The article is devoted to the analytical review of works and research of problems of social and economic development of seaside regions of Europe. Despite the obvious importance of marine issues for the development of European countries, there has been very limited work in this area until recently. The article deals with the characteristics of socio-economic development of certain coastal zones of Europe. The author’s scheme of their zoning, and also adjacent sea areas was created. On the basis of modern statistical information, the analysis of general parameters of economic and social development of coastal regions is carried out. On the basis of the dynamic series of socio-economic data, transportation zoning of the territory, some trends in the development of the regions under consideration are analyzed. The conclusion about the limited importance of the seaside factor in the location of European productive forces is made.

Water level observations in the North-West part of Ladoga lake were made during 18 years (2001- 2018). Comparison of water level fluctuations with inflow by tributaries and drainage by Neva river shows that multi-year level running is determined by ground water inflow with a periodicity of 5-7 years. Seis-moacoustic investigations of Ladoga lake bottom revealed structures, which are the ways of water inflow to Ladoga lake from the Earth crust. Low terraces investigation along the shoreline led to conclusion that modern water level fluctuations amplitude during last decades is near 4 meters. In the past when Ladoga lake had no outflow through Neva river water level fluctuations were more substantial - up to 21 m above sea level during Ladoga transgression at the end of the Holocene.

Three large mire systems (mires Bolshoe, Verkovskoe, Dobroozerskoe) of Vepsskaya upland (from 60°02'N, 35°36'E to 60°14'N, 35°10'E) have been studied. The studied mires differ from concentric raised bogs typical for a taiga zone of European Russia; they are typical for the Vepsskaya upland differing from the mires of the neighboring lowlands. The mires are characterized by a high share of lawn and carpet sites and sedge-sphagnum minerotrophic sites. The composition of a peat deposit corresponds to specific structure of modern mire sites. Scheuchzeria-peat played the essential role in peat accumulation. The stratification of a peat deposit reflects history of bog development at the conditions of permanent watering and flowage. The studied mires are valuable for the natural protected areas creation; there have been found 11 rare and protected plant species of Vologda oblast (region).

October 13, 2017 marked the 190th anniversary of establishment of the Hydrographic Service of the Navy of Russia, responsible for safety of maritime navigation and study of the oceans and seas. The Arctic and the Antarctic continue to be in the focus of constant interest of naval hydrographers. A large number of pre-revolutionary Russian Soviet and post-soviet Russian polar expeditions were carried out by the initiative or with participation of the Hydrographic Service, which has created a unique collection of sea charts and navigation aids for the high-latitudinal regions of the Arctic and the Antarctic and developed and introduced radio- and satellite navigation systems for determination of location of ships. Using most modern technologies, naval hydrographers have investigated in detail the seabed of the Arctic Ocean, issuing bathymetric maps of this region, recognized by the international cartographic community. This allowed the Russian Federation to submit application to the United Nations for possession of the Arctic continental shelf, including its underwater ranges, by our country. After the expedition of F. F. Bellingshausen and M. P. Lazarev to the Southern Ocean in 1819-1821, Russian naval hydrographers began from 1956 planned investigation of the Antarctic, describing for the first time many new geographical features and preparing a new collection of sea charts and navigation aids for this region. After a serious interruption in Antarctic studies in the end of the 20th century, the Hydrographic Service of the Navy of Russia returned to the Antarctic in 2016, having realized studies in the Indian Ocean sector under the program of the 61st Russian Antarctic Expedition.

This article is written in memory of the Russian mire scientist and geobotanist - Tatiana Georgievna Abramova. She graduated from the Leningrad State University in 1937; her supervisor was the famous professor Ivonna Bogdanowskaya-Guihenef. T. G. Abramova is a well-known researcher by her works on vegetation and peat deposits of mire massifs in Leningrad and Vologda regions, some publications on geobotanical regionalization and mire types, particularly focused on Karelian Isthmus as well as Arkhangelsk region. She studied the plant cover of mires as an indicator of their peat deposits. T. G. Abramova made a remarkable contribution in vegetation mapping. Biographical data is published for the first time.