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Two civilian scientific vessel “Academician Mstislav Keldysh” and “Atlantis” – plus two hydrographic ships of the Russian Navy – “Admiral Vladimir” and “Marshal Gelovani” – has spent almost two years if you add up the forwarding time of four ships off the coast of Antarctica and the southern ocean, when it was summer, and we in the Northern hemisphere late fall, winter and early spring.

Two expeditions ended successfully. The team’s third on Board the “Admiral Vladimir”, waiting in Kronstadt on June 8. “Marshal Gelovani” with the crew of the Pacific fleet and a group of researchers of the Russian geographical society is still on route to southern latitudes.

Detailed reports – scientific and technical – ahead. But this information gives a chance to revive the hope that Russia had not lost their capabilities in the World ocean. And hearing about the collapse of the scientific fleet (“Covered ninth wave” – “RG”, 12.05.2020 g.) were greatly exaggerated.

surprised, eh? For example, an iceberg the size of 87 to 26 miles, discovered by a team of “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh”. If you count to multiply, so twice more than the area of the current Moscow.

And how many revelations at the bottom! During the expedition the “Keldysh”, which lasted 160 days and was divided into four stages, a replacement team of scientists and specialists in different fields, oceanographers, hydrologists, glaciologists, marine biologists have spent hundreds of measurements, observations, experiments, including sampling. Assembled a collection of fauna, of which 12 550 benthic animals of 350 species.

the participants of the expedition “Antarctica 2019/2020”, organized by all-Russian research Institute of fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) aboard the fisheries research vessel “Atlantis, came to a no less important revelation. Contrary to the frightening predictions were that the resources of the Antarctic krill near the Antarctic Peninsula and South Orkney Islands is now higher than it was 17 years ago, when Russian scientists last assessed the biomass in the World’s oceans.

According to the head of Rosrybolovstvo Ilya Shestakov, the current 172-day trip to “Atlantis” marked “the resumption of domestic field investigations of krill, the main fishing resource of the southern ocean”. Such studies, we note, were not executed by Russia in 2002.

a Joint expedition of the Navy and the RGS on Board survey vessel “Admiral Vladimir”, unlike the first two, the stocks of krill off the coast of Antarctica have not been evaluated, but found, studied and applied to their own work card a lot of surface and submarine “deviations” – in the depths, Straits, coast line, which do not coincide with the officially current navigation maps. For example, in the Drake passage, which was crossed three times, found previously unknown, raising a perfect circle, rise 300-500 meters from the main elevation.

In the same flight together with the hydrographic ship “Marshal Gelovani” studies have been conducted and measurements at the design point magnetic South pole of the Earth. The obtained results were submitted to analysis in the relevant scientific communities. Such studies Hydrographic service of the Navy performed the last time on the same “Admiral Vladimir” in 1983. But now, after 37 years, the ship did not disappoint: a total of 845 completed 33 miles, while I had 36 times to cross the Antarctic circle: 18 times in the southern direction and the same in the North.

the team “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh”, which is located in the operational management of the Institute of Oceanology P. p. Shirshov of RAS, their reason for pride. This time on Board the ship worked 129 scientists from ten institutes and research centers of Russia, including Moscow, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk, Sevastopol, Vladivostok. Experts have studied the structure and intensity of water exchange in the Antarctic between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, biodiversity and structure of marine ecosystems in the unexplored regions of the Weddell sea, underwater elevations of the South Scotia ridge and Drake passage.

during the expedition, collected and processed data on the structure of water and currents of the southern ocean. Mesoscale survey conducted in the Powell basin is the Northern part of the Weddell sea. And in the Western part, as already mentioned, discovered a huge iceberg. For the first time in the studied area the obtained characteristics of the abundance and biomass of bottom living organisms according to the results of trawl catches and described the trophic structure of communities.

In the home port of Kaliningrad “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” has returned on may 8, but forwarding all materials (samples, cargo, equipment) were left on the ship before the end of the period of isolation.

“Admiral Vladimir”, you might avoid this procedure if you are able to maintain the quarantine on the way back and will not enter in the intermediate ports. His expedition program was developed with the participation of the research group of the RGS, which includes the specialists of Lomonosov Moscow state University, Roshydromet, Russian Academy of Sciences and Article. And the navigation route largely repeated the path of pioneers of Antarctica Russian navigators Bellingshausen and Lazarev.

Starting in December 2019 from Kronstadt, “Admiral Vladimir” has passed through the Baltic and the North sea, crossed the Atlantic ocean and has conducted research off the coast of Antarctica. What exactly were you doing? Studied the topography of the sea bottom, and measured one and a half times more than the planned – 13 972 kilometers instead of the planned 8.7 million. Gathered comprehensive information to be released navigation map of the Bellingshausen sea in the Western part of Antarctica.

As the Navy commander Nikolay Evmenov ��school until the completion of the expedition, a combined team of military and civilian experts were able to clarify the position of the island of Peter the First in the Antarctic – it was three miles to the North than on the map in 1994. In addition, the maps will have to fix the location of the coastline of the Land of Alexander I island and Rothschild.

– We have studied in detail the Bellingshausen sea, – said the head of the expedition, the Deputy head of Department of navigation and Oceanography Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation Oleg Osipov. – In the vicinity of Land of Alexander I, the largest island of Antarctica, and the Gulf Bellingshausen discovered a very large cavity – as many as 800 metres, while the surrounding depths there are, on average, about 200 meters. Such a phenomenon off the coast – a rarity. After processing the collected information will be re-released navigation map of this area.

On the route, as planned, “Admiral Vladimir” has worked in tandem with hydrographic survey vessel Pacific fleet “Marshal Gelovani”. On the eve of Victory Day the specialists of the Pacific fleet has completed execution of complex Oceanographic works in the area of the Islands of Papua New Guinea, including produced 1170 linear kilometers of detailed imagery of the seafloor relief, made two hydrological stations and associated meteorological observations.

And the whole expedition “Marshal Gelovani” will last more than three months. It is supported by the Russian Geographical Society, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica and the 250th anniversary of the birth of Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern.

Scheduled for 2-6 June 2020 in Lisbon the Second UN conference on the ocean because of the pandemic coronavirus transferred by decision of the UN General Assembly for an indefinite period. The forum is organized by the government of Kenya and Portugal – received the time out to remind us all: the ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is the biggest biosphere of our planet, it is home to 80 percent of all living organisms in the world. And the ocean provides half of our oxygen demands and absorbs a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions. It is not only “lungs of the planet”, but also the largest carbon sink is a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.