MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) Floating University UNESCO-MSU (Lomonosov Moscow State University) � research vessel Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov � entered the planned research area in the Barents Sea, where geologists will study the presence of oil and gas in the area, the university's press service said on Tuesday.
On July 18, according to the Russian Ministry of education and Science, Russian scientists and more than 20 students from MSU and other Russian universities, with the ministry's support, started an expedition from the city of Kaliningrad to the northwestern sector of the Barents Sea on the research vessel.
"The research vessel Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov entered the planned research area in the Barents Sea between Franz Josef Land [archipelago] and Novaya Zemlya [archipelago]. MSU geologists will study the prospects for oil and gas potential in this area," the press service said.
According to the university, the time of the journey from Kaliningrad was used by the participants to prepare laboratories, workplaces, set up and test equipment, as well as train students. Every day, lectures on marine geological, geophysical, geochemical, engineering and biological topics were held for the expedition members, forming the basis of comprehensive knowledge for students of various specialties.
Students and teachers of the MSU Geological Faculty aboard the research vessel are engaged in expeditionary work within the framework of the TTR-19 "Learning-Through-Research" project on the Arctic shelf. The purpose of the expedition is to study glacial deposits within the northeastern part of the Barents Sea, determine abnormal concentrations of fluids and organic matter in bottom sediments, study the geomorphological structure of the seabed, develop geological, geophysical and geochemical methods for searching hydrocarbon deposits on the shelf and train young specialists in marine areas for the development of the Arctic.
