GIS analysis of lake and basin orientation, Yana–Indigirka Lowland, northeast Siberia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental factors that influence the orientation of lakes and basins in continuous permafrost of the Yana–Indigirka Lowland, NE Siberia. In this area, 24,782 lakes each with an area of >10,000 m2 were digitized from Google Earth satellite imagery, and four categories of lakes and drained lake basins were identified in two sub-study areas from Sentinel 2 imagery. Regionally, the lakes show a single modal orientation east–west to ESE–WNW, which is broadly parallel to the prevailing wind from 80 to 90° recorded at the nearest meteorological stations during June–October, when the lakes are likely to have been partially or completely ice-free and therefore exposed to wave-induced currents. Regression analysis suggests that lake orientation tends to be strongest in flatter terrain (<1°) that is not formed in silt- and ice-rich yedoma deposits. Locally, however, two sub-study areas show two modes of almost equal size, with lakes and basins aligned ESE–WNW or NNE–SSW, and thus approximately either parallel to or perpendicular to prevailing winds. Local deviation from the ESE–WNW lake alignment in the sub-study areas is attributed to a sandy substrate and topographic control. Sandy substrates appear to favour perpendicular orientations, whereas elongate depressions aligned broadly east–west, and supporting meandering rivers, favour parallel orientations. Overall, therefore, the impact of prevailing summer wind direction on lake and basin orientation is moderated by environmental factors of topography and substrate.