The study of the archaic round dances dramaturgy from the spring cycle

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to find clarification of the interpretation of the primary symbolism of some dance ornaments and movements. This will help to focus the choreographers’ attention on the competent use and interpretation of symbols in the dance dramaturgy. The purpose of this study is to analyze the archaic motifs in the dramaturgy of the spring cycle dances on the cycle example of round dances “Podolianochka” to explain their primary sign content. The methodology. The article analyzes the dramaturgy of the archaic spring rites on the cycle example of round dances “Podolianochka”, which are united by a plot and choreographic features. The archaic origins sources of the choreographic staging of these ritual actions are traced and systematized. The components of mythological, calendar-ritual and initiating origins of such a rite are considered. The results. The main character origin as a sun reflection in the spring flood (in the Danube) is formulated on the basis of a common feature — “white face” and others. The initiation of “Podolianochka-Bilodanchyk” leads to the Lela-spring birth. Choreographic elements that contribute to the success of the magical ritual and accompany the events course are considered: jumps — for the successful initiation, marriage and promoting plant growth, running — to increase fertility. It is shown that the schemes of movement in these round dances ensure the involvement of all girls in the role of the central character, as well as create magical symbols similar to Easter painting: sun-bird, meander, “thunderbolt”. It is proved that from the view of magical point the round dance plays the role of rosaries, the grains of which are taken one by one, and to each of them the gods’ glorification is pronounced. The novelty of this study is to clarify the ideological basis of the main character origin of the dance “Podolianochka-Bilodanchyk”, in the interpretation of choreographic patterns as symbols similar to Easter painting, the analogy between the touching of rosaries and mandatory participation in the role of the central character of all girls. The practical significance of this study is the selection of meaningful lines of round dance dramaturgy: 1) choreographic staging of events with grain and sorcery for the harvest; 2) girls’ initiation before the marriage period; 3) choreographic staging of events from the gods’ life and consecration of human actions. This allows you to more fully reconstruct both individual movements and the round dance dramaturgy as a whole in practice.

Monitoring the Spring Flood in Lena Delta with Hydrodynamic Modeling Based on SAR Satellite Products

Due to the remote location and the extreme climate, monitoring stations in Arctic rivers such as Lena in Siberia have been decreasing through time. Every year, after a long harsh winter, the accumulated snow on the Lena watershed melts, leading to the major annual spring flood event causing heavy transport of sediments, organic carbon, and trace metals, both into as well as within the delta. This study aims to analyze the hydrodynamic processes of the spring flood taking place every year in the Lena Delta. Thus, a combination of remote sensing techniques and hydrodynamic modeling methodologies is used to overcome limitations caused by missing ground-truth data. As a test site for this feasibility study, the outlet of the Lena River to its delta was selected. Lena Delta is an extensive wetland spanning from northeast Siberia into the Arctic Ocean. Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data of the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X satellite mission served as input for the hydrodynamic modeling software HEC-RAS. The model resulted in inundation areas, flood depths, and flow velocities. The model accuracy assessed by comparing the multi-temporal modeled inundation areas with the satellite-derived inundation areas ranged between 65 and 95%, with kappa coefficients ranging between 0.78 and 0.97, showing moderate to almost perfect levels of agreement between the two inundation boundaries. Modeling results of high flow discharges show a better agreement with the satellite-derived inundation areas compared to that of lower flow discharges. Overall, the remote-sensing-based hydrodynamic modeling succeeded in indicating the increase and decrease in the inundation areas, flood depths, and flow velocities during the annual flood events.

Dependence of floodplain birds’ dynamics on the spring flood height and duration in the middle Ob River

Inter-annual variations in the total number of birds in floodplains of rivers are mainly associated with their flooding. The minimum population density during the nesting period was in a year with high and prolonged spring floods. The restoration and maximum development of shrubs took place with a significant simultaneous increase in the abundance of birds in subsequent years. Drying and simplification of vegetation cover were noted in all floodplain bird habitats during low-water periods. This process was accompanied by a decline in the number of birds. We identified four groups of bird species according to the criterion of the relationship “abundance – level and duration of the flood”. In the first group of bird species, abundance increased during high floods (3 species). In the second group, the abundance decreased sharply during high and prolonged floods (7 species). In the third group, the level and duration of the spring flood did not affect the abundance (9 species). In the fourth group, a very weak tendency of the negative flood level impact on the abundance of birds was noted (6 species).

Earlywood Vessels in Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) Trees Show Contrasting Sensitivity to Hydroclimate Variables According to Flood Exposure

In recent years, the utility of earlywood vessels anatomical characteristics in identifying and reconstructing hydrological conditions has been fully recognized. In riparian ring-porous species, flood rings have been used to identify discrete flood events, and chronologies developed from cross-sectional lumen areas of earlywood vessels have been used to successfully reconstruct seasonal discharge. In contrast, the utility of the earlywood vessel chronologies in non-riparian habitats has been less compelling. No studies have contrasted within species their earlywood vessel anatomical characteristics, specifically from trees that are inversely exposed to flooding. In this study, earlywood vessel and ring-width chronologies were compared between flooded and non-flooded control Fraxinus nigra trees. The association between chronologies and hydroclimate variables was also assessed. Fraxinus nigra trees from both settings shared similar mean tree-ring width but floodplain trees did produce, on average, thicker earlywood. Vessel chronologies from the floodplain trees generally recorded higher mean sensitivity (standard deviation) and lower autocorrelation than corresponding control chronologies indicating higher year-to-year variations. Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that control and floodplain chronologies shared little variance indicating habitat-specific signals. At the habitat level, the PCA indicated that vessel characteristics were strongly associated with tree-ring width descriptors in control trees whereas, in floodplain trees, they were decoupled from the width. The most striking difference found between flood exposures related to the chronologies' associations with hydroclimatic variables. Floodplain vessel chronologies were strongly associated with climate variables modulating spring-flood conditions as well as with spring discharge whereas control ones showed weaker and few consistent correlations. Our results illustrated how spring flood conditions modulate earlywood vessel plasticity. In floodplain F. nigra trees, the use of earlywood vessel characteristics could potentially be extended to assess and/or mitigate anthropogenic modifications of hydrological regimes. In absence of major recurring environmental stressors like spring flooding, our results support the idea that the production of continuous earlywood vessel chronologies may be of limited utility in dendroclimatology.

Fluvial carbon dioxide emission from the Lena River basin during the spring flood

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from inland waters of permafrost-affected regions is one of the key factors of circumpolar aquatic ecosystem response to climate warming and permafrost thaw. Riverine systems of central and eastern Siberia contribute a significant part of the water and carbon (C) export to the Arctic Ocean, yet their C exchange with the atmosphere remains poorly known due to lack of in situ GHG concentration and emission estimates. Here we present the results of continuous in situ pCO2 measurements over a 2600 km transect of the Lena River main stem and lower reaches of 20 major tributaries (together representing a watershed area of 1 661 000 km2, 66 % of the Lena's basin), conducted at the peak of the spring flood. The pCO2 in the Lena (range 400–1400 µatm) and tributaries (range 400–1600 µatm) remained generally stable (within ca. 20 %) over the night–day period and across the river channels. The pCO2 in tributaries increased northward with mean annual temperature decrease and permafrost increase; this change was positively correlated with C stock in soil, the proportion of deciduous needleleaf forest, and the riparian vegetation. Based on gas transfer coefficients obtained from rivers of the Siberian permafrost zone (k=4.46 m d−1), we calculated CO2 emission for the main stem and tributaries. Typical fluxes ranged from 1 to 2 gCm-2d-1 (>99 % CO2, <1 % CH4), which is comparable with CO2 emission measured in the Kolyma, Yukon, and Mackenzie rivers and permafrost-affected rivers in western Siberia. The areal C emissions from lotic waters of the Lena watershed were quantified by taking into account the total area of permanent and seasonal water of the Lena basin (28 000 km2 ). Assuming 6 months of the year to be an open water period with no emission under ice, the annual C emission from the whole Lena basin is estimated as 8.3±2.5 Tg C yr−1, which is comparable to the DOC and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) lateral export to the Arctic Ocean.

Testing Landscape, Climate and Lithology Impact on Carbon, Major and Trace Elements of the Lena River and Its Tributaries during a Spring Flood Period

Transport of carbon, major and trace elements by rivers in permafrost-affected regions is one of the key factors in circumpolar aquatic ecosystem response to climate warming and permafrost thaw. A snap-shot study of major and trace element concentration in the Lena River basin during the peak of spring flood revealed a specific group of solutes according to their spatial pattern across the river main stem and tributaries and allowed the establishment of a link to certain landscape parameters. We demonstrate a systematic decrease of labile major and trace anion, alkali and alkaline-earth metal concentration downstream of the main stem of the Lena River, linked to change in dominant rocks from carbonate to silicate, and a northward decreasing influence of the groundwater. In contrast, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and a number of low-soluble elements exhibited an increase in concentration from the SW to the NE part of the river. We tentatively link this to an increase in soil organic carbon stock and silicate rocks in the Lena River watershed in this direction. Among all the landscape parameters, the proportion of sporadic permafrost on the watershed strongly influenced concentrations of soluble highly mobile elements (Cl, B, DIC, Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Mo, As and U). Another important factor of element concentration control in the Lena River tributaries was the coverage of the watershed by light (for B, Cl, Na, K, U) and deciduous (for Fe, Ni, Zn, Ge, Rb, Zr, La, Th) needle-leaf forest (pine and larch). Our results also suggest a DOC-enhanced transport of low-soluble trace elements in the NW part of the basin. This part of the basin is dominated by silicate rocks and continuous permafrost, as compared to the carbonate rock-dominated and groundwater-affected SW part of the Lena River basin. Overall, the impact of rock lithology and permafrost on major and trace solutes of the Lena River basin during the peak of spring flood was mostly detected at the scale of the main stem. Such an impact for tributaries was much less pronounced, because of the dominance of surface flow and lower hydrological connectivity with deep groundwater in the latter. Future changes in the river water chemistry linked to climate warming and permafrost thaw at the scale of the whole river basin are likely to stem from changes in the spatial pattern of dominant vegetation as well as the permafrost regime. We argue that comparable studies of large, permafrost-affected rivers during contrasting seasons, including winter baseflow, should allow efficient prediction of future changes in riverine ‘inorganic’ hydrochemistry induced by permafrost thaw.

Spring flood frequency analysis in the Southern Buh River Basin, Ukraine

The river floods are among the most dangerous natural disasters in the world. Each year, the spring floods cause the significant material damage in the different countries, including Ukraine. Knowledge of trends in such floods, as well as their probabilistic forecast, is of great scientific and practical importance. In last decades, the decreasing phase of cyclical fluctuations of the maximum runoff of spring floods has been observed on the plain rivers of Ukraine, including the Southern Bug River. In addition, there is an increase in air temperature. So, the actual task is the determine the modern probable maximum discharges estimates of spring floods in the Southern Buh River Basin as well as their comparison with the estimates that were computed earlier. It gives an opportunity to reveal possible changes of the statistical characteristics and values of the probable maximum discharges, to analyze and to discuss the reasons for these changes. For the investigation, we used the time series of the maximum discharges of spring floods for 21 gauging stations in the Southern Buh River Basin since the beginning of the observations and till 2015. The method of the regression on the variable that is based on the data of analogues rivers was used to bringing up the duration of the time series and restoration of the gaps. In the study, the hydro-genetic methods for estimation of the homogeneity and stationarity of hydrological series, namely the mass curve, the residual mass curve and the combined graphs. The distributions of Kritskyi & Menkel and Pearson type III for the frequency analysis were used. It has been shown in this study that the maximum discharges of spring floods of time series are quasi-homogeneous and quasi-stationary. It is explained the presence in the observation series of only increasing and decreasing phases of cyclical fluctuations, their considerable duration, as well as the significant variability of the maximal flow. The series of maximal runoff of spring floods are very asymmetric, which significantly complicates the selection of analytical distribution curves. The updated current parameters of the maximal spring flood runoff have not changed significantly. It can be assumed that such characteristics have already become stable over time, as the series of maximal runoff of spring floods already have phases of increasing and decreasing of long-term cyclic fluctuations.

Assessment of runoff characteristics changes of the left bank tributaries of the Upper Dniester under warming conditions

The inflow of water from the left-bank tributaries of the Upper Dniester is an important component of the runoff formation for the whole river. The study of changes in their water content in the context of global warming is quite urgent and agrees with the provisions of the strategic programme for the Dniester Basin for 2021-2035 aimed at ‘climate change mitigation’ and ‘promoting the principles of sustainable water management’. The paper's objective is to carry out a research into the changes in climatic factors and runoff characteristics that occurred on the left bank of the Upper Dniester in the early 21st century. The research was performed on the basis of hydrometeorological data for the period of 1945-2018. The main research methods include the regression analysis and the method of differential integral curves. It is found that, within the area under study, there is an increase in average annual air temperatures against the background of constant or insignificantly increasing amounts of annual precipitation, thus creating unsatisfactory conditions for runoff formation. It is established that, during the months of cold period, there is an increase in air temperature and that since 1989 the frequency of cases, when the temperature crosses the range of positive values, keeps increasing. 1989 is a turning point in the chronological course of average annual air temperatures; a positive phase of long-term fluctuations starts since that year. With regard to annual precipitation fluctuations from the mid-60s of the last century up to 2013, a positive phase was also identified; within this phase there was a short period of insufficient moisture (1981-1996). It was found that the response of runoff characteristics to climate change was not the same. Maximum runoff during the spring flood is the most sensitive to global warming, since such warming has worsened the conditions for accumulation of water reserves in the snow cover. The transition of maximum runoff fluctuations to the low-water phase took place in 1981. The average long-term decrease in the maximum water flow rates during the spring flood for the period of 1950-2018 amounts to -16.9%. Unlike maximum runoff, the characteristics of the annual and minimum runoff changed gradually during the winter and summer low-water periods and the final transition to the low-water phase of fluctuations occurred only in 2009-2011. Certain inertia of changes in the water resources of Podillya rivers under the warming conditions is caused by the subsurface component making a high contribution to the annual runoff formation (60%). Significant portion of the groundwater supply ‘mitigated’ the effects of surface runoff loss during spring floods. The research allowed establishing the occurrence of statistically significant negative trends in the annual and minimum runoff fluctuations since 1998. If continue to preserve, the identified climate change trends will decrease the inflow of water from the Podillya rivers to the main Dniester River.