Concentration and composition of the suspended particulate matter of the Barents sea

The results of the study of the distribution and composition of the dispersed sedimentary matter (suspended matter) in the water column of the Barents Sea were presented in the article. The distribution of suspended matter in the sea obeys the laws of circumcontinental (for surface distribution) and vertical zonality. At the same time, the absolute values of the weight and volume concentrations of the suspended matter themselves are low (on average less than 0.5 mg/l and less than 1.0 mm3/l, respectively). The highest values of all parameters of the suspended matter were found in the Pechora Sea, the most southeastern part of the Barents Sea, where the abrasion of the shores and bottom erosion, and the Pechora River runoff. Surface and bottom peaks are characteristic of the vertical distribution of the suspended matter. An intrusion of the nepheloid layer enriched in the suspended matter into the deep layers can be observed on the continental slope when the depth makes a sharp fall.

Using Ground Penetrating Radar for Permafrost Monitoring from 2015–2017 at CALM Sites in the Pechora River Delta

This paper describes the results of ground penetrating radar (GPR) research combined with geocryological data collected from the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) testing sites in Kashin and Kumzha in August 2015, 2016, and 2017. The study area was located on the Pechora River delta. Both sites were composed of sandy ground and the permafrost depth at the different sites ranged from 20 cm to 8–9 m. The combination of optimum offset and multifold GPR methods showed promising results in these investigations of sandy permafrost geological profiles. According to direct and indirect observations after the abnormally warm conditions in 2016, the thickness and water content of the active layer in 2017 almost returned to the values in 2015 in the Kashin area. In contrast, the lowering of the permafrost table continued at Kumzha, and lenses of thin frozen rocks that were observed in the thawed layer in August of 2015 and 2017 were absent in 2016. According to recent geocryological and geophysical observations, increasing permafrost degradation might be occurring in the Pechora River delta due to the instability of the thermal state of the permafrost.

Methane in frozen and thawed soils of the western sector of Russian Arctic

<p>Many researchers study the Earth's climate change and the impact of the greenhouse effect on this process. The large amount of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) is preserved in permafrost. In this regard, scientists recently pay a great attention to the problem of methane emission during the permafrost degradation in the Arctic zone. Until now, the methane content in underground ice, frozen Quaternary sediments has been studied insufficiently. The methane content in the active layer is especially poorly studied.</p><p>The authors researched methane content in frozen grounds of the upper permafrost horizon (transition zone) and in thawed sediments of the active layer for different tundra landscapes near the Marre-Sale polar station on the western coast of the Yamal peninsula and for landscapes of the Pechora river estuary area (Russia).</p><p>More than 420 samples of gas from sediments in active and transient layer were collected in Marre-Sale and 36 samples in Pechora area. To determine the methane content, the samples were placed in syringes and degassed using the “head space” technique. CH<sub>4</sub> measurements were carried out on a chromatograph with flame ionization detector (FID) Shimadzu GC-2014 (Japan) in the laboratory of Federal State Institution “VNIIOkeangeologiya” (Saint-Petersburg, Russia).</p><p>Methane content in the frozen and thawed sediments of different dominant landscapes of typical tundra on Yamal peninsula and landscapes of southern tundra on Pechora area is extremely variable. The greatest amount of methane is typical for the most wet landscapes with primarily of silt loam soils. In dry primarily sandy well-drained landscapes, the methane content is low. The highest methane content is measured within the low floodplain of river, water tracks, swampy depressions of polygonal relief, and lake basins landscapes (mean varied from 0.8 to 2.5 ml [CH4] / kg, with a maximum of 9.0 ml [CH4] / kg). For landscapes of the moist surface of typical tundra, the average values of methane content were approximately 0.4 ml [CH4] / kg (with a maximum of 3.4 ml [CH4] / kg). The lowest methane contents in soils were characteristic of the landscapes of well-drained tundra, and sand fields where the average values do not exceed 0.2 ml [CH4] / kg. Mean methane content in soils of Pechora river mouth landscapes varied from 0.05 to 4.5 ml [CH4] / kg, with a maximum of 15.8 ml [CH4] / kg.</p><p>Determined that methane contents in the frozen soils of the transition zone is 2 to 5 times higher than in the soils of the active layer. High content of methane in upper layers of permafrost should be considered as a significant source of methane, which can be involved in emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during permafrost degradation.</p>

Kargopol ceramics: a separate type or a variety of pit-comb ceramics (on the example of materials from the settlements of Karelia)?

The purpose of this study is to consider the phenomenon of Kargopol ceramics in Karelia, which is manifested in its bright originality, sharp difference from other types of Neolithic ware and the vastness of the area-from Lake Onega in the west to the Pechora River in the east and from the Southern White Sea in the north to the southern limits of the Vologda Region in the south. There are 20 known settlements in Karelia, the complexes of which contain Kargopol ceramics with a total number of 275 vessels. The center of this layer of antiquities is Lake Vodlozero, located near the border of Karelia with the Arkhangelsk Region. Most Kargopol vessels have a straight flat-cut corolla with short and shallow notches applied from the outer and inner edges, below there is a horizontal belt of pits or punctures. There are six variants of ornamentation, three of which include elements of pit-comb and comb dishes. The authors think that the concentration of Kargopol vessels on the monuments of eastern Karelia, mainly in the complexes with pit-comb ceramics of the middle stage of development in the lake basin Vodlozera, and its almost complete absence in other areas of Karelia indicates the penetration of a similar ceramic tradition from the Eastern Prionezh Region, where it was first isolated. Based on the available modern data, it is still difficult to talk about the independent existence of Kargopol ceramics in the Neolithic of Karelia.

Pechora scrolls: St. Augustine’s miracle of the revelation of the Elder

The Ust-Tsilemsky region of the Komi Republic is known for its collection of medieval handwritten books and manuscripts. These collections found in the area of the Lower Pechora River contain a rich variety of Old Believers’ written documents of different genres. The au­thors explore one of these documents — St. Augustine’s Miracle of the Revelation of the El­der, which exists in two different Pechora documents. One of them is a hagiographic text cre­ated by the famous Ust-Tsilma scribe and editor of Old Russian texts Myandin, who lived in the second half of the 19th century. The Miracle is a part of the Book of St. Augustine and has survived in only a few copies. It is noteworthy that Myandin’s works have not been previous­ly studied. Employing textual analysis, the authors came to the conclusion which of the two Myadlin’s texts is closer to the earliest surviving scroll of the Miracle (Science Library of Moscow State University, the collection of manuscripts of the Old Believers of Bessarabia and Belaya Krinitsa, No. 2194, fol. 109—115 ob). This is a text contained in the Tsvetnik, com­piled by Myandin. The study showed that the other copy is a later work of the scribe on the storyline of The Miracle, which involved the shortening of the text, the introduction of new narrative details, naming the main character, and providing a more detailed description of his appearance. The authors argue that, at a later stage of mastering the plot of the Miracle, My­andin created his own version of the events described. He employed his own vocabulary satu­rating the plot with details, which were missing in the first version. He cleared the text of unnecessary motives that distract the reader from the main idea of the story: holiness does not depend on rank or status; it can also be granted to a humble, illiterate person who is capable of performing miracles.

Middle Neopleistocene sediments in the lower course of the Pechora River

The results of lithological studies of Quaternary deposits in the coastal outcrops of the valley of the lower course of the river are presented. Pechora. In the latitudinal section of the Pechora, two horizons of boulder loams (moraines) and underlying horizons, dividing or overlapping the moraine strata, are exposed to intermoraine sediments of fluvial genesis. Based on the results of lithological studies of textural, granulometric and mineralogical features of fine earth of deposits and petrographic composition of coarse material, it was concluded that material was supplied during the formation of moraines from different terrigenous-mineralogical provinces. The formation of the lower Pechora (Dnieper) moraine is associated with the North-Eastern feeding province, and the upper Moscow (Vychegda) moraine, with the North-West Fennoscandian center of glaciation. The glacial genesis of boulder loams has been confirmed.