ARKHANGELSK, July 19. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University’s expedition to the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago returned to Arkhangelsk, a TASS correspondent onboard the Professor Molchanov research/survey vessel reported. Studies in seven scientific directions were conducted on polar islands, in the White, Barents and Kara Seas.

"We are very happy we have managed to complete the expedition practically as planned in our scientific and educational program," the expedition’s leader Alexander Saburov told TASS. "We’ve managed practically all missions ashore, except for the Kolguyev (Island)."

"Most importantly, we’ve made it to all the planned hard-to-reach locations, which the Floating University has not visited earlier, or which and in fact other expeditions to the Novaya Zemlya have visited only rarely - those are amazing places," he continued. "We have managed to do it, though the weather did make us change the order of missions ashore."

The voyage featured 55 participants from 17 scientific and educational organizations. The floating university paid special attention to work in the sea. The participants conducted works in two oceanographic sections. The sections are lines with points, having fixed coordinates, from where experts sample water to test its salinity, temperature and other parameters at different levels from the bottom. This way scientists identify different water masses in a given area.

"Mixed Atlantic"

The first section was planned to be between the Franz Josef Land and the Novaya Zemlya’s northern point, but the experts had to shift it southwards because of the ice, which did not allow the vessel to approach the planned point. "What we have seen is the "mixed Atlantic" (water from the Atlantic Ocean - TASS)," Viktor Merkulov of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute told TASS. "We’ve managed to see two streams at a time. This is very interesting."

"We’ve found a Barents Sea stream, which comes from the south into the Barents Sea. And we also have found remains of another one (Fram Strait), which skirts the Spitsbergen and from the north through the St. Anna Trough enters the Barents Sea."

The Arctic’s western part is significantly influenced by Atlantic waters, which benefit to the hydrological situation in the region. That is why the sea near Murmansk does not freeze all year round, and in Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg the climate is much milder than at the same latitudes in North America. "When we need to understand, to see how the climate situation is changing, how to improve climate models, we need to see how the flow from the Atlantic towards the Arctic Ocean is changing," Merlulov added.

The second section was in the Pechora Sea, where the Barents and Kara Seas counteract via the Kara Gates and Yugorsky Strait. This section has not been studied often, and the situation in that part of the ocean is rather stable. However, the expert added, the Floating University is both a scientific and educational project, and thus those works were very important for students.

In search for new antibiotics

This year’s expedition has a large block of microbiological studies. The expedition participants collected water and biological samples, in which scientists will look for bacteriophages (bacterial viruses). Bacteriophages from the circumpolar regions are most likely to be included into drugs to treat nosocomial infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. In addition, the scientists were looking for new, previously uncultivated bacteria. Microorganisms from the Arctic deserts can be a source of new antibiotics, as well as various useful enzymes for food and cosmetics industries.

Nadezhda Sachivkina of the Russian University of People’s Friendship had a specific goal for the expedition: to find colored snow. The color, most often red or pink, is given to it by the Chlamydomonas nivalis algae. The expedition was lucky to see snow of the kind in the Ivanov Bay. "Hopefully, we will extract substances that will have antibacterial and antifungal properties - to work against bacteria and against fungi," she said. "We will compare their activity with standard drugs. They may be very weak, or vice versa - very strong. Or they may not have a particularly strong effect on bacteria and fungi, though when added to well-known chemical elements, antimicrobials, they may boost their potential."

According to the expert, the search for such "additives" or supplements to existing antibiotics, that can restore or increase their effectiveness, is very promising. The thing is that development and launch of a new antibiotic costs about $1.5-2 billion, while bacteria can develop resistance to it in a matter of months.

From history to modern times

The expedition leader pointed to the historical and cultural heritage on the Novaya Zemlya. In the Russkaya Bay and Murmanets Bay, specialists of the Russian Arctic National Park for the first time described the Pomors’ camps, and the expedition’s key event was the evacuation of an old Pomor vessel from the Oransky Islands, which experts had failed to do for a few years. The vessel will be studied in Arkhangelsk. In the Ledyanaya Bukhta (Ice Haven), the expedition participants were unable to examine Willem Barents’ winter house’s remains - right now in that part live Arctic bears, and approaching them was forbidden.

A marine waste team, led by Alexandra Ershova of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University, will analyze data on how plastics spread along the north of Novaya Zemlya. Prior to the expedition, scientists assumed that there will be less plastic waste on the archipelago’s Kara Sea side than on the Barents Sea side. However, for example, in the Murmanents Bay the expedition members have collected a record amount of waste - more than 3,000 items.

Alexander Gordeychik, a student of the Northern Arctic Federal University, has successfully tested a robot that can be used for research and for waste collection on beaches.

Educational program

The Arctic Floating University is largely an educational project. During the voyage, researchers gave lectures on microbiology, the history of Arctic exploration, urban studies, meteorology, climate studies and many other areas. According to Oleg Minchuk, the expedition leader’s deputy for educational programs, the emphasis has been on multidisciplinarity. "The students have worked both within and outside their training areas. This is a big advantage of the floating university," he noted. "Almost everyone has practiced collecting marine waste, or observed it in the sea. During the voyage, they recorded birds and marine mammals. This time we did not have zoology students, but everyone was able to act as such for a while. What they’ve positively obtained is the love for the Arctic, and a deeper understanding of that territory."

The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University (NAFU) and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Sevhydromet). This year, the project is ten years old. The partners in 2022 are the Russian Geographical Society, the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, VTB, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel, Rosneft, and the Arkhangelsk Region’s government.