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Voyage to the bottom of the world's deepest lake

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Holy Blood, Holy Grail
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« on: July 30, 2008, 12:12:54 am »

July 27, 2008, 14:17
Voyage to the bottom of the world's deepest lake
The two Russian submersibles which dived to the sea-bed beneath the North Pole last year are now attempting to reach the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia. Mir One and Mir Two will try to measure the maximum depth of the world’s deepest lake.
 
A preliminary dive to test the equipment under water was postponed on Saturday because of bad weather.

Research work on the bottom of the lake is scheduled to begin on July 29. Scientists intend to go as deep as 1,700 metres to study the tectonics of Lake Baikal and to inspect archaeological artefacts. The operation, which will last till mid-September, will also provide data for geological, chemical and biological studies.

Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia is estimated to be 25 million years old. It contains around 23,000 cubic metres of fresh water - about 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water and 90 per cent of Russia’s. The majority of flora and fauna of the lake are unique to the area.

Scientists are still divided about how the lake originated.

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Holy Blood, Holy Grail
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« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2008, 12:15:08 am »

http://www.russiatoday.ru/scitech/news/28083
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Holy Blood, Holy Grail
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« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2008, 12:16:27 am »

July 29, 2008, 22:45
Lake Baikal’s deep secrets revealed
Two Russian submersibles have safely returned to the surface after reaching 1592 metres below the surface of Lake Baikal in Siberia. The Mir 1 and Mir 2 submarines travelled along the seabed of the world’s deepest freshwater lake to collect samples for scientific studies.
 
Expedition leaders have denied earlier reports that the submarines reached 1680 metres below the surface.

Today's dive starts a series of 60 planned in the first phase of the expedition that is to run until mid-September. The second phase that starts later in 2009 will see 100 dives, according to Interfax news agency.

“Regular dives and monitoring the ecological situation around Baikal will help us to get a complete picture of the situation at the lake, compared to 20 years ago. We'll pass this information to the lawmakers and government so they can reach a decision on how best to preserve the lake,” the head of the expedition, Artur Chilingarov said.

The crew plans to take water samples on various depths, explore the fauna of Baikal and its hydrocarbon reserves.

Igor Chestin, the head of WWF Rusia, commented on possible oil exploration as saying: "I think scientists as well as the politicians are enough educated to understand that even if all oil of the planet will be down the lake Baikal, it still will not be worth exploring, because the fresh water is going to be the major resource in the coming decade."

Lake Baikal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It contains more that 20% of the world’s freshwater.

The lake holds over 2,600 various species of animals and plants, two thirds of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. It is around 25 million years old.

Mihkail Flint from the Russian Academy of Scientists told RT the main aim of the current expedition is to find out what kind of mechanisms create such a unique ecosystem.

The manned vehicles have already set records when they reached the North Pole sea bed last year.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/scitech/news/28191
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