Wrangel Island Research Articles

Pacific waters in the East Siberian Sea: identification by δ13С(DIC) and [DIC

The estimates of the scale and distribution of Bering Sea waters in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean were made using the high-precision data on the isotopic composition and concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon. Despite the fact that δ13С(DIC) and [DIC] are not classic conservative tracers, in the East Siberian Sea, which is a zone of active interaction of river runoff with sea waters, these parameters can indicate the presence of sea waters not only of Atlantic, but also of Pacific origin, similar to the waters of the Bering Sea. Using a three-component mixing model, the spatial distribution of Pacific, Atlantic and river waters along two sections of the East Siberian Sea was estimated. The Pacific component extends from east to west to approximately 160 degrees east longitude, and possibly further west, skirting Wrangel Island not only from the north, but also possibly from the south. In the East Siberian Sea, waters similar to the open sea Bering summer surface waters are found, which are carried to the northern shelf by the circular Bering Sea Current, and upper intermediate waters, which can enter the zone of the northern shelf of the sea due to upwelling or active mixing.

<SUP>40</SUP>Ar/<SUP>39</SUP>Ar age of thrusting in sedimentary complexes of Chukotka and Wrangel Island (North-East Russia)

<SUP>40</SUP>Ar/<SUP>39</SUP>Ar age of thrusting in sedimentary complexes of Chukotka and Wrangel Island (North-East Russia)

The History of the Discovery and Archaeological Research of the Paleo-Eskimo Site on the Wrangel Island (Northern Chukotka)

The History of the Discovery and Archaeological Research of the Paleo-Eskimo Site on the Wrangel Island (Northern Chukotka)

The Mount Distin assemblage: Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in the Nome Complex of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA

Proterozoic to Paleozoic rocks involved in Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous (Brookian) orogenesis and subsequently extended, metamorphosed at high temperature and intruded by Cretaceous plutons, are widespread on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA. These blueschist and greenschist facies metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks make up the highly deformed Nome Complex. We describe and bracket the age of a distinct Precambrian succession in the Nome Complex, the Mount Distin assemblage (informal). The Mount Distin assemblage consists of marble, impure marble, calc-schist, quartz mica schist, and lesser quartzite that was originally a shelfal succession. Metamafic bodies, originally dikes and/or sills, are minor but common components. Three new U-Pb detrital zircon (DZ) samples are characterized by numerous peaks between 1.5 Ga and 1.0 Ga, with minor ages of 1000−900 Ma and 2000−1500 Ma and only 1−2 grains 3.0−2.5 Ga, indicating maximum depositional ages of 1000−900 Ma. A new U-Pb zircon age for an orthogneiss lens in marble is 661 ± 3 Ma like others previously dated in the Nome Complex. Orthogneiss ages provide an upper age limit for the Mount Distin assemblage of ca. 687 Ma, the oldest reported date. Zircons in three other orthogneiss bodies are interpreted as inherited as they have a range of U-Pb ages like those in their country rocks. The Mount Distin assemblage DZ ages are like those from schist-bearing carbonate sequences in the Central and Schist belts of the Brooks Range and inherited zircon populations in Neoproterozoic plutons on Wrangel Island, Russia. The discovery and documentation of the Mount Distin assemblage explains the previously reported enigmatic lack of country rocks to Neoproterozoic orthogneiss bodies, establishes the continuity of older rocks across the entire extent of the Arctic Alaska−Chukotka microplate, and further confirms this microplate’s Baltica affinities.

Temporal dynamics of woolly mammoth genome erosion prior to extinction

A number of species have recently recovered from near-extinction. Although these species have avoided the immediate extinction threat, their long-term viability remains precarious due to the potential genetic consequences of population declines, which are poorly understood on a timescale beyond a few generations. Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) became isolated on Wrangel Island around 10,000 years ago and persisted for over 200 generations before becoming extinct around 4,000 years ago. To study the evolutionary processes leading up to the mammoths' extinction, we analyzed 21 Siberian woolly mammoth genomes. Our results show that the population recovered quickly from a severe bottleneck and remained demographically stable during the ensuing six millennia. We find that mildly deleterious mutations gradually accumulated, whereas highly deleterious mutations were purged, suggesting ongoing inbreeding depression that lasted for hundreds of generations. The time-lag between demographic and genetic recovery has wide-ranging implications for conservation management of recently bottlenecked populations.

Analysis of sedimentary and geochemical characteristics of sedimentary clastic rock samples from Alpha-Mendeleev Rice (underwater sampling)

The paper presents new data from a comparative analysis of sedimentary rocks from the Mendeleev Rise (seamount Shamshura), presumably of Triassic age, with sandstones of Aptian age, obtained during underwater sampling of the Alpha-Mendeleev Rise during expeditions in 2012, 2014 and 2016. The geochemical characteristics of the rocks are very similar, and, as a rule, data from samples of different ages form common fields on different diagrams. The petrographic investigations have established that the sandstones of presumably Late Triassic age, as well as the sandstones of Chukotka and Wrangel Island, are dominated by fragments of shale and acid effusives. The Aptian samples are dominated by fragments of mafic rocks. Also, sharp differences are observed in the nature of the age spectra of detrital zircon populations, indicating fundamentally different feeding provinces for the Triassic and Cretaceous sandstones of the Alpha-Mendeleev Rise. Samples from the Shamshura seamount are characterized by populations similar to populations from Triassic rocks of Chukotka and Wrangel Island, indicating the presence of Triassic rocks in this part of the Mendeleev Rise.

An Examination of the Wrangel Island Sea Ice Thickness Dipole

AbstractThe Beaufort Sea High is a high‐pressure system located in the Beaufort Sea that influences ocean circulation in the western Arctic known as the Beaufort Gyre. Wrangel Island, located in the western Chukchi Sea, typically experiences easterly sea ice motion due to the Beaufort Gyre. We find that under these climatological conditions, moving ice is blocked by the island and accumulates on its eastern side, while ice on its western side continues to drift leaving an area of open water and reduced ice thickness along the western side of the island. This results in an ice thickness dipole across the island. A reversal in the atmospheric circulation across the western Arctic results in a dipole with the opposing sign. We find the dipole is present throughout the year and is strongest in January when the difference in ice thickness between the eastern and western sides of the island is approximately 1 m. During the spring, it is associated with the transient opening of a polynya to the west of the island. The dipole is the result of opposing ice divergence and convergence across the western Arctic and may impact ocean circulation and ecosystems within the Chukchi Sea.

The 40Ar–39Ar Age of Folding in the Sedimentary Complexes of Chukotka and Wrangel Island (Northeastern Russia)

The 40Ar–39Ar Age of Folding in the Sedimentary Complexes of Chukotka and Wrangel Island (Northeastern Russia)

Открытие Н. Н. Диковым палеоэскимосской стоянки на острове Врангеля

The article provides the data on the ancient aboriginal population stay on Wrangel Island. The N. N. Dikov archaeological expedition to the island and his discovery of the Chyortov Ovrag Paleoeskimo site on the coast of Krasin Inlet (Somnityelnaya Bay area) is comprehensively reported. Brief information about the subsequent archaeological work at this site is given. It has been established that the appearance of the Paleoeskimo tradition of about 3.5 kyr in the Far North-East of Asia is associated with the migration of Arctic America's Paleoeskimo groups to the Bering Strait zone. An important conclusion made by N. N. Dikov is that the Wrangel Paleoeskimo culture tends to the Pacific coastal cultures and, apparently, is a part of the oldest single and broad cultural layer, which served as a basis for many North Pacific coastal cultures Today's researchers consider Paleoeskimo the settlement of Unenen, discovered in the south of the Chukchi Peninsula, the Dolakhtin sites in the Northwestern Beringomorye, the Tokarev culture in the Northern Priokhotye. The Paleoescoaleutian tradition had a certain influence on the development of the Tarya culture of the II-I millennia BC in Kamchatka.

Assessing past and future climatic influences on the availability of polar bear maternal denning habitat on Wrangel Island

Long-term changes in environmental conditions resulting from climate change may negatively affect reproductive success and lead to population-level consequences for species, especially those living at higher latitudes. Throughout their range, female polar bears (Ursus maritimus) typically require snowdrifts, either on the ice or land, to excavate maternal dens. In the Chukchi Sea (CS) subpopulation, 84% of dens have been reported to on land and 68% of these on Wrangel Island, Russia. Therefore, availability of suitable den habitat on Wrangel Island is critical for the long-term persistence of the CS subpopulation. We performed a retrospective analysis (1980–2020) of the availability of snowdrifts on Wrangel Island to estimate how the timing and distribution of snowdrifts suitable for denning has changed over this period. We evaluated the spatial distribution and availability of potential denning habitat across Wrangel Island from 1 September until 15 December and documented changes in snow conditions through time. We used sensitivity simulations under variable temperature increases associated with climate change projections to predict how availability of potential denning habitat on Wrangel Island might change in the future. We found no trends in spatial or temporal availability of modeled den habitat over the past 41 years. A projected 7.6 °C rise in temperature relative to current conditions resulted in a ∼50% reduction of denning habitat. If temperatures increase ≥13.6 °C relative to current conditions, 100% of denning habitat would be lost. Despite rising temperatures and sea ice loss, the climate of this area is cold enough that availability of denning habitat is not an immediate limiting factor for the CS subpopulation.

STRUCTURE OF THE WINTER FAUNA OF MAMMALS IN THE SEAS OF NORTHEASTERN PALEARCTIC OF RUSSIA

The ecological patterns of structure formation and spatial differentiation of the winter fauna of mammals in the seas of the northeastern Palearctic are analyzed. The method of aviation route surveys in a 1 km wide zone was applied. Aerial surveys in the end of 1987-1988 winter period covered the Bering, Chukchi, East Siberian Seas, and the eastern part of the Laptev Sea. The recorded species of mammals (n = 7) are ecologically associated with open sea areas, sea ice, continental and island coasts, and continental tundra. The winter fauna of mammals in the seas of the northeastern Palearctic accounts for 23% of the total mammalian fauna of the region; pinnipeds and cetaceans predominate in terms of the number of species. The similality of the winter fauna of mammals in the Arctic Ocean and the Northern Pacific is 36%. Most of the mammals were observed on the leads in the contact zones between different types of ice or in iceholes among the ice of autumn formation. Polar bears were most often observed near the Wrangel Island, beluga whales - to the east and northeast of the Navarin Cape, walruses - to the south of the Providence Bay. The average density of the winter population of mammals in the surveyed seas of the Northeastern Palearctic is 6.2 individuals/100 km². Walruses, beluga whales, and ringed seals predominate in the population, totaling 94% of the animal numbers.

Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive—A new database of plant community composition and environmental conditions

AbstractMotivationThe goal of the Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA‐RU) is to unite and harmonize data of plot‐based plant species and their abundance, vegetation structure and environmental variables from the Russian Arctic. This database can be used to assess the status of the Russian Arctic vegetation and as a baseline to document biodiversity changes in the future. The archive can be used for scientific studies as well as to inform nature protection and restoration efforts.Main types of variables containedThe archive contains 2873 open‐access geobotanical plots. The data include the full species. Most plots include information on the horizontal (cover per species and morphological group) and vertical (average height per morphological group) structure of vegetation, site and soil descriptions and data quality estimations. In addition to the open‐access data, the AVA‐RU website contains 1912 restricted‐access plots.Spatial location and grainThe plots of 1–100 m2 size were sampled in Arctic Russia and Scandinavia. Plots in Russia covered areas from the West to the East, including the European Russian Arctic (Kola Peninsula, Nenets Autonomous district), Western Siberia (Northern Urals, Yamal, Taza and Gydan peninsulas), Central Siberia (Taymyr peninsula, Bolshevik island), Eastern Siberia (Indigirka basin) and the Far East (Wrangel island). About 72% of the samples are georeferenced.Time period and grainThe data were collected once at each location between 1927 and 2022.Major taxa and level of measurementPlots include observations of >1770 vascular plant and cryptogam species and subspecies.Software formatCSV files (1 file with species list and abundance, 1 file with environmental variables and vegetation structure) are stored at the AVA‐RU website (https://avarus.space/), and are continuously updated with new datasets. The open‐access data are available on Dryad and all the datasets have a backup on the server of the University of Zurich. The data processing R script is available on Dryad.

FAUNA AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE PODONOMINAE, DIAMESINAE, PRODIAMESINAE, ORTHOCLADIINAE AND CHIRONOMINAE (DIPTERA, CHIRONOMIDAE) OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST AND BORDERING TERRITORY

An updated chironomid list of 5 subfamilies and their distribution in the Russian Far East and Sakha (Yakutia) are given and discussed. Nine hundred thirty one species in 141 genera are recorded: Podonominae – 8 species (4 genera), Diamesinae – 60 species (13 genera), Prodiamesinae – 11 species (4 genera), Orthocladiinae – 496 speecies (68 genera) and Chironominae – 238 species (53 genera). During the period of investigation 5 genera, 1 subgenus and 223 species in 68 genera have been described as new to science. The highest number of species (555) was found in the Amur River basin, the lowest (51) in Wrangel Island. Most recorded species (68 %) are Palaearctic in distribution, 32 % are Holarctic.

A Short Research Guide on Arctic Historical Bryozoan Collections and a Few Associated Biocoenosis at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian bryozoans and other invertebrate biocenosis material collected in the Arctic Ocean over a period of more than 250 years, and the corresponding literature citing them, are deposited in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia. This paper provides a general description and historical quantitative information about the Historical Bryozoan Collection kept in this Russian institute. Access to species-level data is available via the data portal ( www.zin.ru ). The quantitative distribution of benthos, specifically bryozoans, in the Russian Arctic seas remained nearly unexplored until recent times. The first systematic quantitative studies were conducted by the Zoological Institute in the Laptev Sea, in its southeastern part, on the New Siberian Shoal in 1973; the Chaun Bay of the East Siberian Sea in 1986; and near Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt of the Chukchi Sea in 1976.

The Mosaics of an Arctic Seamstress: Narrative Versions of Ada Blackjack on Wrangel Island, 1921–1923

This essay focuses on the narrative mosaics of Iñupiat Alaskan Ada Delutuk Blackjack, hired seamstress on an occupation colony on Wrangel Island in 1921–23, organized by renowned Canadian Arctic explorer and writer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. While the venture resulted in the tragic deaths of Blackjack’s four companions on the island, she became the expedition’s sole survivor and kept a diary during the last months of her stay. I read Blackjack’s narrative self-representation against some of the characteristics given to her in Stefansson’s official account of the expedition, The Adventure of Wrangel Island, highlighting differences in the two texts. Blackjack’s achievement is a disturbing element in Stefansson’s theory of the superior Arctic adaptability of the educated western male and his evolutionary understanding of the history of polar exploration. Her diary is a taciturn story of events on the island, of both drama and triumph in an environment of extreme isolation. By focusing on some of the narrative elements that form Blackjack’s characteristic perception of her surroundings, it is possible to read her autoethnograpic and pluralistic narrative self-representation as a key feature of her narrative Indigeneity.

Integrative taxonomy of two morphologically similar species of the subgenus Cryobius Chaudoir, 1838 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810) from northern Eurasia and North America

In this study, we synonymized Pterostichus (Cryobius) kolymensis Erjiomin, 1998 with P. (C.) mandibularoides Ball, 1966 by an integrative approach. Geometric morphometric analysis revealed no obvious differences in the shape of the pronotum and median lobe of the aedeagus between P. (C.) mandibularoides and P. (C.) kolymensis. According to DNA analysis, all examined specimens belong to P. (C.) mandibularoides with 11 unique haplotypes of COI from northern Canada, USA (Alaska) and Russia (Yakutia, Chukotka and Wrangel Island) and 1 haplotype of 28S rDNA from northern Eurasia (Russia). The median-joining haplotype network and the uncorrected COI p-distance values between different geographic populations of P. (C.) mandibularoides suggest the trans-Beringian origin of the species and its subsequent dispersal across North America and northern Eurasia is the most likely scenario of the biogeographic history of the species.

Незвіданий облік породільних барлогів ведмедя білого (Ursus maritimus) на островах Врангеля та Геральда у 1982 році

In March–May 1982, a local expedition worked in the Arctic, in the east of Wrangel Island (WI) and Herald Island (HI), to carry out a survey of polar bear dens. The results of that expedition have not been published. The author has found a copy manuscript of the expedition diary and has highlighted the key results. For two months, five ex-plorers had been surveying the area and found 139 dens and sighted 57 bears (♀ad + juv). The average number of offspring (ANO) was 1.43 on WI and 1.86 on HI. The number of successful offspring on WI usually was one or two cubs, or even three on HI. Based on the available sample (n=44) it was shown that when taking into account the survey data of cub traces in calculations of ANO (on WI), the obtained results do not differ notable. The time that lasted from the date of the opening of the den to the date of the final leave of the den by females (with or without the young) was 4 to 14 days, but most often 6 days. The highest frequency of den opening was noted on 27–28 March. Four cases of death of cubs, including a newborn, were recorded. The fate of 43 dens was monitored and measurements of 11 dens were taken. Two unusual dens were found: one with a very complex corridor and another one with a 4.5 m long vertical tunnel. Simplified 3D models of dens were given in the article for the first time proving that linear measurements practiced by researchers give a primitive picture of the den structure. After leaving the maternity den, the female can build temporary, simple shelter for herself and the young. During 1964–2020, dens were found on these islands only on the ground, and in 1980 the author found several dens on the sea, among ridges of pressured ice. The article is amended by the author’s estimations regarding the place of the polar bear in ecologi-cal pyramid of those islands. Recommendations are given for the improvement of polar bear survey techniques. The publication of a Ukrainian language article on the biology of U. maritimus is rare for the school of Ukrainian mammalogists and is of clear enlightening importance for scientists, lecturers, students, Wikipedia editors, and oth-ers, as well as a contribution of the author to the Ukrainian body of literature on the animal world of the Arctic.

Lithology of the Upper Triassic Sedimentary Rocks of Chukotka and Wrangel Island and Their Relationship with Coeval Rocks of the Eastern Arctic

Abstract—The correlation between the sedimentologic characteristics of the Upper Triassic deposits of Wrangel Island and the Chukchi Peninsula (Chukotka) is discussed. These deposits are similar in isotopic, petrographic, and geochemical features. It has been established that the Upper Triassic sand strata accumulated at different sites of a single sedimentary basin, in shallow-water prodeltas of Wrangel Island and in deeper-water environments of Chukotka. In the latest Triassic, the portion of the sand component in the sections increased. At the same time, the average size of the sand grains decreased, which indicates weakening of the tectonic factor in some zones of the provenance and its general peneplanation with the formation of a weathering crust. The eroded complexes are composed of granitoid, metamorphic, and metavolcanic rocks. They stayed on land for a long time, being subjected to chemical weathering. The depth intervals with the large amount of sandy material in the section of Wrangel Island and Chukotka are correlated with those in the sections of the Sverdrup Basin and the northern slope of Alaska.

Spiders (Aranei) of Wrangel Island, Russia. 1. New data on the species composition and distribution

Spiders (Aranei) of Wrangel Island, Russia. 1. New data on the species composition and distribution

Detrital zircon ages from upper Paleozoic–Triassic clastic strata on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: An enigmatic component of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate

AbstractNew lithologic and detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb data from Devonian–Triassic strata on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and from the western Brooks Range of Alaska suggest affinities between these two areas. The Brooks Range constitutes part of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate, but the tectonic and paleogeographic affinities of St. Lawrence Island are unknown or at best speculative. Strata on St. Lawrence Island form a Devonian–Triassic carbonate succession and a Mississippian(?)–Triassic clastic succession that are subdivided according to three distinctive DZ age distributions. The Devonian–Triassic carbonate succession has Mississippian-age quartz arenite beds with Silurian, Cambrian, Neoproterozoic, and Mesoproterozoic DZ age modes, and it exhibits similar age distributions and lithologic and biostratigraphic characteristics as Mississippian-age Utukok Formation strata in the Kelly River allochthon of the western Brooks Range. Consistent late Neoproterozoic, Cambrian, and Silurian ages in each of the Mississippian-age units suggest efficient mixing of the DZ prior to deposition, and derivation from strata exposed by the pre-Mississippian unconformity and/or Endicott Group strata that postdate the unconformity. The Mississippian(?)–Triassic clastic succession is subdivided into feldspathic and graywacke subunits. The feldspathic subunit has a unimodal DZ age mode at 2.06 Ga, identical to Nuka Formation strata in the Nuka Ridge allochthon of the western Brooks Range, and it records a distinctive depositional episode related to late Paleozoic juxtaposition of a Paleoproterozoic terrane along the most distal parts of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate. The graywacke subunit has Triassic maximum depositional ages and abundant late Paleozoic grains, likely sourced from fringing arcs and/or continent-scale paleorivers draining Eurasia, and it has similar age distributions to Triassic strata from the Lisburne Peninsula (northwestern Alaska), Chukotka and Wrangel Island (eastern Russia), and the northern Sverdrup Basin (Canadian Arctic), but, unlike the Devonian–Triassic carbonate succession and feldspathic subunit of the Mississippian(?)–Triassic clastic succession, it has no obvious analogue in the western Brooks Range allochthon stack. These correlations establish St. Lawrence Island as conclusively belonging to the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate, thus enhancing our understanding of the circum-Arctic region in late Paleozoic–Triassic time.