Contemporary and ancient environmental conditions in the area of the AARI meteorological station Khastyr on Khatanga Bay on Hara-Tumus Peninsular

The aim of the article is to characterize the current and ancient environmental conditions in the area around a new AARI meteorological station, located in the west of the Khara-Tumus Peninsula (73° 49' 39,5'' N 109° 39' 13,5'' E) on the Khatanga Bay of the Laptev Sea. The Khastyr meteorological station was organized in 2016, and for the moment a 6-year (2017–2022) series of hydrometeorological observations has been performed. The average annual temperature at the station is –11.7 °C. The maximum temperature is 31.8 °C, the minimum temperature is –47.3 °C. The annual amount of atmospheric precipitation is 238 mm. The wind blows from west to east or from east to west during most of the year. The maximum wind speed is 28 m/sec, the average wind speed is 5,4 m/sec. The ice cover in the Khatanga Bay disappears in the second part of July and forms again in September-October. The winter lasts here for 9 months of the year.

The geological, geomorphological and permafrost structure along the shoreline near the station is investigated.The cliff consists of marine sediments of the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The IR-OSL dating of the sands from the cliff’s basement shows that the sediments are 206 000 year old. The marine sediments, including Karginsky deposits with wood and amber, dated by the radiocarbon method and shown to be 42 000 year old (45 000 calendar year old), are covered by Ice Complex sediments, the mammal bones from which have a radiocarbon age of 32 thousand years (36 thousand calendar years). The saiga (Saiga tatarica) bones found near the Taimyr Peninsula for the first time have a radiocarbon age of 17 thousand 14C years (22 thousand calendar years).

Permafrost processes are very active in this area of typical tundra. Therefore, a testing plot for investigating permafrost processes was organized on the territory of the station. Also, this place is very convenient for investigating coastal erosion processes. The Khastyr station can be used as a point for organizing complex studies of the natural environment in a typical tundra on the shore of Khatanga Bay.

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