Hydrology and Ion Sink of the Arctic River Alazeya

Abstract

The features of hydrology and flow of dissolved substances of the Alazeya River located above the Arctic Circle in the area of continuous distribution of permafrost are considered. As starting materials the results of field studies and laboratory analyses of water samples made by the complex research expedition were used. The Alazeya River in hydrological and hydro chemical relation is a little-studied river of the Arctic zone. The river basin is characterized by minimal human pressure. The territory of the Alazeya basin is one of the hard-to-reach Arctic regions of the North-East Yakutia with natural complexes. Precipitation, groundwater and underground ice of active layer and permafrost are the primary power supply of surface waters. Annually 0.5 million tons of dissolved substances are removed by the processes of fluvial denudation from the Alazeya basin to the East Siberian Sea. Module of the ion sink is very low - 6.8 tons/km2. It is typical for the sluggish rivers of the Arctic regions. Minimum value is a result of the Arctic climatic and landscape parameters affecting the intensity of chemical weathering of rocks. The ion sink of the Alazeya River is almost independent from human influence and determined by the geochemical properties of elements, lithological features of rocks and soil composition of the river basin, climatic conditions, and vegetation