ARKHANGELSK, June 26. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University expedition on board the Professor Molchanov scientific expedition vessel left Arkhangelsk heading for the Arctic islands, a TASS correspondent reported from the ship. Work is planned on Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, the Oranskiye Islands, as well as on the Kolguev Island. So far, the ice forecast in the Barents Sea and especially in the Kara Seas is not very favorable, therefore, the route may be changed.

"The ice situation, that is, the state of the ice that we can see now, is one of the most difficult in recent 20 years and, in certain areas, even over the entire period of observation by satellite images. A very difficult ice is in the Kara Sea, the north of Novaya Zemlya. For example, the second point of the route is the Russkaya Harbor, but at the moment it is technically impossible to enter it. However, we really hope over a week the ice situation will change," Roman Ershov, head of Sevhydromet, told TASS.

The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University and the national hydrometeorology service's Northern branch (Sevhydromet). The expeditions continue since 2012.

"We are interested in the coastal ecosystems of the European sector in the high-latitude Arctic. Those are Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, and the northeastern part of the Barents Sea. The Arctic Floating University has not worked on Franz Josef Land for quite a long time," the expedition leader Alexander Saburov explained to TASS. "We hope the ice situation will let us work at least on islands in Franz Josef Land's southern part. Those are, first of all, the islands of Bell, Mabel, and Northbrook. And, of course, a lot will depend on the ice situation, but, nevertheless, this area is of great interest to our scientists: those, involved in microbiology, those who deal with soils, avifauna, and to many other specialists."

This program's novelty is bigger ocean studies. Normally, during the University's voyage, oceanographers make one section from the Salm Island, Franz Josef Land, to Cape Zhelaniya in the north of Novaya Zemlya. A section is a line with points with fixed coordinates, where scientists make measurements and take water samples. These studies are very important to understand the distribution of water masses from the Atlantic to the Barents Sea in the context of climate change. This year, another section is planned to run from the Russkaya Harbor Bay on Novaya Zemlya to the Northbrook Island, Franz Josef Land. Scientists hope to clarify how actively Atlantic waters enter the Barents Sea's northeastern part.

Research on land and at sea

This year's voyage features employees, graduate students and students from 17 scientific and educational organizations from Arkhangelsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Kaliningrad, Syktyvkar, Irkutsk and Norilsk. They will study solar radiation and clouds, snow cover, soils, flora and fauna, including bacteria and bacteriophages - necessary to develop new drugs for infections.

A separate section will focus on pollution. Scientists will watch the distribution of heavy metals and organic pollutants in environmental objects in the Arctic, and will take snow samples for pollutants. Specialists will search toxic substances in food products that can local residents may use: birds, their eggs and marine fish. Ecologists will measure microplastics in seawater, and will collect litter that the sea throws out onto the shore. Some locations, for example, at Cape Zhelaniya, have been explored in recent years, and specialists will compare the intensity of litter accumulation on Arctic beaches.

Another study is the search for radioactive isotopes of man-made origin in soils and sediments. Results will provide important information about the radiation load on the Arctic ecosystems, will identify sources of pollution and will predict the radiation background transformation due to global climate change.

For the first time during the Arctic Floating University's expeditions, there will be underwater studies of the Arctic seas' fauna. A diver will be working for the expedition. "The least quantitatively studied category of bottom organisms, up to the present time, remains the so-called "megabenthos" - a collection of large (more than a centimeter) long-living invertebrates, poorly or almost not fished with traditional quantitative accounting tools - dredgers," Anna Trofimova, the expedition's deputy leader for scientific work, told TASS.

Students in the Arctic

This year, for the first time in the University's history, the selection of participants was also among graduates of the Winter School of Floating Universities. In Arkhangelsk, the study was devoted to microorganisms in the Arctic seas.

Before the voyage, all participants attended an online course on environmental problems of the Arctic region, on the Arctic's hydrometeorology and historical and cultural heritage. "Definitely more than half of the participants will see the Arctic for the first time. We have conducted great work to prepare all of them for the voyage. We all realize that the nearest store will be very, very far away. Last year, one participant was lucky to buy rubber boots on the Kolguev, although both boots were for the left foot," Saburov added.

The Arctic Floating University project has received the prestigious Crystal Compass Award for the 2023 expedition. It is like a geographical Oscar in Russia. "Such a prestigious award is an important sign to us and the recognition that what we have been doing since 2012 is in demand both from the scientific and educational points of view," Saburov said.

The project's partners and sponsors are the Arkhangelsk Region's government, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Russian Geographical Society, VTB Bank, Norilsk Nickel, Roshydromet (the hydrometeorology service), the Russian Arctic National Park, the Floating University Coordination Center at MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; also known as PhysTech), the Nauka (Science) year-round youth educational center.