Martin Gaikovich Khublaryan (to the 70th anniversary)

Chronicle

Martin Gaikovich Khublaryan (to the 70th anniversary)     

Climate change and frozen rocks: Direct relationship and feedbacks

It has been shown that the maximum of climate variations in the northern subpolar zone observable over the last three decades conforms to the maximal methane and carbonic acid content in the atmosphere of the north latitudes. Statistical analysis of long-term variations of ground air temperature, gas composition of atmosphere, depth of seasonal melting, temperature, and distribution area of permafrost ground in the subpolar zone of the north hemisphere testifies to significant directional changes of basic cryolitozone characteristics. Analysis of the latitudinal distribution of flux density of anthropogenic and natural methane showed that the greatest methane emission is in the subpolar zone of the northern hemisphere, where anthropogenic impact is minimal. In view of the estimations of methane emission during thawing of permafrost grounds, a new hypothesis explaining the present climate conditions in northern latitudes has been proposed. The planetary maximum of climate warming in the arctic zone is substantially caused by methane and carbonic acid outbreaks from thawing permafrost grounds, which, in turn, is an additional reason for the greenhouse effect. This effect is materially analogous to the influence of technogenic discharge of greenhouse gases in the temperate zone.     

Regional Estimation of Fresh Groundwater Vulnerability: Methodological Aspects and Practical Applications

Two independent methods for estimating groundwater vulnerability to pollution are described. The methods are used for regions with different geological and hydrogeological conditions. A new combined approach taking into account the physicochemical processes that take place in all parts of the protected zone is proposed.     

The effect of water abundance in a territory on the population health

The paper presents the results of analysis of present-day scientific data on the dynamics of global hydroclimatic processes (with the establishment of long-term variations in the global water exchange processes) and the features of water abundance in territories under the effect of various natural and anthropogenic factors. Possible transformations of the hydrogeological situation under global climate changes are considered. The basic principles of the concept regarding the assessment of the effect of global hydroclimatic changes on the population health are presented. Medical-environmental data on the consequences of water-triggered environmental crises, taken as analogous natural models, are analyzed. The processes and regularities in the development of human pathology under the conditions of higher and lower water abundance in a territory are identified. The succession, time stages, and phases of the development of infection, parasitic, noninfectious pathologies are determined. Cause-and-effect relationships were established between the observed pathology and the effect of a complex of changing natural, anthropogenic, and social-environmental factors. Methodological approaches to the assessment of medical-environmental consequences of distinct changes in the water abundance in the territories are described. The possible use of subsurface water sources as a reserve of domestic water supply under emergencies are considered.     

Variations in submarine groundwater runoff as a possible cause of decomposition of marine methane-hydrates in the Artcic

The formation conditions and the dynamics of groundwater in the upper hydrodynamic zone of the northern coast of European Russia, which discharge directly into the Barents and White seas, are analyzed. The normal annual water, ionic, and thermal runoff and the anticipated submarine groundwater runoff into the Arctic Ocean are evaluated. The stability of marine arctic methane-hydrates under the observed and anticipated climate changes is analyzed. A physical substantiation is given to the concept of climate-determined increase in submarine groundwater discharge as a possible cause of the intensification of arctic methane hydrate decomposition, which does not contradict empirical data.     

Submarine discharge into the Barents and White Seas

In this paper groundwater formation conditions in the upper hydrodynamic zone of the northern coast of European part of Russia are considered. This groundwater discharges directly into the Barents and White Seas. The values of submarine discharge from European Russia into Arctic Seas, by passing river network, are estimated. Estimates of subsurface dissolved-solids discharge are given. Specific and integral characteristics of submarine discharge are analyzed. The major regularities in the formation and distribution of submarine discharge into Seas of the Arctic Ocean are described.