The Russian-German research station Samoylov, Lena Delta - A key site for polar research in the Siberian Arctic

• Main Authors: Wagner, Dirk, Griess, Juliane, Bolshiyanov, D., Grigoriev, M. N., Hubberten, Hans-Wolfgang, Gukov, A.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Arctic; Ice; laptev; Laptev Sea; lena delta; permafrost; Polar Research; Tundra; Siberia
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/23464/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.36309

The Lena Delta located at the Laptev Sea coast of northeast Siberia is a keyregion for the understanding of the basic processes of the dynamic anddevelopment of permafrost in the Siberian Arctic. In the frame of the Russian-German scientific co-operation under the umbrella of the German FederalMinistry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Russian Ministry ofScience and Education projects System Laptev Sea, System Laptev-Sea 2000and the Dynamics of Permafrost in the Laptev Sea important scientific resultsfor the understanding of carbon dynamics and involved microbial processes andcommunities, of the energy and water budget of Arctic tundra, of thedevelopment of the ice-rich permafrost and of Arctic coastal dynamics could beelaborated. The obtained results are the necessary data and information basefor the prognosis of the impact of possible climate changes to the sensitiveecosystems of the Arctic.For long-term investigations of the processes of permafrost formation anddecay, transformation and emission of green house gases (CH4, CO2, H2O),thermal and hydrologic studies on the active layer and not at least as a logistic base for field investigations of the environment, formation anddevelopment of the Lena Delta and the relict late Pleistocene permafrost, thesmall research station Samoylov of the Lena Delta Reserve (LDR) was usedand has been developed further under contribution of the Alfred WegenerInstitute (AWI) into an ideal location for coastal and terrestrial polar research.Within this context Samoylov Station has been the base and starting point fornumerous international expeditions in the Siberian Arctic like the expeditionsLena 1999 through Lena 2010, the expedition COAST I as well as many subprojectsof some marine expeditions to the Laptev Sea.