Experts of the Karpinsky Institute returned from the scientific expedition in the Baltic Sea

In June this year, experts from the Karpinsky Institute‘s Centre of Marine Geology together with the staff from f the Atlantic Department of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences undertook a joint expedition to study the Baltic Sea.

The expedition is organised every year to obtain new data on the state and dynamics of natural complexes and seabed landscapes, as well as to monitor the ecosystem of this marine area.

This year the studies were carried out on the RV Akademik Boris Petrov in the central part of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. The expedition was aimed at hydrophysical, hydrochemical, microbiological, geophysical and geological studies.

Experts from the Karpinsky Institute’s Centre of Marine Geology were responsible for geophysical and geological studies in the area of gas-saturated, intensively methanogenic muds. Specialised sampling was carried out to determine the concentration of methane and its source, as well as geochemical and lithological sampling.

All studies were completed to the planned volumes. Further analysis of geophysical results will make it possible to determine the thickness of the gas-saturated sediments in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. Meanwhile, our expedition has returned safely home and is beginning the laboratory investigation of the data obtained.