Upwellings in Lake Baikal

Based on shipboard and satellite observations, the characteristics of upwelling in Lake Baikal in the period of direct temperature stratification have been determined for the first time. Coastal upwellings appear annually under the effect of run-down and alongshore winds and are traced along the coast to a distance of up to 60–100 km and up to 250 km in North Baikal. Analogous to the way it occurs in seas, water rises from the depths of 100–200 m (350 m as a maximum) at the velocity of 0.1 × 10⁻²−6.5 × 10⁻² cm/s. Divergence in the field of intràbasin cyclonic macrovortices produces upwelling in the Baikal pelagic zone and downwelling in the vicinity of shores; this lasts from 7 to 88 days and covers the depth interval of 80–300 m in August and up to 400–800 m in early-mid November. The area of upwellings occupies up to 20–60% of the separate basins of the lake. Vertical circulation of water in the field of pelagic upwellings leads to intensification of coastal currents and to formation of the thermobar with a heat inert zone in the central part of the lake in November, and this thermobar is not observed in other lakes, at that.     

Bottom temperature monitoring in Lake Baikal

We report results of bottom temperature monitoring of 2003–2004 in the deepwater South Baikal basin (Lake Baikal) near active gas-fluid methane vents at lake depths of 1020 and 1350 m. Sediments and water temperatures were measured using an autonomous temperature recorder designed at the Institute of Geophysics (Novosibirsk). Experiments implied short-duration recording and pioneering continuous 350 day-long monitoring near the Staryi vent. Measurements within a 1 m thick layer above and below the bottom showed notable variations in water (up to 0.07 °C) and sediment temperatures and in geothermal gradient. The long temperature records include a relatively steady period (mid-June 2003-early February 2004) with smooth temperature variations (especially in sediments) and two transient unsteady periods. The steady season is the best time for heat flow studies in the South Baikal basin. The 0.04–0.05 °C drop in bottom water temperature during the unsteady periods may result from intrusion of cold surface water. A positive temperature anomaly of ∼0.04 °C recorded in April 2003 may be caused, among other reasons, by active gas venting.     

The possibility of a tsunami on Lake Baikal

Based on the general physical nature of tsunami generation, it is established that it is an attribute of seismically hazardous areas and regions adjacent to large water reservoirs and is threatening to the population and infrastructure of the coastal zones. The main preconditions and possibilities for the occurrence of tsunami on Lake Baikal are considered: the information on earthquakes in the Baikal hollow during the instrumental-historical period (1724–2011) is generalized in the map of epicenters of shocks of magnitude M ⩾ 5 and histograms of the distribution of numbers of shocks with respect to magnitude. It is shown that the tsunami waves start forming on Baikal if the earthquake magnitude M is ≈5, but since a system of tsunami monitoring on Baikal is absent, it can be observed only during the strongest earthquakes of M > 7. The catastrophic Tsagan earthquake (1861, M ≈ 7.5) is given as an example. It happened near the eastern coast of Lake Baikal and caused a tsunami with people’s deaths.     

Ba and Ni speciation in a nodule of binary Mn oxide phase composition from Lake Baikal

The partitioning and incorporation mechanism of Ni and Ba in a ferromanganese nodule from Lake Baikal were characterized by X-ray microfluorescence, microdiffraction, and absorption spectroscopy. Fe is speciated as goethite, and Mn as romanechite (psilomelane) and 10 Å-vernadite (turbostratic buserite) with minor 7 Å-vernadite (turbostratic birnessite). Barium is associated with romanechite and Ni with vernadite in distinct and irregularly distributed layers, and each type of Mn oxide is separated from the other type by goethite. The binary Mn oxide banding pattern is interpreted by a two-mode accretionary model, in which the variation in Ba flux induced by hydrothermal water pulses determines whether a tectomanganate (romanechite) or phyllomanganate (vernadite) is formed during the ferromanganese nodule accretion. Consistent with the dependence of Ni sorption on pH and the circumneutral pH of the lake water, nickel is mainly substituted isomorphically for Mn in the manganese layer, and is not sorbed at vacant Mn layer sites in the interlayer.     

Mercury in the sedimentary deposits of Lake Baikal

Mercury distribution was examined in the sediments of Lake Baikal that were sampled within the scope of the Baikal Drilling International Project in 1996–1999. The Hg concentrations in the ancient sediments are close to those in the modern sediments with the exception of a few peak values, whose ages coincide with those of active volcanism in adjacent areas. Mercury was demonstrated to be contained in the sediments in the adsorbed Hg⁰ mode, predominantly in relation with organic matter. When the organic matter of the bottom sediments is decomposed in the course of lithification, Hg is retained in the sediments adsorbed on the residual organic matter, and the concentration of this element corresponds to its initial content in the bottom sediments during their accumulation. Mercury concentrations in lithologically distinct bottom sediments of Lake Baikal and its sediments as a whole depend on the climate. Sediments that were formed during warm periods of time contain more Hg than those produced during cold periods or glaciation. Periodical variations in the Hg concentrations in the bottom sediments of Lake Baikal reflect the variations in the contents of this element in the Earth’s atmosphere in the Late Cenozoic, which were, in turn, controlled by the climatic variations on the planet and, thus, can be used for detailed reconstructions of variations in the average global temperature near the planet’s surface.     

Paleoenvironmental proxy records from Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia, and a synthesis of Holocene climate change in the Lake Baikal watershed

Here we discuss paleoenvironmental evolution in the Baikal region during the Holocene using new records of aquatic (diatom) and terrestrial vegetation changes from Hovsgol, Mongolia's largest and deepest lake. We reconcile previous contradictory Baikal timescales by constraining reservoir corrections of AMS dates on bulk sedimentary organic carbon. Synthesis of the Holocene records in the Baikal watershed reveals a northward progression in landscape/vegetation changes and an anti-phase behavior of diatom and biogenic silica proxies in neighboring rift lakes. In Lake Baikal, these proxies appear to be responsive to annual temperature increases after 6 ka, whereas in Lake Hovsgol they respond to higher precipitation/runoff from 11 to 7 ka. Unlike around Lake Baikal, warmer summers between 6 and 3.5 ka resulted in the decline, not expansion, of forest vegetation around Lake Hovsgol, apparently as a result of higher soil temperatures and lower moisture availability. The regional climatic proxy data are consistent with a series of 500-yr time slice Holocene GCM simulations for continental Eurasia. Our results allow reevaluation of the concepts of ‘the Holocene optimum’ and a ‘maximum of the Asian summer monsoon’, as applied to paleoclimate records from continental Asia.     

Deepwater helium in Lake Baikal as an earthquake precursor

In this paper, attention is paid to the importance of short-term prognosis of earthquakes. The variability of determination methods is noted. One of the geochemical methods, based on study of the helium content in deep water of Lake Baikal, is considered; such a method has not been used for open deep-water basins within the zones of high seismic danger. It is established that in the period of earthquake preparation, variations in the helium content deep underwater in Lake Baikal are recorded. A sharp decrease in the helium content two days before the earthquake was recorded first time for a long period of observation, as well as the consequent increase. Further study of the helium content deep underwater in Lake Baikal is recommended, and, should these data be proved, it is recommended as a short-term precursor of earthquakes.     

Active hydrate destabilization in Lake Baikal,Siberia?

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present new seismic and heat-flow data that show the base of the hydrate stability zone (BHSZ) in Lake Baikal to be locally characterized by abnormal variations in depth, with distinct regions of deeper-than-normal and regions of shallower-than-normal BHSZ. These variations are related to strong lateral variations in heat flow, and occur in close association with important rift-basin faults. Areas of shallow BHSZ are also characterized by the presence of several methane seeps and mud volcanoes at the lake floor. We infer that the seeps are the surface expression of escape pathways for overpressured fluids generated by the dissociation of pre-existing hydrates, in response to a thermal pulse caused by an upward flow of hydrothermal fluids towards the BHSZ. It thus seems that present-day hydrate dissociation in Lake Baikal is modulated by the tectonic activity in the rift rather than by – climatically controlled – changes in lake level or water temperature.     

Estimate of heat flux at the ice-water interface in Lake Baikal from experimental data

An original system for measuring temperature in the ice cover and subglacial water and an increase in the ice thickness provides data necessary for calculation of the heat flux at the ice-water interface. Successive freezing of 1-mm temperature sensors during the ice growth allows us to measure temperature gradients in the vicinities of the ice-water interface for the first time. An analytical equation derived from the Stefan condition allows calculations of the heat flux at the phase boundary on the basis of the experimental data, which agree with independent estimates that have been made on the basis of the subglacial temperature gradients and are within the 4–39 W/m² range. The flow at the ice-water interface is comparable with the heat flux inside the ice depth and significantly affects the dynamics of the ice cover thickness.     

新疆和田玉和俄罗斯贝加尔湖地区软玉的岩石学特征研究

通过对新疆和田玉以及俄罗斯贝加尔湖地区软玉的化学成分、矿物组成、结构构造等方面的研究和对比,从岩石学的角度较系统地总结了两者的异同点,指出两者主要成分和主要矿物组成是近似的,但主要结构有区别,因而在外观上也有一定的差别,这对于两者的开发和利用有重要的实际意义.     

Oxidation of methane in the water column of Lake Baikal

The rate of aerobic oxidation of methane was calculated based on average profiles of the tritiumhelium age of the Baikal waters and concentrations of the dissolved methane in the water column. In the deep lake zone (>200 m), the intensity of oxidation vertically decreases and is (2–0.3) × 10^?2 nl CH₄l^?1 days^?1 in southern and central Baikal and (2.8–1.0) × 10^?2 nl CH₄ l^?1 days^?1 in northern Baikal. The effective coefficient of the oxidation rate in the lake depressions is 3.6 × 10^?4, 3.3 × 10^?4, and 3.7 × 10^?4 days^?1, respectively. At current methane concentrations in the water column, about 80 t of methane is oxidized per year. Oxidation of the dissolved methane in the water column was estimated at a possible increase of its concentration.     

Elements of the iron and manganese cycles in Lake Baikal

Using data obtained in recent years, we considered the external mass balance and characteristics of internal iron and manganese cycles in Lake Baikal (biological uptake, remineralization, sedimentary and diffusive fluxes, accumulation in sediments, time of renewal, etc.). Some previous results and common concepts were critically reevaluated.     

Multi-Wavelength Synchrotron Radiation XRF Determination of U and Th in Sedimentary Cores from Lake Baikal

A new technique for the determination of uranium and thorium in lacustrine sediments is based on non-destructive synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence analysis (SR-XRF) of sediment samples using monochromatic beams of different energies as excitation sources, with the recording and subsequent iterative processing of the X-ray fluorescence spectra. The technique has a multielement capability and enables fast, simultaneous analysis of a few tens of elements. The proposed SR-XRF technique was tested against INAA and ICP-MS methods and showed a number of advantages with a generally good correlation of results by the three methods. Uranium and Th profiles have been measured at a time resolution of 2 kyr in a drill core (BDP-96) from Lake Baikal bottom sediments deposited between 780 and 40 kyr B P. During this time span, peaks in the U and U/Th concentration marked warm climates. Oscillations of U and U/Th in Baikal bottom sediments during the Brunhes chron reflect climate-induced global change in the volume of polar ice, controlled by long-term cyclicity of the Earths orbital parameters. The response of these warm periods is similar to that observed earlier in shorter cores that span the two last interglacials (220-0 kyr BP).     

Crystallization of authigenic carbonates in mud volcanoes at Lake Baikal

This paper presents data on authigenic siderite first found in surface sediments from mud volcanoes in the Central (K-2) and Southern (Malen’kii) basins of Lake Baikal. Ca is the predominant cation, which substitutes Fe in the crystalline lattice of siderite. The enrichment of the carbonates in the ¹³C isotope (from +3.3 to +6.8‰ for the Malen’kii volcano and from +17.7 to +21.9‰ for K-2) results from the crystallization of the carbonates during methane generation via the bacterial destruction of organic matter (acetate). The overall depletion of the carbonates in ¹⁸O is mainly inherited from the isotopic composition of Baikal water.