Yamal Peninsula Research Articles

Разведка месторождений нефти и газа в юрско-меловых отложениях п-ова Ямал на основе изучения водно-газовых равновесий

Разведка месторождений нефти и газа в юрско-меловых отложениях п-ова Ямал на основе изучения водно-газовых равновесий

Выявление изменений влажности тундрового почвенно-растительного покрова по данным мультиспектральной космической съёмки (на примере территории строительства завода по сжижению природного газа на полуострове Ямал)

Выявление изменений влажности тундрового почвенно-растительного покрова по данным мультиспектральной космической съёмки (на примере территории строительства завода по сжижению природного газа на полуострове Ямал)

Transnational transport corridor of the Northern Sea Route based on Sabetta seaport: Challenges of regional development for Russia

The article investigates the opportunity of the development of a new transnational transport corridor on the base of the NSR, which is much shorter and faster than the usual one. The basis of this project is Sabetta seaport, which is considered as a potential transnational transport hub. The authors investigated the opportunities for the development of intermodal terminals and new services/goods for the East-West and North-South international transport corridors. They design this idea on the base of multi-modal transportation approach for the development of a global innovation project of NSR Transnational Transport Corridor. Using classical methods of analysis, they conclude that the port of Sabetta, as well as other ports in the Yamal Peninsula currently does not have direct rail access to the Central Russia regions and it can be good potential for regional development in Ural and Siberia. The research was limited by the official statistics about NSR dynamic of cargo volume. The results of research can provide the development of new multimodal transnational transport corridor and can be the basis of regional development in northern Russian regions. The implementation of the idea can provide a significant amount of new jobs and an enormous amount of international investments. Mainly in international scientific literacy authors examine the question of North Transport corridor by logistic and geographical aspects. The article investigates this question in more complex aspect by a multimodal approach with involvement in the NSR another means of communication like a river, railway and motorway transportation.

House (Passer domesticus) and Tree (P. montanus) Sparrows (Passeriformes, Passeridae) in the Lower Ob River Basin and Yamal Peninsula: Specific Features of the Distribution of Sparrows in Northwestern Siberia

House and tree sparrows were common in cities and towns of the Lower Ob River basin down to the mouth in the 1970s–1980s. Currently, the house sparrow has spread in the localities of the middle and northern Yamal areas, whereas the tree sparrow has almost disappeared from the Lower Ob River basin. The house sparrow has moved to the Subarctic owing to the presence of localities with residential houses and warm shelters for vehicles and equipment, as well as houses near the oil and gas drill sites. This species reproduces during the same periods as in the temperate latitudes, annually brings two clutches, has an extended molting period, and migrates only in spring. The tree sparrow has similar ecological characteristics but prefers old wooden buildings. The southward shift of the distribution range of the tree sparrow is most likely associated with a decrease in the population.

Biostratigraphy and foraminiferal Assemblages of the West Siberian Albian

New data of the Biostratigraphy and Albian foraminiferal assemblages from the sections of newly drilled wells in the Yamal peninsula have been obtained. This territory is assigned by the author to the Northern palaeobiogeographical district, the southern border of which goes along the latitudinal flow of the Ob River. The most diverse Albian foraminiferal assemblages have been discovered in the section of borehole 50 of the Malyginskaya area as well as in the sections of borehole 124 of the West-Tambeiskaya, boreholes, 201, 205 of the North-Tambeiskaya areas. Somewhat similar Albian foraminiferal assemblages were earlier studied by the author in 10 sections of the boreholes of the Samatlor area in the latitudinal Ob River Region. The Middle Albian assemblage is the most stable and diverse in its specific respect. It was discovered not only in the identified sections in the Yamal wells but also southwards in the earlier explored areas. The Albian foraminiferal species of the Yamal peninsula are illustrated in 5 photos and 1 drawing.

HYDROLOGICAL AND HYDROCHEMICAL FEATURES OF THE LARGEST LAKES OF THE YAMAL PENINSULA

The results of hydrological survey of the largest lakes of the Yamal Peninsula – Neyto 1st, Neyto-Erto, Neyto-Malto, Yambuto and Yarato 2 nd , undertaken in September 2007 are presented. The morphometric characteristics of these lakes as well as the hydrological properties of their water at the end of the autumn low water stage were determined. Many of the largest lakes of Yamal have a complex bottom topography due to the presence of cryptodepressions cutting deeply into the bottom. They are both shallow lakes with an average depth less than3 m and lakes with average depths exceeding 10–20 m. There is thorough vertical mixing of the water masses (even in deep-water hollows) due to the impact of wind and convection. Extremely low mineralization and very low content of hydrocarbonates in the water result from the dominance of atmospheric precipitation in the input part of the lake water balance. Greenish coloring of water in some of the surveyed lakes and moderate supersaturation with oxygen in all the lakes evidence a considerable development of cold-loving phytoplankton species (during the growing season it is promoted by a longer daylight duration).

Locals and immigrants on the Yamal Peninsula. Social boundaries and variations in migratory experience

ABSTRACTWestern Siberia and the entire Arctic region have been a beacon for migrants from the European part of Russia, from the national republics and the southern regions of Siberia in the post-war era. In contrast with the other regions of Siberia, the oil- and gas-rich North remains a magnet for migration from the entire former Soviet Union to this day. This paper presents research into the contemporary sociocultural environment of Yar-Sale, the administrative centre of the Yamal district of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The research focuses on the migrational experiences of ‘new’ migrants and their relations with the native Nenets population. Special attention is paid to concepts such as ‘local’/‘immigrant’, and ‘insider’/‘outsider’. The author holds that the boundaries between these categories are flexible. An immigrant may become a local and an insider may become an outsider, with ethnicity far from always being the deciding factor.

Forecasting of reservoir pressures of oil and gas bearing complexes in northern part of West Siberia for safety oil and gas deposits exploration and development

In the paper the features of reservoir pressures changes in the northern part of West Siberian oil-and gas province are described. This research is based on the results of hydrodynamic studies in prospecting and explorating wells in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. In the Cenomanian, Albian, Aptian and in the top of Neocomian deposits, according to the research, reservoir pressure is usually equal to hydrostatic pressure. At the bottom of the Neocomian and Jurassic deposits zones with abnormally high reservoir pressures (AHRP) are distinguished within Gydan and Yamal Peninsula and in the Nadym-Pur-Taz interfluve. Authors performed the unique zoning of the territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District according to the patterns of changes of reservoir pressures in the section of the sedimentary cover. The performed zoning and structural modeling allow authors to create a set of the initial reservoir pressures maps for the main oil and gas bearing complexes of the northern part of West Siberia. The results of the survey should improve the efficiency of exploration drilling by preventing complications and accidents during this operation in zones with abnormally high reservoir pressures. In addition, the results of the study can be used to estimate gas resources within prospective areas of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.

On the morphology and taxonomy of Parlibellus Crucicula (Bacillariophyta)

A study of the phytoplankton of the water bodies and watercourses in the Yarayakha River and Naduiyakha River basins (the Yamal Peninsula) has revealed a wide morphological variability of the quantitative diagnostic features in Parlibellus crucicula: valve length and width, the number of striae and areolae in 10 μm, and the stria density in the middle part of the valve. A number of the features (raphe structure, presence of pseudosepta, and obliquely oriented oval areolae) typical for the genus Prestauroneis have been found in Parlibellus crucicula. This makes it possible to define this species as belonging to the genus Prestauroneis and to form a new combination, Prestauroneis crucicula (W. Smith) Genkal et Yarushina comb. nov.

Результаты аэрокосмических и экспедиционных исследований крупных выбросов газа на Ямале в районе бованенковского месторождения

Результаты аэрокосмических и экспедиционных исследований крупных выбросов газа на Ямале в районе бованенковского месторождения

Harm to the Resources of Traditional Nature Management and Its Economic Evaluation

The Yamal region occupies the fifth part of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. Therefore it is one of the territories where traditional natural resource management is mainly developing. Its key branches are reindeer herding and fisheries. The major problems in the development of industries are due to an active industrial and transport exploitation of the tundra zone; the situation in reindeer husbandry caused by pasture overgrazing because of uncontrolled increase in livestock; poaching fish. Two following anthropogenic factors have a negative impact on soil and vegetation in the Yamal region: reindeer herding as the main traditional form of natural resource management of Small Indigenous People of the North (SIPN) and the intensive industryrelated development of the territory (geological exploration, industry, transport, construction). Since grazing is practiced throughout the whole Yamal Peninsula, which is not occupied by industrial zones, it is the most widespread form of natural resource use and the leading factor of anthropogenic impact on Yamal’s natural territorial complexes. The primary reason for the decline in fish resources is the violation of the ecosystemic reproduction of fish resources due to their excessive catch. One of the main reasons of this is poaching. In turn, the annual increase of surplus catch is caused by the population growth, including SIPN, and the growing density of the road network providing the access to fishing grounds. The article offers the guidelines for economic damage assessment determined by the harm to the pasture resources. The authors justify the amount of compensation that repairs losses arising from their damage, which takes into account the decline in the productivity of land and the period of restoration of the economic and biological potential of pastures for the corresponding periods of years (compensation for economic damage). The economic damage assessment of the fish resources supposes taking into account the decline in their economic value. It involves the use of a refined population-biological approach while the detailed calculation. In addition, we give an example of the guidelines’ approbation.

First dendro-archaeological evidence of a completely excavated medieval settlement in the extreme north of Western Siberia

The Buchta Nakhodka settlement is the only archaeological site in the northern part of Western Siberia that has been fully excavated. This well-preserved settlement on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula around 67° N and 72° E, however, has not yet been calendar dated, and the cultural identity of its inhabitants still remains unknown. Here we apply, for the first time, dendrochronological techniques to absolutely date 13 of the most important archaeological timbers from the Buchta Nakhodka settlement. Statistical robust cross-dating results place the construction into the second quarter of the 13th century. The Buchta Nakhodka settlement reveals no obvious connection with the modern, nomadic population of Yamal, the Nenets. Together with a careful literature review, this study indicates that the closest construction techniques and subsequent settlement forms can be found on Iceland and across northern Fennoscandia, where Sami people are building their houses in a similar way. Our combined archaeological, dendrochronological, ethnographical and (archaeo)zoological evidence suggests that the ancient inhabitants of Buchta Nakhodka were closely related to the Sihirtya people that were often mentioned in ancient Nenets folklore as legendary people who inhabited the Yamal Peninsula previously. In providing unique insights into the medieval settlement history of the northern part of Western Siberia, we hope to encourage further interdisciplinary research projects to be launched at Eurasia’s high-northern latitudes.

Testing the capability of ORCHIDEE land surface model to simulate Arctic ecosystems: Sensitivity analysis and site‐level model calibration

AbstractThe ORCHIDEE land surface model has recently been updated to improve the representation of high‐latitude environments. The model now includes improved soil thermodynamics and the representation of permafrost physical processes (soil thawing and freezing), as well as a new snow model to improve the representation of the seasonal evolution of the snow pack and the resulting insulation effects. The model was evaluated against data from the experimental sites of the WSibIso‐Megagrant project (www.wsibiso.ru). ORCHIDEE was applied in stand‐alone mode, on two experimental sites located in the Yamal Peninsula in the northwestern part of Siberia. These sites are representative of circumpolar‐Arctic tundra environments and differ by their respective fractions of shrub/tree cover and soil type. After performing a global sensitivity analysis to identify those parameters that have most influence on the simulation of energy and water transfers, the model was calibrated at local scale and evaluated against in situ measurements (vertical profiles of soil temperature and moisture, as well as active layer thickness) acquired during summer 2012. The results show how sensitivity analysis can identify the dominant processes and thereby reduce the parameter space for the calibration process. We also discuss the model performance at simulating the soil temperature and water content (i.e., energy and water transfers in the soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere continuum) and the contribution of the vertical discretization of the hydrothermal properties. This work clearly shows, at least at the two sites used for validation, that the new ORCHIDEE vertical discretization can represent the water and heat transfers through complex cryogenic Arctic soils—soils which present multiple horizons sometimes with peat inclusions. The improved model allows us to prescribe the vertical heterogeneity of the soil hydrothermal properties.

Policy environment analysis for Arctic seaport development: the case of Sabetta (Russia)

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a structuration model is developed to evaluate opportunities and constraints that may arise for a port authority operating a port in the Arctic. The study builds upon the new institutionalist approach to transport infrastructure policy. It argues that given the specificity of operational conditions in the Arctic, as well as the expectations of the resource-driven future transformations, the conventional port development models cannot accurately depict factors of Arctic port activity. The proposed structuration approach focuses on how four dimensions of the policy environment (physical, economic, institutional, and environmental) enable and constrain policy choices available to a port authority. Application of this model to the case of Sabetta, a deep-sea multi-functional port constructed in the Ob estuary of the Yamal peninsula (Russia), demonstrates the inextricable links between actions and institutions and pinpoints the uncertainty factors that affect Arctic port development ‘from scratch’. The practical objective of this research is to introduce a dynamic multi-factor model for systematic evaluation of the policy environment in Arctic port development. Given that industrial activities in the Arctic region will proceed at the current speed or accelerate, lessons learned from the case of Sabetta will be relevant to other port infrastructure projects in the Arctic.

Validity of radiocarbon ages of Siberian yedoma

The ice wedges are considered as key subjects for 14C aging of yedoma, as there are no any exchange processes between the environment and the ice wedges. Syngenetic sediments contain allochthonous organic admixtures which originated at a distance from its present position. The main problem of radiocarbon dating within permafrost is the uncertain reliability of the 14C ages. To establish the age of ice wedge formation the strategy for the most authentic radiocarbon age selection for syngenetic sediments is considered on the base of a model of yedoma accumulation and distribution of reversal material by flood and aeolian transport. The re-working of organic material discussed in terms of cyclic syngenetic sedimentation of yedoma.The advantages and the complications of 14C dating of organic inclusions from ice wedges by the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) are discussed applying to the search of true age organic material, which is simultaneous to ice-wedge formation. Radiocarbon ages of different organic materials from the same samples are compared, it is demonstrated that the difference between ages of the fractions from the ice wedges consists of about 9 kyr in Seyaha ice-wedge complex in Yamal Peninsula and about 5 kyr in Bison yedoma, Kolyma River valley. The principle of the choice of the youngest 14C age from the set and from the layer is proposed for yedoma.

Analysis of errors in estimating changes in water body areas by satellite data: Case study of thermokarst lakes in Yamal Peninsula

Errors in the estimates of changes in the area of individual water bodies and their groups have been studied in the central part of Yamal Peninsula based on Landsat satellite imagery. For the first time, the overlap zone of two satellite images along satellite trajectory has been proposed for the choice of the most efficient algorithm for identifying water surfaces and estimating the errors in water body area measurements. Empirical equations have been derived to describe the relationship between the error in estimates of changes in the areas of individual water bodies and their groups and the areas themselves. The seasonal and many-year variations in water body areas have been identified in the zone of intense construction of facilities at the Bovanenkovskoe oil-gas condensate field.

Distribution of Yellow Wagtail Forms Motacilla flava – Complex in the North of Western Siberia, Russia

On the basis of the materials obtained from the studies carried out from 2000 to 2015, we present the data on distribution of the Yellow Wagtail forms in the north of Western Siberia, i.e. within the overlapping boundaries of the ranges of a complex set of several polytypical forms – Motacilla flava sensu lato. Four forms have been identified here: two forms from the group of Western Yellow Wagtails (M. f. thunbergi and M. f. beema & flava) and two forms from the group of Eastern Yellow Wagtails (M. t. plexa and M. t. tschutschensis). Western “black-headed” form M. f. thunbergi is spread in the area of the northern taiga, forest tundra and south shrub tundra within the Ob River basin, while eastern “black-headed” form M. t. plexa is found in the shrubby tundra and further to the east from the Ob River in forest tundra and northern taiga. Western “light headed” wagtails M. f. beema & flava spread as far as 65º05'N along the floodplain of the Ob River. Eastern “light-headed” wagtail M. t. tschutschensis penetrates the Taz peninsula and, through the anthropogenic sites, the north-east coast of the Yamal Peninsula, i.e. the Sabetta area as far as 71º14'N. The entire range of the Yellow Wagtail is characterized by the interchange of zones inhabited by “black-headed” (without the expressed eyebrows on males) and “light-headed” (with notable eyebrows on males or white-headed) forms from the north to the south.

Foundations of the conception of subaqual cryolithogenesis of marine deposits of gas-bearing structures on the Yamal Peninsula.

Foundations of the conception of subaqual cryolithogenesis of marine deposits of gas-bearing structures on the Yamal Peninsula.

Основы концепции субаквального криолитогенеза морских отложений газоносных струк- тур полуострова Ямал

Основы концепции субаквального криолитогенеза морских отложений газоносных струк- тур полуострова Ямал

ASSESSING THE INTENSITY OF LITHODYNAMIC PROCESSES IN THE SEAWAY NAVIGATION CANAL OF THE SABETTA PORT

This paper presents an estimation of the intensity of lithodynamic processes, and calculation results of sediment accumulation for the seaway navigation canal of the Sabetta port (the Yamal Peninsula), on the basis of data of complex engineering surveys carried out in the field seasons in 2011–2013. The sediment accumulation in the canal is assessed using data of the methods of seismic stratigraphy, sedimentation traps, and using data of the newly proposed method of artificial canals. The authors calculate the volume of sediments carried into the canal due to exaration. The intensity of lithodynamic processes is estimated as high or very high in the north of the canal, and as medium or high in its central and southern parts.