Expedition on board RV “I.D. Papanin”, July 07-19, 2019

Written on 31 July 2019.

The expedition within the framework of the programmes “Paleo- and Modern Changes in Lake Systems and Landscapes of East Siberia” and “Complex Study of Evolutionary Processes in Benthic Organisms under Drastic Changes in the Baikal Ecosystem” was carried out on board RV “I.D. Papanin”, July 07-19, 2019 in the littoral zone of the northern basin of Lake Baikal and the Maloye More Strait as well as in the lakes located in the upper reaches of the rivers Lena (Baikal Mountains) an Vitim (Kodar Mountains). .

The aims of the expedition were:

To study the species composition and genetic diversity of benthic invertebrates and green algae as well as the quantitative distribution of sedentary sestonophages and filter feeders (mollusks and polychaetes)
To reconstruct paleoclimate based on the study of biological and geochemical components of the bottom sediments in small lakes of the Baikal Mountains.

During the expedition, the qualitative and quantitative samples of macrozoobenthos, as well as green algae samples, were collected using the dredge and the Peterson grab from Lake Baikal and some neighbouring lakes (lakes near Slyudyanka and Bolshoy Solontsovy Cape). The cores of the bottom sediments were sampled from small lakes and Lake Baikal.

In the future, species identification of invertebrates and algae as well as the determination of their genetic diversity will be performed by molecular phylogenetic methods; distribution of diatoms, chironomids, sediment moisture and geochemical components along the cores will be studied.

The obtained materials will clarify the history of climate changes in the Baikal region and assess the genetic diversity of benthic invertebrates in the northern part of Lake Baikal.