#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) presented the results of the world’s first large-scale study of life in the waters of the Arctic ocean, taking into account changes in depth.
The Russian scientists’ analysis for the first time covered the entire Arctic ocean, affecting the depth range from 14 to 5416 meters. The scientific work was based both on the data collected by the Russian Academy of Sciences at about 150 stations, and on a significant amount of published information from other researchers.
One of the project’s key objectives was to determine the upper and lower limits of the species distribution in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists have stated that the species richness increases and peaks at depths of 100 to 600 meters and then gradually decreases with depth. The revealed patterns of the vertical distribution of life turned out to be universal for the entire basin of the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to serious scientific value, the study also has a certain applied value. More accurate ideas about the distribution of life in the depths of the Arctic ocean will be required to assess human economic activity in the Arctic waters. For example, when auditing environmental risks associated with the Northern Sea Route operation, the shelf development, the deep-water pipelines construction, and fishing.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: Olga Alexandrova and Nikolay Shchipko
