The Influence of Climate Warming on the Hydrological Regime of Thermokarst Lakes in the Subarctic (Chukotka, Russia)

Using remote methods and materials for meteorological observations, climate changes and the area of 36 thermokarst lakes located in the Anadyr lowland in Chukotka over a 65-year period were analyzed. More than 20 lakes were studied by field methods. With an increase in the average annual air temperature by 1.8°C and an increase in the amount of annual precipitation by 135 mm, the total area of the lakes mirror decreased by 24%. Cryogenic processes have had a significant impact on the decrease in the water quantity of lakes. Thermal erosion in drainage channels has led to multiple discharges of water in abnormally warm years. The heaving of permafrost in the coastal zone affected the reduction of the lake catchment area. If the trends of climate change continue, further drainage of large lakes and an increase in the number of small sag pond is expected in the next 25 years

TECHNOGENIC GEOCHEMICAL FLOWS AND AUREALS IN URBANIZED LANDSCAPES OF CHUCKCHEE (AS AN EXAMPLE OF ANADIR DISTRICT)

The investigation objects are the Anadir district of Chuckchee autonomous okrug, t. Anadir and settlement Ugolnie Kopi. The processes of interacting natural and technogenic geochemical systems at formation of the flows and scattering aureals in the urbanized landscapes of Chuckchee have been studied firstly. The contamination level has been determined, and the main sources of receiving pollutants into the atmosphere air, soils and surface waters of the populated areas have been revealed. The results have been used by the administration of t. Anadir, ecological expedition of the Committee of Ecology and Natural Resources on Anadir district and Mine "Anadirskaya"Available from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio

Hazards of activation of cryogenic processes in the arctic community:A geopenetrating radar study in Lorino, Chukotka, Russia

The subsurface structure of permafrost is of high significance to forecast landscape dynamics and the engineering stability of infrastructure under human impacts and climate warming, which is a modern challenge in Arctic communities. Application of the non-destructive method of a geo-penetrating radar (GPR) survey is a promising way to study it. In this paper, we provide the study program, which could be used for the planning and monitoring of measures of adaptation of Arctic communities to environmental changes. Etalons of correlated radargrams and archive geological data were compiled to interpret changes in the permafrost composition from a grid of 5–10 m GPR transects in Lorino. Here, we show the application of GPR to reconstruct and predict hazards of activation of cryogenic processes from the spatial variability in the sequence of layers of permafrost. The indicator layers and variables for cryogenic processes were as follows: the thawed layer bottom, thicknesses and depths of the ice-rich transient layer at the bottom of the active layer, massive ice bodies, and frost-susceptible sediments. The permafrost degradation in Lorino has declined due to improvements in the maintenance of infrastructure and local permafrost aggradation in relic taliks after ground filling applications. However, the hazards of heaving and thermokarst remain for the built-up area

The Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Variations on the Suprapermafrost Groundwater Level and Runoff of Small Rivers in the Anadyr Lowlands, Northeast Russia

The present-day models of the hydrological regime of soils and river basins do not include a hypothesis regarding the effect of atmospheric pressure on hydrological processes (baric effect), which is assumed negligible. However, their manifestations are likely, considering the mechanical and hydrophysical properties of shallow peat-bog soils (plasticity and elasticity, high moisture-retention capacity, the ability to swell and shrink) and the important role of undecomposed plant remains. The effect of atmospheric pressure variations on level changes in a suprapermafrost aquifer was detected using field and laboratory experiments in shallow peat and peaty tundra soils in the Anadyr Lowlands, Northeast Russia. One can see this effect in the runoff regime of 1st–4th orders streams. The manifestations of this phenomenon can differ, and in particular, they can be directed oppositely. The changes in the level and storage of suprapermafrost gravitational water could be caused only by synchronous (in phase opposition) changes in capillary water fringe above the groundwater table. To explain the observed phenomena, a conceptual model is developed based on the analysis of the balance of forces and water balance in a system of elastic capillaries. Not being complete and perfect, the model reproduces qualitatively the main observed cases of the response to air pressure changes, proving the effect itself, and suggests the likely localization of its mechanisms. A shallow suprapermafrost groundwater table in contact with the peat bottom, as well as incomplete (below the full moisture capacity) water saturation of peat soil horizons, appear to be circumstances of the baric effect on tundra shallow subsurface aquifers. Favorable conditions for the baric effect in a soil profile include a high elasticity of peat-soil matrix, high and variable values of porosity and water yield of peat and moss cover, and, at the catchment scale, a high proportion of coverage by these types of soils. A full-scale study of a mechanism of baric effect on a suprapermafrost tundra aquifer requires numerous laboratory and field experiments, that must be much better equipped than presented in our study. It is also welcomed alternative hypotheses regarding the aquifer water level response to changes in air pressure if the observed macroscopic effects at any alternative occurrence could be quite similar

The Effect of Atmospheric Pressure Variations on the Suprapermafrost Groundwater Level and Runoff of Small Rivers in the Anadyr Lowlands, Northeast Russia

The present-day models of the hydrological regime of soils and river basins do not include a hypothesis regarding the effect of atmospheric pressure on hydrological processes (baric effect), which is assumed negligible. However, their manifestations are likely, considering the mechanical and hydrophysical properties of shallow peat-bog soils (plasticity and elasticity, high moisture-retention capacity, the ability to swell and shrink) and the important role of undecomposed plant remains. The effect of atmospheric pressure variations on level changes in a suprapermafrost aquifer was detected using field and laboratory experiments in shallow peat and peaty tundra soils in the Anadyr Lowlands, Northeast Russia. One can see this effect in the runoff regime of 1st–4th orders streams. The manifestations of this phenomenon can differ, and in particular, they can be directed oppositely. The changes in the level and storage of suprapermafrost gravitational water could be caused only by synchronous (in phase opposition) changes in capillary water fringe above the groundwater table. To explain the observed phenomena, a conceptual model is developed based on the analysis of the balance of forces and water balance in a system of elastic capillaries. Not being complete and perfect, the model reproduces qualitatively the main observed cases of the response to air pressure changes, proving the effect itself, and suggests the likely localization of its mechanisms. A shallow suprapermafrost groundwater table in contact with the peat bottom, as well as incomplete (below the full moisture capacity) water saturation of peat soil horizons, appear to be circumstances of the baric effect on tundra shallow subsurface aquifers. Favorable conditions for the baric effect in a soil profile include a high elasticity of peat-soil matrix, high and variable values of porosity and water yield of peat and moss cover, and, at the catchment scale, a high proportion of coverage by these types of soils. A full-scale study of a mechanism of baric effect on a suprapermafrost tundra aquifer requires numerous laboratory and field experiments, that must be much better equipped than presented in our study. It is also welcomed alternative hypotheses regarding the aquifer water level response to changes in air pressure if the observed macroscopic effects at any alternative occurrence could be quite similar

Landscape-permafrost conditions and factors of summer runoff formation of small coastal lowland rivers

River feed and flow regime in the Anadyr lowland remain stable with significant interannual fluctuations in the amount of summer precipitation (70-180 mm). The lack of summer precipitation is compensated by the suprapermafrost groundwater of the active layer, which is formed by meltwater from seasonal underground ice. In July 2019, complex permafrost-hydrological studies were conducted in the Ugolnaya-Dionisia river basin (Chukotka, Russia) to determine the patterns of formation and dynamics of underground and surface runoff. Seasonal active layer groundwater storage that formed as a result of the melting of seasonal ice was estimated. The territory was classified according to the unite discharge, potential and established water sources. Patterns and factors of seasonal and daily dynamics of the river regime are revealed

Two decades of active layer thickness monitoring in northeastern Asia

This study summarizes seasonal thawing data collected in different permafrost regions of northeast Asia over the 1995–2018 period. Empirical observations were undertaken under the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program at a range of sites across the permafrost landscapes of the Yana-Indigirka and Kolyma lowlands and the Chukotka Peninsula, and supplemented with 10 years of observations from volcanic mountainous areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Thaw depth observations, taken using mechanical probing at the end of the thawing season, and ground temperature measurements, were analyzed with respect to air temperatures trends. The data from 24 sites (16 in the Indigirka-Kolyma region, 5 in Chukotka and 3 in Kamchatka) reveal different reactions of the active layer thickness (ALT) to recent changes in atmospheric climate. In general, there is a positive relation between ALT and summer air temperatures. Since the early 2000s positive ALT anomalies (compared with mean data from all sites) prevail in the Kolyma and Chukotka area, with only one alas site showing a negative ALT trend. The only active site in the Kamchatka Mountains shows no significant thaw depth changes over the period of observation. Two other Kamchatka sites were affected during a volcanic eruption in 2012