TASS, August 20. Russian scientists received first results of soil tests on the Kara Sea’s Gydan Peninsula (the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region). According to them, over 30 years the permafrost’s temperature there went up by 203 degrees, the Scientific Center for Arctic Studies’ press service said.
According to the press service, the expedition featured scientists from several research institutions. "They drilled six ten-meter wells, took samples of the permafrost soil and installed temperature recorders, which will register temperatures every four hours," the press service said.
The Scientific Center’s Director Anton Sinitsky said the new wells were drilled near the old wells, which were drilled in the late 1980s - early 1990s. Thus, scientists can compare the earlier data with recent results.
"First results have shown that the depth of ten meters over 30 years the permafrost soils’ temperatures have raised by 2-3 degrees Celsius," the press service quoted the scientist as saying. "We shall be processing the received data, but already now we can confirm clearly that the permafrost is getting warmer below the level of annual fluctuations."
In addition to the temperature survey, the scientists studied the area of a former lake, got data on the rock formations in its bed, and continued a 3-year monitoring of upper waters in local lakes and rivers.
The Parisento scientific station in the western part of the Gydan Peninsula takes 135 square kilometers. In 1995, work at the station was suspended, but over the recent three years, the Scientific Center for Arctic Studies jointly with other scientific institutions has resumed monitoring there.
The Scientific Center for Arctic Studies was established in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in 2010. It has sections of archaeology, ethnology, social and humanitarian studies, regional studies, geology-geography, medical, ecology and biology research.