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55-526: The ice sheet outflow ending in Russell Glacier is bounded on the north by the tundra highland of Isunngua and on the south by an exposed, barren, flattened ridge of Akuliarusiarsuk. Several meltwater outflow streams from the base of the glacier form the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua river, which flows west-southwest towards Kangerlussuaq. The sandur basin of the outflow river forming the valley of

110-773: A Uralic people of the Samoyedic branch native to the Taymyr Peninsula in north Siberia . In the Russian Federation , they are recognized as one of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North . They reside primarily in the settlements of Ust-Avam , Volochanka , and Novaya in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai , with smaller populations residing in the towns of Dudinka and Norilsk as well. The Nganasans are thought to be

165-537: A temperate grassland , restricting southern tundra to coastal Antarctica and its islands. The flora and fauna of Antarctica and the Antarctic Islands (south of 60° south latitude) are protected by the Antarctic Treaty . Alpine tundra does not contain trees because the climate and soils at high altitude block tree growth. The cold climate of the alpine tundra is caused by the low air temperatures, and

220-750: A local climate in which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (0 °C (32 °F)), but no month with an average temperature in excess of 10 °C (50 °F). The cold limit generally meets the EF climates of permanent ice and snows ; the warm-summer limit generally corresponds with the poleward or altitudinal limit of trees, where they grade into the subarctic climates designated Dfd , Dwd and Dsd (extreme winters as in parts of Siberia ), Dfc typical in Alaska, Canada, mountain areas of Scandinavia , European Russia , and Western Siberia (cold winters with months of freezing). Despite

275-603: A new group called the Tidiris. There was another group of Tungusic peoples called the Tavgs who lived along the basins of the Khatanga and Anabar rivers and came into contact with the aforementioned Samoyedic peoples, absorbing their language and creating their own Tavg Samoyedic dialect . It is known that the ancestors of the Nganasan previously inhabited territory further south from a book in

330-612: A study based on genetics, archaeology and linguistics found that Uralic speakers arrived in the Baltic region from the East, specifically from Siberia, at the beginning of the Iron Age some 2,500 years ago, together with a Nganasan-related component, possibly linked to the spread of Uralic languages. In another genetic study in 2019, published in Nature Communications , it was found that

385-479: Is a risk of wildfire, such as the 1,039 km (401 sq mi) of tundra which burned in 2007 on the north slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska. Such events may both result from and contribute to global warming. Carbon emissions from permafrost thaw contribute to the same warming which facilitates the thaw, making it a positive climate change feedback . The warming also intensifies Arctic water cycle , and

440-409: Is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra , and Antarctic tundra. Tundra vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs , sedges , grasses , mosses , and lichens . Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between

495-449: Is characterized by plants that grow close to the ground, including perennial grasses , sedges , forbs , cushion plants , mosses , and lichens . The flora is adapted to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season. Tundra climates ordinarily fit the Köppen climate classification ET , signifying

550-504: Is frequently seen in non-Samoyedic peoples, N1c2 in Samoyedic peoples. In addition, mtDNA haplogroup Z , found with low frequency in Saami , Finns , and Siberians, is related to the migration of people speaking Uralic languages. Nganasans are linked to "Neo-Siberian" ancestry, which is estimated to have expanded from the northeast Asian region into Siberia about ~11,000 years ago BCE. In 2019,

605-771: Is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area (and the Sami in Sápmi ). Arctic tundra contains areas of stark landscape and is frozen for much of the year. The soil there is frozen from 25 to 90 cm (10 to 35 in) down, making it impossible for trees to grow there. Instead, bare and sometimes rocky land can only support certain kinds of Arctic vegetation , low-growing plants such as moss, heath ( Ericaceae varieties such as crowberry and black bearberry ), and lichen . There are two main seasons, winter and summer, in

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660-630: Is light, evaporation is also relatively minimal. During the summer, the permafrost thaws just enough to let plants grow and reproduce, but because the ground below this is frozen, the water cannot sink any lower, so the water forms the lakes and marshes found during the summer months. There is a natural pattern of accumulation of fuel and wildfire which varies depending on the nature of vegetation and terrain. Research in Alaska has shown fire-event return intervals (FRIs) that typically vary from 150 to 200 years, with dryer lowland areas burning more frequently than wetter highland areas. The biodiversity of tundra

715-694: Is low: 1,700 species of vascular plants and only 48 species of land mammals can be found, although millions of birds migrate there each year for the marshes. There are also a few fish species. There are few species with large populations. Notable plants in the Arctic tundra include blueberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum ), crowberry ( Empetrum nigrum ), reindeer lichen ( Cladonia rangiferina ), lingonberry ( Vaccinium vitis-idaea ), and Labrador tea ( Rhododendron groenlandicum ). Notable animals include reindeer (caribou), musk ox , Arctic hare , Arctic fox , snowy owl , ptarmigan , northern red-backed voles , lemmings ,

770-404: Is similar to polar climate . Alpine tundra is generally better drained than arctic soils. Alpine tundra transitions to subalpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone (the treeline ) are known as Krummholz . Alpine tundra can be affected by woody plant encroachment . Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide. The flora of the alpine tundra

825-667: The Dolgans and Enets to their east and west respectively. In the winter, they resided in the south of the peninsula at the edge of the Arctic tree line , and during the summer they followed wild reindeer up to 400 miles to the north, sometimes even reaching as far as the Byrranga Mountains . The homeland of the Proto-Uralic peoples, including the Samoyeds, is suggested to be somewhere near

880-634: The Eurasian continent and the Russian Federation , historically inhabiting the tundra of the Taymyr Peninsula . The areas they inhabited stretched over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers, from the Golchikha River in the west to the Khatanga Bay in the east, and from Lake Taymyr in the north to the Dudypta River in the south. The hunting areas of the Nganasan often coincided with those of

935-569: The Kerguelen Islands . Most of Antarctica is too cold and dry to support vegetation, and most of the continent is covered by ice fields or cold deserts. However, some portions of the continent, particularly the Antarctic Peninsula , have areas of rocky soil that support plant life. The flora presently consists of around 300–400 species of lichens, 100 mosses, 25 liverworts , and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algae species, which live on

990-718: The Nganasan language and a Taymyr Pidgin Russian were the only languages spoken among the Nganasan, but with increased education and village settlement, Russian has become the first language of many Nganasans. Some Nganasans live in villages with a Dolgan majority, such as Ust-Avam . The Nganasan language is considered seriously endangered and it is estimated that at most 500 of the Nganasan can still speak it, with very limited proficiency among those 18 and younger. The Nganasans first referred to themselves in Russian as Samoyeds , but they would also often use this term when referring to

1045-549: The Ob and Yenisey river drainage areas of Central Siberia or near Lake Baikal . The Nganasan are considered by most ethnographers who study them to have arisen as an ethnic group when Samoyedic peoples migrated to the Taymyr Peninsula from the south, encountering Paleo-Siberian peoples living there who they then assimilated into their culture. One group of Samoyedic people intermarried with Paleo-Siberian peoples living between

1100-808: The Taz and Yenisei rivers, forming a group that the Soviet ethnographer B. O. Dolgikh refers to as the Samoyed-Ravens. Another group intermarried with the Paleo-Siberian inhabitants of the Pyasina River and formed another group which he called the Samoyed-Eagles. Subsequently, a group of Tungusic people migrated to the region near Lake Pyasino and the Avam River , where they were absorbed into Samoyed culture, forming

1155-468: The mosquito , and even polar bears near the ocean. Tundra is largely devoid of poikilotherms such as frogs or lizards. Due to the harsh climate of Arctic tundra, regions of this kind have seen little human activity, even though they are sometimes rich in natural resources such as petroleum , natural gas , and uranium . In recent times this has begun to change in Alaska , Russia, and some other parts of

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1210-599: The "Avam Winter Quarters", at the confluence of the Avam and Dudypta rivers, which is the site of the modern-day settlement Ust-Avam. The Nganasans often tried to avoid paying yasak by changing the names that they provided to the Russians. Relations between the Russians and Nganasans were not always peaceful. In 1666, the Nganasans ambushed and killed yasak collectors, soldiers, tradesmen, and their interpreters on three occasions, stealing

1265-570: The 1830s, and again from 1907 to 1908, Russian contact caused major smallpox outbreaks among the Ngansans. The Nganasans first came into contact with the Soviets around in the 1930s, when the government instituted a program of collectivization . The Soviets had established that 11% of families owned 60 percent of the deer, while the lower 66% owned only 17 percent, and redistributed this property by collectivizing reindeer into kolkhoz around which

1320-524: The 1970s, when they were settled in the villages they live in today, which are at the southern edges of the Nganasans' historical nomadic routes. There is no certainty as to the exact number of Nganasans living in Russia today. The 2002 Russian census counted 862 Nganasans living in Russia, 766 of whom lived in the former Taymyr Autonomous Okrug . However, those who study the Nganasan estimate their population to comprise approximately 1,000 people. Historically,

1375-444: The 1970s. The Nganasan language (formerly called тавгийский , tavgiysky , or тавгийско-самоедский , tavgiysko-samoyedsky in Russian; from the ethnonym тавги , tavgi ) is a moribund Samoyedic language spoken by the Nganasan people. It is now considered highly endangered, as most Nganasan people now speak Russian rather than their native language. In 2010, it was estimated that only 125 Nganasan people can speak it in

1430-614: The Enets people and instead refer to themselves as the Avam people. For the Nganasans, the term signified ngano-nganasana , which means 'real people' in the Nganasan language , and referred to both themselves and the neighboring Madu Enets . However, in their own language, the Avam Nganasans refer to themselves as nya-tansa , which translates as 'comrade tribe', whereas the Vadeyev Nganasans to

1485-524: The Nganasan then settled. This represented a great change in lifestyle, as the Nganasan, who had primarily been reindeer hunters, were forced to expand their small stock of domesticated reindeer that had previously only been primarily for transport or eaten during periods of famine. Additionally, the Soviets took a greater interest in the Nganasans as a people, and starting in the 1930s, ethnographers began to study their customs. Despite collectivization and

1540-473: The Nganasans is animistic and shamanistic . Their religion is a particularly well-preserved example of Siberian shamanism , which remained relatively free of foreign influence due to the Nganasans' geographic isolation until recent history. Because of their isolation, shamanism was a living phenomenon in the lives of the Nganasans, even into the beginning of the 20th century. The last notable Nganasan shaman's seances were recorded on film by anthropologists in

1595-407: The Nganasans shifted from kolkhoz employment to working for gospromkhoz Taymirsky , the government hunting enterprise, which supplied meat to the burgeoning industrial center Norilsk to the southwest. By 1978, all domestic reindeer herding had ceased, and with new Soviet equipment, the yield of hunted wild reindeer reached 50,000 in the 1980s. Most Nganasan men were employed as hunters, and

1650-583: The areas of exposed rock and soil around the shore of the continent. Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass ( Deschampsia antarctica ) and Antarctic pearlwort ( Colobanthus quitensis ), are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. In contrast with the Arctic tundra, the Antarctic tundra lacks a large mammal fauna, mostly due to its physical isolation from

1705-561: The atmosphere, creating a feedback cycle that changes climate. The term is a Russian word adapted from the Sámi languages . Arctic tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere , north of the taiga belt. The word "tundra" usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost , or permanently frozen soil. (It may also refer to the treeless plain in general so that northern Sápmi would be included.) Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada. The polar tundra

Russell Glacier (Greenland) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-496: The chilly atmosphere, but as a rule potential evapotranspiration is extremely low, allowing soggy terrain of swamps and bogs even in places that get precipitation typical of deserts of lower and middle latitudes. The amount of native tundra biomass depends more on the local temperature than the amount of precipitation. Nganasan people The Nganasans ( / ə ŋ ˈ ɡ æ n ə s æ n / əng- GAN -ə-san ; Nganasan: ӈәнә"са(нә") ŋənəhsa(nəh) , ня(") ńæh ) are

1815-421: The city Mangazeya that lists yasak (fur tribute) payments by the Nganasan which were made in sable , an animal that does not inhabit the tundra where the Nganasan now live. By the middle of the 17th century, Tungusic peoples began to push the Samoyedic peoples northward towards the tundra Taymyr Peninsula, where they merged into one tribe called Avam Nganasans. As the Tavgs were the largest Samoyedic group at

1870-483: The climate system activated around 2 °C (3.6 °F) of global warming suggested that at this threshold, permafrost thaw would add a further 0.09 °C (0.16 °F) to global temperatures by 2100, with a range of 0.04–0.16 °C (0.07–0.29 °F) Antarctic tundra occurs on Antarctica and on several Antarctic and subantarctic islands, including South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and

1925-509: The direct descendants of proto-Uralic peoples. However there is some evidence that they absorbed a local Paleo-Siberian population. The Nganasans were traditionally a semi-nomadic people whose main form of subsistence was wild reindeer hunting , in contrast to the Nenets , who herded reindeer . Beginning in the early 17th century, the Nganasans were subjected to the yasak system of Czarist Russia . They lived relatively independently, until

1980-518: The east prefer to refer to themselves as a'sa which means 'brother', but also includes the Evenks and Dolgan . The Nganasans were also formerly called Tavgi Samoyeds or Tavgis initially by the Russians, which derives from the word tavgy in the Nenets language . Following the Russian Revolution , the Nganasans adopted their current appellation. The Nganasans are the northernmost ethnic group of

2035-451: The ice sheet of the Russell Glacier. During the study, the most widespread surface melt on record in the past 120 years in Greenland was observed on 12 July 2012; unfrozen water was present on almost the entire ice sheet surface (98.6%). The findings indicate that methanotrophs could serve as a biological methane sink in the subglacial ecosystem and, at least during the sample time, the region

2090-488: The increased amounts of warmer rain are another factor which increases permafrost thaw depths. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report estimates that carbon dioxide and methane released from permafrost could amount to the equivalent of 14–175 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per 1 °C (1.8 °F) of warming. For comparison, by 2019, annual anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide alone stood around 40 billion tonnes. A 2018 perspectives article discussing tipping points in

2145-452: The institution of the kolkhoz , the Nganasans were able to maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle following domesticated reindeer herds up until the early 1970s, when the state settled the Nganasans along with the Dolgans and Enets in three different villages it constructed: Ust-Avam, Volochanka , and Novaya . Nganasan kolkhoz were combined to create the villages, and after settling in them,

2200-478: The only subantarctic orchids; the royal penguin ; and the Antipodean albatross . There is some ambiguity on whether Magellanic moorland , on the west coast of Patagonia , should be considered tundra or not. Phytogeographer Edmundo Pisano called it tundra ( Spanish : tundra Magallánica ) since he considered the low temperatures key to restrict plant growth. More recent approaches have since recognized it as

2255-607: The other continents. Sea mammals and sea birds, including seals and penguins, inhabit areas near the shore, and some small mammals, like rabbits and cats, have been introduced by humans to some of the subantarctic islands. The Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion includes the Bounty Islands , Auckland Islands , Antipodes Islands , the Campbell Island group , and Macquarie Island . Species endemic to this ecoregion include Corybas dienemus and Corybas sulcatus ,

Russell Glacier (Greenland) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-413: The polar tundra areas. During the winter it is very cold, dark, and windy with the average temperature around −28 °C (−18 °F), sometimes dipping as low as −50 °C (−58 °F). However, extreme cold temperatures on the tundra do not drop as low as those experienced in taiga areas further south (for example, Russia's, Canada's, and Alaska's lowest temperatures were recorded in locations south of

2365-522: The potential diversity of climates in the ET category involving precipitation, extreme temperatures, and relative wet and dry seasons, this category is rarely subdivided, although, for example, Wainwright, Alaska can be classified ETw and Provideniya, Russia ETs , with most of the rest of the tundra fitting into the ETf subcategory. Rainfall and snowfall are generally slight due to the low vapor pressure of water in

2420-517: The sable furs and property belonging to them. Over the course of the year, 35 men were killed in total. The Nganasan had little direct contact with merchants and, unlike most indigenous Siberians , they were never baptized or otherwise contacted by missionaries. Some Nganasans traded directly with the Russians, while others did so via the Dolgans. They usually exchanged sable furs for alcohol , tobacco , tea , and various tools, products which quickly integrated themselves into Nganasan culture. In

2475-427: The same name ( Danish : Sandflugtdalen ) is very shallow; shallow enough to form quicksand fields several kilometers long. Directly to the west of the glacier is a large lake, the 2x10km Aajuitsup Tasia . Due to the minimal height differential, its waters are not conjoint with the meltwater outflow lake immediately to the west of Russell Glacier. A sibling, unnamed glacier approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) to

2530-593: The southeast of Russell Glacier is the source of the wide outflow meltwater river of Qinnguata Kuussua . The confluence of the latter and the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua river flowing from Russell Glacier is located at the eastern outskirts of the Kangerlussuaq settlement near the end of Kangerlussuaq Fjord , and used to be known as Watson River. A 2014 study, based on subglacial drainage samples (dominated by Pseudomonadota ), found evidence of methane cycling below

2585-450: The southwestern and central parts of the Taymyr Peninsula. The characteristic genetic marker of the Nganasans and most other Uralic-speakers is Y-DNA haplogroup N1c -Tat. Other Samoyedic peoples mainly have more N1b-P43, rather than N1c, suggesting a bottleneck event. Haplogroup N originated in the northern part of China in 20,000–25,000 years BP and spread to Northern Eurasia, through Siberia to Northern Europe . Subgroup N1c1

2640-444: The subject of habitat conservation programs. In Canada and Russia, many of these areas are protected through a national Biodiversity Action Plan . Tundra tends to be windy, with winds often blowing upwards of 50–100 km/h (30–60 mph). However, it is desert-like, with only about 150–250 mm (6–10 in) of precipitation falling per year (the summer is typically the season of maximum precipitation). Although precipitation

2695-518: The time of this merger, their dialect formed the basis of the present-day Nganasan language. In the late 19th century, a Tungusic group called the Vanyadyrs also moved to the Eastern Taymyr peninsula, where they were absorbed by the Avam Nganasans, resulting in the tribe that is now called Vadeyev Nganasans. In the 19th century, a member of the Dolgans , a Turkic people who lived east of the Nganasans,

2750-412: The tree line). During the summer, temperatures rise somewhat, and the top layer of seasonally-frozen soil melts, leaving the ground very soggy. The tundra is covered in marshes, lakes, bogs, and streams during the warm months. Generally daytime temperatures during the summer rise to about 12 °C (54 °F) but can often drop to 3 °C (37 °F) or even below freezing. Arctic tundras are sometimes

2805-481: The tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline. The tundra soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus . The soil also contains large amounts of biomass and decomposed biomass that has been stored as methane and carbon dioxide in the permafrost , making the tundra soil a carbon sink . As global warming heats the ecosystem and causes soil thawing, the permafrost carbon cycle accelerates and releases much of these soil-contained greenhouse gases into

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2860-414: The women worked as teachers or as seamstresses decorating reindeer boots. Nganasan children began schooling in Russian, and even pursuing secondary education. The Soviet planned economy provided the Nganasan settlements with wages, machinery , consumer goods , and education , allowing the Nganasans to achieve a relatively high standard of living by the end of the 1980s. The traditional religion of

2915-588: The world: for example, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug produces 90% of Russia's natural gas. A severe threat to tundra is global warming , which causes permafrost to thaw. The thawing of the permafrost in a given area on human time scales (decades or centuries) could radically change which species can survive there. It also represents a significant risk to infrastructure built on top of permafrost, such as roads and pipelines. In locations where dead vegetation and peat have accumulated, there

2970-591: Was a source of atmospheric methane . Scaled dissolved methane (CH 4 ) flux during the four months of the summer melt season was estimated at 990 Mg CH 4 . Because the Russell-Leverett Glacier is representative of similar Greenland outlet glaciers, the researchers concluded that the Greenland Ice Sheet may represent a significant global methane source. Tundra In physical geography , tundra ( / ˈ t ʌ n d r ə , ˈ t ʊ n -/ )

3025-489: Was also absorbed by the Nganasans, and his descendants formed an eponymous clan, which today, though linguistically fully Samoyedic, is still acknowledged as being Dolgan in origin. The Nganasans first came into contact with Russians sometime in the early 17th century, and after some resistance, began to pay tribute to the Czar in the form of sable fur under the yasak system in 1618. Tribute collectors established themselves at

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