ALBERT

Note: Contents: Series foreword. - Preface. - Select bibliography. - The authors. - 1 Observed flow in the Earth's midlalitudes. - 1.1 Vertical structure. - 1.2 Horizontal structure. - 1.3 Transient activity. - 1.4 Scales of motion. - 1.5 The Norwegian frontal model of cyclones. - Theme 1 Fluid dynamics of the midlatitude atmosphere. - 2 Fluid dynamics in an inertial frame of reference. - 2.1 Definition of fluid. - 2.2 Flow variables and the continuum hypothesis. - 2.3 Kinematics: characterizing fluid flow. - 2.4 Governing physical principles. - 2.5 Lagrangian and Eulerian perspectives. - 2.6 Mass conservation equation. - 2.7 First Law of Thermodynamics. - 2.8 Newton's Second Law of Motion. - 2.9 Bernoulli's Theorem. - 2.10 Heating and water vapour. - 3 Rotating frames of reference. - 3.1 Vectors in a rotating frame of reference. - 3.2 Velocity and Acceleration. - 3.3 The momentum equation in a rotating frame. - 3.4 The centrifugal pseudo-force. - 3.5 The Coriolis pseudo-force. - 3.6 The Taylor-Proudman theorem. - 4 The spherical Earth. - 4.1 Spherical polar coordinates. - 4.2 Scalar equations. - 4.3 The momentum equations. - 4.4 Energy and angular momentum.- 4.5 The shallow atmosphere approximation. - 4.6 The beta effect and the spherical Earth. - 5 Scale analysis and its applications. - 5.1 Principles of scaling methods. - 5.2 The use of a reference atmosphere. - 5.3 The horizontal momentum equations. - 5.4 Natural coordinates, geostrophic and gradient wind balance. - 5.5 Vertical motion. - 5.6 The vertical momentum equation. - 5.7 The mass continuity equation. - 5.8 The thermodynamic energy equation. - 5.9 Scalings for Rossby numbers that are not small. - 6 Alternative vertical coordinates. - 6.1 A general vertical coordinate. - 6.2 Isobaric coordinates. - 6.3 Other pressure-based vertical coordinates. - 6.4 Isentropic coordinates. - 7 Variations of density and the basic equations. - 7.1 Boussinesq approximation. - 7.2 Anelastic approximation. - 7.3 Stratification and gravity waves. - 7.4 Balance, gravity waves and Richardson number. - 7.5 Summary of the basic equation sets. - 7.6 The energy of atmospheric motions. - Theme 2 Rotation in the atmosphere. - 8 Rotation in the atmosphere. - 8.1 The concept of vorticity. - 8.2 The vorticity equation. - 8.3 The vorticity equation for approximate sets of equations. - 8.4 The solenoidal term. - 8.5 The expansion/contraction term. - 8.6 The stretching and tilting terms. - 8.7 Friction and vorticity. - 8.8 The vorticity equation in alternative vertical coordinates. - 8.9 Circulation. - 9 Vorticity and the barotropic vorticity equation. - 9.1 The barotropic vorticity equation. - 9.2 Poisson's equation and vortex interactions. - 9.3 Flow over a shallow hill. - 9.4 Ekman pumping. - 9.5 Rossby waves and the beta plane. - 9.6 Rossby group velocity. - 9.7 Rossby ray tracing. - 9.8 Inflexion point instability. - 10 Potential vorticity. - 10.1 Potential vorticity. - 10.2 Alternative derivations of Ertel's theorem. - 10.3 The principle of invertibility. - 10.4 Shallow water equation potential vorticity. - 11 Turbulence and atmospheric flow. - 11.1 The Reynolds number . - 11.2 Three-dimensional flow at large Reynolds number. - 11.3 Two-dimensional flow at large Reynolds number. - 11.4 Vertical mixing in a stratified fluid. - 11.5 Reynolds stresses. - Theme 3 Balance in atmospheric flow. - 12 Quasi-geostrophic flows. - 12.1 Wind and temperature in balanced flows. - 12.2 The quasi-geostrophic approximation. - 12.3 Quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity. - 12.4 Ertel and quasi-geostrophic potential vorticities. - 13 The omega equation. - 13.1 Vorticity and thermal advection form. - 13.2 Sutcliffe Form. - 13.3 Q-vector form. - 13.4 Ageostrophic flow and the maintenance of balance. - 13.5 Balance and initialization. - 14 Linear theories of baroclinic instability. - 14.1 Qualitative discussion. - 14.2 Stability analysis of a zonal flow. - 14.3 Rossby wave interpretation of the stability conditions. - 14.4 The Eady model. - 14.5 The Charney and other quasi-geostrophic models. - 14.6 More realistic basic states. - 14.7 Initial value problem. - 15 Frontogenesis. - 15.1 Frontal scales. - 15.2 Ageostrophic circulation. - 15.3 Description of frontal collapse. - 15.4 The semi-geostrophic Eady model. - 15.5 The confluence model. - 15.6 Upper-level frontogenesis. - 16 The nonlinear development of baroclinic waves. - 16.1 The nonlinear domain. - 16.2 Semi-geostrophic baroclinic waves. - 16.3 Nonlinear baroclinic waves on realistic jetson the sphere. - 16.4 Eddy transports and zonal mean flow changes. - 16.5 Energetics of baroclinic waves. - 17 The potential vorticity perspective. - 17.1 Setting the scene. - 17.2 Potential vorticity and vertical velocity. - 17.3 Life cycles of some baroclinic waves. - 17.4 Alternative perspectives. - 17.5 Midlatitude blocking. - 17.6 Frictional and heating effects. - 18 Rossby wave propagation and potential vorticity mixing. - 18.1 Rossby wave propagation. - 18.2 Propagation of Rossby waves into the stratosphere. - 18.3 Propagation through a slowly varying medium. - 18.4 The Eliassen-Palm flux and group velocity. - 18.5 Baroclinic life cycles and Rossby waves. - 18.6 Variations of amplitude. - 18.7 Rossby waves and potential vorticity steps. - 18.8 Potential vorticity steps and the Rhines scale. - Appendices. - Appendix A: Notation. - Appendix B: Revision of vectors and vector calculus. - B.1 Vectors and their algebra. - B.2 Products of vectors. - B.3 Scalar fields and the grad operator. - B.4 The divergence and curl operators. - B.5 Gauss' and Stokes' theorems. - B.6 Some useful vector identities. - Index.

Note: Contents: Preface. - Acknowledgments. - 1. Data Acquisition and Recording. - 1.1 Introduction. - 1.2 Basic Sampling Requirements. - 1.3 Temperature. - 1.4 Salinity. - 1.5 Depth or Pressure. - 1.6 Sea-Level Measurement. - 1.7 Eulerian Currents. - 1.8 Lagrangian Current Measurements. - 1.9 Wind. - 1.10 Precipitation. - 1.11 Chemical Tracers. - 1.12 Transient Chemical Tracers. - 2. Data Processing and Presentation. - 2.1 Introduction. - 2.2 Calibration. - 2.3 Interpolation. - 2.4 Data Presentation. - 3. Statistical Methods and Error Handling. - 3.1 Introduction. - 3.2 Sample Distributions. - 3.3 Probability. - 3.4 Moments and Expected Values. - 3.5 Common PDFs. - 3.6 Central Limit Theorem. - 3.7 Estimation. - 3.8 Confidence Intervals. - 3.9 Selecting the Sample Size. - 3.10 Confidence Intervals for Altimeter-Bias Estimates. - 3.11 Estimation Methods. - 3.12 Linear Estimation (Regression). - 3.13 Relationship between Regression and Correlation. - 3.14 Hypothesis Testing. - 3.15 Effective Degrees of Freedom. - 3.16 Editing and Despiking Techniques: The Nature of Errors. - 3.17 Interpolation: Filling the Data Gaps. - 3.18 Covariance and the Covariance Matrix. - 3.19 The Bootstrap and Jackknife Methods. - 4. The Spatial Analyses of Data Fields. - 4.1 Traditional Block and Bulk Averaging. - 4.2 Objective Analysis. - 4.3 Kriging. - 4.4 Empirical Orrhogonal Functions. - 4.5 Extended Empirical Orrhogonal Functions. - 4.6 Cyclostationary EOFs. - 4.7 Factor Analysis. - 4.8 Normal Mode Analysis. - 4.9 Self Organizing Maps. - 4.10 Kalman Filters. - 4.11 Mixed Layer Depth Estimation. - 4.12 Inverse Methods. - 5. Time Series Analysis Methods. - 5.1 Basic Concepts. - 5.2 Stochastic Processes and Stationarity. - 5.3 Correlation Functions. - 5.4 Spectral Analysis. - 5.5 Spectral Analysis (Parametric Methods). - 5.6 Cross-Spectral Analysis. - 5.7 Wavelet Analysis. - 5.8 Fourier Analysis. - 5.9 Harmonic Analysis. - 5.10 Regime Shift Detection. - 5.11 Vector Regression. - 5.12 Fractals. - 6. Digital Filters. - 6.1 Introduction. - 6.2 Basic Concepts. - 6.3 Ideal Filters. - 6.4 Design of Oceanographic Filters. - 6.5 Running-Mean Filters. - 6.6 Godin-Type Filters. - 6.7 Lanczos-window Cosine Filters. - 6.8 Butterworth Filters. - 6.9 Kaiser-Bessel Filters. - 6.10 Frequency-Domain (Transform) Filtering. - References. - Appendix A: Units in Physical Oceanography. - Appendix B: Glossary of Statistical Terminology. - Appendix C: Means, Variances and Moment,Generating Functions for Some Common Continuous Variables. - Appendix D: Statistical Tables. - Appendix E: Correlation Coefficients at the 5% and 1% Levels of Significance for Various Degrees of Freedom v. - Appendix F: Approximations and Nondimensional Numbers in Physical Oceanography. - Appendix G: Convolution. - Index.

Note: Dissertation, Universität Potsdam, 2018 , Contents Acknowledgements Abstract (English/Deutsch/Français) List of figures List of tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Scientic background 1.1.1 The Arctic coast, permafrost and climate change 1.1.2 Organic carbon in permafrost soils 1.1.3 Hillslope thermokarst processes 1.2 Aims 1.3 Study region 1.4 Methods 1.4.1 Mapping 1.4.2 Spline interpolation and volumes estimations 1.4.3 Fieldwork 1.4.4 Geochemical analyses 1.4.5 Statistical analyses 1.5 Thesis outline 1.6 Authors’ contributions 2 Synthesis 2.1 Retrogressive thaw slumps are widely spread in ice-rich permafrost areas 2.2 Retrogressive thaw slumps contribute signicantly to the nearshore or-ganic carbon 2.3 Thermokarst impacts the distribution of soil organic carbon along hill-slopes 2.4 Outlook . 3 Terrain Controls on the Occurrence of Coastal RTSs 3.1 Abstract 3.2 Introduction 3.3 Study area 3.4 Methods 3.4.1 Mapping of retrogressive thaw slumps and landform classication 3.4.2 Environmental variables 3.4.3 Univariate regression trees 3.5 Results 3.5.1 Characteristics of retrogressive thaw slumps 3.5.2 Density and areal coverage of retrogressive thaw slumps 3.6 Discussion 3.6.1 Characteristics and distribution of retrogressive thaw slumps 3.6.2 Terrain factors explaining retrogressive thaw slump occurrence 3.6.3 Coastal Processes 3.7 Conclusion 4 RTSs release sediments and organic carbon into the Arctic Ocean 4.1 Abstract 4.2 Introduction 4.3 Study Area 4.4 Methods 4.4.1 Evolution of retrogressive thaw slumps 4.4.2 Volume Estimations 4.4.3 Estimates of soil and dissolved organic carbon values 4.5 Results 4.5.1 Evolution of retrogressive thaw slumps between 1952 and 2011 4.5.2 Eroded material and estimated amount of mobilized SOC and DOC 4.6 Discussion 4.6.1 Increase in slump activity 4.6.2 Eroded material from retrogressive thaw slumps and organic car-bon uxes 4.6.3 Impact of retrogressive thaw slumps on the coastal ecosystem 4.7 Conclusion 5 Snapshot of carbon and nitrogen distribution in Arctic valleys 5.1 Abstract 5.2 Introduction 5.3 Study Area 5.4 Methods 5.4.1 Spatial analyses 5.4.2 Sampling Scheme 5.4.3 Geochemical analyses 5.4.4 Environmental variables and statistical analyses 5.5 Results 5.5.1 Geomorphology of the valleys 5.5.2 Spatial distribution of carbon and nitrogen 5.5.3 Correlations between soil characteristics and geochemical variables 5.6 Discussion 5.6.1 Variability in soil and geochemical properties in Arctic valleys 5.6.2 Hillslope Processes 5.7 Conclusion 6 Eidessttatliche Erklärung A Appendix A.1 Chapter 3 A.2 Chapter 4 A.3 Chapter 5 Bibliography

Note: Contents Characterization of soil organic matter of Arctic and Antarctic by 13- C NMR and electron spin resonance spectroscopy / Evgeny Abakumov Development of phosphorus forms in soil chronosequence of the Nordenskioldbreen glacier (Svalbard) / Adel Allaberdina, Václav Tejnecký Vertical snow structures from in-situ and remote sensing measurements / Stefanie Arndt, Nicolas Stoll, Stephan Paul, Christian Haas Phenology of Calanus glacialis – comparison between Arctic and Atlantic domains and its implications for reproductive success of little auks / Kaja Balazy, Emilia Trudnowska, Katarzyna Blachowiak-Samolyk Response of southern tundra ecosystem components on aerial pollution from gas pre-treatment centers in West Siberia / Pavel A. Barsukov Soil-ecological excursions to permafrost-affected areas in West Siberia for European scientists and students / Pavel A. Barsukov, S. Platonova, S. Gizhitskaya, E. Smolentseva, N. Lashchinskiy, A. Babenko, I. Lyubechanskiy, O. Saprykin, O.Rusalimova Christian Siewert Freezing and hungry? Hydrocarbon degrading microbial communities in Barents Sea sediments around Svalbard / Bartholomäus Sven, Nontje Straaten, Daniela Zoch, Martin Krüger Biological soil crust algae in the polar regions – biodiversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem resilience under global change scenarios / Burkhard Becker, Burkhard Büdel and Ulf Karsten UDASH - Unified Database for Arctic and Subarctic Hydrography / Axel Behrendt, Hiroshi Sumata, Benjamin Rabe, Torsten Kanzow and Ursula Schauer Compound-specific radiocarbon constraints on Antarctic sediment chronologies / Sonja Berg, Sandra Jivcov, Janet Rethemeyer Environmental conditions in terrestrial East Antarctica during the last glacial - new evidence from mumiyo deposits / Sonja Berg, Martin Melles, Wolf-Dieter Hermichen, Janet Rethemeyer, Gerhard Kuhn Collection-based diatom research: collection imaging to biogeography and microevolution in the Southern Ocean / Bánk Beszteri, Stefan Pinkernell, Michael Kloster, Ute Postel, Gerhard Kauer, Uwe John, Klaus Valentin, Gernot Glöckner In vivo observations of OWA induced pH changes in the brain of polar cod Boreogadus saida / Christian Bock, Felizitas C. Wermter, Bastian Maus, Hans-O. Pörtner, Wolfgang Dreher A journey into the Triassic polar forests of Antarctica / Benjamin Bomfleur Long-term time-series of Arctic BrO derived from UV-VIS satellite remote sensing / lias Bougoudis, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Andreas Richter, Sora Seo, John P. Burrows The effect of climate change on the carbon balance in microalgae / Deborah Bozzato, Torsten Jakob, Christian Wilhelm Species composition and abundance of the shallow water fish community of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard / Markus Brand, Philipp Fischer Decadal changes in a breeding population of southern giant petrels on King George Island, Antarctic, in response to human activities / Christina Braun, Jan Esefeld, Hans-Ulrich Peter Geodetic GNSS measurements to investigate the recent crustal deformation at the Antarctic Peninsula and in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica / Peter Busch, Mirko Scheinert, Christoph Knöfel, Lutz Eberlein, Martin Horwath, Ludwig Schröder, Andreas Groh Parameterization of snow BRDF measurements in Antarctica / T. Carlsen, G. Birnbaum, A. Ehrlich, M. Schäfer, and M. Wendisch Airborne and in situ ground-based measurements of surface albedo, bidirectional reflectivity, and snow properties on the Antarctic plateau / T. Carlsen, M. Belke Brea, G. Birnbaum, A. Ehrlich, J. Freitag, G. Heygster, L. Istomina, S. Kipfstuhl, A. Orsi, M. Schäfer, and M. Wendisch Retreats of ice sheet and ice shelf driven by warm water incursions in the Ross Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum / Zhihua Chen, Mengshan Ju, Shulan Ge, Zheng Tang, Yuanhui Huang, Renjie Zhao, Ralf Tiedemann, Lester Lembke-Jene Influence of breeze circulation on local wind climatology in Svalbard fjords / Małgorzata Cisek, Przemysław Makuch, Tomasz Petelski, Jacek Piskozub Life strategies on photobiology and metabolite profile of genetic indentical photobionts of two different lichen species / Nadine Determeyer-Wiedmann, Sieglinde Ott Land-Ocean Interactions in the late glacial Bering Sea / B. Diekmann, R. Wang, H. Kühn, R. Gersonde, R. Tiedemann, G. Kuhn Does environmental change affect polar microbial communities? / Daniel R. Dietrich Rapid glacial isostatic uplift in Patagonia: Interplay of enhanced ice mass loss and slab window tectonics / R. Dietrich, A. Richter, E. Ivins, H. Lange, L. Mendoza, L. Schröder, J.L. Hormaechea, G. Casassa, E. Marderwald, M. Fritsche, R. Perdomo, M. Horwath Phylogenomics of the longitarsal Colossendeidae: the evolution of a diverse Antarctic sea spider radiation / Lars Dietz, Jana S. Dömel, Christoph Mayer, Florian Leese Revealing the evolutionary history of Southern Ocean sea spiders using genome-wide SNP data / Jana S. Dömel, Till-Hendrik Macher, Lars Dietz, Christoph Mayer, Roland R. Melzer and Florian Leese Geothermal heat flux derived from airborne magnetic grids and measured temperature gradients in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica / Ricarda Dziadek, Karsten Gohl, Fausto Ferraccioli, Norbert Kaul, Cornelia Spiegel Sea spray aerosol fluxes in the area of the Spitsbergen Shelf and the Greenland Sea / K. Dziembor, T. Petelski, P. Markuszewski, T. Zieliński, P. Makuch, I. Wróbel More than two decades of geodetic GNSS measurements in Antarctica, Greenland and Patagonia – a technology review / Lutz Eberlein, Mirko Scheinert, Peter Busch, Christoph Knöfel, Andreas Richter Analysing the flow velocity of major outlet glaciers in North Greenland using Landsat data / Benjamin Ebermann, Ralf Rosenau, Mirko Scheinert, Martin Horwath Partitioning growing season net ecosystem exchange of CO2 into photosynthesis, autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration in the Siberian tundra / Tim Eckhardt, Christian Knoblauch, Lars Kutzbach, Gillian Simpson, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer Meteorological collaboration in the Arctic / Johanna Ekman Meteorological aspects of S.A. Andrée’s attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon in 1897 / Dieter Etling Geodetic mass balance on South Georgia glaciers / David Farias-Barahona, Christian Sommer, Thorsten Seehaus, Philipp Malz, Gino Casassa, Matthias H. Braun Frozen-Ground Cartoons: An international collaboration between artists and permafrost scientists / Michael Fritz, Frédéric Bouchard, Bethany Deshpande, Julie Malenfant-Lepage, Alexandre Nieuwendam, Michel Paquette, Ashley Rudy, Matthias Siewert, Audrey Veillette, Stefanie Weege, Jon Harbor, Otto Habeck, Ylva Sjöberg The Akademii Nauk ice core and solar activity / Diedrich Fritzsche, Luisa von Albedyll, Silke Merchel, Thomas Opel, Georg Rugel, Andreas Scharf Walther Bruns, Gründer der „Aeroarctic“ – ein vergessener Pionier der Deutschen Polarforschung / Diedrich Fritzsche Warming and reduction of precipitations affect the microbiome of recently deglaciated soils in the Swiss Alps / Aline Frossard, Johanna Donhauser, Pascal Niklaus, Thomas Rime, Beat Frey The ice-free topography of Svalbard / Johannes J. Fürst, Francisco Navarro, Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Geir Moholdt, Xavier Fettweis, Charlotte Lang, Thorsten Seehaus, Matthias H. Braun, Douglas I. Benn, Toby J. Benham, Julian A. Dowdeswell, Mariusz Grabiec, Jack Kohler, Katrin Lindbäck, Rickard Pettersson, Heidi Sevestre Scientific Drilling in Antarctica? Coming to a new drilling proposal / Christoph Gaedicke, Gerhard Kuhn, Olaf Eisen, Andreas Läufer, Emma Smith, Nikola Koglin, Boris Biskaborn, Dieter Franke, Ralf Tiedemann German permanent research facilities in Antarctica - a 40 years record / Hartwig Gernandt Pre-glacial and glacial shelf evolution from seismic and seabed drill records of the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica / Karsten Gohl, Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Robert Larter, Johann Klages, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Torsten Bickert, Steve Bohaty, Ulrich Salzmann, Thomas Frederichs, Catalina Gebhardt, Katharina Hochmuth and Expedition PS104 Science Party The Turnove

Note: Dissertation, Universität Potsdam, 2018 , Table of Content I. Abstract II. Deutsche Zusammenfassung 0 Preface 1 Scientific Background 1.1 Paleoenvironmental changes since the gLGM in arid Central Asia and north-western High Asia 1.1.1 Paleoclimatic changes 1.1.2 Lake level fluctuations following climatic changes 1.1.3 Inferred terrestrial vegetation responses to environmental changes and possible human impact 1.2 The role of proxy records in tracing environmental changes 1.2.1 Archives and Proxies investigated in environmental studies in Central Asia 1.2.2 Limnological systems as environmental archives 1.2.3 The multiproxy approach as a tool to decipher environmental change 1.3 Study area 1.4 Material and Method Overview 1.4.1 Field based sampling 1.4.2 Outline of material and methods 1.5 Aim and objectives ofthis thesis 1.6 Thesis outline 1.7 Contribution of the authors 1.7.1 Manuscript I - published 1.7.2 Manuscript II - published 1.7.3 Manuscript III - published 1.7.4 Manuscript IV - in preparation 2 Manuscript I Climatic and limnological changes at Lake Karakul (Tajikistan) during the last ~29 cal ka 2.1 Abstract 2.2 Introduction 2.3 Study Area 2.4 Material and methods 2.4.1 Fieldwork 2.4.2 Laboratory analysis 2.5 Results 2.5.1 Age-depth relationship in core KK12-1 2.5.2 TIC, TOC, TOC/TN, δ18Ocarb and δ13CCarb 2.5.3 Grain-size distribution and results ofend-member modelling 2.5.4 XRF data 2.5.5 Ordination results of sediment parameters 2.6 Discussion 2.6.1 Paleoenvironmental indicators from sediment variables 2.6.2 Implications ofthe Lake Karakul sediment record 2.6.3 Linking lake internal development to climate change 2.7 Conclusions 2.8 Acknowledgements 2.9 Data availability 3 Manuscript II Aquatic macrophyte dynamics in Lake Karakul (Eastern Pamir) over the last 29 cal ka revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA and geochemical analyses of macrofossil remains 3.1 Abstract 3.2 Introduction 3.3 Material and Methods 3.3.1 Sample acquisition and treatment 3.3.2 Genetic approach 3.3.3 Elemental isotopic analyses ofaquatic macrophyte remains 3.4 Results 3.4.1 Macrophyte records along lake depth transects in Lake Karakul 3.4.2 Submerged plant content 3.4.3 Ancient DNA analyses 3.4.4 C, N, δ13C and δ15N of Stuckenia cf. pamirica remains 3.5 Discussion 3.5.1 Assessment of aDNA and chemical aquatic macrophyte data as proxies for the macrophyte composition and the paleo-productivity 3.5.2 Changes of past submerged plant composition and productivity and potential drivers 3.6 Conclusions 3.7 Acknowledgements 3.8 Data Availability 4 Manuscript III Radiocarbon and optical stimulated luminescence dating of sediments from Lake Karakul, Tajikistan 4.1 Abstract 4.2 Introduction 4.3 Regional setting 4.4 Methods 4.4.1 Collection and correlation of cores 4.4.2 Radiocarbon dating 4.4.3 Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating 4.4.4 Establishment ofage-depth model 4.4.5 Investigation of exposed lake sediments 4.5 Results 4.6 Discussion 4.6.1 Recovered sediments and correlation ofcores from Lake Karakul 4.6.2 Age-depth model, and assessment of radiocarbon and OSL age data 4.6.3 Significance ofexposed sediments at section KK13-S1 4.6.4 Implications ofthe chronological data 4.7 Conclusion 4.8 Acknowledgements 5 Manuscript IV Vegetation change in the Eastern Pamir Mountains inferred from Lake Karakul pollen spectra of the last 28 ka 5.1 Abstract 5.2 Introduction 5.3 Study site 5.4 Material and Methods 5.4.1 Sediment cores and chronology 5.4.2 Pollen sample preparation and pollen analyses 5.4.3 Pollen data treatment 5.5 Results 5.5.1 Composite core (KK12-1/2; 27.6 cal ka BP to present) 5.5.2 Short core TAJ-Kar-08-lB 5.6 Discussion 5.6.1 Interpretation of pollen data 5.6.2 Terrestrial vegetation change in the Eastern Pamir Mountains in response to past climate change 5.7 Conclusions 5.8 Acknowledgements 5.9 Data Availability 6 Synthesis 6.1 Proxy evaluation 6.1.1 Age-depth relationship 6.1.2 Limnological proxies 6.1.3 Terrestrial proxies 6.2 The potential of Lake Karakul as archive for long term environmental change in the Eastern Pamir 6.3 Climate and moisture availability changes over time - inferred from sedimentary proxies 6.4 Assessment ofthe aquatic macrophyte composition and paleoproductivity within Lake Karakul 6.5 Inferred terrestrial vegetation changes as responds to climatic changes over the last 28 cal ka 6.6 Comparison inferred regional vegetation, lake internal and lake external variations and changes in climate reconstructed in other studies 6.6.1 Pre- gLGM and global Last Glacial Maximum (27.6 to 19 cal ka BP) 6.6.2 Late glacial 6.6.3 Early to middle Holocene 6.6.4 Middle to late Holocene 6.7 Outlook 7 Appendix 7.1 Supplementary information for Manuscript I 7.2 Supplementary information for Manuscript II 7.3 Supplementary information for Manuscript III 8 References Danksagung Eldesstattliche Erklärung

Note: Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1. The Centre for Polar Studies 2. The Centre in the context of Polish and international polar research 3. Development and achievements of the Centre for Polar Studies Underwater acoustic signatures od glacier calving Svalbard reveals a new island Freshwater in a salty fjord Between genetics and palaeontology: ancient DNA in palaeoceanographical research Influence of glacial disturbance and food availability on organisms size in Kongsfjorden and Hornsund fjords Message in a stainless steel bottle thrown into deep geological time 4. Technical facilities and infrastructure for polar research 5. Interdisciplinary Polar Studies Foundations of ISP Profiles of doctoral thesis 6. Exploration of Polar and Mountain Regions - a new speciality of MSc studies at the Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia 7. Science communication and dissemination 8. Towards the future

Note: Inhalt: Einführung und Hintergrund der terrestrischen Expeditionen in Sibirien / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Volker Rachold, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - 1. Auf dem Weg zu den Lena-Expeditionen 1993-1997. - Seesedimente auf Taimyr und Sewernaja Semlja als Klima-Archiv / Pier Paul Overduin, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Martin Melles. - Erste Studien zu Energie-, Wasser- und Spurengasflüssen in Tundraböden: Labas-See und Lewinson-Lessing-See, Taimyr-Halbinsel / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Julia Boike, Mikhail P. Zhurbenko, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Untersuchungen von Permafrost-Sequenzen in der Taimyr-Tiefebene (1994-1996) / Christine Siegert, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin. - Kohlenstoff in den arktischen Wüstenböden von Sewernaja Semlja / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Mikhail P. Zhurbenko, Dimitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Hydrologie, Geochemie und Sedimenttransport in den Flüssen Sibiriens - Das SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA Projekt 1994-1997 / Volker Rachold. - 2. Der Beginn der Lena-Expeditionen 1998-2002. - lnitiierung des Forschungsprojekts Lenadelta: Wissenschaftliche Strategie, Kooperation und Logistik / Volker Rachold, Martin Antonow, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - Die ersten Jahre der boden- und klimabezogenen Permafrostforschung auf Samoilow und Umgebung (Untersuchungen 1998-2001) / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Julia Boike, Günter Stoof, Lars Kutzbach, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, lrina A. Yakshina, Anno N. Kurchatova, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Bykowski-Halbinsel: Die erste Landexpedition mit Fokus auf das Paläoklima / Lutz Schirrmeister, Guido Grosse, Viktor V. Kunitsky, Christine Siegert, Hanno Meyer. - Schiffsexpeditionen von 1998 bis 2002 zur Untersuchung von Erosion und Geomorphologie der Küste mit Dunai, Neptun, Sofron Danilov und Pavel Bashmakov / Volker Rachold, Waldemar Schneider, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Hans-Wolfgong Hubberten, Felix E. Are, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Untersuchung von Seen auf Arga: Geschichte und Entstehung des Lenadeltas / Georg Schwamborn, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Volker Rachold, Vladimir E. Tumskoy, Lutz Schirrmeister, Guido Grosse. - Mikrobieller Kohlenstoffumsatz in der Auftauschicht und im Permafrost / Susanne Liebner, Christian Knoblauch, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Svetlana Yu. Evgrafova, Dirk Wagner. - Feldarbeit für die Rekonstruktion der Paläoumwelt / Lutz Schirrmeister, Tatyana V. Kuznetsova, Andrei A. Andreev, Frank Kienast, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - 3. Prozessstudien zur Permafrostdynamik 2002-2005. - Submarine Permafrostbohrungen während der COAST 2005 Expedition / Volker Rachold, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Waldemar Schneider. - Die frühe Forschungsstation Insel Samoilow und ihre Erweiterung 2005 / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Julia Boike, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Günter Stoof, Alexander Yu. Gukav. - Installation des Samoilow Observatoriums - wissenschaftliches Monitoring von Klimadaten, Permafrostböden und Treibhausgasen (Untersuchungen 2002-2006) / Lars Kutzbach, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, David Holl, Günter Stoof Julia Boike, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - Mikrobieller Stickstoffumsatz in der Auftauschicht und den tieferen Permafrostsedimenten des Lenadeltas / Claudia Fiencke, Tina Sanders, Fabian Beermann, Elena E. Lebedeva, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - Geokryologische und paläoökologische Studien an den Küsten der Laptewsee / Lutz Schirrmeister, Christine Siegert, Guido Grosse, Hanno Meyer, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Viktor V. Kunitsky. - Langzeitbeobachtungen der pelagischen Fauna in Seen und Tümpeln des Lenadeltas / Ekaterina N. Abramova, lrina I. Vishnyakova, Grigory A. Soloviev, Anna A. Abramova. - 4. Umsetzung neuer Forschungsthemen 2007-2012. - Die Dynamik der arktischen Küsten / Frank Günther, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, P. Paul Overduin, Hugues Lantuit, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten. - Feldarbeit und Erstellung numerischer Modelle von submarinem Permafrost und Gashydraten / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Pier Paul Overduin, Sebastian Wetterich, Mikhail N. Grigoriev. - Permafrostdegradation, Thermokarst und Thermoerosion - Feldforschung auf der Insel Kurungnach / Anne Morgenstern, lrina V Fedorova, Antonina A. Chetverova, Frank Günther, Mathias Ulrich, Fabian Beermann, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Sofia A. Antonova, Samuel Stettner, Julia Boike. - Mit Kettensäge zum Klimamodell - Eiskeile als Winterklima-Archive / Hanno Meyer, Thomas Opel, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin. - Veränderungen nordsibirischer Seen und Baumgrenzen in der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart als Reaktion auf Erwärmung / Ulrike Herzschuh, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Laura S. Epp, Larisa A. Frolova, Ruslan M. Gorodnichev, Birgit Heim, Florion Jeltsch, Juliane Klemm, Stefan Kruse, Larisa B. Nazarova, Bastian Niemeyer, Anatolii N. Nikolaev, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Ralph Tiedemann, Mareike Wieczoreck, Evgenij S. Zakharov, Heike H. Zimmermann. - Kohlenstoff in Permafrost - Quantifizierung der Menge an organischem Material in Sibirien / Jens Strauss, Lutz Schirrmeister, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Alexander L. Kholodov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Viktor V. Kunitsky, Matthias Fuchs, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Guido Grosse. - Expeditionen mit Gummibooten und kleinen Flussbooten - Hydrologie und Geomorphologie des Lenadeltas / Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, lrina V Fedorova, Julia Boike. - Mobilisierung und Ablagerung von Kohlenstoff im Lena-Flusssystem / Gesine Mollenhauer, Maria Winterfeld, Boris P. Koch, lrina V. Fedorova. - Holozäne Seen rund um das Lenadelta / Bernhard Diekmann, Boris Biskaborn, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Dmitry A. Subetto, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Ulrike Herzschuh, Georg Schwamborn, Volker Rachold. - Logistisch komplexe Einsätze - Beobachtungen von Energie und Treibhausgasflüssen aus der Luft mittels Helipod / Torsten Sachs, Eric Larmanau, Katrin Kohnert, Andrei Serafimavich. - Lena Expeditionen: Einbindung neuer deutscher Forschungsgruppen / Birgit Heim, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Pier Paul Overduin, lrina V. Fedorova. - Ein Jahrzehnt der Küstenforschung im Lenadelta / lngeborg Bussmann, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, lrina V Fedorova, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Alexander Yu. Gukov, Gerhard Kattner, Alexandra Kraberg, Denis V. Moiseev, Pier Paul Overduin, Lasse Sander, Karen H. Wiltshire. - 5. Neue Horizonte für Lena-Expeditionen - Die neue Forschungsstation Insel Samoilow. - Ministerpräsident W. W. Putin besucht die Insel Samoilow (P-Day) / Hanno Meyer, Thomas Opel, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin, Svetlana Yu. Evgrafava, Waldemar Schneider, Alexander S. Makarov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev. - Die neue Forschungsstation Insel Samoilow: Bau, Eröffnungsfeier, Anlage und Betrieb / Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Igor N. Yeltsov, Anne Morgenstern. - Samoilow in internationalen Programmen und Netzwerken - FLUXNET, GTN-P, INTERACT / Anne Morgenstern, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Julia Boike, Lars Kutzbach. - Kurzer Überblick über die russisch-deutschen Permafrost-Projekte CARBOPERM und KoPf / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Ulrike Herzschuh, Guido Grosse. - Einsatz von Fernerkundung im Gebiet der Laptewsee / Guido Grosse, Birgit Heim, Sofia Antonova, Julia Boike, Astrid Bracher, Alexey N. Fague, Frank Günther, Thomas Krumpen, Moritz Langer, Anne Morgenstern, Sina Muster, lngmar Nitze, Torsten Sachs. - Multidisziplinäre Studien auf Samoilow und Kurungnach: Geophysik, Fernerkundung, Geologie sowie botanische und Bodenstudien / Igor N. Yeltsov, Alexey N. Faguet, Leonid V. Tsibizov, Vladimir A. Kashirtsev, Vladimir V. Olenchenko, Andrey A. Kartozia, Nikolay N. Lashchinskiy. - Terrestrische Permafrost-Bohrkampagnen: Tiefe Einblicke in die Vergangenheit / Jens Strauss, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Paul Overduin, Georgii Maximov, Guido Grosse, Alexey N. Fague, Leonid Tsibizov, Lutz Schirrmeister. - Langzeitmessungen der Energie-, Wasser-, und Treibhausgasflüsse zwischen Land und Atmosphäre von 2002 bis heute und darüber hinaus / David Holl, Ju , Contents: Introduction and Background to Terrestrial Expeditions in Siberia / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Volker Rachold, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - 1. On the Way to the Lena Expeditions 1993-1997. - Lake Sediments on Taymyr and Severnaya Zemlya as a Climate Archive / Pier Paul Overduin, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Martin Melles. - First Energy, Water, and Flux Studies of Tundra Soils - Labaz and Levinson-Lessing Lake, Taymyr Peninsula / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Julia Boike, Mikhail P. Zhurbenko, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Exploring Permafrost Sequences in the Taymyr Lowland (1994-1996) / Christine Siegert, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin. - Carbon in Arctic Desert Soils of Severnaya Zemlya / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Mikhail P. Zhurbenko, Dimitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Sediment Transport of the Siberian Rivers - The SYSTEM LAPTEV SEA Project 1994-1997 / Volker Rachold. - 2. The Beginning of the Lena Expeditions 1998-2002. - Initiation of the Research Project Lena Delta: Science Strategy, Cooperation, and Logistics / Volker Rachold, Martin Antonow, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - The First Years of Soil and Climate-Related Permafrost Research on Samoylov Island and Surroundings (Investigations 1998- 2001) / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Julia Boike, Günter Stoof, Lars Kutzbach, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, lrina A. Yakshina, Anno N. Kurchatova, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Bykovsky Peninsula: The First Land Expedition with a Focus on Paleoclimate / Lutz Schirrmeister, Guido Grosse, Viktor V. Kunitsky, Christine Siegert, Hanno Meyer. - The 1998-2002 Ship-Based Expeditions for Coastal Erosion and Geomorphological Studies with Dunay, Neptun, Sofron Danilov, and Pavel Bashmakov / Volker Rachold, Waldemar Schneider, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Felix E. Are, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - Lake Studies on Arga: History and Formation of the Lena Delta / Georg Schwamborn, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Volker Rachold, Vladimir E. Tumskoy, Lutz Schirrmeister, Guido Grosse. - Microbial Carbon Turnover in the Active Layer and in Permafrost / Susanne Liebner, Christian Knoblauch, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Svetlana Yu. Evgrajova, Dirk Wagner. - Fieldwork for Reconstructing the Paleo-Environment / Lutz Schirrmeister, Tatyana V. Kuznetsova, Andrei A. Andreev, Frank Kienast, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov. - 3. Process Studies of Permafrost Dynamics 2002-2006. - Subsea Permafrost Drilling During the COAST 2005 Expedition / Volker Rachold, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Waldemar Schneider. - The Early Samoylov Station and Its Extension in 2005 / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Julia Boike, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Günter Stoof, Alexander Yu. Gukov. - Installation of the Samoylov Observatory - Permafrost-Affected Soils and Greenhouse Gases (Investigations 2002-2006) / Lars Kutzbach, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, David Holl, Günter Stoof, Julia Boike, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - Microbial Nitrogen Turnover in the Active Layer and Deeper Permafrost Sediments of the Lena River Delta / Claudia Fiencke, Tina Sanders, Fabian Beermann, Elena E. Lebedeva, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer. - Geocryological and Paleoenvironmental Studies on the Coasts of the Laptev Sea / Lutz Schirrmeister, Christine Siegert, Guido Grosse, Hanno Meyer, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Viktor V. Kunitsky. - Long-Term Observations of the Pelagic Fauna in Lakes and Ponds in the Lena Delta / Ekaterina N. Abramova, lrina I. Vishnyakova, Grigory A. Soloviev, Anna A. Abramova. - 4. Implementation of New Research Topics 2007-2012. - Arctic Coastal Dynamics / Frank Günther, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Pier Paul Overduin, Hugues Lantuit, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten. - Field Work and Numerical Modelling for Subsea Permafrost and Gas Hydrates / Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Pier Paul Overduin, Sebastian Wetterich, Mikhail N. Grigoriev. - Permafrost Degradation, Thermokarst and Thermal Erosion Fieldwork on Kurungnakh Island / Anne Morgenstern, Irina V. Fedorova, Antonina A. Chetverova, Frank Günther, Mathias Ulrich, Fabian Beermann, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Sofia A. Antonova, Samuel Stettner, Julia Boike. - With the Chainsaw to Climate Modelling - Ice Wedges as a Winter Climate Archive / Hanno Meyer, Thomas Opel, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin. - Past and Present Treeline and Lake Changes in Northern Siberia in Response to Warming / Ulrike Herzschuh, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Laura S. Epp, Larisa A. Frolova, Ruslan M. Gorodnichev, Birgit Heim, Florion Jeltsch, Juliane Klemm, Stefan Kruse, Larisa B. Nazarova, Bastian Niemeyer, Anatolii N. Nikolaev, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Ralph Tiedemann, Mareike Wieczoreck, Evgenij S. Zakharov, Heike H. Zimmermann. - Organic Matter Matters- Quantifying the Amount of Carbon in Northern Siberia / Jens Strauss, Lutz Schirrmeister, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Alexander L. Kholodov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Viktor V. Kunitsky, Matthias Fuchs, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Guido Grosse. - Expeditions with Rubber Boats and Small River Vessels - Hydrology and Geomorphology of the Lena Delta / Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, lrina V Fedorova, Julia Boike. - Mobilization and Deposition of Carbon in the Lena River System / Gesine Mollenhauer, Maria Winterfeld, Boris P. Koch, lrina V. Fedorova. - Holocene Lakes Around the Lena Delta / Bernhard Diekmann, Boris Biskaborn, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Dmitry A. Subetto, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Ulrike Herzschuh, Georg Schwamborn, Volker Rachold. - Complex Logistical Operations - Airborne Energy and Greenhouse Gas Flux Observations by Helipod / Torsten Sachs, Eric Larmanau, Katrin Kohnert, Andrei Serafimavich. - Lena Expeditions: Integration of New German Research Groups / Birgit Heim, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Pier Paul Overduin, lrina V. Fedorova. - A Decade of Coastal Research in the Lena Delta / lngeborg Bussmann, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, lrina V Fedorova, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Alexander Yu. Gukov, Gerhard Kattner, Alexandra Kraberg, Denis V. Moiseev, Pier Paul Overduin, Lasse Sander, Karen H. Wiltshire. - 5. New Horizons for Lena Expeditions - The New Research Station Samoylov Island. - Prime Minister V. V. Putin Visits Samoylov Island (P-Day) / Hanno Meyer, Thomas Opel, Alexander Yu. Dereviagin, Svetlana Yu. Evgrafava, Waldemar Schneider, Alexander S. Makarov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev. - The New Research Station Samoylov Island: Construction, Opening Ceremony, Facilities, and Operation / Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Igor N. Yeltsov, Anne Morgenstern. - Samoylov in International Programs and Networks - FLUX NET, GTN-P, INTERACT / Anne Morgenstern, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Julia Boike, Lars Kutzbach. - Short Overview of the Russian-German Permafrost Projects CARBOPERM and KoPf / Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Dmitry Yu. Bolshiyanov, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Ulrike Herzschuh, Guido Grosse. - Application of Remote Sensing in the Laptev Sea Region / Guido Grosse, Birgit Heim, Sofia Antonova, Julia Boike, Astrid Bracher, Alexey N. Fague, Frank Günther, Thomas Krumpen, Moritz Langer, Anne Morgenstern, Sina Muster, lngmar Nitze, Torsten Sachs. - Multidisciplinary Studies on Samoylov and Kurungnakh: Geophysics, Remote Sensing, Geology, Botanical, and Soil Studies / Igor N. Yeltsov, Alexey N. Faguet, Leonid V. Tsibizov, Vladimir A. Kashirtsev, Vladimir V. Olenchenko, Andrey A. Kartozia, Nikolay N. Lashchinskiy. - Deep lnsights into the Past Terrestrial Permafrost Drilling Campaigns / Jens Strauss, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Paul Overduin, Georgii Maximov, Guido Grosse, Alexey N. Fague, Leonid Tsibizov, Lutz Schirrmeister. - Long-Term Measurements of Land-Atmosphere Fluxes of Energy, Water, and Greenhouse Gases from 2002 until Today and Beyond / David Holl, Julia Boike, Torsten Sachs, Peter Schreiber, Niko Bornemann, Christian Wille, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Irina V. Fedorova, Lars Kutzbach. - Carbon Turnover of Thawing Permafrost in the Lena Delta / , Russische Ausgabe in kyrillischer Schrift

Note: Contents: Preface. - Acknowledgements. - 1 Introduction. - 1.1 Origin and characters of silicon and its isotopes. - 1.2 A brief description of silicon geochemistry. - 1.3 The history of silicon isotope studies. - 2 Analytical methods of silicon isotope composition. - 2.1 Gas source isotope ratio mass spectrometric analysis of silicon isotopes. - 2.2 Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (MC-ICPMS) analysis of silicon isotopes. - 2.3 Secondary ion mass spectrometry analyses. - 2.4 Standards and reference materials for silicon isotope measurement. - 2.5 Comparison of different methods on silicon isotope analyses. - 3 Mechanisms of silicon isotope fractionation. - 3.1 The thermodynamic silicon isotope exchange fractionation. - 3.2 Kinetic fractionation of silicon isotopes. - 4 Distribution of silicon isotopes in nature. - 4.1 Silicon isotope compositions of extraterrestrial materials. - 4.2 Silicon isotope distribution in lithosphere. - 4.3 Silicon isotope compositions of soils. - 4.4 Hydrosphere. - 4.5 Biosphere. - 5 Several aspects of silicon isotope applications. - 5.1 Studies on global silicon cycle. - 5.2 Silicon isotope studies on environmental variation of ocean. - 5.3 Studies on mechanisms of absorption, transportation and precipitation of silicon in plant growth processes. - 5.4 Studies on silicon source and genesis of ore deposits. - References. - Index.