Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of the Messoyakha and Pestsovoe pingos in northwest Siberia as markers of ice core formation

• Published in: Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
• Main Authors: Vasil'chuk, Yurij K., Chizhova, Julia N., Budantseva, Nadine A., Kurchatova, Anna N., Rogov, Victor V., Vasilchuk, Alla C.
• Other Authors: Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Scientific Research Foundation of Graduate School of Harbin Medical University: Sino Russian Special Fund
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Talik; Ice; ice core; permafrost; Permafrost and Periglacial Processes; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2122; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.2122; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ppp.2122

Abstract Pingos are indicators of modern and past conditions of permafrost. In total, 1,620 pingos have been identified on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas in western Siberia. The main purpose of this study is to consider the distribution of stable isotopes in pingo ice cores formed under conditions of open and closed systems. Two pingos from ice cores of different origin in the continuous permafrost zone of northwest Siberia have been considered: the Messoyaha‐1 pingo (10.5 m in height) and the Pestsovoe pingo (17 m in height). Drilling of the ice core was performed with continuous sampling of an undisturbed frozen core. Ice formation was estimated according to the Rayleigh fractionation in a closed‐system versus an open‐system framework. For the Pestsovoe pingo, a pronounced decrease in δ 18 O values with corresponding increase in d exc with depth indicates a closed system upon freezing of the lake talik from the top down. For the Messoyakha‐1 pingo, the values of δ 18 O and δ 2 Н showed a weak tendency to decrease with depth, with values of d exc varying randomly. Ice that was segregated in the overlying and underlying sediments had similar values of δ 18 O and δ 2 Н and a low slope. Isotopically nonequilibrium ice formation was established for ice which had been segregated in a closed system and for ice cores formed in an open to semiclosed system. The vacuum mechanism of water suction from the surrounding lake or lake talik may have played a significant role during the formation of the upper ice core of the Messoyakha‐1 pingo and its additional growth.