"Scientists from the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum-Gas Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the RAS are developing a project of deployment a drifting station on one of them [ice floes] to conduct exploration with the use of a unique geophysical method… The scientists proposed to use for research of the Arctic region an unusual electromagnetic method: exploration with the use of vertical currents," the Science in Siberia publication said.
According to the edition, the technology is based on the use of circular electric dipole, allowing to detect geological anomalies, and it has already been tested to look for hydrocarbons below the surface.
The publication added that the station would be used to explore the region for oil, as well as to explore the shelf plate to specify the issue of boundaries between the states there.
Russia has been stepping up its military, trade and exploration activities in the Arctic region. It has been building transport and energy production infrastructure, as well as installing military facilities and developing the Northern Sea Route linking Europe to Asia.
The importance of the Arctic region has been increasing in recent years as the melting of the region’s sea ice has opened the possibility for further exploration of petroleum reserves in the area, as well as for navigation through the Northern Sea Route.
