Limnological Institute
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
+7 (3952) 42-65-04
info@lin.irk.ru

Limnological Institute is a research institution for complex interdisciplinary studies of Lake Baikal and other water bodies of Siberia.

The main activities of the Institute are to obtain and apply new knowledge in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, geology and geography by conducting fundamental research aimed at understanding processes of formation and functioning of aquatic ecosystems, diversity and evolution of aquatic organisms, and mechanisms of biological speciation, as well as to carry out search and applied studies in these fields.  Main research areas of the Institute:

  • Limnology: mechanisms of speciation, biodiversity and evolution of lacustrine systems;
  • Current state and forecast of development of inland water bodies and streams;
  • Live systems: comprehensive studies of aquatic organisms by methods of classical and molecular biology, and related sciences.

The Institute is a successor of the Baikal Limnological Station, the first institution of the Academy of Sciences in Siberia founded in 1928.

In 1961, according to the Resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences No. 49 of January 20, 1961, the Station was reorganized into Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Personalities created the history of Lake Baikal studies.

Gleb Vereshchagin, a world-famous limnologist, was the first Director of the Baikal Limnological Station. He initiated comprehensive biological, hydrological and geochemical studies at Lake Baikal. History of first expeditions.

Grigory Galazy Academician, was the first Director of Limnological Institute. He formed the staff at the Institute, succeed in setting up a modern research fleet at Lake Baikal, and invited scientists from different regions of Russia and foreign countries to investigate Lake Baikal.

Michael Grachev Academician, headed the Institute from 1987 to 2015.

To-date, Andrey Fedotov, Dr. Sc. (Geology and Mineralogy), is Director of the Institute.

Structure and staff of the Institute:

LIN SB RAS includes 1 department and 14 laboratories.
The Institute employs 337 people, including:

  • 132 researchers, of them 28% are under the age of 39;
  • 15 doctors of sciences;
  • 104 candidates of sciences;
  • 6 professors;
  • 13 associate professors.

The most important results of the Institute in basic research:

  • Ascertainment of the causes of mass mortality of Baikal seals (6,000 seals died between 1987 and 1988): virus epizootic caused by morbillivirus (canine distemper virus); the first evidence of this virus in seals.
  • Reconstruction of Baikal sedimentary paleoclimate records for the past 8 million years and sub-recent climate records; continuous paleoclimate records of the continent could be obtained only at Lake Baikal; all the results were pioneering. The work was carried out in a broad international and Russian cooperation. 
  • A system of search and mapping of near-surface occurrence of methane hydrates and gas production developed and tested at Lake Baikal . The work was carried out in collaboration with scientific and educational institutions of Russia and European and Asian countries.

Expedition onboard RV “G.Yu. Vereshchagin” from June 17 to 26, 2020

The expedition within the framework of the program “Study of the Influence of Mud Volcanoes and Methane Seeps on Biological Communities from the Abyssal Zone of Lake Baikal” was carried out onboard RV “G.Yu. Vereshchagin” in the hydrocarbon discharge areas of Southern, Central and Northern Baikal, including the terrestrial hot springs.

The aim of the expedition was to study biological communities, including the search for new phylogenetic lineages of microorganisms, in the zones of temperature field anomalies and fluid flows in the water and bottom sediments of three basins of Lake Baikal as well as in the terrestrial hot springs of Northern Baikal.

The planned fieldworks were completely fulfilled at 19 stations. Bottom sediments were sampled using a large gravity corer, a bottom sampler and a grab; water samples were taken in three basins of Lake Baikal using a Rosette Sampler, and soil and water were sampled in three terrestrial hot springs (Khakusy, Kotelnikovskiy Cape, and Davsha). Measurements of pH, Eh, T, and oxygen were carried out in each grab sample raised on the surface. Methane concentrations were determined in 166 water samples and 122 samples of bottom sediments.

One of the tasks of the expedition was to study geochemical parameters that can characterize the oxygen regime, the type of discharging fluid, and the presence of the possible electron acceptors for microorganisms inhabiting the anaerobic zone. To determine the chemical composition of pore waters, approximately 200 samples of bottom sediments were taken from ten cores and seven grabs.

Another task was to search for and study of habitats of colorless sulfur bacteria in bottom sediments of Lake Baikal and terrestrial hot springs. Bacteria of the genus Thiothrix were detected in hot springs of Northern Baikal; samples of these bacteria were taken for microscopy and molecular biological analysis as well as to isolate pure and enrichment cultures. The samples of colorless sulfur bacteria, Thioploca, were detected and collected near the Babushkin methane seeps (depth 305 m), the Goloustnoye methane seep (393 m) and the Tolsty oil seep (323 m).

To support or reject the hypothesis that thermophilic microorganisms come together with gas-saturated fluids from deep sediments rather than from hot springs of the Baikal Rift Zone, the water column samples of the terrestrial springs of Northern Baikal were taken for metagenomic analysis and to obtain pure and enrichment cultures of thermophilic organisms. The composition of microbial communities from the terrestrial hot springs will be compared with the composition of microorganisms previously obtained from the bottom sediments of Lake Baikal.

To study the diversity and structure of microbial communities in the areas with high concentrations of sulfate, nitrate and acetate ions as well as iron ions, 71 samples of bottom sediments were collected to extract total DNA containing gas hydrates, authigenic carbonates, oil and ferromanganese crusts.

To study the diversity of the total microbial community and its dependence on the methane concentrations from the water column near the hydrocarbon discharge sites (Kedr and Tolsty), shallow-water methane seepages of the Upper Angara, Frolikha and Babushkin rivers as well as at the reference stations of Southern, Central and Northern Baikal, 52 samples were taken to extract DNA, and 85 samples – to assess the total number of microorganisms and methanotrophic bacteria using in situ hybridization (FISH analysis).

To study ectosymbionts and ectosymbiotic consortiums, benthic invertebrates (amphipods, ostracods, decapods, and mollusks) were collected near the hydrocarbon discharge sites as well as in the hot springs of Khakusy, Davsha, and Kotelnikovskiy Cape. 40 samples were fixed for microscopy.

To assess the number of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms and study the metabolism of microorganisms involved in anaerobic oil oxidation, samples of the bottom sediments and water column were taken near the Toslty oil seep. During the expedition, inoculation was made on the media added by oil and other hydrocarbons to obtain enrichment cultures of anaerobic microorganisms. In addition to oil enrichment cultures, inoculation was made to culture methanotrophic bacteria from the surface oxidized layers of bottom sediments.

Near the Kedr mud volcano, samples of authigenic carbonates were taken and inoculated on selective media to study the composition of microbial communities that carry out anaerobic oxidation and methane generation. Simultaneously, the sediments in the area of the carbonate formation were sampled for isotope and mineralogical investigations and to detect biomarkers. Experiments to study mechanisms of the formation of the authigenic carbonates were also set up in laboratory conditions.