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Arctic Floating University works at section running from Novaya Zemlya

According to the expedition leader Alexander Saburov, the current weather conditions favor research

ARKHANGELSK, July 7. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University expedition began working in the Barents Sea, the expedition leader Alexander Saburov told TASS from aboard the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel. The first oceanology section runs from the Admiralty Peninsula of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago towards the Victoria Island.

A section is a line connecting points with fixed coordinates where specialists make measurements and sample water.

The first section, or rather first two sections, began on July 4. "The first section will run from the Admiralty Peninsula of Novaya Zemlya, towards the Victoria Island, and the second section will run along the Franz Victoria Trench near Franz Josef Land. We plan to have a total of 20 stations on these two sections," the expedition leader said.

Some stations will be quite big, and there, in addition to measuring seawater's temperature and salinity, experts will conduct hydro-chemical studies, scientific work to measure surface currents and waves, and will sample bottom fauna and sediments. Further on, specialists will examine them for the presence of various types of pollutants, including microplastics.

The current weather conditions favor research, the expedition leader continued, adding the sea has a slight disturbance, which is unlikely to interfere with the work. This year, the ice in the Barents Sea has melted quite early, and the ice conditions are also quite favorable, he added.

About the expedition

The 20th voyage of the Arctic Floating University scientific and educational expedition runs from July 1 to July 22, 2026 on board the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel. The expedition organizers are: the Lomonosov Northern Arctic Federal University and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Sevhydromet). The project's official sponsors and partners are: the Russian Federation's Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Russian Geographical Society, general sponsor - VTB, the Norilsk Nickel Company, and the Floating University Coordination Center based at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).