Tomsk Polytechnic University researchers to leave for maritime expedition in eastern Arctic this autumn
© RIA Novosti. Ramil Sitdikov

Tomsk Polytechnic University researchers to leave for maritime expedition in eastern Arctic this autumn

Researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University together with their Russian and foreign colleagues will leave for a maritime expedition to the eastern Arctic this autumn. They will collect water and sea floor sediment samples to study the concentration of methane, an important greenhouse gas. The expedition plans to leave Arkhangelsk this September or October.

Researchers and postgraduates from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Moscow State University, the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Vinogradsky Institute of Microbiology of the RAS, the Institute of Marine Biology of the RAS' Far Eastern branch, Stockholm University and University of Manchester will take part in the expedition. It will travel aboard the Akademik Keldysh vessel.

The 2018 expedition will continue large-scale research of the Arctic, in particular, the East Siberian Arctic shelf as a greenhouse gas source of international importance. The main theory advanced by researchers is that the degradation and melting of the underwater permafrost result in enormous methane emissions, which affects the climatic system of the entire planet.

During the 2018 expedition, researchers will continue to monitor the methane emission patterns. Most work will be carried out in two areas: the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea.