During the 66th voyage of the research vessel Akademik Boris Petrov, scientists from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the research supervisor is Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Head of the Department of Geomorphology, Geophysics and Biogeochemistry Sergei Lvovich Nikiforov) identified a number of dangerous natural geological processes and phenomena in the Barents Sea: manifestations of degassing, ice exaration, neotectonic deformations, the activity of intense currents, etc.
The main objectives of the expedition were to study the structural features of the bottom relief and sedimentary section, associated with both the paleogeographic development of the region and the action of modern natural processes.
Scientists focused on studying glacial landforms, such as moraine ridges and glacio-tectonic pairs—specific paired uplifts and depressions formed by the action of a moving glacier. The relative positions of the depression and the rise allow us to estimate the direction of glacial flows—from northeast to southwest. Structures interpreted as tunnel valleys became an additional marker of the glacial history of the southeastern Barents Sea. These are winding channels with channel depths up to 60 meters, characteristic of marginal glaciation zones. The data obtained will help clarify the distribution boundaries and movement directions of regional glacial systems during the Quaternary, which is important for understanding climate change and modeling glacial processes in the Arctic.
"Research on the Barents Sea shelf has revealed widespread gas crater fields (pockmarks), which form under certain conditions where gas emerges from bottom sediments. These formations occur in the relief as isometric craters and chains of elongated depressions at depths exceeding 220 meters, reaching 7 meters in depth and 90 meters in diameter. Smaller pockmarks (up to 1 meter deep) were discovered at depths of 140–160 meters, where they were located in the bottoms and on the sides of ice gouges. Research on bottom features formed by strong bottom currents continued at the site south of Kolguyev Island. As part of this work, hydroacoustic profiles previously completed in 2018–2019 were partially repeated, allowing for the monitoring of changes in the bottom topography under the influence of hydrodynamic processes. The data obtained will help predict the development of natural processes in the study area, which is important for assessing the environmental situation and potential geohazards," noted Roman Ananyev, head of the expedition and senior researcher at the Seismic Stratigraphy Laboratory of the IO RAS.
In addition to staff from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientists from the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow State University, and students from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute (MGRI) participated in the expedition. The research included multibeam echo sounding, seismic profiling, hydrological sounding, and geological sampling. A total of 21 comprehensive research stations were completed during the voyage. The collected geological samples were processed onboard the vessel, and a preliminary interpretation of the obtained data was conducted. Further studies of bottom sediments, planned in the laboratories of the participating institutes, will help refine our understanding of modern sedimentation processes in the region.
