Abstract: This study focuses on the long-term creep behavior of frozen saline soils (sand, silty, loam) under constant temperature and mechanical loading conditions. The frozen soil samples were collected in situ from modern marine and alluvial Quaternary deposits on the Yamal Peninsula. Special attention is given to the temporal deformation dynamics under uniaxial compression. The research aims to identify patterns in deformation rate changes, analyze both primary (transient) and secondary (steady-state) creep stages, and compare experimental results with theoretical models of aging, hardening, and flow behavior. Experiments were conducted during 9 years in the underground laboratory of the Amderma Permafrost Station at a depth of 14 meters, which enabled investigation into the long-term mechanical behavior of frozen soils. The findings are of significant importance for predicting the stability of building foundations in permafrost regions and for preventing structural failures. The research method involved prolonged laboratory testing of frozen soil specimens using uniaxial compression under constant temperature and stress conditions. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the unprecedented duration of the experiments (to 9 years), which far exceeds the time frames of most previously conducted creep tests. In most existing studies, the maximum duration of creep testing for frozen soils in various conditions did not exceed several months. For the first time over such an extended time span, it has been shown that sands and silty exhibit a transition from unstable to stable deformation stages, whereas loams demonstrate nonlinear behavior, presumably due to crack formation and internal structural changes. The application of mathematical modeling enabled refinement of deformation prediction parameters, which is of practical significance for engineering calculations. The obtained results enhance the reliability of foundation stability assessments and provide a scientific basis for the design of buildings and infrastructure in permafrost regions.

Keywords: structure, admerminskaya underground laboratory, engineering geocryology, permafrost, deformation, long-term testing, theory, uniaxial compression, creep of frozen soils, damped creep

Abstract: The subject of the work is the development of a methodology for snow geochemical research for effective express assessment of air quality under technogenic influence from various industrial sources that shape complex environmental pollution, as well as the creation of an informational and cartographic basis for further ecological monitoring of a significant area in the Baikal region. By examining a detailed assessment of atmospheric pollution in the area of the construction of the "Vostochniy" ecotechnopark, a comparative analysis of the informativeness of cartograms showing the distribution of pollutants in snow water and solid residue is conducted. The surveyed area contains various sources of technogenic impact, ranging from metallurgical enterprises to heat energy generation facilities; thus, this case excellently illustrates the advantages of the snow geochemical survey method as the most representative way to assess atmospheric pollution in the tasks of ecological monitoring in "winter" regions, mitigating ecological risks from new mining projects in the northern part of Eurasia, and controlling industrial activities in cities with a persistent snow cover. Optimizing this type of geoecological research is a highly relevant task. Seasonal snow samples were collected, and the snow water was melted and filtered to separate soluble and insoluble forms of pollutants. A chemical analysis of the snow water and solid residue was performed. Element associations corresponding to various sources of impacts were determined. Cartographic materials characterizing the distribution of pollutants across the area were presented. The research allows for a clear comparison of results obtained using the traditional, yet costly, methodology for analyzing snow water through precision chemical-analytical methods such as ICP-AES/MS, and through an express and inexpensive methodology for analyzing solid residue using non-destructive analysis (XRF). It was shown that the latter method is also quite informative, allowing for a detailed characterization of the geoecological situation over a significant area with minimal costs, identifying and mapping zones with abnormally technogenic conditions in the atmosphere. As a result, the most detailed spatial characterization of air pollution in the area of Usolye-Sibirskoye is provided, which is a constant focus of attention from state ecological control authorities as a rehabilitated site of accumulated environmental damage and simultaneously a promising production site. The described methodological approaches are applicable to a wide range of geoecological situations in regions with prolonged winters.

Keywords: Usolye-Sibirskoye, mercury, assessment of background conditions, snow cover, heavy metals, environmental monitoring, snow geochemical survey, air pollution, air quality, accumulated harm objects

Abstract: The author describes more than 20 pingos at the Pestsovoye gas field, located 10-15 km north of the Tundra station, 98-103 km from the town of Novy Urengoy. The investigated pingo's height ranges from 15 to 20 meters, and its diameter is 150 to 200 meters. Most often, the profile of these formations features a lower part – a pedestal, approximately 5-7 m high—over which the main hill rises in a dome-like shape. More thorough dating of the overlying peat was done on one of the 17-meter-tall hills, which is 10 kilometers north of the Tundra station (29–30 kilometers after the turn to Pestsovoye from the main highway leading from Novy Urengoy). The results showed that these pingos formed relatively recently, at least not earlier than 2,500 years BP. This timing suggests that the geological processes leading to their formation may have been influenced by climatic changes in the region. Understanding the age and development of these structures can provide insights into past environmental conditions and inform predictions about future landscape evolution in response to ongoing climate shifts. Peat covering the middle part of the hill and the area close to the pedestal's base was sampled in order to establish the pingo's age. In the winter of 2013, ice samples were taken from the pingo core. With a detection limit of 0.02 mg/L for chloride ions, the ion chromatograph "Stayer" (Russia) was used to measure the macro-component composition of the ice. Radiocarbon dating of the peat showed a relatively young age of the overlying peat in different parts of the hill. In the central part of the pingo, surface peat is dated at 2560 ± 70 BP, peat from a depth of 0.3-0.4 m is dated at 5220 ± 50 BP, and peat from a depth of 0.85-0.9 m has an age of 5080 ± 50 BP. On the pedestal, peat from a depth of 0.05-0.15 m is dated at 5400 ± 40 BP. In the ice core of the pingo were determined ions of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, sulfates, and nitrates. Among the anions, the chlorine ion predominates (from 0.6 to 3.3 mg/L), followed by the sulfate ion (from 0.3 to 1 mg/L). The ratio of chlorine ions to sulfate ions varies from 0.7 to 3.7, averaging 1.7.

Keywords: northwestern Siberia, cations, macroelements, pingo, ice core, permafrost, Pestsovoe, Evoyakha River, anions, soluble ions

Abstract: The paper examines a poorly studied aspect of the implementation of the largest in scale and objectives scientific research initiative of its time – the Yakut complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1925-1930. The objective of the study is to reconstruct the history of accumulation of information by the participants of this expedition concerning understanding of the phenomenon of permafrost. Based on materials found in archival and museum collections of the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yakutsk, including those introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, and the use of documents published based on the results of the expedition, the history of research conducted in the Shergin mine in Yakutsk is shown. The most representative conclusions made by researchers during their work in a number of administrative districts of the Yakut ASSR, primarily as part of agricultural detachments, are presented. In methodological terms, this article is based mainly on the application of special historical approaches to scientific knowledge: the principle of historicism, historical-typological, historical-comparative and historical-genetic methods. As a result of the studies, the history of accumulation of information on permafrost by the participants of the Yakut complex expedition is presented, conclusions are made on the significance of the research performed. In this regard, it was established that despite the absence of a specialized geocryological squad, an unsuccessful attempt to organize a systematic scientific study of the phenomenon of permafrost, the expedition participants received a set of important information characterizing the specifics and scale of some cryogenic processes. In particular, they indicate significant thermokarst activity within agricultural lands in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Of considerable interest are also the examples of traditional knowledge of the rural population of Yakutia noted by the participants of the Yakutsk complex expedition regarding some features of the formation of thermokarst landforms, which for the first time in historiography made it possible to make certain comparisons regarding the degree of correspondence with modern ideas about cryogenic processes.

Keywords: intellectual development, history of science, thermokarst, Shergin mine, complex expedition, geocryology, permafrost, The USSR Academy of Sciences, Yakutia, Arctic