November 7. Interfax-Russia.ru - The expedition of the Murmansk State Arctic University (MASU) discovered that a fresh layer of water has disappeared in the studied unique lake Mogilnoye, the press service of the university reports.
Mogilnoye is located on Kildin Island in the Barents Sea. Its peculiarity lies in seawater, which enters the lake through loose earth rocks. On the surface of the lake, the water is fresh, but the deeper, the saltier. As a result, the water in the lake is actually divided into layers that do not mix, and various organisms live in them. The most remarkable inhabitant of the lake for scientists is the Kildin cod, a subspecies of the Atlantic cod.
Since 1985 Mogilnoye has the status of a state natural monument.
As the researchers found during the third expedition in the framework of the Cod Lake Lullaby project, the upper layer of water thinned and disappeared. At the same time, the lower hydrogen sulfide toxic layer has risen by two meters over the past ten years.
According to the project manager Petr Strelkov, the disappearance of the fresh water layer may be associated with a dry stream, which used to flow into the lake, as a result of which Mogilnoye loses its uniqueness. The scientist notes that the lake "is a habitat of relict populations of animals and plants, including the Kildin cod, but due to changes in Mogilny, its biodiversity is decreasing."
During the next expedition, scientists and students of MASU installed sensors that record temperature changes in different layers of water - thermologgers. In addition, they took samples of plankton and benthos inhabiting the lake's bottom.
The final expedition within the framework of the Mogilnoye study project is scheduled for late spring 2019.
As reported, MASU received a grant from the Russian Geographical Society in the amount of about 1.5 million rubles for the study of a unique lake on Kildino. The university believes that Mogilnoye may be "the only representative of anchialine sea lakes in Russia and in the Arctic, which communicate with the sea underground through water seepage through terrestrial rocks."
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According to the tourist portal of the Murmansk region, the age of the lake is about 1,000 years. The first mentions date back to the 16th century.