Continuous record of environmental changes in Chukotka during the last 350 thousand years

The comprehensive study of the upper 1283 cm of sediment from Lake El’gygytgyn, which formed nearly 4 Ma ago following a meteorite impact in northern Chukotka, yielded the first continuous record of the extreme changes in the Beringian climate and vegetation from the middle Middle Pleistocene to recent time (equivalent of marine isotope stages of 1–7 and the upper part of isotope stage 8). During this period, the climate was warmer than at present between 8600 and 10 7000 ¹⁴C years and during the Late Pleistocene (isotope substage 5e, 116–128 ka ago). In 2003, the German-Russian-USA expedition continued studying sediments of Lake El’gygytgyn to obtain new evidence of the change in the vegetation cover in the Middle Pleistocene and the first information on the Middle Pleistocene interglacial (isotope stage 9; 297–347 ka ago). Pollen spectra characterizing the Middle Pleistocene interglacial are similar to spectra of the early stage of the Early Pleistocene interglacial and the climatic optimum in the Pleistocene to Holocene transitional period. The climatic history of Lake El’gygytgyn is basic for stratigraphic interpretations and correlations in the eastern sector of the Arctic. These data also expand our understanding of climatic changes that are studied within the framework of the “Pole-Equator-Pole Paleoclimate,” “Past Global Changes,” and other international projects.     

The pollen record from El’gygytgyn Lake: implications for vegetation and climate histories of northern Chukotka since the late middle Pleistocene

Three types of pollen assemblages (shrub-dominated, mixed herb- and shrub-dominated, and herb-dominated) characterize the ~ 300,000 year palynological record from El’gygytgyn Lake. Despite major changes in global climatic forcings, all pollen spectra, with a few isolated exceptions, have strong to possible analogs in the modern plant communities of Northeast Siberia and Alaska. Paleoclimatic reconstructions based on squared chord-distance analog analyses indicate two periods (~8600–10,700 ¹⁴C year B.P. and OIS 5e) when summers were perhaps ~2 to 4°C warmer than modern. January temperatures were also warmer than present, and both July and January were wetter than today. Palynological data remain inconclusive as to the establishment of forests near El’gygytgyn Lake at these times. The wettest Julys occurred during OIS 5 d. July temperatures were near modern, and Januarys were colder and drier than now. January temperatures, even into the Middle Pleistocene, generally show little variability, suggesting that the suppression of arboreal taxa during glaciations was likely caused by cool summers with low effective moisture and not by frigid winters. Because age schemes that correlate magnetic susceptibility to variations in summer insolation or ∂¹⁸O have cool plant taxa persisting in warm times (and vice versa), we propose an alternative age model based on the palynological data. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available to authorised users in the online version of this article at . This is the first in a series of eleven papers published in this special issue dedicated to initial studies of El’gygytgyn Crater Lake and its catchment in NE Russia. Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk were guest editors of this special issue.     

Analyzing Causes for the Environmental Disaster in Kamchatka in Autumn 2020 Due to a Red Tide Based on Satellite Data

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - This paper presents the results of integrated space studies of the environmental emergency near the Kamchatka Peninsula which caused the mass death of...     

Sodium Silicates at the Boundary between the Transition Zone and the Lower Mantle: Compositional and Structural Patterns

Doklady Earth Sciences - The new results of experimental study of the Na2MgSiO4–Mg2SiO4 section of the SiO2–MgO–Na2O model system at 22–24 GPa and 1600–1900°C are...     

Search and Detection of Natural Oil Seeps in the Seas Surrounding the Russian Federation Using Spaseborne SAR Imagery

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Results are presented from research aimed at detecting natural seepage and oil seeps in the seas of Russia using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging....     

Providing Satellite Data to R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh during a Mission in the Southern Ocean

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - During cruise 79 of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in the Atlantic Antarctic, information is supplied using optical and radar high-, mid-, and...