Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007
From: Kathy Crane Kathy.Crane@noaa.gov
Subject: Russia and Arctic Exploration
This is a comment on the recent articles about the dives of the Russian Mir submersibles to the North Pole.
This expedition has been in the making for many years; first as a part of the Explorer's Club activities (headquartered in New York) and later as an outgrowth of both Russian and International private interest in "conquering" or visiting the North Pole seafloor.
Flags have been planted all over the Arctic seafloor... It seems to be something that people like to do.... like climbing Mt. Everest.
For example, one multinational expedition to the Canada Basin in 2002 (partly NOAA funded) left behind the flags of Canada, U.S. China and Japan.. also in international waters. If Russia had been with us on the ship, we would have put that flag down as well.
All marine geologists and international law specialists know that just visiting the seafloor in one small location will not provide enough information to actually go out and claim the territory. The MIRs are actually great submersibles, and provide platforms for a multitude of ocean floor experiments. However, the information needed for an UNCLOS submission, requires seismic exploration to determine the nature of the subjacent crust, the sediment thickness, in addition to high resolution bathymetric data. This information cannot be obtained during a submersible dive.
Dr. Sagalevitch (the head of the MIR team) certainly knows this as well, but I noticed that he was not interviewed. His team is very professional, and has been used by many American agencies to carry out exploration and sampling on the ocean floor. (Yevgeney Chernayev, the pilot of MIR 2 is known as "the Golden Arm" in the submersible world, because of his excellent navigation and sampling skills). The most difficult part of the operation is not diving to the ocean floor, but getting recovered in the ice, hence the need for the escort vessel, Rossiya. So I commend them for their success. I myself have been a Chief Scientist on MIR operations in the Norwegian Greenland Sea and on the Reykjanes Ridge.
What caught my attention was the tendency of the media to pit one country against another. This reality is different.
During the International Polar Year, many nations will be working together in the Arctic. A notable program will be RUSALCA 2008 (Russian-American Longterm Census of the Arctic) where scientists from many Russian institutions and agencies will join with scientists from many U.S. institutions and agencies to carry out exploration and monitoring of Climate Change in the waters shared by our two countries. There are also plans to incorporate the participation of China, Korea and Canada into a larger program.
It is clear that our future as an Arctic nation lies in collaboration with our neighbors, not in extreme nationalism, for no man lives alone on this planet.
Kathleen Crane PhD
Arctic Research, Climate Program Office
U.S. Program Manager, RUSALCA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.