Arctic Floating University expedition on Mikhail Somov icebreaker returns to Arkhangelsk

ARKHANGELSK, July 5. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University onboard the Mikhail Somov icebreaker finished its expedition to the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. The expedition’s leader Alexander Saburov told TASS despite thick fogs in most parts of the route, the participants managed to carry out all the planned tests. "On July 1, the Arctic Floating University onboard the Mikhail Somov scientific-research vessel completed the 2021 expedition and returned to Arkhangelsk," he said. "Over 21 days, the icebreaker was sailing along the route: Arkhangelsk - Malyye Karmakuly - Cape Zhelaniya - the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago - the oceanographic incision Cape Zhelaniya - the Salm Island. Further on, we went to the Franz Josef Land, where we went ashore on the islands Hooker, Heiss and Bell, and then returned to Arkhangelsk. Thick fogs, which were often this time, have not affected the plans, and we have carried out practically all the planned tests". The expedition featured 53 participants, representing Russia’s 15 scientific and educational organizations, and every second participant was a student or a post-graduate student. The studies were in 13 scientific directions. "For the first time, the floating university had such a vast research program," the expedition’s deputy leader on sciences Anna Trofimova said. The floating university’s base has been the Professor Molchanov scientific-expedition vessel, but the Mikhail Somov is much bigger and may sail even through ice fields. Before the expedition began, the team planned to make an oceanography incision - that is to take water samples from a few dozen locations - from the Novaya Zemlya’s northern part to the Salm Island on the Franz Josef Land, but they doubted it would be possible because of a complicated ice situation. "However, we have managed to make the incision; the ice hasn’t hindered us," Saburov said. "We got into a medium ice field but we managed to sail through it safely". They took water samples for chlorophyll-a, bacterial composition, methane and other studies. The incision was completed within 41 hours. This is quite fast, given that its length is about 370 km, and the average depth, from which samples were taken, is about 250 meters. At the same time, they had to stop at each of the 19 stations. During the study, they identified presence of waters from the Atlantic Ocean. They are warmer and more salty than the surrounding water. The scientists will compare the data obtained during the studies with results of previous years to find out how Atlantic waters affect this part of the Arctic. Microorganisms, waste and microplastics An expert of the Kurchatov Institute, Zorigto Namsarayev, pointed to the active process of "Atlantification" in the present global warming, when warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean gets into the Arctic. This process is evident most clearly in the Barents Sea. Microorganisms are the first to react to the warming - they become more active or come from southern regions. "What place they will take, we cannot say," the expert explained. "It is important to realize, how microorganisms in the Arctic react to these changes". The samples will be tested at the Kurchatov Genome Center. "Received information will show to us what microorganisms live in the Arctic, and how they appear there," he added, explaining this study is extremely important, since active bacteria cause outbreaks of diseases. For example, in 2016, there was an outbreak of anthrax on the Yamal, and at about that time Canada reported a mass disease of musk oxen. Specialists of the Experimental Medicine Institute during the voyage began large-scale studies of microorganisms that are brought to the Arctic by migratory birds. "The routes of birds’ seasonal migration and nesting on the Novaya Zemlya and the Franz Josef Land islands include the coasts of the North, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, the Atlantic Ocean up to equatorial Africa. The appearance of infectious diseases pathogens in the Arctic, including bacteria with multiple resistance to antibiotics, is associated with migratory birds," Artemy Goncharov, head of the functional genomics and proteomics of microorganisms laboratory, said. Atlantic waters also carry waste to the Arctic. Head of the laboratory for the study of plastic pollution of the natural environment of Plasticlab, associate professor of RSMU Alexandra Yershova noted - almost all pollutants on the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya islands’ coasts are plastics. Judging by the composition, a significant part of gets to the coast from ships. According to her, the amount of waste is very big for uninhabited islands. For example, more than a thousand fragments of plastic objects were found on a hundred meters of the beach at Cape Zhelaniya in the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. "Colorful pieces of plastic are attractive to birds and mammals, some of them are bitten by birds and arctic foxes. Thus, plastic is involved in the food chain in uninhabited territories," she said. On the Franz Josef Land’s Bell Island, where cleanup was organized for the first time, 100% of collected waste were plastic fragments. During the expedition, experts measured the share of plastics in the sea - results will be available later on. Soils and resistant wood For the first time in history of the floating university, the participants went ashore off helicopters. The Somov managed to sail very close to the Novaya Zemlya’s Cape Zhelaniya, while at the Franz Josef Land Archipelago the ice situation was such that the experts had to fly 40 kilometers to the Hooker and Heiss Islands. "When two teams landed in Tikhaya Bay on the Hooker, all flights were cancelled due to a thick fog. It was likely the explorers would have to stay there overnight, but then a "window" opened, and the expedition safely returned onboard the Somov," the expedition leader said. The Moscow State University’s expert Anna Bobrik studied Arctic soils at all locations, where the expedition went ashore, and made a discovery. "For the first time, it was discovered that the Arctic desert soils, even at the beginning of the growing season, in June, are characterized by a significant outflow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which allows us to assess the contribution of this region to the global greenhouse gas emissions. This is a very interesting result," she said. Specialists of the Northern Arctic Federal University (SAFU) studied the state of cultural heritage sites on the polar islands: buildings, fortifications, a weather station on Cape Zhelaniya and the so-called Eira Lodge on the Bell Island, built by Scotland’s Benjamin Leigh Smith expedition in 1881. This is the world’s oldest wooden building in the high-latitude Arctic. "It is 140 years old, while usually wooden buildings’ service life is 50 years. It’s impossible to ask a bear to shovel away snow or to prop up the house if it bends on a side," Boris Labudin of SAFU said, explaining the building is far from a poor condition. There are some critical aspects, for example, rotten floors. In addition, the scientists investigated the condition of reinforced concrete and reinforcement structures. "The fittings are in an emergency condition," Labudin said. "We have given recommendations to the Russian Arctic [National Park] regarding preservation of cultural heritage objects". Northernmost DJ Set The expedition’s all members have been tested to see, how humans get adapted to sailing in high latitudes. Tests were to study the endothelium vasomotor function, peripheral vascular tone; blood was sampled for various parameters, and saliva - for the level of stress hormones. Experts analyzed the team members’ psycho-emotional states and took electroencephalograms. Results will be available later on, but some travelers have confirmed better conditions. "I have better results, working in the Arctic is good for me - this is what the doc said," Labudin told us, stressing he was the oldest member of the expedition. The Moscow State University student Ivan Makarov, who is known in Moscow as DJ Graphic Violence, on the Heiss Island presented the northernmost DJ set. "As far as I know, the northernmost DJ set has been on the Spitsbergen," he said. "I have been further in the north". He had necessary equipment and made a library of the music, which he thought fit the Arctic most. The set was about 30 minutes long. "On the Somov, I spent two days preparing it - sorting the compositions, making everything beautiful and united," he continued. "I’ve chosen experimental genres: ambient, leftfield, IDM, untypical stories and music, which is not really dancing music". Most taken samples will be processed at institutes and laboratories. In autumn, SAFU will organize a conference, where the expedition participants will present results of their studies. Read more