On October 26, 2017 at 22.30 the scientific expeditionary vessel "Akademik Fedorov" got off on its 42nd Antarctic cruise. There are eight employees of PMGE on board - participants of the 63rd Russian Antarctic Expedition, the head of the detachment is S. R. Borzenkov. A month later, in the port of Cape Town (South Africa), they will be joined by eight geologists and geophysicists under the leadership of the Deputy Chief of the seasonal 63rd RAE for geological and geophysical research D. M. Vorobyov. In the first days of January 2018 they will start work in the area of the oldest Russian Antarctic station - Mirny Observatory. The researches planned in this season are a continuation of the work begun in the previous 62nd RAE.
The program of work includes three
areas: aerogeophysical, geological and environmental. Aerogeophysical works will
be conducted from the aircraft An-2 board and include aeromagnetic survey and
radar profiling. With the help of these methods, information will be obtained on
the deep structure and underland relief in an area of 15,000 km2, completely
enclosed by the ice dome of Antarctica.
Geological investigations will be carried out in the western part of the Bunger Oasis - an ice-free area of more than 200 km2, located 300 km east of Mirny station. It is planned to study the material composition of the pre-Cambrian age crystalline rocks coming out here, their geological position, the traces of the ancient tectonic processes manifested in them, and the metamorphic evolution of the rocks. Soft deposits of Cenozoic age widely represented in the Bunger Oasis will also be studied.
Environmental activities will be concеntrated in the Bunger Oasis and conducted to minimize the impact on the Antarctic environment. In addition, water and soil samples will be taken in the vicinity of the field base, in order to control the contamination of the territory. The peculiarity of this expedition is a very short period of field work, which takes only one month. Return of the scientific expeditionary vessel "Akademik Fedorov" in St. Petersburg is scheduled for April 07, 2018.
D. M. Vorobyov