scholarly journals Toxic splash: Russian rocket stages dropped in Arctic waters raise health, environmental and legal concerns

Polar Record ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 580-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Byers ◽  
Cameron Byers
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Rocket Fuel ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
North Water ◽  
Ecological Importance ◽  
Considerable Concern

ABSTRACTRussia has dropped rocket stages fuelled with unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) into the Barents Sea and the North Water Polynya—areas of considerable ecological importance—on ten occasions since 2002. The stages come from SS-19 intercontinental missiles that have been re-purposed for launching satellites. UDMH is a highly toxic chemical that has caused widespread health and environmental damage in Kazakhstan and Russia as a result of its extensive use there as a rocket fuel. Not all of the fuel on-board is consumed during a launch and the residual fuel tends to escape the incoming stages and form aerosol clouds that drift over large areas. This dropping of the rocket stages is of considerable concern to the Inuit of Canada and Greenland, who only learned about the practice in 2016. It is also a violation of several treaties as well as customary international law. At least two more launches of UDMH-fuelled rockets on the same trajectory are currently planned—even though alternative non-toxic rocket systems exist.

scholarly journals Living at a High Arctic Polynya: Inughuit Settlement and Subsistence around the North Water during the Thule Station Period, 1910–53

ARCTIC ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarne Grønnow
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Ringed Seal ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
Annual Range ◽  
North Water ◽  
The Rich

The settlement and subsistence patterns of the Inughuit of the Avanersuaq (Thule area) are described and analyzed for the years 1910 to 1953, when Knud Rasmussen’s trading station at Dundas was active. Inughuit subsistence was based on the rich biotic resources of the North Water polynya between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, but the analysis shows that trade, primarily with fox furs at the Thule Station, also played a major role in shaping the settlement pattern of the period. During the Thule Station Period, the named winter settlements amounted to c. 40 sites; however, only 10–15 of them were settled at any given time. The Inughuit settlement close to the station, Uummannaq, soon became the largest site in the area. The sources enable us to follow changes of residence of some hunting families over four decades. By moving their winter sites every second or third year, the families gained primary knowledge of the topography and seasonal variation of the hunting grounds in the entire Thule district during their active years. In the same way, they connected with diverse family networks through the years. Tracing the sledge routes that connected the sites over great distances reveals how decisive proximity to main and escape routes over the Ice Cap was for site location. Dog sledge technology, and thus capacity to transport people, gear, and stored food, boomed during the Thule Station Period with the wealth created from trade and access to raw materials. Mapping the main hunting grounds on the sea ice and modeling the hunters’ annual range of possibilities for accessing different game—mainly walrus, ringed seal, narwhal, and sea birds (plus some caribou)—showed that ringed seal formed the bread and butter of the subsistence economy. However, bulk resources, gained in particular from intensive spring walrus hunts at a few hot spots, as well as carefully timed consumption and sharing of the stored meat and blubber, were keys to life at the North Water polynya. Temporary settlement at the trading stations in the area—a couple of winters at a time—was also part of the risk management strategy of the Inughuit.

Evaluation of the modern geoecological state of the fjords of the eastern Barents sea

2021 ◽  
pp. 899-943
Author(s):  
V.A. Shakhverdov ◽  
◽  
D.V. Ryabchuk ◽  
M.A. Spiridonov ◽  
V.A. Zhamoida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bottom Sediments ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
North West ◽  
Geochemical Zoning ◽  
The North ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Main Components

A brief analysis of the history of environmental geological study of the Barents Sea is given. It shows that at the beginning of industrial development the geological environment was characterized by a low level of disturbance and pollution. On example of the Kola Bay, an assessment of the current environmental geological conditions of the fjords in the eastern part of the Barents Sea is given. Seismic-acoustic studies confirm the predominantly tectonic origin of the bay and the hazardous spread of gravitational rocks movement within the coastal slopes. The background geochemical characteristics of recent bottom sediments are quantified. It is shown that geochemical zoning of the bottom of the bay is a consequence of both natural and anthropogenic processes. According to the content of Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, Hg and hexane-soluble petroleum products (PP) in the bottom sediments, the characteristics of various areas were obtained. It is shown that the distribution of PP and several other pollutants in the main components of aquatic and coastal geosystems is a leading element of the environmental monitoring system, quantitative assessment of anthropogenic impact and accumulated environmental damage. Active economic activity within the southern leg of the Kola Bay, as well as the naval bases, significantly affects the distribution of chemical elements. The data concerning distribution of chemical elements forms in bottom sediments are given that suggest a high probability of secondary pollution of the bottom water when the physicochemical conditions of sedimentation processes change. A comparative analysis showed that bottom sediments of the Kola Bay are characterized by the highest concentration of chemical elements in the North-West Region of the Russian Federation.

The formation and maintenance of the North Water Polynya

2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yao ◽  
C. L. Tang
Keyword(s):  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
North Water

The Lateral Boundaries of the Continental Shelf and the Judgment of the International Court of Justice in the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Grisel
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Exclusive Jurisdiction ◽  
The North ◽  
Sea Bottom ◽  
International Court ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Recent Origin

A rule of customary international law of recent origin has conferred sovereign rights over the continental shelf to individual states for the limited purposes of exploration and exploitation. The attribution of such exclusive jurisdiction required the delimitation of boundaries between the submarine areas appertaining to various littoral states. The importance of such partition of the seabed and subsoil is self-evident, but two points do call for comment. First, since the shelf may be considerably extended in the future according to the criterion of exploitability, the method now adopted will have a constantly growing significance. Second, the acquisition of the sea bottom by coastal nations has created inequalities between them, depending on their relative degree of technical development as well as on their geographical circumstances. The drawing of boundaries separating their respective shelves can aggravate or diminish these inequalities.

On the estimation of spring melt in the North Water polynya using RADARSAT‐1

2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Yackel ◽  
D.G. Barber ◽  
T.N. Papakyriakou
Keyword(s):  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
North Water

scholarly journals Biomarker characterization of the North Water Polynya, Baffin Bay: Implications for local sea ice and temperature proxies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Harning ◽  
Brooke Holman ◽  
Lineke Woelders ◽  
Anne E. Jennings ◽  
Julio Sepúlveda
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
Lipid Biomarker ◽  
North Water ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract. The North Water Polynya (NOW, Greenlandic Inuit: Pikialasorsuaq), Baffin Bay, is the largest polynya and one of the most productive regions in the Arctic. This area of thin to absent sea ice is a critical moisture source for local ice sheet sustenance and coupled with the inflow of nutrient-rich Arctic Surface Water, supports a diverse community of Arctic fauna and indigenous people. Although paleoceanographic records can provide critical insight into the NOW’s past behavior, it is critical that we fully understand the modern functionality of the paleoceanographic proxies beforehand. In this study, we analyzed lipid biomarkers, including algal highly-branched isoprenoids and sterols for sea ice extent and pelagic productivity, and algal alkenones and archaeal GDGTs for ocean temperature, in a suite of modern surface sediment samples from within and around the NOW. Our data show that all highly-branched isoprenoids exhibit strong correlations with each other and show highest concentrations within the NOW, which suggests a spring/autumn sea ice diatom source rather than a combination of sea ice and open water diatoms as seen elsewhere in the Arctic. Sterols are also highly concentrated in the NOW and exhibit an order of magnitude higher concentration here compared to sites south of the NOW, consistent with the order of magnitude higher primary productivity observed within the NOW relative to surrounding waters in spring/summer months. Finally, our temperature calibrations for alkenones, GDGTs and OH-GDGTs reduce the uncertainty present in global temperature calibrations, but also identify some additional variables that may be important in controlling their local distribution, such as salinity, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen. Collectively, our datasets provide new insight into the utility of these lipid biomarker proxies in high-latitude settings and will help provide a refined perspective on the Holocene development of the NOW with their application in downcore reconstructions.

Behaviour of ringed seals tagged with satellite transmitters in the North Water polynya during fast-ice formation

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 1934-1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Teilmann ◽  
Erik W Born ◽  
Mario Acquarone
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water Polynya ◽  
Ringed Seals ◽  
North Water ◽  
Satellite Transmitters ◽  
Fast Ice ◽  
Insight Into

To gain insight into the use by ringed seals (Phoca hispida) of the North Water polynya (northern Baffin Bay), we monitored the movements and diving behaviour of eight ringed seals caught in the fjords of the Thule (Avernarsuaq) area in Northwest Greenland. The animals were caught in August-September 1996 and equipped with satellite transmitters. Contact with the seals was maintained for up to 146 days. Two of the seals left the study area soon after being equipped, one moved north to the Kane Basin and one moved to southeastern Baffin Island. The departure of the other six seals from the fjords was apparently related to the formation of landfast ice. After formation of the polynya, all positions were close to the edge of the fast ice in the Thule area. Of the six seals that stayed in the North Water, three females preferred areas with shallow water (<100 m), while three males with larger body mass remained mainly in areas with deeper waters (>100 m). The "shallow-water" seals dove significantly more frequently to depths of less than 50 m than the "deep-water" seals, whereas the deep-water seals made significantly more dives that were deeper than 50 m. However, all seals occasionally dove to depths of more than 250 m.

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