Last Updated on Friday, 14 June 2019 10:44 | 
April 2, 2019
Solving the Puzzles from Cryosphere ---
Conference Program is Available
Institute of Physicoсhemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science will host the International conference "Solving the Puzzles from Cryosphere" in April 15-18, 2019, in Pushchino, Russia (http://cryosol.ru/en/cryoconference2019en.html). The main topics of the conference include:
- General, regional and historical geocryology
- Regional aspects in polar and mountain areas
- Paleoreconstructions
- Carbon in permafrost
- Permafrost soils
- Cryosphere as ecosystem: microbiological, biotechnological and astrobiological aspects
- Permafrost hydrology and hydrogeology
- Physico-chemical peculiarities of frozen ground
- Geophisycal investigations in permafrost areas
- Antarctic permafrost and soils
- Philosophical ideas about past, present and future of cryosphere
The following round tables are planned during the conference:
- Permafrost mapping
- Permafrost engineering
- Permafrost soils classification
The conference program is now available at: http://cryosol.ru/images/phocagallery/conference/cryospherepuzzles/Pushchino_ProgramAbstracts_2019.pdf
Last Updated on Friday, 14 June 2019 10:45 |
February 8, 2019
New Vice Director Appointed at MPI
Alexander Fedorov has been appointed as MPI Vice Director for Science. He succeeds Dr. Viktor Shepelev who had held the position since 1999. Dr. Shepelev will resume his active role in scientific research at the MPI Laboratory of Groundwater and Geochemistry, which he headed in the 1990s. His early research on permafrost aquifers, icings, and suprapermafrost water control in urban and agricultural areas were summarized in several monographs, including "Groundwater Springs in Central Yakutia" (1973), "Permafrost Hydrogeology of East Siberia (1984, in co-authorship), "Spring Waters in Yakutia" (1987), "Groundwater Monitoring In Permafrost Regions" (2002, in co-authorship), and "Suprapermafrost Waters in the Cryolithozone" (2011). Dr. Shepelev will also continue to serve as Editor in Chief of Science and Technology in Yakutia, so far the only journal in the region communicating scientific knowledge to the general public. Alexander Fedorov, who received his undergraduate degree from Voronezh University in 1979 and a Ph.D. in geography in 1990, applies the theories, concepts and methodologies of landscape science to permafrost environments. He has been in charge of the MPI Laboratory of Permafrost Landscapes which has strong ties with researchers from the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (Kyoto, Japan), the University of Paris-Sud (France), the Seoul National University (South Korea), and the Research and Development Center for Global Change (JAMSTEC, Japan). Photo: Viktor Shepelev (left), Alexander Fedorov (right)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 December 2018 12:11 |
November 26, 2018
MPI Dissertation Council meeting
The Dissertation Council D003.025.01 at MPI authorized by the Russian Ministry of Higher Education and Science's Attestation Committee to award degrees in geography, geology & mineralogy, and engineering held its meeting on November 21-22, 2018 for public defense of four dissertations: Galina Osadchaya "Permafrost Landscapes of the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra as a Basis for Environmental Management", Artem Naberezhny "Bearing Capacity of Ribbed Slurried Piles in Permafrost", Valery Semenov "Subsurface Temperature Distribution and Permafrost in the Vilyui Basin" and Pavel Zabolotnik "Ground Temperature Regime at Large Heat Power Generation Facilities on Permafrost: Yakutsk CHP Plant". The PhD research of Valery Semenov (MPI) focused on disequilibrium permafrost in the Vilyui Basin, a geological province in western Yakutia rich in hydrocarbon and mineral deposits. His study indicates that permafrost thicknesses vary over a wide range, from 45 to 820 m, generally decreasing from west to east due to geothermal heat flow increasing in the same direction, as well as to paleoenvironmental conditions. Significant variations in the depth of the permafrost base, up to 200 m, were found to occur even within small structural units of the Vilyui Basin. Pavel Zabolotnik focused his PhD research on the Yakutsk CPP Plant as a case study to explore the thermal effect of large heat generating buildings on permafrost, as well as the efficiency of various engineering solutions to keep the foundation frozen.
The texts of the dissertations (in Russian) can be found here.
Map showing depths of the permafrost base in the Vilyui Basin.
(1) Exploration borehole area and its number; (2) permafrost boundaries; (3) permafrost region I; (4) permafrost region II; (5) permafrost region III; 6 to 13 – permafrost thicknesses: (6) <200 m; (7) 200 to 300 m; (8) 300 to 400 m; (9) 400 to 500 m; (10) 500 to 600 m; (11) 600 to 700 m; (12) 700 to 800 m; (13) > 800 m; (14) Thermal cross-sections.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 February 2019 15:04 |
January 14, 2019
Paper on Permafrost-Landscape Map of Yakutia published in Geosciences
A paper titled "Permafrost-Landscape Map of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on a Scale 1:1,500,000" by A.N. Fedorov et al. has been published in Geosciences (available open-access at https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/8/12/465). The map was compiled at MPI in 2017 as part of the Second Yakutia Multi-Disciplinary Expedition program (2010–2020). The mapping was undertaken to revise the 1:2,500,000-scale map created in 1991, using the new datasets from about 800 field sites and the GIS and remote sensing technologies. Yakutia, over 3 million square kilometers in area, has diverse landscapes controlled both by latitude and altitude, ranging from Arctic tundra to sand deserts and from boreal forests to alpine tundra. Its permafrost is equally diverse, varying greatly in areal extent, temperature, ice content, seasonal thaw depth, and surface features. The map identifies 20 terrain types and 36 plant associations, with 143 additional land units with relatively homogeneous relationships of terrain (geology and geomorphology), vegetation and permafrost characteristics. The map provides a basis on which to develop thematic geocryological maps required for solving environmental and economic problems in Yakutia, now and in the future. A full-scale PDF file can be downloaded from the MPI website http://mpi.ysn.ru/images/mlk20182.pdf.
Last Updated on Thursday, 04 April 2019 10:10 |
December 24, 2018
Conference Announcement
THERMAL PHYSICS AND ENERGY ENGINEERING FOR THE ARCTIC AND SUBARCTIC
The Russian Research and Practice Conference on Thermal Physics and Energy Engineering for the Arctic and Subarctic will be held at the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in Yakutsk from 24 to 27 June 2019. Those interested in attending the conference are invited to contact the organizers via e-mail at teast2019@mail.ru before February 20, 2019. Extended abstracts are to be submitted by March 1, 2019.
The topics for the conference are as follows:
<> Thermal physics: theoretical studies (Thermo-mechanics and heat/mass transfer in multiphase systems)
<> Thermal physics: practical aspects for cold regions (Thermophysical properties of materials - research results, measurements, methods, equipment and automated systems)
<> Energy engineering (Thermal engineering. Energy supply. Efficient energy technologies for Arctic regions. Traditional and renewable energy sources)
<> Geo-thermal physics (Permafrost studies. Mining thermal physics. Landscape thermal physics)
For more information on the conference, please go to https://teast2019.wixsite.com/teast2019.