What are finding so far?

Guest

Hi Amy and Max! It has been fun to read about your experiences so far. Very nice slippers Max!
I am curious how the water sampling is going.
1) Are you investigating how the flow rate of the Lena River changes through out the seasons? Is there even much change in seasons at that latitude?
2) What type of water quality tests are you monitoring? Just Density and Salinity or more?
3) My experiences on the ocean as a marine science educator made me very curious about how changes in the "conveyor belt" convection current will affect the ecology of the North Atlantic. Do you have any hypotheses that address this?
4) Max: What is your goal for this Lena River project specifically? Do you hope to develop base line information to increase our understanding? Or do you already have a baseline that you are building on?

Lots of Questions!
Hope to hear back from you soon! Sounds like a great adventure.
Best,
Devri

Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 43

HI DEVRI,

LOTS OF GOOD QUESTIONS - THANKS! AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU LIKED THE SLIPPERS
Hi Devri,

1) Are you investigating how the flow rate of the Lena River changes through out the seasons? Is there even much change in seasons at that latitude?

YES, WE'RE VERY INTERESTED IN HOW THE DISCHARGE OF THE LENA RIVER VARIES SEASONALLY, AND ALSO HOW THE FLUX OF CHEMICALS IN THE RIVERS CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. AND YES, THERE IS A HUGE CHANGE IN THE LENA'S DISCHARGE OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. IT IS LOW DURING THE WINTER BUT THEN RAPIDLY INCREASES IN LATE SPRING (RIGHT NOW!). SO IN THE TWO WEEKS THAT WE ARE HERE IN ZHIGANSK WE WILL SEE THE RIVER GO FROM VERY LOW FLOW TO ITS HIGHEST DISCHARGE OF THE YEAR. BELOW I'VE POSTED THE LONG-TERM AVERAGE MONTHLY DISCHARGE OF THE LENA RIVER SO YOU CAN SEE HOW IT VARIES SEASONALLY. AND REMEMBER, THE PEAK DISCHARGE ONLY LASTS FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, SO THE MONTHLY AVERAGE DISCHARGE DOES NOT INDICATE JUST HOW BIG THE PEAK FLOW DISCHARGE ACTUALLY IS.

2) What type of water quality tests are you monitoring? Just Density and Salinity or more?

WE ARE MEASURING LOTS OF DIFFERENT PROPERTIES OF THE WATER. A COMPLETE LIST OF THE ANALYSES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR "PARTNERS PROJECT" WEB PAGE ( http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/partners , then go to "DATA", then select "list of analyses"). THESE DIFFERENT CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE WATER WILL BE USED BOTH TO TRACE THE RIVER WATER AS IT CIRCULATES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN AND TO HELP US LEARN ABOUT BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES IN THE LENA RIVER WATERSHED.

3) My experiences on the ocean as a marine science educator made me very curious about how changes in the "conveyor belt" convection current will affect the ecology of the North Atlantic. Do you have any hypotheses that address this?

THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION BUT I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE CAN GIVE A VERY COMPLETE ANSWER TO IT YET. BUT IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT IF THERE ARE MAJOR SHIFTS IN OCEAN CIRCULATION PATTERNS (WHICH WOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY CHANGES IN THE SALINITY AND TEMPERATURE OF THE OCEAN) THAT THERE WILL ALSO BE BIG CHANGES IN THE ECOLOGY OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN.

4) Max: What is your goal for this Lena River project specifically? Do you hope to develop base line information to increase our understanding? Or do you already have a baseline that you are building on?

OUR GOAL FOR THE LENA RIVER (AND THE OTHER 5 RIVERS THAT ARE PART OF THE "PARTNERS PROJECT) IS TO QUANTIFY CHEMICAL FLUXES FROM RIVER TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. WE'RE INTERESTED IN BOTH ANNUAL FLUXES AND IN HOW THE CONCENTRATIONS AND FLUXES OF CHEMICALS IN THE WATER VARY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. FOR SOME OF THE CHEMICALS THAT WE'RE MEASURING THERE ARE ALREADY GOOD BASELINE DATA AVAILABLE, BUT FOR MANY OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN. AS I BRIEFLY MENTIONED ABOVE, THE CHEMICAL DATA THAT WE COLLECT WILL BE USED TO "FINGERPRINT" THE SIX RIVERS THAT WE'RE STUDYING SO THAT THEIR FRESHWATER CAN BE "TRACED" AS IT CIRCULATES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. AND THE CONCENTRATIONS OF VARIOUS CHEMICALS IN THE RIVERS CAN TELL US A LOT ABOUT PROCESSES OCCURRING IN THEIR WATERSHEDS.

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE QUESTIONS!

Max

Guest

Thanks Max, for the thorough answers.
I wonder if you have looked into any observations of dissolved oxygen levels of the river (s) and the life it supports? Does this vary with flow rate? Is there a time of the year that offers higher levels than others? Are there any fish that use this river to get to the sea to breed or spawn?
Thanks again! This is a fun way to learn.
Devri

Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 43

Hi Devri,

Thanks for another round of good questions! This year we are not measuring dissolved oxygen in the rivers, but next year we hope to. It would be interesting to see how dissolved oxygen concentration varies over the course of the year. In the Ob' River (another very large river to the west of where we are now) there have been some reports of low oxygen concentrations under the ice in the winter. This could occur because photosynthesis (which produces oxygen) is practically zero during the winter (because there is no light!), but respiration (which consumes oxygen) might still occur at at low level. It oxygen levels get low enough, it could have negative consequences such as killing fish.
I'm not sure if there fish in the Lena River that also spend some of their lives in the ocean. I remember asking this question when I was here last year, but I don't remember the answer. So I'll ask again!

Max