ST. PETERSBURG, April 5. /TASS/. A group of twelve scientists on Monday left St. Petersburg for the Sever-2022 seasonal expedition. The expedition will be on the research ice base Cape Baranov (the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago). The researchers will study glaciers, rivers, lakes and other objects, press service of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, AARI, said.
"Today, on April 4, the Sever-2022 seasonal Arctic expedition has begun; it will be on the Cape Baranov research ice base," the press service said. "A group of twelve experts from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute has left St. Petersburg for the Bolskevik Island on the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago." The main objects for the research will be glaciers, numerous rivers and lakes, the press service added. The scientists will also conduct geomorphological and paleo-geographic works, will organize permafrost soils monitoring.
"The year-round and seasonal works on the Cape Baranov ice base include the comprehensive environment monitoring and fundamental studies in the high-latitude Arctic in the changing climate," AARI’s Director Alexander Makarov said. "This work’s results are of strategic importance for safe navigation and for further deep studies of the Arctic Ocean, of the Siberian shelf seas and of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago."
Additional teams of scientists
Studies on the Cape Baranov ice base continue year-round. Presently, 19 experts are working there on hydrometeorology, geophysical studies. Between spring and autumn, additional scientists come to the base to work on glaciological, hydrological, geomorphological and other types of observations. In the coming summer season, a few teams of scientists will join the expedition.
Additionally, in August-September, under the Sever-2022 expedition, the institute will organize material and technical supplies to the base to ensure the facility works successfully during the next year cycle.
About AARI
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute is a leading international scientific center to study the Earth’s polar regions. The institute conducts a comprehensive cycle of works in the high latitudes in the interests of the Russian Federation and commercial companies. The institute’s scientific divisions conduct fundamental and applied studies of the climate, processes in the atmosphere, the near space, the marine environment and the ice cover. Over 100 years of scientific work, the institute's specialists have organized about 1,100 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica. In 1993, the institute was awarded the status of a national scientific center.
The geographical location of Cape Baranova makes the ice base an important logistics link in the Arctic expedition infrastructure. Year-round and seasonal works at the base are of strategic importance for the marine safety and for further in-depth exploration of the Arctic Ocean and the Siberian shelf seas.