A Russian vessel set off for the Atlantic to study microearthquakes and the structure of the ocean floor.

      An expedition led by Senior Research Fellow Dmitry Ilyinsky will begin in the Barents Sea. There, specialists will carry out geological exploration and test new equipment for searching for oil and gas on the continental shelf. This was reported by the Stoit znat’ portal, citing the press service of the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

      After that the vessel will head to the Azores, where scientists will study microearthquakes and the structure of the rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. All work will be accompanied by seismic-acoustic profiling and magnetic surveying, which will provide a more complete picture of the processes occurring in the ocean’s interior.

      The expedition involves staff from several RAS research institutes, including the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry and the Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation.

      In addition, the expedition is part of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Floating University” program. Three students — winners of a competitive selection — are taking part, representing Dubna University, the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (MPEI), and the Russian State Geological Prospecting University.