Floating University’s expedition to study spread of plastics in Arctic

MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Students and postgraduates jointly with leading scientists under the Floating University of the Academy of Sciences’ Shirshov Institute of Oceanology will study the spread of plastics and the climate changes in the Arctic, press service of the Year of Science and Technologies in Russia said. The fourth season will continue from August 6 through to September 5, 2021. More than 50 students and young scientists will join an expedition to the Kara Sea onboard the Akademik Ioffe scientific-research vessel. "They will study a wide range of physical, biological and geochemical processes in the Russian Arctic," the press release reads. "In particular, they will study the spread of plastic pollution in the Arctic, the transformation of the Ob and Yenisei runoffs, as well as the inflow of warm Atlantic waters into the northern part of the Kara Sea, which presumably contributes to the climate warming in the Arctic." The main studies, the press service added, will be held in various areas of the Kara Sea. Eight teams will be working onboard the ship in hydro-physics, hydrochemistry, hydrobiology, plastic pollution, meteorology, wind waves, remote sensing and seismic acoustics. The project is implemented with the support of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the framework of the Year of Science and Technology announced in 2021. The project is expected to help students and postgraduates to conduct independent scientific research, as well as to create conditions for development of new collaborations in the field of ocean studies. Read more