Postglacial permafrost depositional history of Grøndalen, West Spitsbergen

To shed light on the postglacial landscape evolution on the western coast of Nordenskiöld Land (West Spitsbergen), drilling and outcrop sampling was performed in the framework of the Russian Scientific Arctic Expedition on Spitsbergen (RAE-S) between 2015 and 2022. The transect near Barentsburg stretches over 20 km and comprises 19 drill locations between 5 and 25 m depths below surface on the marine terraces at Isfjorden, along the Grønfjorden, in the Grøndalen and in the Iradalen. Special emphasis was given to the study of pingos. Permafrost cores were obtained with a Russian portable gasoline powered rotary drilling rig (UKB 12/25). The core pieces of 79 to 109 mm in diameter were lifted to the surface every 30–50 cm. For each core segment visible features like granulometry, color, organic content, sediment type and ice structures were described. In some of the boreholes ground temperatures were measured. Analyses of gravimetric moisture content, stable water isotope composition, and ion content of water extracts from permafrost deposits have been carried out. Further studies of grain-size distribution, mass-specific magnetic susceptibility, organic components (TOC, TC, TN, δ13C) as well as radiocarbon dating are in progress. First results of this ongoing effort have been published in recent years on pingo properties, formation and distribution (Demidov et al. 2019, 2021, 2022) and on geocryological and hydrogeological conditions (Demidov et al., 2020), while the paleo-environmental and paleo-landscape aspect is only partly studied yet (Verkulich et al., 2018) and subject to further research. As the area of West Spitsbergen became ice-free about 14 400 years ago, permafrost formation and periglacial landscape evolution covers parts of the Late Glacial and the entire Holocene. The complex interplay of glacial (e.g. retreat), periglacial (e.g. deposition) and marine (e.g. transgression) processes superimposed by climate variability over time define the local permafrost history

vPermafrost monitoring network in Barentsburg as part of Eurasian Arctic high-latitude permafrost monitoring transect

The Russian Arctic scientific expedition on Spitsbergen performs permafrost observations in Barentsburg since 2016, including as a part of the Russian-German initiative to establish a Eurasian Arctic high-latitude permafrost monitoring transect covering the Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, Novosibirskiye Islands and Wrangel Island. The permafrost monitoring network in Barentsburg includes: (1) four temperature monitoring boreholes of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost with depth up to 26 m, (2) one site of the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring Network (CALM) for observing the dynamics of the seasonally thawed active layer equipped with an automatic meteostation, (3) a study area for repeated morphometric and temperature observations of a group of seven pingos, (4) the periodic observation and sampling of a number of groundwater springs, ice blisters and icings, and (5) the periodic ground penetrating radar and electrical survey of glaciogenic and hydrogenic taliks. The ground temperatures at a depth of zero amplitude vary from -2.2 °C to -3.56 °C. Quaternary drill core deposits, formed according to radiocarbon analysis during the period of MIS 3 - MIS 1, have a thickness up to 40 m. In the upper parts deposits are mainly represented by gravel with structureless cryostructure. The lower parts of the core sections are built by clay with streaky cryostructures. Clays are characterized by high salt content and thus freezing temperatures between -1 and -2 °C, which makes them highly sensitive to even slight ground temperature increase. The measurements of the active layer dynamics on a CALM site showed values from 1.15 to 1.60 m with an average of 1.38 m in 2017. The upper boundary of pingos ice body was observed at the depth 1.5 – 13.0 m, thus some of them are degrading or soon will start to degrade due to propagation of 0 °C isotherm to the ice

Parable in Nikolai Gogol’s works: specifics of the author's presentation

The parable of the works of N.V. Gogol as one of the most important elements of the writer's strategy is analyzed. Emphasis is placed both on its formal and content embodiment in the author's works. The formal part shows the important connection between the parable and the artistic detail of the literary work and the composition on the whole. The content part deals with the writer, who builds a complex system of conflicts and their role in the plot scheme. For the study, researchers consider it necessary to warn against a shallow analysis of Gogol's parable as a kind of vulgar form of reasonableness or teaching. Reading the author's texts shows that the parable departs from the classical model and resembles “die Parabel”, a form of parable in the literature of European modernism, which complicates and makes the edifying aspect less obvious. The parable element considered in this work should be studied not in general terms, but as an integral part of the poetics and artistic system of the author, which allows us to consider this phenomenon in more detail, as an individually mastered part of the composition of the work of a single author. Using this approach, it is possible to show Gogol as a phenomenon of world literature, and the reason for that is a complex system of parables, implemented in different ways in his literary works. This system absorbs particular elements of poetics using a variety of functions that form a single system of artistic originality of Gogol's texts. Moreover, it emphasizes the originality of texts and their dissimilarity from each other even within the author's collection

To the Problem of Realizing the Provision of Obligations of States under International Treaties

Target. The purpose of this article is to consider the problems of doctrinal approaches to the implementation of the provision of obligations of states under international treaties. The authors analyze the current principles and doctrines of securing obligations under international treaties, suggest that the fundamental principles of fulfilling state obligations through the prism of the doctrine of jus cogens be considered.Methods. Such methods as: system analysis method, synthesis method, formal-legal method, logical method, analogy method are used in the work.Results and conclusions. The authors suppose that a direct recognition of the principle of conscientious fulfillment of international obligations by a peremptory norm of international law in disputes where all participants agreed to this provision is necessary. The agreement with the “vertical” action of this principle, that is, the extension to national legislation, will allow to minimize, and in some cases to exclude the possibility of refusing to fulfill the obligation due to the decision of the national authority. The use of the jus cogens doctrine as applied to the principles of ensuring the fulfillment of obligations by the states will, to a large extent, allow to move towards legal impact on the states within the framework of international law, and will become an additional element of ensuring the responsibility of the state in fulfilling its obligations arising from international treaties

Mercury in frozen Quaternary sediments of the Spitsbergen Archipelago

The climate warming–related degradation of permafrost can lead to the entry of climatically and biologically active substances, including mercury, into the biosphere; this work focuses on the analysis of the total content of mercury and organic carbon in 15 cores drilled in frozen Quaternary deposits of the Arctic Archipelago of Spitsbergen. The mercury content was additionally analyzed in bedrock samples, because the studied Quaternary deposits are formed by the weathering of the bedrock of the area. The results show that mercury concentrations in 157 studied samples of frozen Quaternary deposits range from 21 to 94 ng/g, with an average value of 40 ng/g. The expected correlation of mercury content with organic carbon content is not revealed. There are no trends in the accumulation of mercury depending on the lithological facies, geomorphological position, the time of sedimentation, or the freezing conditions. The average content of mercury in bedrock is relatively low, with a mean value of 8 ng/g. This means that the main source of mercury in frozen Quaternary deposits is not bedrock, but the formation of organic matter complexes or sorption on clay particles. In terms of the ongoing discussion about mercury input from permafrost to ecosystems, the results obtained from boreholes can be considered preindustrial background values

Permafrost temperatures and active layer thickness in Svalbard during 2017/2018 (PermaSval)

This report follows up on the report published in the SESS Report 2018 (Christiansen et al. 2019). Since 2018, the Norwegian Environment Agency has released the Climate in Svalbard 2100 report summarizing observed trends in permafrost conditions over the period of field measurements and a forecast for the future, based on recent climate and permafrost modelling (Hanssen-Bauer et al. 2019). It is well established that the terrestrial cryosphere in Svalbard has changed since modern permafrost monitoring efforts began in the late 1990s. In central Svalbard in the Adventdalen area, ground temperatures have risen by as much as 0.15°C per year (10 m depth) and the thickness of the seasonally-unfrozen active layer increased by 0.6 cm per year since 2000 in sediments and 1.6 cm/year in bedrock (Hanssen-Bauer et al. 2019), while in Ny-Ålesund ground temperatures increased by 0.18°C/year and the thickness of active layer increased by 5 cm/year (Boike et al. 2018). Modern monitoring techniques mean that it is relatively easy to quantify permafrost change in terms of temperature. The visible effects of warming permafrost are, however, more ambiguous. A prolonged thaw season is anticipated to result in a thicker active layer, and increased rainfall intensity can result in more frequent landslides. The strength of frozen soil decreases when warming and permafrost change may expectedly result in infrastructure problems in cases where climate change was not considered during the initial design. The aims of this part of the State of Environmental Science in Svalbard reporting are to: (1) provide an overview of permafrost data collected during the 2017-2018 hydrological year (1 September 2017 – 31 August 2018), (2) contrast these results with the 2016-2017 hydrological year as presented in Christiansen et al. (2019), (3) summarise developments in permafrost monitoring in Svalbard, and (4) provide recommendations for future permafrost investigations. Understanding the spatial distribution of permafrost conditions is critical to predicting geomorphological change and understanding the variability in climate impacts. 2371

Archaeal communities of frozen Quaternary sediments of marine origin on the coast of Western Spitsbergen,

The archaeal composition of permafrost samples taken during drilling of frozen marine sediments in the area of the Barentsburg coal mine on the east coast of Grønfjord Bay of Western Spitsbergen has been studied. The study was based on the analysis of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, carried out using next generation sequencing. This is the second part of the work dedicated to the prokaryotic composition of the Western Spitsbergen, the fi rst part was devoted to the domain of Bacteria. The general phyla of the the Archaea domain were Euryarchaeota, Bathyarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota and Asgardarchaeota. As a result of phylogenetic analysis of the dominant operational taxonomic units, representatives of methanogenic methane- and ammonium-oxidizing archaea, as well as heterotrophic archaea were found. Methanobacteria class of methanogenic archaea was found in the controversial genesis, while methane-oxidizing archaea of the Methanomicrobia class of Methanosarcinales order were found in the marine permafrost of Cape Finneset: ANME-2a, -2b group was found in layers 8.6 and 11.7 m, and a group ANME-2d (Candidatus Methanoperedens) – in a layer of 6.5 m. Ammonium-oxidizing archaea of the phylum Thaumarchaeota was present in all types of permafrost, while Nitrososphaerales was detected in controversial genesis permafrost, and the order-Nitrosopumilales in the marine permafrost or controversial genesis ones. Representatives of phylum Bathyarchaeota were found in the stratigraphicly most ancient samples under this study. Superphylum Asgardarchaeota was met exclusively in the layers of permafrost with marine genesis and was represented by phyla Lokiarchaeota, Thorarchaeota and another group belonging to this superphylum that was not identified by us. The presence in the marine permafrost terrace of Cape Finneset at 11.7 m depth of methane, ethylene and ethane, as well as the composition of the archaeal community gives this layer to assume in it the presence of microbiological processes of the anaerobic oxidation of methane, probably received from Tertiary deposits before freezing. The results obtained are represented the permafrost of Spitsbergen as a rich archive of genetic information of little studied prokaryotic groups

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts