ARKHANGELSK, July 10. /TASS Correspondent Irina Skalina/. The Arctic Floating University's expedition on the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel departed from Arkhangelsk heading for Novaya Zemlya's north, a TASS correspondent reported. This year, researchers will focus on work in the northwestern part of the Barents Sea, in the Kara Sea's northeast, as well as in the northern part of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.

"This year's route is different from previous years as all work will take place in the north-east of the Barents Sea and in the north-west of the Kara Sea. We do not plan going ashore on the islands of Vaygach or Kolguev since a significant amount of work needs to be done in the marine area, as well as on Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land," the expedition's leader Alexander Saburov told TASS.

The current voyage runs about two weeks later than usually. This is of great importance for a high-latitude expedition. It is more likely that by mid-July ice in the Barents and Kara Seas will retreat further north, and the vessel will manage to approach Cape Zhelaniya and destinations on Novaya Zemlya's Kara Sea side, and above all to the islands of Franz Josef Land, where the participants would be able to go ashore.

"We would like, of course, to work at points that are important monitoring sites, which the expedition has studied for years in order to track the dynamics, for example, of bird markets conditions. Those are the Bogatyi Island, Cape Zhelaniya, the Northbrook Island, the Mabel Island. If possible, we will try new points to go ashore. If the ice conditions allow, we plan to go ashore on the Heiss Island, where, among other things, we will work on the well to monitor permafrost. The exploration for this well was carried out by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute during the expedition in 2021," he said.

Marine and land-based research

The expedition plans a big amount of ocean research. The Barents Sea lies in the path of atmospheric vortices and ocean currents that bring heat from the Atlantic to the Arctic basin. It is the increase in ocean heat coming from temperate latitudes that has been associated with a significant reduction in winter ice areas in the Barents Sea over the recent decade. Water masses of the Barents Sea's northeast play a key role in shaping the Arctic basin's hydrology regime. The expedition's research will continue monitoring of how warm Atlantic waters are spreading in the Barents Sea.

"Another new direction this year is to the study carbonate system and greenhouse gases fluxes from the ocean into the atmosphere. We know that the World Ocean stores a very large amount of greenhouse gases, which, when released into the atmosphere, may significantly affect the planet's climate," he added.

The expedition will explore various types of pollution in the Arctic: plastic litter, microplastics, heavy metals and radionuclides. Another area is the biodiversity. During the voyage, participants will keep records of seabirds and mammals, and, when ashore, they will ring birds and take biological samples.

Microbiological studies are of great importance. For example, bird markets are places of many pathogenic bacteria, including those resistant to antibiotics. Microbiologists will be looking in the Arctic for bacteriophages - bacterial viruses that may help in developing new substances to combat bacterial infections.

The expedition runs from July 9 to August 1. The project's sponsors and partners are: the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, VTB Bank (the general sponsor), the Russian Geographical Society, Norilsk Nickel, the Floating University Coordination Center at MIPT.