Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/38467

KEYWORDS : Yukon River;Runoff analysis;Bering Sea;Sediment load;Ecosystem

For salmon's going up, the Yukon River in Alaska is known to be the longest river in the world. In order to explore the effects of mass and heat fluxes of the river on the ecosystem in the Bering Sea, discharge, turbidity and water temperature were monitored in the middle and downstream reaches in 2006 to 2007. Results obtained reveal that both the river water temperature and suspended sediment concentration varied hysteretically in response to glacier-melt discharge or rainfall runoffs. Runoff analysis for the time series of discharge indicates that the Yukon river discharge is occupied by the 16.9% glacier-melt discharge. This suggests a significant decrease in discharge by glacial retreat from global warming, which could affect the ecosystem in the river and Bering Sea.