ST. PETERSBURG, March 15. /TASS/. Russia’s research vessel The Akademik Treshnikov in later summer - early autumn, 2019, will participate in the GLACE expedition (GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition) around Greenland, the Arctic and Antarctic Studies Institute’s Director Alexander Makarov told TASS on Thursday.
"The Akademik Treshnikov will go around Greenland," he said. "For our scientists Greenland is a not a traditional area, thus we are happy to have the opportunity to work there."
"The expedition will begin from Reykjavik in August," he added.
On board the vessel, 44 scientists from around the work will work on about 15 research projects. The projects are related to physics, chemistry and biology of the sea ice, glaciers, lake sediments, terrestrial ecosystems, ocean and seabed. The vessel will offer equipped laboratories, where experts will study samples in real time.
The expedition plans eight stops ashore the biggest island, where the scientists will make tests and experiments on the shore and along the water edge.
"We shall go ashore along the island’s perimeter," the institute’s director continued. "Our scientists will study both Greenland’s lakes and the glacier’s evolution, we shall try to go along a part of the Northwestern Passage (between Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago), which, as a rule, is covered with ice and it is a rare occasion a research vessel can go there."
"We hope, everything will be fine," he said.
According to the scientist, the GLACE expedition will be in cooperation with the Swiss Polar Institute. Scientists will conduct research, results of which will offer a comprehensive understanding about how that region has been affected by the climate change and how those changes may affect the planet. The expedition will continue to late September, 2019.
Greenland is the biggest island of more than two million square kilometers and a most low populated area on the Earth. The island is owned by Denmark. The population is about 17,000.
The Akademik Treshnikov research vessel was built in 2012. The Institute uses it for expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic.