5 research outputs found
COMP ARA TIVE DROUGHT STRATEGIES THE SOVIET UNION
Background. It cannot be emphasized enough that the Soviet Union is a highlatitude country. Odessa on the Black Sea coast, one of Russia\u27s southern cities, lies at a latitude of 46°N, comparable to that of Billings, Montana, and in fact is cooler in summer than Billings (Lydolph 1977b). Krasnodar in the Kuban District of the North Caucasus, probably the most productive region in the Soviet Union, compares latitudinally and climatically to St. Paul, Minnesota. Kharkov, in the northeastern Ukraine, compares to Winnipeg, Canada; in fact, Winnipeg experiences higher maximum temperatures in summer than Kharkov does. The central black earth region of the Russian Republic lies even farther north. Thus, most of the farmland of the Soviet Union is more comparable latitudinally and climatically to parts of Canada than to the United States. In the wheat lands of southwestern Siberia, Omsk, at a latitude of 55°, lies farther north than any agricultural settlement in Canada, except perhaps the Peace River Valley, which, of course, is only a restricted area. In these northern regions, the Soviets must consider not only moisture supply but always heat supply as well (Lydolph 1963)
Conservation in the Soviet Union. By Philip R. Pryde. (London and New York: Cambridge at the University Press, 1972. Pp. 301. $14.50.)
Ernest W. Williams, JR., with the assistance of George Novak and Holland Hunter, Freight Transportation in the Soviet Union: Including Comparisons with the United States. National Bureau of Economic Research, No. 76, General Series. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1962. xxi + 221 pp. $4.50.
Holocene oxygen isotope record of diatoms from Lake Kotokel (southern Siberia, Russia) and its palaeoclimatic implications
The oxygen isotope composition of diatom silica (d18Odiatom) from marine and lake sediments is helpful
for the interpretation of the past climate and environments, especially when complemented by other
proxy records. This paper presents a Holocene oxygen isotope record of diatoms from Lake Kotokel,
located 2 km east of Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia. The isotope record displays variations in
d18Odiatom from +23.7 to +30.3‰ from about 11.5 ka BP until today. Comparing the isotope composition
of recent Lake Kotokel water (mean d18O = -12‰) to that of the most recent diatom sample
(d18O = +27.5‰), an isotope fractionation in the right order of magnitude was calculated. The Kotokel
d18O diatom record is rather controlled by changes in the isotopic composition of the lake water rather
than by lake temperature. Lake Kotokel is a dynamic system triggered by differential environmental
changes closely linked with various lake-internal hydrological factors. A continuous depletion in d18O of
6.6‰ is observed from Early to Late Holocene, which is in line with other hemispheric environmental
changes (i.e. a Mid- to Late Holocene cooling). Enhanced evaporation effects and higher relative supply
from a southerly moisture source explain the relatively heavy isotopic composition in a rather cold Early
Holocene. In summary, changes in the Holocene d18O diatom record of Lake Kotokel reflect variations in
d18O of precipitation linked with both Tair as well as evaporation effects and, to a lesser degree, meltwater
pulses from the mountainous hinterland and changing atmospheric moisture sources