2020 Ecosystem Transformation 3 (3), 3-11

Hydrological and biological regimes of lakes of East Antarctica

Sharov A.N.  , Tolstikov A.V.

Hydrological and biological regimes of different types of lakes of oases of East Antarctica, Thala Hills, Schirmacher Oasis and Larsemann Hills, were studied in the summer of 2010–2011. In lakes covered with ice, inverse temperature stratification is recorded. In the bottom layers of the water, the temperature (about 4 °C) is close to the values characteristic of water with a maximum density. Isothermy is observed on the opened small lakes, and water in some reservoirs warms up to 8 °С. Benthic communities of cyanobacteria and invertebrates are the main biological component of lakes, where there is no classical food chain and a microbial loop prevails. Studies have shown that a 3-meter layer of ice permits a sufficient amount of light even to a depth of 30 m. Light does not limit the development of algae and cyanobacteria. However, the low content of nutrients in the water limits the growth of phytoplankton, causing low values of biomass (less than 0.01 mg/l) and concentration of chlorophyll a (0.1–0.45 μg/l). A tendency to climate change around the Schirmacher oasis is recorded. In recent decades, some lakes, which in the middle of the last century were constantly covered with ice, began to open in the summer months. In the period when the lake is covered with ice, homothermy is established with a water temperature of 4 °C. After having opened, the water temperature in the lake drops to
0.5–1 °С because of wind-wave cooling.

A. N. Sharov
I.D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences
Borok 109, Nekouzsky District, Yaroslavl Region, 152742 Russia

sharov_an@mail.ru

A. V. Tolstikov
Northern Water Problems Institute of Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences
pr. Aleksandra Nevskogo 50, Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, 185030 Russia

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