scholarly journals Mammoth fauna at the thermokarst lake Bulgunnyakhtakh (Ust-Yana district, Yakutia)

Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Elvira A. Zinnatova, Larisa A. Frolova ◽  
Larisa A. Frolova

The Northern lakes are good objects for paleoclimatic reconstructions. One of the sources of information about changes in the ecosystems of lakes are diatoms. The study of diatom complexes revealed 133 taxa belonging to 49 genera, 24 families, 13 orders and 3 classes in the bottom sediments of the thermokarst lake of the Pechora Delta. Dominated by the Holarctic representatives of benthic and fouling organisms giving preference to the alkaline environmental conditions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1177-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Manasypov ◽  
O. S. Pokrovsky ◽  
S. N. Kirpotin ◽  
L. S. Shirokova

Abstract. This work describes the hydrochemical composition of thermokarst lake and pond ecosystems, which are observed in various sizes with different degrees of permafrost influence and are located in the northern part of western Siberia within the continuous and discontinuous permafrost zones. We analysed the elemental chemical composition of the lake waters relative to their surface areas (from 10 to 106 m2) and described the elemental composition of the thermokarst water body ecosystems in detail. We revealed significant correlations between the Fe, Al, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and various chemical elements across a latitude gradient covering approximately 900 km. Several groups of chemical elements that reflect the evolution of the studied water bodies were distinguished. Combining the data for the studied latitude profile with the information available in the current literature demonstrated that the average dissolved elemental concentrations in lakes with different areas depend specifically on the latitudinal position, which is presumably linked to (1) the elements leached from frozen peat, which is the main source of the solutes in thermokarst lakes, (2) marine atmospheric aerosol depositions, particularly near the sea border and (3) short-range industrial pollution by certain metals from the largest Russian Arctic smelter. We discuss the evolution of the chemical compositions observed in thermokarst lakes during their formation and drainage and predict the effect that changing the permafrost regime in western Siberia has on the hydrochemistry of the lakes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 117 (G2) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam C. Jones ◽  
Guido Grosse ◽  
Benjamin M. Jones ◽  
Katey Walter Anthony

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Lindgren ◽  
G. Grosse ◽  
K. M. Walter Anthony ◽  
F. J. Meyer

Abstract. Thermokarst lakes are important emitters of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. However, accurate estimation of methane flux from thermokarst lakes is difficult due to their remoteness and observational challenges associated with the heterogeneous nature of ebullition. We used high-resolution (9–11 cm) snow-free aerial images of an interior Alaskan thermokarst lake acquired 2 and 4 days following freeze-up in 2011 and 2012, respectively, to detect and characterize methane ebullition seeps and to estimate whole-lake ebullition. Bubbles impeded by the lake ice sheet form distinct white patches as a function of bubbling when lake ice grows downward and around them, trapping the gas in the ice. Our aerial imagery thus captured a snapshot of bubbles trapped in lake ice during the ebullition events that occurred before the image acquisition. Image analysis showed that low-flux A- and B-type seeps are associated with low brightness patches and are statistically distinct from high-flux C-type and hotspot seeps associated with high brightness patches. Mean whole-lake ebullition based on optical image analysis in combination with bubble-trap flux measurements was estimated to be 174 ± 28 and 216 ± 33 mL gas m−2 d−1 for the years 2011 and 2012, respectively. A large number of seeps demonstrated spatiotemporal stability over our 2-year study period. A strong inverse exponential relationship (R2 >  =  0.79) was found between the percent of the surface area of lake ice covered with bubble patches and distance from the active thermokarst lake margin. Even though the narrow timing of optical image acquisition is a critical factor, with respect to both atmospheric pressure changes and snow/no-snow conditions during early lake freeze-up, our study shows that optical remote sensing is a powerful tool to map ebullition seeps on lake ice, to identify their relative strength of ebullition, and to assess their spatiotemporal variability.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Jana M.E. Tondu ◽  
Kevin W. Turner ◽  
Johan A. Wiklund ◽  
Brent B. Wolfe ◽  
Roland I. Hall ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Bouchard ◽  
Daniel Fortier ◽  
Michel Paquette ◽  
Vincent Boucher ◽  
Reinhard Pienitz ◽  
...  

Abstract. Thermokarst lakes are widespread and diverse across permafrost regions and they are considered significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions documenting the inception and development of these ecologically important water bodies are generally limited to Pleistocene-age permafrost deposits (Yedoma) of Siberia, Alaska, and the western Canadian Arctic. Here we present the gradual transition from syngenetic ice-wedge polygon terrains to a thermokarst lake in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. We combine geomorphological surveys with paleolimnological reconstructions from sediment cores in an effort to characterize local landscape evolution from terrestrial to freshwater environment. Located on an ice-rich and organic-rich polygonal terrace, the studied lake is now evolving through active thermokarst, as revealed by subsiding and eroding shores, and was likely created by water pooling within a pre-existing topographic depression. Organic sedimentation in the valley started during the mid-Holocene, as documented by the oldest organic debris found at the base of one sediment core and dated at 4.8 kyr BP. Local sedimentation dynamics were initially controlled by fluctuations in wind activity, local moisture and vegetation growth/accumulation, as shown by alternating loess (silt) and peat layers. Fossil diatom assemblages were likewise influenced by local hydro-climatic conditions and reflect a broad range of substrates available in the past (both terrestrial and aquatic). Such conditions likely prevailed until ~ 2000 BP, when peat accumulation stopped as water ponded the surface of degrading ice-wedge polygons, and the basin progressively developed into a thermokarst lake. Interestingly, this happened in the middle of the Neoglacial cooling period, likely under wetter-than-average conditions. Thereafter, the lake continued to develop as evidenced by the dominance of aquatic (both benthic and planktonic) diatom taxa in organic-rich lacustrine muds. Based on these interpretations, we present a four-stage conceptual model of thermokarst lake development during the late Holocene, including some potential future trajectories. Such a model could be applied to other formerly glaciated syngenetic permafrost landscapes.


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