Expeditions in Siberia in 1999 Edited by Volker Rachold Russian-German Cooperation SY 2000: The Expedition LENA 1999 by the participants of the expedition edited by Volker ßachol and Mikhail N. Gregoriev ^- * EURASIAN ICE SHEETS: German-Russian Expedition Polar Ural '99 by Wolf-Dieter Hermichen, Anette Gierlichs, Frank Wischer and Dmitry Bolshiyanov Ber. Polarforsch. 354 (2000) ISSN 0176 - 5027 Volker Rachold, Wolf-Dieter Hermichen & Frank Wischer, Alfred-Wegener- Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Department Potsdam, PO Box 60 01 49, D-14401 Potsdam, Germany Anette Gierlichs, Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse D-27568 Bremerhaven Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Permafrost Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences 677018 Yakutsk, Yakutia, Russia Dmitry Bolshiyanov, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Bering St. 38, 199397 St. Petersburg, Russia Contents Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA 2000: The Expedition LENA 1999 by the participants of the expedition edited by Volker ßachol and Mikhail N. Grigoriev page 1-269 EURASIAN ICE SHEETS: German-Russian Expedition Polar Ural '99 by Wolf-Dieter Hermichen, Anette Gierlichs, Frank Wischer and Dmitry Bolshiyanov page 271 -303 Russian-German Cooperation SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA 2000: The Expedition LENA 1999 by the participants of the expedition edited by Volker ßachol and Mikhail N. Grigoriev Volker Rachold, Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Department Potsdam, PO Box 60 01 49, D-14401 Potsdam, Germany Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Permafrost Institute, Russian Academy of Science 677018 Yakutsk, Yakutia, Russia The Expedition LENA 99 Table of Contents Contents 1 lntroduction .................................................................................6 2 Expedition Itinerary..................................................................... 9 2.1 Selection of working areas ...............................................................................9 2.2 General logistics and transport ......................................................................10 2.3 Time tables of individual working groups ....................................................13 2.3.1 Team 1 a-C (Samoylov Island)........................................................... 13 2.3.2 Team 2 a (Arga Island) ........................................................................14 2.3.3 Team 2 b (RV Dunay) ..........................................................................15 2.3.3 Team 3 (Lyahkovsky Island) .............................................................16 2.3.4 Team 4 (Olenyokskaya Channel) .....................................................17 2.3.5 Team 5 (Bykovsky Peninsula) ...........................................................18 2.4 Appendix ............................................................................................................20 Table A2-1: List of participants ................................................................................20 Table A2-2: Participating institutions ........................................................................21 3 Modern Processes in Permafrost Affected Soils .......................22 3.1 General Introduction ........................................................................................22 3.2 The distribution of soils on Samoylov Island and other comparison sites of the Lena Delta ..............................................................22 3.3 Thermal and hydrologic dynamics of the active layer ...............................25 3.4 Seasonal variability of trace gas emission (CH4. COn) and in situ process studies .................................................................................................28 3.4.1 Methode and field experiments .........................................................28 3.4.2 Preliminary Results ..............................................................................30 3.5 CO;, - Fluxes in permafrost affected soils .....................................................37 3.5.1 Team 1 A (winter) .................................................................................37 3.5.1. 1 Introduction ..............................................................................37 3.5.1. 2 Field studies ............................................................................38 3.5.2 Team 1 B (spring) .................................................................................39 3.5.2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................39 3.5.2.2 Field studies ............................................................................39 3.5.3 Team 1 C (summer) .............................................................................40 3.5.3.1 lntroduction ..............................................................................40 3.5.3.2 Methods and first results of field work ................................40 3.5.4 Description of the sites and profiles ..................................................41 3.6 Monitoring for bird populations in the Lena Delta...................................... 45 3.6.1 Methods and materials ........................................................................45 3.6.2 Results and discussion .......................................................................46 3.7 References ........................................................................................................49 3.8 Appendix ............................................................................................................50 Table A3-1 : List of soil samples ...............................................................................50 Table A3-2: Abundance of birds on the channels of Lena Delta in the nesting period (ind.110 km) .................................................................................................52 Table A3-3: Abundance of birds on the channels of Lena Delta in the brood period (ind.110 km)................................................................................................. 53 Table A3-4: Abundance of birds on the channels of Lena Delta in the fall migration period (ind.110 km) ...................................................................................54 Table of Contents The Exoedition LENA 99 4 Coastal Processes in the Laptev Sea and the Environmental History of the Lena Delta ..................................55 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................55 4.2 Lake sediment studies on Arga Island .........................................................57 4.2.1 lntroduction............................................................................................ 57 4.2.2 Samples and methods ........................................................................58 4.2.3 Preliminary results ...............................................................................62 4.3 Coastal erosion studies in the Laptev Sea .................................................65 43.1 lntroduction............................................................................................ 65 4.3.2 Methods .................................................................................................66 4.3.3 Preliminary results ...............................................................................70 4.4 Geological-Geomorphological Studies in the Western and Central Sectors of the Lena Delta................................................................. 75 4.4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................75 4.4.2 Methode .................................................................................................75 4.4.3 Study area .............................................................................................75 4.4.4 Results of the field studies ..................................................................77 4.4.5 Preliminary co~~clusions...................................................................... 88 4.5 Observations of water level oscillations in the Olenyokskaya Channel .............................................................................................................90 4.6 Aeolian sedimentation processes in the Lena Delta................................. 92 4.7 References ........................................................................................................96 4.8 Appendix ............................................................................................................98 Table A4-1: List of stations for lake sediment studies on Arga Island ..........................98 Table A4-2: List of samples for lake sediment studies on Arga Island ....................................................................................................................99 Table A4-3: Boreholes temperature measurments in Nikolay Lake (Arga Island) and Ivashkina lagoon, May 1999 ............................................................................100 Table A4-4: List of stations for coastal erosion studies ............................................101 Table A4-5: List of samples for coastal erosion studies ............................................102 Table A4-6: Water temperature profiles ('C) along the Laptev Sea coast ...................103 Table A4-7: Hydrometeorological characteristics along the Laptev Sea coast (bottom water temperature -Tb .