Kunashir Island Research Articles

Environmental Changes on Kunashir Island (Kuril Archipelago) during the Middle and Late Holocene

Sea level rise during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition period caused the formation of lagoon lakes along the western and eastern coasts of the Kuril Islands. These lakes include Lake Serebryanoye, located in the northern part of the South Kuril Isthmus near the Pacific coast of Kunashir Island (44°03'21" N; 145°49'46" E). The total thickness of sediments in the lake was 367 cm. They are characterized by diatom flora (334 species), representing various ecological groups: freshwater, brackish water, marine, marsh, lacustrine, rheophilic, planktonic, benthic. The analysis of diatoms made it possible to distinguish two complexes. As shown by radiocarbon dating, in the Middle Holocene (100.5-367 cm interval) the sediments corresponded to the lagoon stage, which changed in the Late Holocene (100.5-0 cm interval) to the freshwater lake stage. Palynological analysis showed a successive change of biocenoses, reflecting the development in the Middle Holocene of birch-broadleaved forests with the participation of Pinus koraiensis, Picea sp. The most abrupt change in biocenoses is observed at the boundary of the Middle and Late Holocene. This change of biocenoses is expressed by the dominance of conifers in the vegetation cover, represented by various species of Picea, Pinus, Abies, Larix. It also shows the relative cooling of the climate in the Late Holocene.

New for the fauna of Kunashir Island moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae, Zygaenidae, Tortricidae, Geometridae, Notodontidae, Erebidae, Nolidae, Noctuidae, Lycaenidae)

Odontosia walakui Kobayashi, 2006 (Notodontidae) is recorded from Russia for the first time. Thirty three moth and butterfly species are new for the fauna of Kuril Islands. The records of four species, Conistra fletcheri (Sugi, 1958), Lithophane socia (Hufnagel, 1766), Melanchra postalba (Sugi, 1982), and Diarsia ruficauda (Warren, 1909), from Kunashir Island are confirmed by examinations of their genitalia. Tortricidae species recorded from Kunashir but absent in the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Russia are listed. All records of Dolbina exacta (Staudinger, 1892) from Kunashir Island belong to D. tancrei (Staudinger, 1887) and former species is excluded from the fauna of island.

The European Mink (Mustela lutreola) on Kunashir Island: Confirmed Survival 40 years After Introduction

In the early 1980s, the European mink (Mustela lutreola) was introduced on Kunashir [Kunashiri] Island in the Kuril [Chishima] Islands in order to preserve it in a region where its main competitor, the American mink (Neovison vison), is absent. We present records of the European mink on Kunashir in 2014–2021. In 23 cases, mink footprints were recorded on the snow or on sandbanks; in other nine cases, the animals were recorded visually or using camera traps. Camera trap photos reliably confirm the existence of a European mink population far from its severely contracted native range. The data were used to compose the dataset “Database of the European mink [Mustela lutreola (Linnaeus, 1761)] occurrence on Kunashir Island” that was transferred to the open international repository GBIF.

Сопоставление наземных и космических данных для исследования пространственной дифференциации теплового поля природной территории (на примере острова Кунашир, Большая Курильская гряда)

The paper deals with juxtaposing the results of the in-situ (ground-based) temperature measurements and those of temperature calculations based on TIRS thermal satellite images (Landsat 8 satellite) for Kunashir island (Great Kuril ridge). Ground measurements were recorded using iButton temperature sensors installed at a height of 1,5–2 m from the earth’s surface (including under the forest canopy), thus they fixed the air temperature. From satellite images of 100 m spatial resolution, the values of the land surface temperature (LST) were calculated through the method developed by NASA. A strict dependence of the accuracy of determining these indicators according to Landsat 8 data on the landscape features of the area was not revealed. However, the minimal values of the difference are characteristic of the areas with dense woody vegetation, and the maximal ones are confined to settlements, the vicinity of solfataric fields and economic facilities of environmental protection. As a result of the regression analysis, a good connection was established between satellite and ground measurements. The standard error was 0,95. The determination coefficient is 0,99, and it confirms the high accuracy of temperature determination using satellite images.

Environmental changes since 14 ka BP in the southernmost Kuril islands (North-Western Pacific) and regional correlation of events

• New data on climatic changes at the late Pleistocene-Holocene boundary for Kurils. • Climate fluctuations and volcanic ash-falls were mail drivers in lake-mire evolution. • The lake level was highest during warmer and humid climate of the Allerød. • Younger Dryas cooling in the Kuril Islands was less distinct than on the continent. • Pollen record vegetation changes on the land bridge at Late Glacial–early Holocene. Despite considerable progress in understanding Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes worldwide, there are still very few such data for the Far East, and Kuril islands, in particular. Here, the sea level rise during the Late Glacial–Holocene transition was accompanied by a loss of the land connectivity culminating into the development of isolated islands. The ecosystems evolution and importance of isolation for vegetation dynamics on islands are still insufficiently understood. We investigated a unique natural record of environmental change since 14 ka has been recently discovered in lake–mire complex on Kunashir Island. The sediments include 12 tephra layers from Kunashir and Hokkaido volcanoes. The lake level was highest during warmer and humid climate of the Allerød. Diatom assemblages indicated the higher lake level between 12 730–12 160 cal yr BP. The first half of Younger Dryas was characterized by heavy snowfalls. Cooling attributed to the Younger Dryas in the Southern Kurils was less distinct than on the continent. The pollen assemblages recorded changes in vegetation on the land bridge. At the end of the Pleistocene large areas were occupied by birch forests and shrub pine. The broadleaf species first appeared at the end of Allerød. Starting from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and during the early Holocene , the role of conifers sharply increased. In the middle Holocene the proportion of broadleaf trees in forests increased. Coniferous forests became abundant during the Little Ice Age. Short-tern climatic fluctuations correlate well with regional pattern, particularly with fluctuations of the moisture supply.

Урбанизированная популяция тихоокеанской чайки на Южных Курилах

Comparison of 2015's data on the abundance and distribution of Slaty-backed Gull nests in the settlement of Yuzhno-Kurilsk (Kunashir Island) with counts of nests and chicks conducted in 2020, permits to assess the changes that have occurred in the developing urbanized population within a shor-time period. The total number of gulls breeding on the building roofs has more than quadrupled: 80 nests in 2015 compared to 328, in 2020. All basic nesting patterns of nesting in the settlement correspond to those usual for large gulls in urbanized conditions: concentration of the nest mass in denser colonies on a few industrial and administrative buildings, nest locations near obstacles (pipes, superstructures, walls, etc.). Breeding success is high, especially in colonies (1.4 chicks per pair). Periodic struggle of people against gulls (nest destruction) leads to repeated clutches, which extends the nesting period. No other options available for safe placement of nests can cause this population nesting in the settlement.

Application of maximum entropy for mineral prospectivity mapping in heavily vegetated areas of Greater Kurile Chain with Landsat 8 data

Exploration for strategic mineral resources, like precious metals, in remote areas of the Greater Kurile Chain is challenging. Climate and weather conditions, dissected relief, soil and forest cover in this region impede acquisition of geological data. Mineral exploration requires development of fast and cost-effective methods that allow processing of insufficient and fragmented data like spaceborne images. Consideration of specific defoliation technique of directed principal components (DPC) and mineral mapping as well as application of assessment technique of Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt, also Logistic Regression, logit) led us to use Landsat 8 OLI for modeling of mineralization distribution in the Kunashir and Iturup Islands. DPC analysis is an image enhancement technique that processes two band ratio images. One of these images contains information of the component of interest (e.g., hydrothermal alteration), the other image contains information related to the spectrally interfering component (e.g., vegetation). Computed DPCs with loadings of opposite signs on either of input images, highlight unique contributions of each band ratio. Therefore, DPC analysis allows to decrease influence of noise related to vegetation. MaxEnt is a general-purpose technique of spatial prognosis based on incomplete data; its key feature is to assess the degree of target presence or absence by approximating the probability distribution of maximum entropy or nearest to uniform distribution based on a set of constraints taken from the incomplete data. Mapping based on DPC analysis in this work aimed to outline hydrothermal alteration associated with known mineralization. Division of the study area into zones according to their mineral prospectivity was then achieved with configured, trained and validated MaxEnt model using the datasets pertaining to a part of the Kunashir Island, which is better studied and explored. The trained predictive model was then applied to the less explored Iturup Island. As a result, the predictive model rendered a mineral prospectivity map, which correctly outlines the locations of the known mineralization. The application of the specific computation techniques to spectral data processing allows assessment of the contribution of Landsat 8 band ratios into the directed principal components and their implementation for cost effective prospectivity mapping including known and probable locations of unknown Au–Ag-bearing zones.

The long-legged flies (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Kurile Islands, with description of a new species of the genus Sciapus Zeller, 1842

An annotated list of dolichopodid species recorded from Kurile Archipelago (Russia) is given for the first time. Sciapus basarukini sp. n. from Kunashir Island is described and illustrated. New records for 26 species, including 8 species new for the Kurile Islands, are presented. Long-legged flies are recorded for the first time from the Anuchina, Tanfilyeva, Polonskogo, Urup, Chirpoy, Brat-Chirpoyev, Simushir, Ushishir, Matua, Raikoke, Paramushir, Kharimkotan, Makanrushi, Atlasov, and Onekotan islands. Two species are excluded from the fauna of Kurils. In total, 54 species are recorded from the Kurile Archipelago that appa¬rently makes up 50–60% of the actual dolichopodid fauna in this region. The trends discovered on the Kurile Islands for plant species, i.e. the landscape diversity and the number of plant species increase from small to large islands, and decrease from southern islands northward, are generally supported by the case of flies of the family Dolichopodidae.

Pacific ocean mega ecotone of Northern Eruasia as the belt of the origin of the modern continental biosphere

The Pacific Ocean margin of Eurasia includes the age row (at the geologic time scale) of geoecotone objects which can be imagined by certain nodal stages of the evolutionary trajectory of exogenous landscape genesis in the continental biosphere. The reported strategy of scientific research is aimed at the establishment of zonal-regional and local regularities of landscape organization of insular and marginal-continental land in different morphotectonic and macroclimatic sectors of the Pacific Ocean mega-ecotone of Northern Eurasia, which is considered as a natural laboratory for studying the modern stage of development of the geographical envelope The empirical statistical models of the island-arc stage of continental biosphere development in the North-West Pacific have been created by the example of experimental test ground of the active Mendeleev volcano on the Kunashir Island (the South Kuril Ridge). It was shown that on this initial stage local geomorphological and hydro-edaphic conditions created the centers of origin of diverse phytocoenological structures. An exceptionally high percentage of green mass in the structure of production results in the acceleration of the biological cycle as a factor of stability of forest community under unfavorable conditions of “cold” oceanicity. Geothermal energy induces rearrangement of the plant cover towards the increase in its flora- and phytocoenotic diversity to the detriment of biomass formation rate. The “climatically unjustified” but sufficiently stable sub-boreal forest ecosystems were formed, as well as the early stages of buffer forest communities. The multidimensional empirical-statistical modeling of landscape connections in the marginal-continental sector of the Pacific Ocean mega ecotone has been performed based on an experimental site in the Lower By-Amur Region. The ecology of the boreal-forest landscape of the continental margin characterizes the mature stage of evolution of the continental biosphere. The regularities and causal mechanisms of the formation of buffer forest communities typical of ecotone systems have been represented more integrally. Forests of this phenomenal buffer flora are distinguished by extremely high parameters of structural and functional development and have reached the state approaching the evolutionary climax. The previously advanced concepts of the Pacific ecotone of Northern Eurasia as a focus of evolutionary processes in the continental biosphere have been confirmed.

Infestation Patterns of Multi-Species Coniferous Forests by Two Bark Beetle Species in Kunashir Island in the Far East

Infestation Patterns of Multi-Species Coniferous Forests by Two Bark Beetle Species in Kunashir Island in the Far East

TECTONIC STRESS FIELD AT INTERMEDIATE DEPTHS OF THE SOUTHERN FLANK OF THE KURIL-KAMCHATKA SEISMIC ZONE

The study has been done on the orientation of the principal axes of tectonic stress field at intermediate depths of earthquakes of the southern flank of the Kuril-Kamchatka subduction system separately for the upper and lower double seismic focal zones. Use has been made of the NIED and GlobalCMT catalogue data. The computation-based results are presented on schemes of the stressed state of the investigated areas and in tables. In the context of the southern Kuril Islands, evidence has been provided for predominance of the maximum compressive stresses along the slab plane in the upper layer and minimal compressive stresses (deviation extension) in the lower layer. However, the principal axes of maximum and minimum compression are displaced in direction relative to the slab dip: by 30–40° counterclockwise for the compression axis in the upper layer, which coincides with the direction of plate movement, and clockwise for the extension axis in the lower layer. This might be caused by the right-lateral strike-slip component of the Pacific Plate subduction. Unlike the general trend, the orientation of the principal axes of the stress field beneath the central Hokkaido-related segments in the upper layer is almost identical to that in the lower layer. There have also been found the segments exposed to shear stress, with the most extensive located opposite the northern Kunashir Island and beneath the southern Hokkaido Island. The results obtained for major large groups of clusters show good accordance with those published by other authors. The discrepancies relate primarily to small groups of isolated clusters showing local stress field heterogeneities.

Toxic element concentrations in lichen Platismatia interrupta around the geothermal power station on Kunashir Island

The results of the study of the gross content of 14 chemical elements in lichen Platismatia interrupta collected around the geothermal power station “Mendeleevskaya” on Kunashir Island are presented. The highest exceedance was noted for As in the research area. The gross content of As varies from 0.8–2.6 mg/kg in control areas and up to 5–9 mg/kg in the impact zone, i.e. the maximum excess in lichen is noted by 11.6 times. For other elements, there were no strong exceedances in the impact zone compared to the control areas. According to the results of regression analysis, a statistically reliable inverse exponential relationship between the content of As and the distance to the power station (adjusted R2: 0.86, p-value: 0.001) is traced. The average value of the enrichment coefficient for As exceeds 100, which indicates the non-substrate origin of this element.

Accumulative landforms in valleys with gas-hydrothermal manifestations of the Kuril-Kamchatka region

Within the watercourse valleys of geothermal zones, where manifestations of gas-hydrothermal activity are noted, the processes of relief formation are accompanied by chemical and thermal effects. Thermal waters contribute to the formation of specific accumulative landforms both directly in the channel and in the bottom and on the sides of river valleys. Similar phenomena have been studied in river valleys draining the slopes of the Mendeleev volcano (Kunashir Island), Baransky volcano (Iturup Island), Mutnovsky volcano and Uzon-Geyzernaya caldera (Kamchatka). The typification of accumulative relief forms is carried out, the influence of gas-hydrothermal manifestations on fluvial and slope processes is determined.

Specificity of the products of Tyatya volcano eruption in 1973

Based on 198 determinations of the complete silicate analysis of Tyatya volcano (Kunashir Island), we compared the data of the latter (1973) and all previous eruptions to reveal their differences and determine the evolution of Tyatya volcanism in the Holocene. The application of the estimation of the thermobaric parameters of the upper mantle magma chamber of the volcano made it possible to determine the temperature decrease in the magma chamber in 1973. An assumption was made about the polycyclic magmatic activity of the Tyatya volcano. The results of statistical processing of data on the thickness of tephra and the size of its fragments from the 1973 eruption are presented. Polynomial regressions of various degrees are applied. Models of tephra distribution based on three-dimensional trend analysis have been constructed. The results of the study are recommended for the creation of information databases on the petrochemistry of eruption products and the distribution of pyroclastics from volcanoes in the Kuril Island arc.

The beetles of the families Helophoridae, Georissidae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, and Elmidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) of Kunashir Island and the Lesser Kurils

The fauna of Kunashir Island and the islands of the Lesser Kuril Chain contains 47 species from 18 genera of Georissidae, Helophoridae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, and Elmidae. Two species ( Enochrus vilis (Sharp, 1884) and Ochthebius inermis Sharp, 1884) are recorded for Russia for the first time. Fifteen species are new to the fauna of Kunashir Island and the Lesser Kurils. The article contains an annotated list of species, including the studied material and published records. The article is illustrated by photographs of habitats and species, maps of their distribution in Kunashir. The relationships between the species richness on an island area and the features of the fauna of Kunashir in comparison with Hokkaido are discussed. The species richness of the studied Polyphaga families in Kunashir is almost 2/3 of the fauna of Hokkaido, while the island’s area is 55 times smaller. The reason for the absence of large species of the genera Hydrochara and Hydrophilus in Kunashir is hypothesized to be a restriction of the northern range species boundaries by the July isotherm of +16°С. • The fauna of Kunashir Island and the islands of the Lesser Kuril Chain contains 47 species from 18 genera of Georissidae, Helophoridae, Hydrophilidae, Hydraenidae, and Elmidae. Two species ( Enochrus vilis (Sharp, 1884) and Ochthebius inermis Sharp, 1884) are recorded for Russia for the first time. Fifteen species are new to the fauna of Kunashir Island and the Lesser Kurils. The article contains an annotated list of species, including the studied material and published records. The article is illustrated by photographs of habitats and species, maps of their distribution in Kunashir. • The relationships between the species richness on an island area and the features of the fauna of Kunashir in comparison with Hokkaido are discussed. The species richness of the studied Polyphaga families in Kunashir is almost 2/3 of the fauna of Hokkaido, while the island’s area is 55 times less. The reason for the absence of large species of the genera Hydrochara and Hydrophilus in Kunashir is hypothesized to be a restriction of the northern range species boundaries by the July isotherm of +16°С.

The ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of southern Kuril Islands, Russia.

BackgroundWe compiled a list of the ground beetles that have been confirmed to occur to date in the southern Kuril Islands, Russian Far East. The list includes 168 species, all of which are known from Kunashir Island and the species richness on the remaining islands ranges from 68 (Shikotan Island) to 21 species (Tanfil'eva Island). The species richness is shown to depend sublinearly on island area, this being unusual for island faunas (Triantis et al. 2011).New informationA large part of data is published here for the first time on the records of ground beetles in the southern Kuril Islands with precise localities. This allows not only the taxonomic composition of the faunas, but also the composition of local faunas to be discussed.

A new subspecies of Bembidion sanatum (Coleoptera: Carabidae) endemic to the Mendeleev Volcano (Kunashir Island, Russia)

Bembidion (Peryphanes) sanatum iwanai ssp. n. is described from the solfatara fields of the Mendeleev Volcano (Kuril Archipelago: Kunashir Island). It slightly differs from the nominative subspecies by body proportions, as well as the relatively narrow external intervals of the elytra and their microsculpture, yet showing stable distinctions in endophallus armature (basal part of lamina 1 is rounded, vs. angular in the nominative subspecies) and in the spermatheca duct (5–6 convolutions, vs. 7–8 in the nominative subspecies). Endemism of insects on the island’s large volcanic massifs of Kunashir Island is discussed.

New records of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from Sakhalin and Kunashir Islands, Russia

New records of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from Sakhalin and Kunashir Islands, Russia

Glukhoye Lake: Middle to Late Holocene environments of Kunashir Island (Kuril Archipelago, Russian Far East)

A multiproxy analysis of a sediment core from Glukhoye Lake in the southern Kuril Islands indicates that the basin originated c. 8.2 cal. ka BP as a brackish lagoon with the subsequent development of a freshwater lake (c. 4.0 to 3.3 cal. ka BP), a bog (c. 3.3 to 2.4 cal. ka BP) and a second lake (c. 2.4 cal. ka BP to present). The basin history primarily reflects local coastal dynamics and is not related to proposed Archipelago‐wide changes in sea level. Between c. 8.2 and 8.0 cal. ka BP, the vegetation of southern Kunashir Island was characterized by Betula–Quercus forest with a secondary component of temperate broadleaf trees. Quercus broadleaf forest established c. 8.0 to 6.5 cal. ka BP and represents the Holocene thermal maximum. The remainder of the record shows a gradual decrease in temperate and an increase in conifer taxa, indicating a gradual cooling from the Holocene thermal maximum to c. 2.3 cal. ka BP. Maxima in Picea and Abies pollen between c. 2.3 and 1.1 cal. ka BP suggest conditions that were slightly cooler than present. Palaeovegetation changes in the Kuril Islands as inferred from lake and section data differ in the timing and/or composition of the vegetation communities, although results from the two types of sites become more similar as the number of sections increases. The lake results do not support a previous conceptual model developed for the southern Russian Far East, which linked changes in sea levels to Holocene climate fluctuations. Rather the depositional environments in the lake cores seem more related to coastal dynamics that are independent of fluctuations in sea levels or climate. The difficulty in developing accurate age models for sites with multiple depositional environments may be the most important obstacle for documenting and understanding the Archipelago’s vegetation and climate histories.

Microorganisms of Two Thermal Pools on Kunashir Island, Russia.

Simple SummaryThe Kuril Islands are a part of the Circum-Pacific Belt of volcanoes and have many hot springs. Nonetheless, due to the border regime, these islands are difficult to access, and microbial communities of the geothermal springs of these islands have hardly been studied microbiologically and have not been studied metagenomically at all. Here we conducted the first metagenomic study on two thermophilic microbial communities of Kunashir Island. Faust Lake is hot (48 °C) and highly acidic (pH 2.0), whereas the Tretyakovsky Thermal Spring is also hot (52 °C) but weakly acidic (pH 6.0). We demonstrated that water pH affects the composition of the microbial communities.The Kuril Archipelago is a part of the Circum-Pacific Belt (Ring of Fire). These islands have numerous thermal springs. There are very few studies on these microbial communities, and none of them have been conducted by modern molecular biological methods. Here we performed the first metagenomic study on two thermophilic microbial communities of Kunashir Island. Faust Lake is hot (48 °C) and highly acidic (pH 2.0). We constructed 28 metagenome-assembled genomes as well as 17 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. We found that bottom sediments of Faust Lake are dominated by a single species of red algae belonging to the Cyanidiaceae family. Archaeans in Faust Lake are more diverse than bacteria but less abundant. The Tretyakovsky Thermal Spring is also hot (52 °C) but only weakly acidic (pH 6.0). It has much higher microbial diversity (233 metagenome-assembled genomes; 93 16S ribosomal RNAs) and is dominated by bacteria, with only several archaeans and one fungus. Despite their geographic proximity, these two thermal springs were found to not share any species. A comparison of these two lakes with other thermal springs of the Circum-Pacific Belt revealed that only a few members of the communities are shared among different locations.