003.

Contact information:
The Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes
Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University,
Leninskiye Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia
Phone: +7-495-9391233, +7-495-9395697, +7-495-9395515.
Phone, fax: +7-495-9395044.
E-mail: makkaveev-lab@yandex.ru

http://makkaveev-lab.narod.ru