NOVOSIBIRSK, September 6. /TASS/. A magnetic observation facility will be opened at the Samoilovsky Island research station in the Lena River delta, where scientists continue studies of the permafrost in Yakutia. At a new facility scientists will study the north magnetic pole which has been moving towards the Russian Arctic coast, said press service of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch).
"Scientists say that studies need to be conducted not only in summer, they stress the importance of using more effectively the potential of a year-round operating station. Year-round measurements will be required in the organization of a carbon polygon and a magnetic observatory. The latter will be used for unique studies of the north magnetic pole, which has been moving towards the Arctic coast of the Russian Federation," the press service said.
The Institute has presented a program to develop the research station as an international center for integrated Arctic research for 2023-2027. The plan includes the station's large-scale renovation, including an upgrade and construction of new pavilions to organize the magnetic observatory.
Scientists will be using the station's potential to conduct year-round research, in particular unique studies of the north magnetic pole. Additionally, at the Samoilovsky Island station, scientists will be involved in applied research in the areas of renewable energy, materials and geotechnical monitoring in the Arctic conditions.
The Trofimuk Institute has received a special subsidy of 55 million rubles ($562,000) to buy fuel necessary for the Samoilovsky Island station's operation, thus to create a stock of fuel and lubricants for the station's stable operation in the near future. Russia's Ministry of Science and Higher Education has allocated another subsidy of 5.5 million ($56,200) rubles to replace diesel generators at the station.
The Samoilovsky Island research station in the Lena River delta was built in 2010, and the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics has been its operator since 2012. It is Russia's only modern Arctic research station. Research in the Lena River delta is conducted in the fields of seismology, shallow-depth seismic exploration and electron tomography, geobotany, thermometry and geochemistry, stratigraphy and paleontology. These works continue earlier projects and upgrade data on the Arctic ecosystem. Several small vessels, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles are used as transport within up to 200 km around the station.