scholarly journals Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) of the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei N Boltunov ◽  
Stanislav E Belikov
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Polar Cod ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Novaya Zemlya

This paper reviews published information on the white whale or beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) inhabiting the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas. Some data obtained during multi-year aerial reconnaissance of sea ice in the Russian Arctic are also included. Ice conditions, considered one of the major factors affecting distribution of belugas, are described. The number of belugas inhabiting the Russian Arctic is unknown. Based on analysis of published and unpublished information we believe that the primary summer habitats of belugas in the Western Russian Arctic lie in the area of Frants-Josef Land, in the Kara Sea and in the western Laptev Sea. Apparently most belugas winter in the Barents Sea. Although it has been suggested that a considerable number of animals winter in the Kara Sea, there is no direct evidence for this. Apparent migrations of animals are regularly observed at several sites: the straits of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, the waters north of the archipelago, and Vilkitskiy Strait between the Kara and Laptev seas. Calving and mating take place in summer, and the beluga mother feeds a calf for at least a year. Females mature earlier than males, and about 30% of mature females in a population are barren. Sex ratio is apparently close to 1:1. The diet of the beluga in the region includes fish and crustaceans and shows considerable spatial and temporal variations. However, polar cod (Boreogadus saida) is the main prey most of the year, and whitefish (Coregonidae) contribute in coastal waters in summer. Usually belugas form groups of up to 10 related individuals of different ages, while large aggregations are common during seasonal migrations or in areas with abundant and easily available food. Beluga whaling in Russia has a history of several centuries. The highest catches were taken in the 1950s and 1960s, when about 1,500 animals were caught annually in the Western Russian Arctic. In the 1990s, few belugas were harvested in the Russian Arctic. In 1999 commercial whaling of belugas in Russia was banned. Belugas can be caught only for research, cultural and educational purposes and for the subsistence needs of local people. With the absence of significant whaling, anthropogenic pollution seems to be the major threat for the species.

Migrated oil on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic: Evidence for a novel petroleum system in the eastern Barents Sea and the Kara Sea

AAPG Bulletin ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 791-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Hendrik van Koeverden ◽  
Hans Arne Nakrem ◽  
Dag Arild Karlsen
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Petroleum System ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Novaya Zemlya

Functioning of phytoplankton in the bays of Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Kara Sea ​​ (Blagopoluchiya Bay) during summer.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Sergeeva ◽  
Olga Vorobieva
Keyword(s):  
Photosynthetic Activity ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Cell Counting ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Phytoplankton Production ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Glacier Melting

<p>Pronounced changes in the climate system that lead to a significant reduction in sea ice cover and active glacier melting provoke the great interest in ecosystem studies of archipelago bays in the high Arctic. In addition to increasing the duration of the open water period, the glacier melting increases the fresh water discharge from the archipelagos and thereby affects the coastal ecosystems of the Arctic region. There is practically no information about the ecosystems of the archipelago bays of the seas of the Russian Arctic due to the inaccessibility. Within the framework of the program “Investigation of the Russian Arctic ecosystems” in 2007-2020 held by Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, modern comprehensive studies of ecosystems of Novaya Zemlya bays, including phytoplankton (as primary producer of organic matter) were carried out. The most frequent observations were conducted in Blagopoluchiya Bay (North Island of Novaya Zemlya Archipelago), which has several coastal runoffs of glacial origin flow.</p><p>We found that despite the constant enrichment with allochthonous suspended matter and nutrients with runoff from Novaya Zemlya to the Blagopoluchiya Bay there was no increase in phytoplankton production during the summer open water period (Borisenko et al. Thesis EGU21-9528). On the contrary, the quantitative characteristics of phytoplankton in euphotic layer were extremely low: 0.2-0.7 mkgC/l and 0.03 - 0.15 mkgChl/l. Obviously the inclusion of allochthonous nutrients in local production cycles over the sea part of the bay was difficult.</p><p>To clarify the reasons of such low phytoplankton productivity against the background of the enrichment with nutrients of ​​Blagopoluchiya Bay, multifactorial experiments were carried out on the monoculture of the cosmopolitan diatom <em>Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii</em> Cleve, 1873, which is one of the dominant species in the Novaya Zemlya bays. Algae culture was isolated from the phytoplankton community of the Kara Sea and adapted to a salinity of 31 psu, typical for Novaya Zemlya bays. In addition to routine cell counting under microscope we used PAM-fluorometry to control the growth characteristics of algae that makes it possible to observe the photosynthetic activity of algae.</p><p>It was shown that the functioning of algae is greatly influenced by a significant gradients in salinity. When fresh runoff from Novaya Zemlya is mixed with the seawater of the bay, marine planktonic algae experience significant osmostress and immediately settle down and die off. With a slight dilution (up to 29-30 psu) of sea water by freshwater from the archipelago, the algae functioned well and doubled their biomass for 2-3 days. At the same time, we found that the algae were well adapted to a significant range of illumination: 40-200 µE, which apparently allows them to maintain high level of photosynthetic activity under the changing arctic illumination during the Arctic summer at high latitudes.</p><p>This study was performed within the framework of the state assignment of IO RAS, (topic no. 0149-2019-0008) and supported by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (projects no. 18–05–60069Arctic and 19-04-00322 А).</p>

scholarly journals Identification and characteristics of surge-type glaciers on Novaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (194) ◽  
pp. 960-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie L. Grant ◽  
Chris R. Stokes ◽  
Ian S. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Median Length ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Surface Slopes ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Median Area ◽  
Median Slope

AbstractWe present a comprehensive new inventory of surge-type glaciers on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, using high-resolution (up to 4 m) satellite imagery from 1976/77 (Hexagon), 1989 (Landsat TM), 2001 (Landsat ETM+) and 2006 (ASTER). A total of 692 glaciers and their forelands were observed for glaciological and geomorphological criteria indicative of glacier surging (e.g. looped moraines, heavy surface crevassing, surface potholes, thrust-block moraines, concertina eskers). This enabled the identification of 32 potential surge-type glaciers (compared with four previously identified) representing 4.6% of the total but 18% by glacier area. We assess the characteristics of surge-type glaciers. Surge-type glaciers are statistically different from non-surge-type glaciers in terms of their area, length, surface slope, minimum elevation, mid-range elevation and terminus type. They are typically long (median length 18.5 km), large (median area 106.8 km2) outlet glaciers, with relatively low overall surface slopes (median slope 1.7°) and tend to terminate in water (marine or lacustrine). They are predominantly directed towards and located in the more maritime western region of the Russian Arctic, and we suggest that surge occurrence might be related to large and complex catchment areas that receive increased delivery of precipitation from the Barents Sea.

Contributions to the lichen flora of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago (Archangelsk Region, Russian Arctic)

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-126
Author(s):  
I. S. Zhdanov
Keyword(s):  
Lichen Species ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Ecological Preferences ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Annotated List ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lichen Flora

The annotated list of 20 lichen species, based on the author’s collection, is presented. Atla wheldonii is new for Russia, and 16 species are new for Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. Morphology and ecological preferences of the lichen species new for the archipelago are discussed. The history of lichenological investigations in Novaya Zemlya is described.

Content and variability of nutrients in the water area of ​​Blagopoluchiya Bay (Novaya Zemlya, Kara Sea)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gennadii Borisenko ◽  
Alexander Polukhin ◽  
Valentina Sergeeva
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
Shirshov Institute ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya

<p>In the frames of the scientific program “Investigation of the Russian Arctic ecosystems” in 2007-2020 held by Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, comprehensive studies of the bays of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago (NZA) were carried out. There is very little information in the scientific literature on the dynamics and hydrochemical structure of the waters of the bays. Our investigations have revealed that the concentration of nutrients (first of all, nitrates and silicate) in the bays of NZA was higher than in the surrounding water area of ​​the Kara Sea. The most well studied and open for investigations is the Blagopoluchiya Bay in the northern island of NZA. Blagopoluchiya Bay is a fjord-type bay with several streams of the glacier origin.</p><p>The concentrations of nutrients (N, P, Si, C) in the streams were observed in August-September (0-1.53 µM of PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3-</sup>, 6.4-50.2 µM of SiO<sub>3</sub><sup>2-</sup>, 0.6-11.2 µM of NO<sub>2</sub><sup>-</sup>+NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>, 732-4815 µM of DIC). The observed content of nutrients in the waters of the bay was on average 2 times lower, but not lower than the level limiting the development of phytoplankton.</p><p>We suppose that high concentrations of nutrients in NZA bays in August-September were supported by increasing glacial runoff from NZA during the summer open water period and the removal of products of degradation of shore rocks with it. Despite the constant enrichment of nutrients, the concentration of phytoplankton in Blagopoluchiya Bay was extremely low (0.2-0.7 mkgC/l) in comparison with the adjacent marine part of the Kara Sea in all years of research.  Perhaps it was due to osmostress of planktonic algae during desalination of the bay by the NZA runoff.</p><p>This work was supported by the State Agreement of The Ministry of Science and Education of Russian Federation (theme №0128-2019-0008); Russian Foundation for Basic Research project 18-05-60069 (processing hydrochemistry data); Russian Scientific Foundation project 19-17-00196 (data obtaining); by the Grant of the President of the Russian Federation MK-860.2020.5 (processing carbonate chemistry data).</p>

scholarly journals Assessment of initial seismic impacts on the northern part of the Barents Sea shelf (Novaya Zemlya region) for the purpose of seismic microzoning in the areas of prospective hydrocarbon mining

2019 ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
I. G. Mindel ◽  
B. A. Trifonov ◽  
M. D. Kaurkin ◽  
V. V. Nesynov
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Arctic Shelf ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Seismic Microzoning ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
National Task ◽  
Seismic Impacts

In recent years, in connection with the national task of developing the Arctic territories of Russia and the perspective increase in the hydrocarbon mining on the Arctic shelf, more attention is being paid to the study of seismicity in the Barents Sea shelf. The development of the Russian Arctic shelf with the prospect of increasing hydrocarbon mining is a strategically important issue. Research by B.A. Assinovskaya (1990, 1994) and Ya.V. Konechnaya (2015) allowed the authors to estimate the seismic effects for the northern part of the Barents Sea shelf (Novaya Zemlya region). The paper presents the assessment results of the initial seismic impacts that can be used to solve seismic microzoning problems in the areas of oil and gas infrastructure during the economic development of the Arctic territory.

Content of Technogenic Radionuclides in Water, Bottom Sediments, and Benthos of the Kara Sea and Shallow Bays of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 1320-1326
Author(s):  
T. A. Goryachenkova ◽  
A. P. Borisov ◽  
G. Yu. Solov’eva ◽  
E. A. Lavrinovich ◽  
I. E. Kazinskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bottom Sediments ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Water Bottom

scholarly journals Lateglacial and early-Holocene environments of Novaya Zemlya and the Kara Sea Region of the Russian Arctic

The Holocene ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid Serebryanny ◽  
Andrei Andreev ◽  
Evgeniya Malyasova ◽  
Pavel Tarasov ◽  
Fedor Romanenko
Keyword(s):  
Kara Sea ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Novaya Zemlya

scholarly journals Content of technogenic radionuclides in water, bottom sediments and benthos of the Kara sea and shallow bays of the Novaya zemlya archipelago

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 1261-1268
Author(s):  
T. A. Goryachenkova ◽  
A. P. Borisov ◽  
G. Yu. Solov`eva ◽  
E. A. Lavrinovich ◽  
I. E. Kazinskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detection Limit ◽  
Bottom Sediments ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Global Fallout ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Radioactive Cesium ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Open Sea ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

During the expedition on the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh research vessel in 2016 year it was established that the content of radioactive cesium in the sea water of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago bays and open sea are at a level corresponding to the global fallout (1 Bq /m3). Plutonium content in water is slightly higher .The activity of neptunium in water is an order of magnitude higher than the activity of plutonium (0.761.89 Bq/m3), although its content in global fallout is almost two orders of magnitude lower than the plutonium content. The plutonium content in the bottom sediments of the Kara Sea is 0.23.8 Bq/kg. The content of radioactive cesium is as high as possible in the mouth of the Yenisei River (up to 21 Bq/kg) Analysis of benthic samples showed that the content of radioactive cesium and plutonium in samples taken in the bays of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago is below the detection limit. The neptunium content in the benthos samples is above the detection limit and amounts to 180 Bq/kg wet weight. It was showed that the content of neptunium in benthos is one of the indicators of radioactive contamination of the marine environment.

scholarly journals Features of the Distribution of Chlorophyll-a Concentration along the Western Coast of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago in Spring

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 3648
Author(s):  
Pavel R. Makarevich ◽  
Veronika V. Vodopianova ◽  
Aleksandra S. Bulavina ◽  
Pavel S. Vashchenko ◽  
Tatiana G. Ishkulova
Keyword(s):  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Novaya Zemlya Archipelago ◽  
Chlorophyll A Concentration ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
First Time ◽  
Arctic Surface

In spring 2016, the thermohaline characteristics of water masses and the distribution of chlorophyll-a concentration in the pelagic zone of the eastern part of the Barents Sea were studied. For the first time, in the conditions of an abnormally warm year and the absence of ice cover, a complex of hydrobiological works was carried out on a section crossing the Barents Sea from south to north along the western coast of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. High concentrations of chlorophyll-a > 1 ˂ 6 mg/m3 at all stations of the transect indicate a stage of spring bloom in the successional cycle of microalgae. Significant differences in the content of chlorophyll-a in waters of various origins were revealed. The highest concentrations of chlorophyll-a corresponded to Arctic surface water (5.56 mg/m3). Slightly lower values were observed in the transformed Atlantic waters of the Novozemelskoe and Kolguevo–Pechorskoe currents (3.53 ± 0.97–3.71 ± 1.04 mg/m3), and the lowest was in the Barents waters (1.24 ± 0.84–1.45 ± 1.13 mg/m3).

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