Kolyma August 2009

This album contains images from Guido's expedition to the Kolyma region, Northeast Siberia, in August 2009. Our small group from UAF and Russian partners from Moscow State University and the North East Science Station worked around Cherskii and by boat and all-terrain vehicle around Cape Maly Chukochy, about 70 km northwest of the Kolyma river mouth. We collected sediment samples from permafrost exposures on bluffs along rivers, lake shores and coasts to study how old thermokarst lakes are in the region, how they form, and what their sedimentologicla and biogeochemical (i.e. carbon) dynamics are. By thawing permafrost and providing anaerobic environments for decomposition of organic material in the thaw bulbs and lake sediments, thermokarst lakes emit large amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas.