YAKUTSK, January 23. /TASS/. Scientists patented a project of a natural cryogenic preservation facility for paleontological materials, including mammoth remains, Albert Protopopov, head of the Mammoth Fauna Studies Department at Yakutia's Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biology, told TASS.
"We have patented a project of a natural cryogenic preservation facility, which accumulates winter cold by specially drilled cold wells," he said. "We will be able to store the cold during winter months with 50-degree frosts."
The invented facility is intended for long-term storage of paleontological objects with remaining soft tissues, found frozen in conditions close to natural ones, he added.
The storage does not require electricity. "Presently, we are using cryogenic containers, into which we pump the cold with electricity and then store it. This is expensive. Any preservation of paleontological material requires a stable temperature of minus 18 degrees," the scientist said.
Disadvantages of traditional conservation
The presently used system of a cryogenic storage for paleontological objects is as follows - the objects are frozen and stored in freezer containers and chambers. Usually, the storage temperature is between minus 15 and minus 25 degrees Celsius. The coolant is usually Freon.
"Freezer containers normally are made of insulated sandwich panels to maintain a low-temperature regime. Such freezers at a few Russian scientific institutions have been used to store paleontological finds. They are in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yakutsk." the scientist said.
The biggest disadvantage of such freezers and chambers is the high energy consumption in the warm season and a great dependence on stable power supplies, as well as limited volumes, and high risks of technical failures. Yet another disadvantage of such freezers is that the coolant's evaporation decreases significantly humidity levels inside the freezers, the expert noted.
The cryogenic conservation affects minimally the preservation of paleontological objects compared to the state in which they have been for dozens of thousands of years in the permafrost, he continued.
The cryogenic conservation and storage practically do not change the physical and biochemical conditions in which paleontological finds have been, and changes their parameters only to a minimal extent. "This is extremely important for following scientific studies. The first experiment to conserve cryogenically mammoth-related finds was proposed and tested on the head and forelimb of the Yukaghir mammoth," the expert said.
About the World Mammoth Center
The modern cryogenic storage facility is part of the World Mammoth Center in Yakutsk, planned in compliance with the Strategy for the Development of the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone and the National Security for up to 2035. The center's construction is on a long-term plan for the integrated social and economic development of the Yakutsk urban agglomeration for up to 2030.
As a rule, the mammoth fauna objects found in Yakutia are well preserved. Up to 90% of all unique finds with soft tissues have been in Yakutia. Additionally, fossil animals with preserved biological fluids have been found in Yakutia only.