Community Ice Cellars In Eastern Chukotka: Climatic And Anthropogenic Influences On Structural Stability

Abstract

<jats:p>The large community ice cellar designs in eastern Chukotka are unique within the Arctic due to the mixed influences from the indigenous Chukchi people and western industry. Community ice cellars here were designed and constructed in the 1950s-60s to accommodate both food stores for local indigenous residents and feed stores for Arctic fox fur farms. Like much of the Arctic, this region is undergoing unprecedented climate change. Air temperatures within the study area have been increasing at an average rate of 0.7°C per decade since the 1950s. Exacerbating the adverse effects of the warming climate is the lack of ice cellar maintenance in communities where the fur industry did not survive the transition to a market economy. Today, all but two community ice cellars in eastern Chukotka have flooded or collapsed. Presented in this work are thermal records from two cellars in the region that allow for both climatic and anthropogenic influences on the cellars’ structural integrity to be evaluated. Particularly effective ice cellar maintenance practices utilized in the community of Lorino were 1) wintertime ventilation, and 2) placing large blocks of river ice in the cellar in spring to mitigate spring and summer warming.</jats:p>

Food Storage in Permafrost and Seasonally Frozen Ground in Chukotka and Alaska Communities

“…Especially during the Soviet era (1917 -89), the USSR supported the development of community-based or industrial cellars. During that time, cellars were government designed and constructed in each community (kolkhoz (колхоз) or sovkhoz (совхоз): local or state-owned collective farms) based on perceived community needs and local industry (Maslakov et al, 2020). In Chukotka, contemporary, Soviet-sponsored cellars typically consist of a vertical shaft under the access shed that leads to a small chamber and horizontal tunnel with ventilation excavated into permafrost (Fig.…”

“…An impressive example of a Soviet industrial cellar was constructed in 1957 -59 by the Moscow Metro Company in Lorino, Chukotka (Maslakov et al, 2020;Fig. 6b).…”

“…Other publications often refer to these cellars as "ice cellars" (e.g., Nyland et al, 2017;Maslakov et al, 2020) though they are also often called "meat cellars," much like other cultures have "wine" and "root cellars" where the name indicates what objects are stored. While the phrase "ice cellar" is commonly used in Yakutia, few other cultures use these structures specifically for ice storage (Yoshikawa et al, 2016).…”

Stephen Taber and the development of North American cryostratigraphy and periglacial geomorphology

“…He unfailingly documented photographic procedures in his field books, recording observations on weather conditions, details of f-stops, exposure lengths, of the largest such facilities in the world at that time (cf. 29 ). He noted that the storage facility "is in nothing but [frozen] muck and shows the strata of the ice and muck."…”

“…Sterling described the company's commodious ice cellar at this location, one of the largest such facilities in the world at that time (cf. 29 ). He noted that the storage facility “is in nothing but [frozen] muck and shows the strata of the ice and muck.” He recommended that Taber bring a camera and flash attachments, and made local arrangements for side trips to locations of interest.…”