Scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have conducted a comprehensive study of the underwater Lomonosov Ridge while stationed at the drifting platform North Pole-42. The ridge, dividing the Eurasian and Amerasian basins of the Arctic Ocean, is not only a significant geological structure but also home to vast reserves of oil and gas.
For the first time, polar researchers have carried out detailed mapping of the deep Atlantic water branch in the southern part of the Lomonosov Ridge during the transitional season. This work provides new insights into the unique oceanographic and topographic features of the region.
The existence of the Lomonosov Ridge was first theorized in the late 1940s by Soviet oceanographers Yakov Gakkel and Vladimir Timofeev, who were researchers at AARI. They based their hypothesis on limited hydrological data showing that water temperatures below 2000 meters were about half a degree cooler in the Eurasian sector compared to the Amerasian sector. This theory was confirmed in 1948 during the high-latitude expeditions Sever (Russian for North) and Sever-2, which conducted depth measurements in the central Arctic basin.
The Lomonosov Ridge (with its highest elevation reaching approximately 800 metres below the ocean surface) serves as a topographic barrier, shaping the direction of deep ocean currents. Warm and saline Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean split into two branches near the southern extensions of the ridge: a shallow branch flows eastward along the continental slope toward the Canadian Basin, while a deep branch turns northward, moving along the Lomonosov Ridge in the Amundsen Basin toward the Fram Strait.
According to the North Pole-42 expedition leader Alexander Ipatov, the drifting ice-resistant platform followed a winding trajectory that remained close to the initial deployment point, allowing for detailed mapping of the deep Atlantic water branch in the southern part of the Lomonosov Ridge—something that had not been achieved previously.
Source: AARI
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