The Arctic and its surrounding marginal seas are considered some of the most sensitive elements of the global environment, which may respond rapidly to climate change. However, due to various reasons, our knowledge of the processes which drive the Arctic system today and in the past is still relatively sparse. Based on a multidisciplinary approach, German and Russian scientists describe in this book the natural paleorecords and modern data which were collected over the past 6 years. These marine and terrestrial datasets provide important new insights into the causes, impacts, and feedback mechanisms of this extreme Arctic environment.

First international representation of land/ocean interaction in Siberia

Section A: Modern Ocean and Sea-Ice Processes.- Features of Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the Sea Level and Water Circulation in the Laptev Sea.- Numerical Modelling of Storm Surges in the Laptev Sea Based on the Finite Element Method.- Large-Scale Variations of Sea Level in the Laptev Sea.- Extreme Oscillations of the Sea Level in the Laptev Sea.- Internal Waves in the Laptev Sea.- The Composition of the Coarse Fraction of Aerosols in the Marine Boundary Layer over the Laptev, Kara and Barents Seas.- New Data on Sea-Ice Albedo in the Laptev and Barents Seas.- Possible Causes of Radioactive Contamination in the Laptev Sea.- Oceanographic Causes for Transarctic Ice Transport of River Discharge.- Step-Like Vertical Structure Formation Due to Turbulent Mixing of Initially Continuous Density Gradients.- Dissolved and Particulate Major and Trace Elements in Newly Formed Ice from the Laptev Sea(Transdrift III, October 1995).- Particle Entrainment into Newly Forming Sea Ice - Freeze-Up Studies in October 1995.- Frazil Ice Formation during the Spring Flood and its Role in Transport of Sediments to the Ice Cover.- Section B: The Marine Ecosystem.- Pelagic-Benthic Coupling in the Laptev Sea Affected by Ice Cover.- Chlorophyll a Distribution in Water Column and Sea Ice during the Laptev Sea Freeze-Up Study in Autumn 1995.- Composition, Abundance and Population Structure of Spring-Time Zooplankton in the Shelf-Zone of Laptev Sea.- Macrobenthos Distribution in the Laptev Sea in Relation to Hydrology.- Carepoctus Solidus Sp.n., A New Species Of Liparid Fish (Scorpaeniformes, Liparidae) From The Lower Bathyal Of The Polar Basin.- Spring Stopover of Birds on the Laptev Sea Polynya.- Section C: Land-Ocean Interactions and Pathways.- Major, Trace and Rare Earth Element Geochemistry of Suspended Particulate Material of East Siberian Rivers Draining to the Arctic Ocean.- Carbon Isotope Composition of Particulate Organic Material in East Siberian Rivers.- Distribution of River Water and Suspended Sediment Loads in the Deltas of Rivers in the Basins of The Laptev and East-Siberian Seas.- Dissolved Oxygen, Silicon, Phosphorous and Suspended Matter Concentrations During the Spring Breakup of The Lena River.- Distribution Patterns of Heavy Minerals in Siberian Rivers, the Laptev Sea and the eastern Arctic Ocean: An Approach to Identify Sources, Transport and Pathways of Terrigenous Matter.- The Role of Coastal Retreat for Sedimentation in the Laptev Sea.- Section D: Terrestrial Environment - Past and Present.- Seasonal Changes in Hydrology, Energy Balance and Chemistry in the Active Layers of Arctic Tundra Soils in Taymyr Peninsula, Russia.- The Landscape and Geobotanical Characteristics of the Levinson-Lessing Lake Basin, Byrranga Mountains, Central Taimyr.- Studies of Methane Production and Emission in Relation to the Microrelief of a Polygonal Tundra in Northern Siberia.- Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emmissions at Arctic Tundra Sites in North Siberia.- The Features of the Hydrological Regime of the Lake-River Systems of the Byrranga Mountains (by the Example of the Levinson-Lessing Lake).- Lead-210 Dating and Heavy Metal Concentration in Recent Sediments of Lama Lake (Norilsk Area, Siberia).- Late Weichselian to Holocene Diatom Succession in a Sediment Core from Lama Lake, Siberia and Presumed Ecological Implications.- Climate and Vegetation History of the Taymyr Peninsula since Middle Weichselian Time - Palynological Evidence from Lake Sediments.- Laminated Sediments from Levinson-Lessing Lake, Northern Central Siberia - A 30,000 Year Record of Environmental History?.- High-Resolution Seismic Stratigraphy of Lake Sediments on the Taymyr Peninsula, Central Siberia.- Archaeological Survey in Central Taymyr.- Marine Pleistocene Deposits of the Taymyr Peninsula and their Age from ESR Dating.- Paleoclimatic Indicators from Permafrost Sequences in the Eastern Taymyr Lowland.- Section E: Marine Depositional Environment - Past and Present.- Stable Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Benthic Carbonate Shells of Ostracoda, Foraminifera, and Bivalvia from Surface Sediments of the Laptev Sea, Summer 1993 and 1994.- Determination of Depositional Beryllium-10 Fluxes in the Area of the Laptev Sea and Beryllium-10 Concentrations in Water Samples of High Northern Latitudes.- Spatial Distribution of Diatom Surface Sediment Assemblages on the Laptev Sea Shelf (Russian Arctic).- Diatoms from Surface Sediments of the Saint Anna Trough (Kara Sea).- Distribution of Aquatic Palynomorphs in Surface Sediments from the Laptev Sea, Eastern Arctic Ocean.- Distribution of Pollen and Spores in Surface Sediments of the Laptev Sea.- Clay Mineral Distribution in Surface Sediments of the Laptev Sea: Indicator for Sediment Provinces, Dynamics and Sources.- Planktic Foraminifera in Holocene Sediments from the Laptev Sea and the Central Arctic Ocean: Species Distribution and Paleobiogeographical Implication.- Holocene Diatom Stratigraphy and Paleoceanography of the Eurasian Arctic Seas.- Late Quaternary Organic Carbon and Biomarker Records from the Laptev Sea Continental Margin (Arctic Ocean): Implications for Organic Carbon Flux and Composition.- Late Pleistocene Paleoriver Channels on the Laptev Sea Shelf - Implications from Sub-Bottom Profiling.- Main Structural Elements of Eastern Russian Arctic Continental Margin Derived from Satellite Gravity and Multichannel Seismic Reflection Data.- High Resolution Seismic Studies in the Laptev Sea Shelf: First Results and Future Needs.- Section F: Summary.- Dynamics and History of the Laptev Sea and its Continental Hinterland: A Summary.