Russian oceanologists have started collecting data in the deepest section of Shokalsky Strait linking the Kara and Laptev seas. The results of the research are needed in order to be able to give a description of warm Atlantic waters entering deep Arctic Ocean trenches.

“Oceanologists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have started collecting data in the deepest part of Shokalsky Strait in the Arctic region. For this purpose, an automatic buoy station has been placed at a depth of 350 meters. It will monitor the environment and conduct oceanographic research,” said the press service of the Institute which is located in St. Petersburg.

The Institute’s sources explained that the station has equipment for measuring water temperatures and salinity levels at five horizons, as well as an acoustic current profiler. The researchers will therefore be able to collect data and discover the state of water masses in Shokalsky Strait and their dynamics continuously for the next 12 months. It took eight hours to install the station.

“Warm Atlantic waters flow inside deep trenches, a distinguishing feature of Shokalsky Strait, and polar researchers are interested in precisely these currents,” the press release noted.