MURMANSK, May 20. /TASS/. The North Pole ice-resistant self-propelled platform, on board of which worked the North Pole - 41 expedition, returned to Murmansk, a TASS correspondent reported.
The complex expedition, first expedition of the kind in recent 10 years, has worked in the Arctic for more than a year and a half. Scientists have collected a large amount of information about processes in high latitudes.
An orchestra greeted the expedition participants at the Murmansk fishing port's moorings. Friends and relatives greeted the scientists at the ramp. Kirill Filchuk, the expedition's leader, gave the mission's flag to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg), and after that Murmansk school students had a tour of the ice-resistant platform.
"The expedition continues the history of the North Pole drifting stations, which Papanin's expedition began in 1937. The unique platform has made it possible to conduct the expedition at the highest professional level, and, most importantly, it has ensured maximum safety for the expedition participants," said Igor Shumakov, head of the national hydro-meteorology service, Roshydromet.
Work off the platform
Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Alexander Makarov stressed the efficiency of work off the ice-resistant platform, not from an ice camp. It was at the maximum level during the expedition, he said. "We have been using new heavy equipment: geological samplers, ocean studies' equipment that would have been impossible to use from the ice. We have experienced a few times the situations where ice floes collapsed, and we had to wrap up the camps," he told reporters.
Living on the ship was very comfortable for polar explorers and could not be compared to living in an ice camp, he continued. "The platform has proved its efficiency in the ice. We were happily surprised to see it was working so pleasantly, and it was very convenient to set up a camp on the ice. Besides, it is difficult to overestimate how the quality of life on board affected the scientists' desire to work," he said.
Research results
Results of the research obtained during the expedition are yet to be analyzed, but anyway, even now it is already clear that they will have a great impact on further planning of future expeditions, he added.
"We've learned a little more about how the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans affect warming in the Arctic, and these data are necessary to refine our ice forecasts, and this, in turn, has a certain practical application - to make forecasts for navigation along the Northern Sea Route. The current task is to ensure the year-round navigation in the Northern Sea Route's east. This has never been done earlier. To our institute it is also a challenge to provide 24/7 accurate forecasts for all ships and companies that operate in the Arctic both in winter and in summer. Results of direct observations off the platform in the central Arctic will be important for refining our forecast models," the institute's director said in conclusion.
The North Pole expeditions
The North Pole - 41 Expedition continues the Soviet program of complex drifting research missions in the Arctic's high latitudes. The world's first polar research drifting Arctic station North Pole (North Pole - 1) began operation onThe world's first ice-resistant self-propelled North Pole platform is designed for year-round expeditions in the Arctic Ocean's northern latitudes. It does not require icebreakers to sail to the designated area, and it can drift for up to two years and sail back to the port. The vessel takes on board 14 crew and 34 researchers. The platform is equipped with an on-board scientific complex of 15 laboratories, a mobile field camp for accommodation on ice floes.