Ukrainian icebreaker “Noosphere” crossed the Arctic Circle for the first time

Since December 11, the Ukrainian icebreaker "Noosphere" has been operating for the first time beyond the Arctic Circle — the Southern Circle. There, the ship provides international oceanographic and geological research.

This was reported by the National Antarctic Science Center.

The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line at 66°33ʼ north or south latitude that marks the boundary of the zones where polar day and polar night are observed for at least one day per year.

The Antarctic station "Akademik Vernadsky" is located in front of the Arctic Circle. It was from there that the "Noosphere" route to the South began — through the Arctic Circle, Margaret Bay on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula to the British Antarctic Station "Rotera" on Adelaide Island.

The icebreakerʼs captain, Andriy Starish, said that the ship had to maneuver between icebergs for more than two hours on the way. This work requires considerable experience and a good understanding of the vesselʼs navigational capabilities.

Along the way, oceanographers searched for marine heat waves, which periodically occur as a result of global warming even in the cold waters of Antarctica. To more accurately search for places of climatic anomalies, they made a cartography of the seabed using acoustic equipment.

Then, using a special CTD probe, scientists measured temperature, salinity, oxygen, acidity levels at 12 points in the Southern Ocean, and also analyzed chemical and biological indicators. The Antarctic Science Center says that the results were quite unexpected, but they promise to tell about them when the research is completed.

Ukrainian and Mexican geologists also used a multicorer, a device that presses tubes into the bottom to collect seabed samples, to take samples of bottom sediments. Their analysis will help us better understand how the climate has changed over the past thousands of years.

In addition to working in the ocean, the scientists visited the British station "Rotera". This is the largest Antarctic station in Great Britain, with up to 100 polar explorers working there in the summer, and 22 in the winter.

The scientists discussed the possibilities of joint research, which they plan to start this season. Now the return journey of "Noosphere" to "Vernadsky", where research will also continue, begins.

• This is the fifth season of the Ukrainian icebreaker "Noosphere", which is set to become a record in terms of the number of research and cooperation with other countries.
• On October 17, it set off for Antarctica from Cape Town (South Africa), where it has been forced to base itself during the full-scale Russian invasion.

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