Ice Cover Research Articles

Predicting the distribution of red king crab bycatch in Bering Sea flatfish trawl fisheries

Declining Bristol Bay red king crab (BBRKC) abundance has triggered recent closures of this iconic Bering Sea fishery and raised interest in bycatch in non-directed fisheries as a possible conservation concern. One particular concern is the effectiveness of static closed areas for bycatch fisheries in an era of climate warming and widespread distribution shifts. However, spatial data for supporting management decisions concerning bycatch is lacking, as fisheries-independent data are collected only in the summer, and the relationship to BBRKC distribution in the fall/winter/spring, when most bycatch occurs, is unknown. We filled this information gap by using fishery-dependent data to build predictive models of BBRKC bycatch distribution in non-pelagic trawl groundfish fisheries in the data-poor seasons. We trained Boosted Regression Tree models for bycatch occurrence and abundance of four BBRKC sex-size/maturity categories, and evaluation metrics indicated good to excellent predictive ability across all models. We found that flatfish directed-fishery CPUE, summer survey CPUE for BBRKC and flatfish, and depth were important predictors for bycatch occurrence and abundance. Physical variables (ice cover and temperature) were generally less important. We also found strong correlations between the mean latitude of observed bycatch and the summer survey for BBRKC, highlighting the ability of summer survey data to predict non-summer bycatch distributions. BBRKC bycatch prediction is a tractable problem, and our results are the first step towards operating models that may be used to evaluate proposed management actions. We also conclude that northward shifts in fishery-independent and -dependent data suggest the possible value of reassessing decades-old static closure areas for managing BBRKC bycatch.

Carbon budgets of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau: Highlighting non-negligible carbon emissions from small lakes

The release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from lakes is a critical element of carbon (C) emissions from inland waters. Within the realm of climate change, the inquiries surrounding whether lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) function as C sources or sinks and the magnitude of CO2 exchange flux from these lakes have garnered significant attentions. Nevertheless, accurately assessing the lakes’ contribution to the C budgets poses challenges due to data scarcity and methodological inaccuracies. By amalgamating data from literature reviews and field measurements for different sizes of lakes during the ice-free (IF) and ice-covered (IC) periods from 2016 to 2021, this study offers a refined estimate of the CO2 exchange flux and flux rate for lakes on the TP by including lakes ranging in size from 0.01 to 1 km2 (small lakes) in the C budgets. Findings revealed that the annual CO2 exchange flux of TP lakes amounted to 7.10 Tg C yr–1, with 6.56 Tg C yr–1 and 0.54 Tg C yr–1 during the IF and IC periods, respectively. Notably, small lakes contributed 0.76 Tg C yr–1, representing 10.65 % of the total lake CO2 emissions on the TP, which indicates the significant role of small lakes in estimating CO2 emissions from TP lakes. The CO2 exchange fluxes of small lakes showed significant variability during the IF period, with the origins of lake water replenishment possibly explaining this diversity, where glacial meltwater replenishment is likely a key contributing factor. In contrast, CO2 emissions from small lakes increased during the IC period. The view of this study is that the groundwater recharge with higher CO2 concentrations and the shallow nature of small lakes may be the main reasons for the increase in CO2 emissions from small lakes during this period. The study underscores that the contribution of small lakes to the CO2 budgets of TP lakes is substantial and warrants attention, particularly in elucidating the mechanisms driving CO2 emissions from small lakes.

Comprehensive analysis and risk assessment of Antibiotic contaminants, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and resistance genes: Patterns, drivers, and implications in the Songliao Basin

The pervasive use of antibiotics has raised substantial environmental concerns, especially regarding their temporal and spatial distribution across diverse water systems. This study addressed the gap in comprehensive research on antibiotic contamination during different hydrological periods, focusing on the Jilin section of the Songliao Basin in Northeast China, an area with severe winter ice cover. The study examined the occurrence, distribution, influencing factors, and potential ecological risks of prevalent antibiotic contaminants. Findings revealed antibiotic concentrations ranging from 239.64 to 965.81 ng/L, with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) at 5.22 × 10−2 16S rRNA−1 and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) up to 5.76 log10 CFU/mL. Ecological risk assessments identified significant risks to algae from oxytetracycline, erythromycin, and amoxicillin. Redundancy analysis and co-occurrence networks with ordinary least squares (OLS) demonstrated that the dispersion of ARGs and ARB is significantly influenced by environmental factors such as total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), fluoride (F⁻), and nitrate (NO₃⁻). These elements, along with mobile genetic elements (MGEs), play crucial roles in ARG patterns (R2 = 0.94, p ≤ 0.01). This investigation offers foundational insights into antibiotic pollution dynamics in cold climates, supporting the development of targeted mitigation strategies for aquatic systems.

Modeling of Flexural-Gravity Waves in Ice Cover on Elastic Films

Modeling of Flexural-Gravity Waves in Ice Cover on Elastic Films

Assessing the impact of climate change and reservoir operation on the thermal and ice regime of mountain rivers using the XGBoost model and wavelet analysis

This study presents an analysis of the influence of climatic conditions and the operation of a dam reservoir on the occurrence of ice cover and water temperature in two rivers (natural and transformed by reservoir operations) located in the Carpathian Mountains (central Europe). The analyses are based on data obtained from four hydrological and two climatological stations. The Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning model was used to quantitatively separate the effects of climate change from the effects arising from the operation of the dam reservoir. An analysis of the effects of reservoir operation on the phase synchronization between air and river water temperatures based on a continuous wavelet transform was also conducted. The analyses showed that there has been an increase in the average air temperature of the study area in November by 1.2 °C per decade (over the period 1984–2016), accompanied by an increase in winter water temperature of 0.3 °C per decade over the same period. As water and air temperatures associated with the river not influenced by the reservoir increased, there was a simultaneous reduction in the duration of ice cover, reaching nine days per decade. The river influenced by the dam reservoir showed a 1.05 °C increase in winter water temperature from the period 1994–2007 to the period 1981–1994, for which the operation of the reservoir was 65% responsible and climatic conditions were 35% responsible. As a result of the reservoir operation, the synchronization of air and water temperatures was disrupted. Increasing water temperatures resulted in a reduction in the average annual number of days with ice cover (by 27.3 days), for which the operation of the dam reservoir was 77.5% responsible, while climatic conditions were 22.5% responsible.

Analysis of the impact of Arctic environment conditions on the psychophysical status of navigators and safety of ice navigation

Abstract The Arctic is a specific geographical region, whose environment effects any person's staying and working there, so it demands researching and accounting in the practice of ice navigation. The most difficult period of navigation is the winter-spring time, when Arctic Seas are covered by an ice cover. Ice navigation is always associated with a large number of difficulties for the crewmen, not only because of the geographical location of the water area, but also the climatic and environment conditions that impact on the mental and physical state of crewmen. These conditions, namely, the length of the polar night and day, the extreme frosts, maximum number of foggy days, and the duration of the ice period on all the tracks of the cargo ships along the North Sea Route were selected and analysed as the dominant factors that impact on the ship's crewmen. The analysis was performed on the base of the ‘Matrix of Arctic Impacts’ arraying that summarizes data about the level of the selected factors displayed in the local water areas along the North Sea Route and provided the selection of the local water areas with the most impacts of Arctic environment factors on the psychophysical status of the crewmen. In these water areas, accidents caused by the ‘human factor’ are most likely to occur. Therefore, special researches of the Arctic environment's impact on navigators is required in order to improve the safety of ice navigation.

Load motion on an ice cover in the presence of a liquid layer with velocity shear

The behavior of an ice cover on the surface of an ideal incompressible fluid of finite depth under the action of a pressure domain that moves rectilinearly at a constant velocity in the presence of a current with velocity shift in the upper layer is studied. It is assumed that the ice deflection is steady in the coordinate system moving with the load. The Fourier transform method is used within the framework of the linear wave theory. The critical velocities, the deflection of ice cover, and the wave forces are studied depending on the current velocity gradient, the shear layer thickness, the direction of motion, and the compression ratio.

Methods for ice crossings load capacity calculation

Introduction. The article deals with a problem relevant to the territory of our country – the calculation of the bearing capacity of ice crossings and winter roads. This problem is becoming more and more urgent in connection with the development of the northern territories, an increase in the carrying capacity of road transport and the volume of cargo traffic. At the same time, the construction of permanent roads and bridge crossings requires very large capital expenditures, which are not yet available for the Russian Federation.Methods and materials. A critical analysis of methods for determining by calculation the bearing capacity of ice cover at crossings (the maximum permissible load on the axle of a single car or road train) was carried out.The recommendations of normative and methodological documents on this issue are considered. The presented analysis of domestic and foreign publications made it possible to evaluate mathematical models of different levels of complexity and detail, with a different set of factors influencing the final result.Results. As a result of the research, a summary table, which contains formulas for calculating the bearing capacity of the ice cover, the parameters that are taken into account in these formulas, as well as the values of the bearing capacity calculated using these formulas for two temperatures: 0 °C and minus 20 °C has been compiled.Conclusions. According to the results of the analysis, it can be seen that the largest number of parameters is taken into account in M.M. Kazansky-R.A. Shulman; Q. Wang; ODM 218.4.030-2016 Methodological recommendations for assessing the carrying capacity of ice crossings’ dependencies. At the same time, the value of the bearing capacity, calculated according to the 11th formulas, varies by 2-3 or more times presented. Consequently, the presented mathematical models for predicting the carrying capacity of ice crossings require experimental verification on real objects by dragging the control cargo (with some refinement of this method).

The intensity of supplementary feeding in an urban environment impacts overwintering Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) as wintering conditions get harsher

Although urbanization poses various threats to avifauna, some bird species, including Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), choose towns and cities as their wintering habitats, possibly due to favourable temperatures and abundant anthropogenic food. In this study, we investigated how population dynamics changed in relation to winter harshness and intensity of supplementary bird feeding in Mallard, a dabbing duck species well adapted to an urban environment. We surveyed 15 city ponds for five consecutive years, counting overwintering individuals and incidents of bird feeding conducted by the citizens of Gdańsk. Number of Mallards observed in the studied area fluctuated both annually and within seasons, with on average 327 (± SD = 108.5) individuals and a male-biased sex ratio reported. We observed a gradient of feeding intensity on the surveyed ponds, with number of feeding incidents ranging from 0 to 30 in a day. The results indicated that the number of Mallards increased with the bird feeding intensity, independently of the size of the studied ponds, and both males and females were similarly attracted by food provisioning. More severe wintering conditions, expressed by the percentage of the ice cover of studied ponds resulted in more birds wintering in the urban area. This effect was more pronounced in females compared to males, possibly due to females having a lower ability to withstand severe wintering conditions, forcing them to relocate towards urban areas. Our results confirm that urbanized areas may serve as wintering grounds for birds, due to additional food resources available there and milder wintering conditions compared to surrounding rural areas.

Estimates of carbon sequestration potential in an expanding Arctic fjord (Hornsund, Svalbard) affected by dark plumes of glacial meltwater

Abstract. In polar regions, glaciers are retreating onto land, gradually widening ice-free coastal waters, which are known to act as new sinks of atmospheric carbon. However, the increasing delivery of inorganic suspended particulate matter (iSPM) with meltwater might significantly impact their capacity to contribute to carbon sequestration. Here, we present an analysis of satellite, meteorological, and SPM data as well as results of a coupled physical–biogeochemical model (1D GOTM-ECOSMO-E2E-Polar) with a newly implemented iSPM group to show the impact of iSPM on the ecosystem dynamics in a warming polar fjord (Hornsund, European Arctic) with numerous shallow-grounded marine-terminating glaciers. Our results indicate that with a longer melt season (9 d per decade, 1979–2022), the loss of sea ice cover (44 d per decade, 1982–2021) and the formation of new marine habitats after the retreat of marine-terminating glaciers (around 100 km2 in 1976–2022, a 38 % increase in the total area), glacial meltwater has transported increasing loads of iSPM from land (3.7 g m−3 per decade, reconstructed for 1979–2022). The simulated light limitation induced by the iSPM input delayed and decreased the peaks in phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macrobenthos. The newly ice-free areas still markedly contributed to plankton primary and secondary production and carbon burial in sediments (5.1, 2.0, and 0.9 Gg C yr−1, respectively, on average for 2005–2009 in the iSPM scenario). However, these values would have been 5.0, 2.1, and 0.1 Gg C yr−1 higher, respectively, without the iSPM input. Since carbon burial was the least affected by iSPM (a decrease of around 16 %, in comparison to 50 % for plankton primary and secondary production), the impact of marine ice loss and enhanced land–ocean connectivity should be investigated further in the context of carbon fluxes in expanding polar fjords.

Rapid lake ice structure changes across Swedish lakes puts public ice safety at risk.

Lakes are rapidly losing ice under global warming, but little is known about ice structure changes. Ice structure is a key regulator of ice stability and thus safety, affecting activities on ice. Here, we analysed spatial and temporal variations in ice structure across 21 Swedish lakes, spanning from 55 to 69°N, and over five decades. We found regional differences in ice structure, with fastest changes occurring in southern Sweden. The stable clear ice layer was particularly sensitive to warming, showing a rapid decline. The number of days when temperatures exceeded the freezing point during the ice cover period was identified as a strong driver for how ice was structured. Since there is a high risk for increased occurrences of unsafe ice conditions under predicted air temperature changes, we recommend re-establishing ice structure monitoring programmes, informing society on the increased risks of being on ice and including ice structure to safety guidelines.

Modelling climate change impacts on lake ice and snow demonstrates breeding habitat decline of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal

Snowdrifts on lake ice provide vital breeding habitats for the endangered Saimaa ringed seal. In this study, a lake ice model of Watershed Simulation and Forecasting System (WSFS-Ice) was developed for improved estimation of ice and snow conditions in Lake Saimaa during the pupping season of the Saimaa ringed seal. The WSFS-Ice model is based on energy balance, enabling reliable estimation of the ice cover evolution in current and future climate. In addition, a simple snowdrift model was used to simulate formation of snowdrifts, which are essential for the seals breeding success in Lake Saimaa. The model was calibrated against ice thickness, ice type and snow depth measurements. According to our results based on climate scenarios with intermediate representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5), the breeding habitat of the Saimaa ringed seal is significantly deteriorating during the twenty-first century. The mean depth of the snowdrifts is projected to decrease approximately to half from the 1981–2010 to 2070–99 period and at the same time the ice-covered period is reduced by one and a half months. During the mildest winters the ice cover is projected to melt even before the pupping season has ended. The results highlight the importance of climate change mitigation and active conservation measures to enhance seal population growth, enabling it to survive in a changing climate.

Phosphorus inactivation mitigates the effect of warm winters in a temperate shallow lake (Mielenko Lake, Poland)

Direct and indirect anthropopressure on water ecosystems is the serious problem throughout the world.. In the Northern Hemisphere, an increase in average air temperatures is observed, which implies the occurrence of a shorter period of snow and ice cover during the winter season. The winter 2019/2020 was unusual, because that was the first time in the record, that a complete lack of permanent ice cover was observed on numerous lakes in Poland. Such unusual conditions could influence lake functioning. Hence we analyzed the chemistry of the water–sediment interface (near-bottom and interstitial water and sediment) in the shallow, eutrophic Mielenko Lake (area 7.9 ha, max depth 1.9 m) in 2013 and 2019–2022 period to assess the influence of prolonged water circulation on the bottom zone. Mielenko Lake was subjected to a phosphorus inactivation procedure using Al and Fe salts (PAX 18, PIX 111) in 2020 and 2021. Our research revealed that unusually prolonged winter circulation caused a significant decrease in organic matter content in bottom sediment in 2020, as well as a decrease in NaOH-nrP fraction and TP amounts. That effect was short-term and it did not significantly influence the NaOH-rP fraction amounts. The released P was probably built in macrophytes biomass during vegetation season, because P inactivation has been limiting phytoplankton proliferation, and it favored shifting to a clearwater state with macrophytes domination. This was confirmed by decreasing in phytoplankton biomass, and a massive expansion of the macrophytes range noted in the second year of restoration. Our study shows, that P inactivation could mitigate the negative effects of warm winters in shallow lakes.

Online sensing method for transmission line conductor ice cover based on fiber optic sensing information fusion and continuous wavelet decomposition

Online sensing method for transmission line conductor ice cover based on fiber optic sensing information fusion and continuous wavelet decomposition

Motion of Submerged Body in a Frozen Channel with Compressed Porous Ice

The problem of submerged body motion in a frozen channel is considered. The fluid in the channel is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible. Fluid flow is the potential. The ice cover has non-uniform compression along the principal coordinates. The damping of hydroelastic waves generated by the motion of submerged body is modeled by taking into account porosity of ice. The submerged body is modeled as a dipole, the potential of which is determined using mirror images from the channel walls. The main problem of the submerged body motion at constant speed along the central line of the channel is considered. Two subproblems are addressed: comparison of damping effects of the porosity and viscosity of ice and investigation of effects of symmetrically variable ice thickness relative to the central line of the channel. It was found that the most important compressive stress is the stress in the direction of the motion of the submerged body. The speed of the body, which was subcritical for uncompressed ice, may become critical or supercritical. Compressive stresses perpendicular to the direction of motion do not qualitatively change the character of the ice response. These stresses, in combination with compressive stresses along the direction of motion, strengthen the effect of the latter, making the transition from subcritical to supercritical regime faster.

Channel deformation around non-submerged spur dikes with different alignment angles under ice cover

Abstract This study explores how the ice cover on water surfaces affects the deformation of the channel bed around non-submerged spur dikes. Laboratory experiments have been conducted by using two types of model ice cover with different roughness coefficients and three sands with different median grain sizes. The effects of various layout angles of non-submerged spur dikes on the maximum scour depth and scour patterns around spur dikes have been evaluated. Results showed that the dike orientation angle is the critical factor influencing the maximum scour depth. The presence of an ice cover and its roughness coefficient dramatically affect the channel bed deformation around spur dikes. The combined effect of the dike orientation angle, ice cover roughness, and flow Froude number resulted in different scour patterns. For instance, the upstream length of scour holes decreases by approximately 60% when the dike angle changes from 90º to 60º, while an increase in flow rate by about 50% leads to a 20% increase in the downstream length of scour holes. Equations have been derived to determine the maximum scour depth around spur dikes, considering the effects of ice cover, bed material and the dike layout angles.

Two Decades of Arctic Sea-Ice Thickness from Satellite Altimeters: Retrieval Approaches and Record of Changes (2003–2023)

There now exists two decades of basin-wide coverage of Arctic sea ice from three dedicated polar-orbiting altimetry missions (ICESat, CryoSat-2, and ICESat-2) launched by NASA and ESA. Here, we review our retrieval approaches and discuss the composite record of Arctic ice thickness (2003–2023) after appending two more years (2022–2023) to our earlier records. The present availability of five years of snow depth estimates—from differencing lidar (ICESat-2) and radar (CryoSat-2) freeboards—have benefited from the concurrent operation of two altimetry missions. Broadly, the dramatic volume loss (5500 km3) and Arctic-wide thinning (0.6 m) captured by ICESat (2003–2009), primarily due to the decline in old ice coverage between 2003 and 2007, has slowed. In the central Arctic, away from the coasts, the CryoSat-2 and shorter ICESat-2 records show near-negligible thickness trends since 2007, where the winter and fall ice thicknesses now hover around 2 m and 1.3 m, from a peak of 3.6 m and 2.7 m in 1980. Ice volume production has doubled between the fall and winter with the faster-growing seasonal ice cover occupying more than half of the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer. Seasonal ice behavior dominates the Arctic Sea ice’s interannual thickness and volume signatures.

High uptake of sympagic organic matter by benthos on an Arctic outflow shelf.

On Arctic shelves, benthic food-webs are tightly linked to overlying primary production. In the seasonal ice zone, sympagic (ice-associated) primary production can be a major source of carbon for the benthos on productive inflow shelves. However, the role of sympagic organic matter is less well-understood in food webs of heavily ice-covered, less- productive outflow shelves, such as the northeast Greenland shelf. Highly branched isoprenoid biomarkers (HBIs) were used to track the relative distribution of sympagic and pelagic organic matter in the water column, sediments, and benthic fauna of the northeast Greenland shelf and fjords. Low pelagic HBI presence throughout the study area indicated a generally low production by pelagic diatoms (at the time of sampling). This was reflected in the benthos, as ~90% of their assimilated carbon was estimated to come from sympagic sources, indicating a benthic food-web highly reliant on sympagic production. This reliance was higher in coastal areas than on the open shelf, where the potentially higher pelagic productivity and shallower water on banks likely increased contributions of pelagic organic matter. As declining ice cover and reduced production of fast-sinking ice algae projected for Arctic shelves will likely result in weaker coupling between ice algae and the benthos, with possible consequences for future benthic-community structure and function.

Iron cycling and isotopic fractionation in a ferruginous, seasonally ice-covered lake

Ferruginous conditions, defined by anoxia and abundant dissolved ferrous iron (Fe2+aq), dominated the Precambrian oceans but are essentially non-existent in a modern, oxygenated world. Ferruginous meromictic lakes represent natural laboratories to ground truth our understanding of the stable Fe isotope proxy, which has been used extensively in interpreting the origins of Fe-rich sedimentary rocks like iron formations (IFs) and the interactions of early life with high-Fe2+aq conditions. Here we report comprehensive geochemical and Fe isotopic analyses of samples collected in May and August 2022, and March 2023, from Deming Lake, Minnesota, a ferruginous meromictic lake that undergoes surface freezing in winter and never becomes euxinic. Through chemical and Fe isotopic analyses of different putative Fe sources to Deming Lake; including eolian input trapped in winter ice cover, nearby bogs, and regional groundwaters sampled at surface springs; we find that a groundwater source provides the best chemical and Fe isotopic match for Deming Lake and can support Fe2+aq-rich waters at depth that maintain a permanent chemocline at ∼12 m. The ice-free Deming Lake water column can be split into three layers dominated by distinct Fe cycling regimes. Layer (I) extends from the lake surface to the base of the oxycline at ∼6 m, and its Fe cycling is dominated by isotopically light Fe uptake into biomass, likely from stabilized dissolved Fe3+, with variable eolian lithogenic influences. Layer (II) extends between the oxycline and the chemocline at ∼12 m and is dominated by partial Fe2+aq oxidation on approach to the oxycline, with the formation of variably isotopically heavy Fe3+-bearing particles. Layer (III) underlies the chemocline and is defined by Fe2+ phosphate (vivianite) and carbonate saturation and precipitation under anoxic, Fe2+aq-rich conditions with little Fe isotopic fractionation. The ice-covered winter water column features more homogenous Fe chemistry above the chemocline, which we attribute to seasonal homogenization of Layers (I) and (II), with suppressed ferric particle formation. Authigenic Fe minerals with non-crustal (light) Fe isotopic compositions only appreciably accumulate in sediments in Deming Lake underlying the chemocline. All sediments deposited above 12 m appear crustal in their Fe isotopic, Mn/Fe, and Fe/Al ratios, likely revealing efficient reductive dissolution of Fe3+-bearing lake precipitates and remineralization of Fe-bearing biomass. We find limited fractionation of Fe isotopes in the ice-covered water column and suggest this provides evidence that substantial delivery of oxidants is required to generate highly fractionated Fe isotopic compositions in Sturtian Snowball era IFs. By comparing Fe isotopic and Mn/Fe fractionation trends in the different Deming Lake layers, we also suggest that correlations between these two parameters in giant early Paleoproterozoic IFs requires the simultaneous deposition of multiple authigenic phases on the ancient seafloor. Finally, high-precision triple Fe isotopic analyses of dissolved Fe impacted by extensive oxidation near the Deming Lake oxycline reveal that the slope of the mass fractionation law for natural, O2-mediated Fe2+aq oxidation is identical to those previously defined for both UV photo-oxidation, and for an array of highly fractionated Paleoproterozoic IFs.

Implications of Water Quality Index and Multivariate Statistics for Improved Environmental Regulation in the Irtysh River Basin (Kazakhstan)

The selection of sites for permanent environmental monitoring of natural water bodies should rely on corresponding source apportionment studies. Tools like the water quality index (WQI) assessment may support this objective. This study aims to analyze a decade-long dataset of measurements of 26 chemical components at 26 observation points within the Irtysh River Basin, aiming to identify priority zones for stricter environmental regulations. It was achieved through the WQI tool integrated with geoinformation systems (GISs) and multivariate statistical techniques. The findings highlighted that both upstream sections of tributaries (Oba and Bukhtarma rivers) and the mainstream of the basin are generally in good condition, with slight fluctuations observed during flooding periods. Areas in the basin experiencing significant impacts from mining and domestic wastewater treatment activities were identified. The rivers Glubochanka (GL) and Krasnoyarka (KR) consistently experienced marginal water quality throughout the observation period. Various contaminant sources were found to influence water quality. The impact of domestic wastewater treatment facilities was represented by twofold elevated concentrations of chemical oxygen demand, reaching 22.6 and 27.1 mg/L for the KR and GL rivers, respectively. Natural factors were indicated by consistent slight exceedings of recommended calcium levels at the KR and GL rivers. These exceedances were most pronounced during the cold seasons, with an average value equal to 96 mg/L. Mining operations introduced extremal concentrations of trace elements like copper, reaching 0.046–0.051 mg/L, which is higher than the threshold by 12–13 times; zinc, which peaked at 1.57–2.96 mg/L, exceeding the set limit by almost 50–100 times; and cadmium, peaking at levels surpassing 1000 times the safe limit, reaching 0.8 mg/L. The adverse impact of mining activities was evident in the Tikhaya, Ulba, and Breksa rivers, showing similar trends in trace element concentrations. Seasonal effects were also investigated. Ice cover formation during cold seasons led to oxygen depletion and the exclusion of pollutants into the stream when ice melted, worsening water quality. Conversely, flooding events led to contaminant dilution, partially improving the WQI during flood seasons. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that local natural processes, mining activities, and domestic wastewater discharge were the predominant influences on water quality within the study area. These findings can serve as a basis for enhanced environmental regulation in light of updated ecological legislation in Kazakhstan, advocating for the establishment of a comprehensive monitoring network and the reinforcement of requirements governing contaminating activities.