ARKHANGELSK, May 5. /TASS/. Participants in the Arctic Floating University - 2023 for the first time will use a submersible to observe the underwater environment and conduct hydroacoustic studies, the expedition's deputy leader Anna Trofimova told TASS.
The organizers have put together a list of participants and a scientific program.
"This year, the Severodvinsk branch of the Northern Arctic Federal University joins the expedition. We will have two researchers: one will study using remote-controlled uninhabited underwater vehicles in the Arctic. It is a Mir-type submersible, though uninhabited, which will go down to see what's floating there under the water. Such studies during the Floating University voyage will be conducted for the first time. Also, for the first time, the expedition participants will conduct hydroacoustic studies," she said.
The other researcher from the Severodvinsk branch will study electric drive parameters of the Professor Molchanov scientific/research vessel, which the expedition will use.
This year, the project organizers have received more than 150 applications from researchers and students. The team of participants will feature 55 people, representing 16 scientific and educational organizations from Arkhangelsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov and Norilsk. "We also have our long-term participants, such as the Moscow State University, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the Northern State Medical University, and others. We have also institutions, from where specialists will take part in the Floating University for the first time, for example, the St. Petersburg State Maritime University," she continued.
The upcoming expedition will also feature foreign participants. So far, they represent Moldova, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Foreigners last time participated in the expedition in 2019.
The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University and the Northern Branch for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The expeditions continue since 2012.
University's new direction
The Floating University's another new direction is to analyze how space weather factors influence small spacecraft in the circumpolar areas of the low Earth orbit. "Installed antennas will catch signals from satellites," the scientist explained. The expedition will have a large block, dubbed technical, to conduct research related to space, underwater noise and ship features.
The expedition will pay special attention to hydrological regimes of the White, Barents and Kara Seas, and will conduct pollution studies. The participants will observe litter at sea, on the coast, will analyze in the Arctic seas microplastics - that is, plastic particles of 5 mm and even smaller. Microplastics get accumulated in the environment in large quantities, especially in aquatic ecosystems, and only recently scientists have started studying its effect on the body. When ashore, specialists will take soil samples to test them for heavy metals.
The expedition will conduct round-the-clock monitoring of marine mammals and birds and will count them. Another area is to study plankton in the sea and flora on Arctic islands. This year, scientists will focus on the so-called adventitious flora. Unlike the aborigines, those are plants alien to the territory, which got there as a result of human activities or by any natural agents. Among the Arctic bacteria, the scientists will be looking for those that can destroy cellulose.
Throughout the voyage, specialists will analyze how the participants get adapted to the high-latitude expedition, including their psychological conditions.
The voyage's purposes are both scientific and educational. Researchers will deliver lectures. The lecture cycle will begin remotely well before going to sea. Future polar explorers will learn about the Arctic, about how to behave in high latitudes and at sea. "Special attention will be paid to safety on the ship, during going ashore, and to how to behave when meeting polar bears," the expedition's deputy leader said.
Route and terms
The Professor Molchanov is scheduled to depart from Arkhangelsk on June 23. The route would be Arkhangelsk - the Kolguev Island - the Vaygach Island - Russkaya Gavan (Novaya Zemlya) - the Oranskiye Islands - Cape Zhelaniya (Novaya Zemlya) - Ledyanaya Gavan (Novaya Zemlya) - the Sosnovets Island - Arkhangelsk. The expedition is planned to wrap up on July 14. "The route's two must-go islands are the Vaygach and the Kolguev, as we will have participants, who plan to work with the indigenous peoples living there," she continued. "If we manage, if the ice conditions allow, we plan to get to Franz Josef Land, at least to the islands in its southern part."
It will be the project's 16th expedition. In 2023, the Floating University plans another expedition onboard the Mikhail Somov scientific/research vessel, which is due to depart not from Arkhangelsk, but from Dikson after mid-summer.
The project's partners and sponsors are VTB, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel, the Arkhangelsk Region's government, the Russian Geographical Society, and the Russian Arctic National Park.