July 19, 2018


New Book: Cryoecosystems in the Alazeya River Basin

A new book titled "Cryoecosystems in the Alazeya River Basin" by S.P. Gotovtsev, L.I. Kopyrina, A.P. Efimova et al. has been released by the GEO Academic Publishing House, Novosibirsk. This 211-page monograph summarizes the results of multidisciplinary investigations conducted in 2008-2009 in the Alazeya River basin (western Kolyma Lowland) by research teams from the Russian Hydrometeorological Service and three SB RAS institutes in Yakutsk, including MPI. The findings presented in the book indicate significant changes in the river hydrology driven by climate change. Increasing precipitation and mean annual air temperature have caused deepening of the active layer and thawing of the ice-rich permafrost, accelerating thermokarst processes and triggering lake drainage. Increased water input into the river system has already resulted in severe floods in the middle Alazeya basin. Chapter 4, Geocryological Conditions, in the book is authored by Semen Gotovtsev, Pavel Zabolotnik and Innokenty Syromyatnikov.

Alazaeya 2
Ice wedge exposed along the Alazaeya bank.
Alazeya 3
Drainage channel left by melt ice wedge.