Morphology of the Buluus, Ulakhan-Taryn aufeis, conditions of its occurrence and stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope variations in the lower part

Abstract

Aufeis is one of the most dangerous natural phenomena. The negative impact of aufeis is determined by the unexpected flooding of the territory and subsequent freezing of water, the formation of ice barriers, the icing of underground structures and communications (mines, tunnels, culverts, and sewer wells), as well as the icing of roads and railways, coastal hydraulic structures, etc. There are cases when explosions of aufeis mounds produce catastrophic disturbances within a few seconds. The aufeis that forms annually in the valley of the Buluus Creek is one of the most famous and studied aufeis of Central Yakutia. The aufeis was sampled from a vertical section. The aufeis is layered, and the thickness of the layers is 3-10 cm. In the upper part of the aufeis, the ice layers are thicker than in the lower. Sampling from the aufeis ice was carried out using a 5.1-cm-diameter steel crown driven by a Bosch electric drill. Measurements of the isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen in ice were performed using a Picarro L 2130-i laser isotope analyzer. The isotopic composition of the Buluus ice varies in a narrow range: δ18O values vary from −20.2 to −21.9‰, δ2H values vary from −159.5 to −173.7‰. Generally, the ice is isotopically slightly enriched compared to the surface water of the Ulakhan-Taryn creek, where the δ18O value is −22.18‰ and the δ2H value is −175.1%. Groundwater is isotopically close to the creek water; its isotope composition is also isotopically enriched compared to the ice of the aufeis, with δ18O values varying from −22.17 to −22.25‰ and δ2H values varying from −173.7 to −175.1‰.