Permafrost (frozen ground) occupies over 20 million square kilometers in high-latitude regions, is sensitive to environmental change and human activities, and has been identified as a major component of the global climate system. There is a strong potential for joint international cooperation in the areas of permafrost thawing, lake dynamics, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and carbon cycling in the Arctic. The aim of this scientific exchange visit - through the Geo.X program - is to develop and strengthen a new collaboration between German and French researchers. The partner institutions are the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the University of Potsdam (UP) in Germany, and Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS) in France. The purpose of this talk is to present Central Yakutia (Eastern Siberia), a ‘hotspot’ of permafrost and lake evolution since tens of thousands of years, and the object of this new German-French collaboration.

Frédéric Bouchard is a researcher at Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS) and leading the project 'PEGS - PErmafrost and Greenhouse gas dynamics in Siberia' in the context of the 'Make Our Planet Great Again' (MOPGA) initiative, launched in 2017 by the French president. His research focusses on paleoenvironmental reconstructions in thermokarst (thaw) lake-rich permafrost landscapes. He also specializes in the sampling of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) from high-latitude freshwater ecosystems. Dr. Bouchard recently started collaborating with Dr. Boris Biskaborn, leader of the 'Arctic Lake System Dynamics' research group within the Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems division of AWI. They are currently working on a thermokarst lake sediment core near Yakutsk, for reconstruction of the feedback mechanisms between climate change, permafrost dynamics, biodiversity changes and carbon fluxes during the Holocene.

Everybody interested is invited to join Fred’s talk.