Igor Semiletov and Natalia Shakhova of Arctic Marine Exploration, Russia, have recently completed the first phase of their field work in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, looking at methane escaping from submarine permafrost.
They carried out a 24-day expedition, using a transport caravan, to the Laptev Sea. The main goal was to obtain new data for determining rates of subsea permafrost degradation in order to address the following questions:
- Are changing East Siberian Arctic Shelf thermal conditions causing the permafrost to thaw?
- Do accelerated rates of permafrost degradation lead to the development of taliks (thaw bulb beneath a body of water) that act as CH4 vents to the overlying seawater and potentially to the atmosphere?
Read the full report here: Spring 2014 Laptev Sea Expedition
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- Transport caravan moving to the study area (Photo: I. Semiletov)
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- Winter fieldwork in the Laptev Sea (Photos: I. Semiletov and A. Koshurnikov)
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- The Electromagnetic system towed by all-terrain vehicle (Photo: I. Semiletov)
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- Bird’s eye view of the largest lagoon of the Bykovsky Peninsula (Photo: V. Tumskoy)
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- Winter fieldwork in the Laptev Sea (Photos: I. Semiletov and A. Koshurnikov)
