НАУКИ О ЗЕМЛЕ. ГЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ

At present, a relevant task consists in understanding the seismicity of the European Arctic sector in general and the Barents-Kara region in particular. Due to the small number of seismic stations installed in the Arctic region our understanding of the seismicity of the Arctic is still not properly investigated. However, as a consequence of the operationalisation of the seismic station SVZ Severnaya Zemlya on the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago since 2016, it has become possible to record and process an increased number of seismic events. Data from the Arkhangelsk seismic network were compared with a map of the spatial distribution of earthquake epicentres in the Barents-Kara region and adjacent waters for 2017–2018 created by various seismological agencies. The distribution of the number of earthquakes by magnitude and location registered by the Arkhangelsk seismic network for 2012–2018 are presented. The greatest number of earthquakes is associated with the Gakkel, Knipovich and Mohn Ridges, while the lowest number is associated with the St. Anne trough We compared the number of earthquakes recorded by the Arkhangelsk seismic network in 2017–2018 with those recorded by the Severnaya Zemlya station in the same period. The increased number of recorded earthquakes indicates the importance of opening the Severnaya Zemlya station in Arctic region. The microseismic background level was considered and charts drawn up comparing the daily power spectra of SVZ for the “best” and the “worst” months in terms of seismogram quality. Using an earthquake recorded in the eastern part of the Gakkel ridge as an example, the effective processing of the earthquake record in the WSG software package including the operation of the new SVZ station is demonstrated.

Construction and exploitation of the gas pipeline is associated with seriously geoecological risks. The magnitude of risks depends on the kind and value of the impact of influencing factors. The factors of geoecological risk mean to the natural and technical conditions, which influences to probability of occurrence, the value of processes with adverse geoecological consequences, also the size of the expected geoecological damage during the transportation of associated petroleum gas (Gubaidullin and Korobov 2005). Territory near shore of Pechora sea between Bolvanskaya bay and Khaypudyrskaya bay is modern promising center of oil production in region. Ricing of oil production connect with ricing of associated petroleum gas (APG) production and searching of ways of effective utilization APG (instead of burning on torch) is actual challenge. The most promising way is common gathering pipeline system with one center of preparing and utilization of APG. Building and exploitation of pipelines connected with high gejecologilal risks. Evaluation and minimization of geecological risk is actual task. It is necessary to plan steps to minimizing risks (Day et al. 1998) to design stage to reduce the impact on the environment. The factor`s indicators of geoeological risk are distributed unevenly along the gas pipeline. Zoning should help to analyze the distribution of geoecological risk factors and determine territories for activities.

Evaluation of hydrological parameters and temperature regime of watercourses of various orders comes to the fore when studying the scientific problems of hydrobiology of watercourses and solving practical problems of development of fisheries and gold exploration in the regions of the Far North. This became particularly relevant due to a significant reduction in hydrological observations since the early 1990s. This article presents a quantitative investigation into the thermal regime of water courses and their spatial pattern. The paper focuses specifically studying the temperature and basic spatial parameters of streams and rivers in the area of interest. Statistical methods helped identify a close linkage between the temperature of water courses in the basin of the Upper Kolyma River and their respective sizes. A common trend has been found proving that the water temperature in the rivers increases downstream and with the increase in water course size, also known as order. A close correlation between the average water temperature, on the one hand, and the catchment area and water course length, on the other, is indicated by the relatively high correlation coefficients of 0.61 to 0.63 and 0.71 to 0.73, respectively. Average water temperatures in the summer and warm periods have been found to escalate with the increase of water course order from low (I and II) to high (VI–VII) by 4.7°C and 5.9°C, respectively, and in the Kolyma River – in the direction from the upper section (Orotuk village) to the lower section (the Korkodon River mouth) by 1.7°C and 2.1°C, respectively, even though the lower section of the river is located almost 2° north of the upper section. Due to the presence of perennial permafrost, river taliks have a cooling effect on the thermal regime of watercourses, so coolness occurs in sections of the river where there are favorable conditions for their formation. This is, first of all, the increased thickness of the well-permeable coarse-grained alluvium of the channel facies and open fracture zones in the bedrock.