MAIN RESULTS OF GEOCRYOLOGICAL RESEARCH BY MELNIKOV PERMAFROST INSTITUTE SB RAS IN THE FIRST DECADES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
M.N. Zheleznyak, M.N. Grigoriev, A.N. Fedorov, V.V. Shepelev, A.A. Kut
Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia
Keywords: cryolithozone, temperature regime dynamics, thermal state, cryogenic landscape, groundwater, engineering permafrost science
Abstract
This paper presents a brief history of its foundation and the main results of scientific research, organizational and popularizing activities of Melnikov Permafrost Institute SB RAS for the last two decades of the 21st century. Results of the Institute in different areas, both basic and applied, are outlined. The institute is doing research into the dynamics of the continental and subaquatic permafrost zone within the Russian Arctic. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the Arctic cryogenic ecosystem for global climate warming. Significant progress has been achieved in engineering geocryology, permafrost monitoring, permafrost mapping, and other areas. The institute’s research results are used in assessing stability of engineering structures and motor roads, and ecological security of northern cities, in optimizing the use of agricultural lands in the permafrost zone, and in determining the prospects for using subpermafrost water in the permafrost zone as an alternative source of water supply and cryogenic resources of Russia. It is pointed out that the main conditions for successful development of modern geocryology implies improvement of instrument and laboratory facilities used in research as well as organizing exchange of knowledge and data via conferences and cooperative projects by combining efforts of scientists from different countries and organizations. The solution of a complex set of geocryological problems in these conditions is possible with appropriate support from the state.
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