APPROACHES TO THE SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT OF WATER RESOURCES AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO THE ARCTIC RIVERS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Shestakova
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Rivers

scholarly journals Water Consumption on the Catchments of the Arctic Rivers and into the Arctic Zone of Russia: Parameters, Structure, and Many-year Dynamics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Arctic Zone ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Arctic Rivers

Water consumption into the Arctic zone of Russia and at the catchments of the Arctic seas of Russia is relatively small. In 2006-2017 on the watershed of the Arctic seas an average of 21.3 km3 of natural waters were being taken annually, and within the Arctic zone of Russia was 2.6 km3/year, or, respectively, of 28.8 and 3.5% of the national volume. Whereas these regions occupy about 71% and 18% of the country’s area. This is an objective consequence of the very small population and economic development of these territories. The volume of discharge of salvaged waters on the catchments of the Arctic seas is comparable to the volume of water intake and is equal to 15.2 km3/year, or 71%. The difference between water withdrawal and discharges of salvaged water within the Arctic zone of Russia is even less. Therefore, there is no statistically significant impact of water consumption on the water resources of the Arctic rivers, as well as shortage of water resources in the region. In addition, current water consumption is characterized, firstly, by its absence in many territories. Secondly, it is 30-50% less than it was in the 1980s. Thirdly, the water consumption value, on the contrary, has increased in the districts of development of oil and gas production. Fourthly, the water supply of industrial enterprises, heat power and public utilities exclusively dominates in the sectoral structure of water consumption. Fifthly, river waters make up main part of the water use. The study also had several important additional results. The first result is the creation of a unique map illustrating the values and features of spatial changes in water management characteristics in the Arctic zone of Russia. The second is conclusions regarding the reliability and completeness of data of various origin, including from alternative sources of information. The third is the successful implementation of the water management review approach with a transition from a macro-scale level to specific areas, localities and water consumers.

Bacteriohopanepolyol biomarker composition of organic matter exported to the Arctic Ocean by seven of the major Arctic rivers

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1151-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Cooke ◽  
Bart E. van Dongen ◽  
Helen M. Talbot ◽  
Igor Semiletov ◽  
Natalia Shakhova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Arctic Rivers

scholarly journals Using the Arctic water resources vulnerability index in assessing and responding to environmental change in Alaskan communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Williams ◽  
Andrew Kliskey ◽  
Molly McCarthy ◽  
Richard Lammers ◽  
Lilian Alessa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Water ◽  
Water Resources Vulnerability

scholarly journals Multi-molecular tracers of terrestrial carbon transfer across the pan-Arctic – Part 1: Comparison of hydrolysable components with plant wax lipids and lignin phenols

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 4721-4767 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Feng ◽  
Ö. Gustafsson ◽  
R. M. Holmes ◽  
J. E. Vonk ◽  
B. E. van Dongen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Plants ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Molecular Composition ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Benchmark Assessment ◽  
Lignin Phenols ◽  
Carbon Transfer ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Arctic Rivers ◽  
Plant Wax

Abstract. Hydrolysable organic carbon (OC) comprises a significant component of sedimentary particulate matter transferred from land into oceans via rivers. Its abundance and nature are however not well studied in the arctic river systems, and yet may represent an important pool of carbon whose fate remains unclear in the context of mobilization and related processes associated with changing climate. Here, we examine the molecular composition and source of hydrolysable compounds isolated from surface sediments derived from nine rivers across the pan-Arctic. Bound fatty acids (b-FAs), hydroxy FAs, n-alkane-α, ω-dioic acids (DAs) and phenols were the major components released upon hydrolysis of these sediments. Among them, b-FAs received considerable inputs from bacterial and/or algal sources, whereas ω-hydroxy FAs, mid-chain substituted acids, DAs, and hydrolysable phenols were mainly derived from cutin and suberin of higher plants. We further compared the distribution and fate of suberin- and cutin-derived compounds with those of other terrestrial biomarkers (plant wax lipids and lignin phenols) from the same arctic river sediments and conducted a benchmark assessment of several biomarker-based indicators of OC source and extent of degradation. While suberin-specific biomarkers were positively correlated with plant-derived high-molecular-weight (HMW) FAs, lignin phenols were correlated with cutin-derived compounds. These correlations suggest that, similar to leaf-derived cutin, lignin was mainly derived from litter and surface soil horizons, whereas suberin and HMW FAs incorporated significant inputs from belowground sources (roots and deeper soil). This conclusion is supported by the negative correlation between lignin phenols and the ratio of suberin-to-cutin biomarkers. Furthermore, the molecular composition of investigated biomarkers differed between Eurasian and North American arctic rivers: while lignin dominated in the terrestrial OC of Eurasian river sediments, hydrolysable OC represented a much larger fraction in the sedimentary particles from Colville River. Hence, studies exclusively focusing on either plant wax lipids or lignin phenols will not be able to fully unravel the mobilization and fate of bound OC in the arctic rivers. More comprehensive, multi-molecular investigations are needed to better constrain the land-ocean transfer of carbon in the changing Arctic, including further research on the degradation and transfer of both free and bound components in the arctic river sediments.

scholarly journals A 50 % increase in the mass of terrestrial particles delivered by the Mackenzie River into the Beaufort Sea (Canadian Arctic Ocean) over the last 10 years

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3551-3565 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Doxaran ◽  
E. Devred ◽  
M. Babin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Suspended Solids ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Freshwater Discharge ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Arctic Rivers ◽  
Mackenzie River

Abstract. Global warming has a significant impact on the regional scale on the Arctic Ocean and surrounding coastal zones (i.e., Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia). The recent increase in air temperature has resulted in increased precipitation along the drainage basins of Arctic rivers. It has also directly impacted land and seawater temperatures with the consequence of melting permafrost and sea ice. An increase in freshwater discharge by main Arctic rivers has been clearly identified in time series of field observations. The freshwater discharge of the Mackenzie River has increased by 25% since 2003. This may have increased the mobilization and transport of various dissolved and particulate substances, including organic carbon, as well as their export to the ocean. The release from land to the ocean of such organic material, which has been sequestered in a frozen state since the Last Glacial Maximum, may significantly impact the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle as well as marine ecosystems. In this study we use 11 years of ocean color satellite data and field observations collected in 2009 to estimate the mass of terrestrial suspended solids and particulate organic carbon delivered by the Mackenzie River into the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean). Our results show that during the summer period, the concentration of suspended solids at the river mouth, in the delta zone and in the river plume has increased by 46, 71 and 33%, respectively, since 2003. Combined with the variations observed in the freshwater discharge, this corresponds to a more than 50% increase in the particulate (terrestrial suspended particles and organic carbon) export from the Mackenzie River into the Beaufort Sea.

scholarly journals The Canadian Water Resource Vulnerability Index to Permafrost Thaw (CWRVIPT)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-462
Author(s):  
C. Spence ◽  
M. Norris ◽  
G. Bickerton ◽  
B.R. Bonsal ◽  
R. Brua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Canadian North

This study developed and applied a framework for assessing the vulnerability of pan-Canadian water resources to permafrost thaw. The national-scale work addresses a key, but neglected, information gap, as previous research has focused on small scale physical processes and circumpolar trends. The framework was applied to develop the Canadian Water Resources Vulnerability Index to Permafrost Thaw (CWRVIPT) and map the index across the Canadian North. The CWRVIPT is a linearly additive index of permafrost, terrain, disturbance, and climatic conditions and stressors that influence water budgets and aquatic chemistry. Initial results imply water resources in the western Northwest Territories and Hudson Bay Lowlands are most vulnerable to permafrost thaw; however, water resources on Banks, Victoria and Baffin Islands are also relatively vulnerable. Although terrain and permafrost sub-indices are the largest component of the CWRVIPT across a wide swath from the Mackenzie River Delta to the Hudson Bay Lowlands, the climate sub-index is most important farther north over parts of the southern portion of the Arctic Archipelago. The index can be used to identify areas of water resource vulnerability on which to focus observation and research in the Canadian North.

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