In the first half of April, the last group of participants from the Antarctic team of the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University returned to the city on the Neva. For the first time since November 2024, the group of scientists who carried out research during the 70th Russian Antarctic Expedition gathered together in full and shared the results of the completed season.
As part of the 70th Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE), eight representatives of the university, under the overall supervision of Alexey Bolshunov, Scientific Director of the Arctic Research Center laboratory, spent the Antarctic summer at two Russian stations — a three-member glaciological drilling team at Vostok Station and a five-member geological and geophysical team at Progress Station. Each team was given clearly defined objectives for the 2024/2025 season by the university’s Rector.
«The glaciological drilling team successfully completed the full scope of its scientific research program. This year, for the first time in the world, we conducted experimental deep-ice drilling using an electromechanical coring drill on a load-bearing cable with a silicone-based liquid used as the borehole fluid. This experience is currently unique. As a result of the experimental drilling, two core samples were extracted from a depth of 3,600 meters, optimal operational drilling parameters were established, and plans were outlined for future work aimed at adapting the existing drilling equipment for use with silicone-based fluids», - said Alexey Bolshunov.
A more detailed analysis of the results obtained will be carried out at the university, with the involvement of leading experts from the Department of Well Drilling and the Department of General and Physical Chemistry, following the arrival in Saint Petersburg of the borehole fluid samples collected during the drilling process.
Simultaneously, fieldwork was conducted to study the physical and mechanical properties of ice, using core samples extracted from deep wells 4G and 5G at Vostok Station. It is worth noting that the cost of one meter of such core from a well drilled by the polar researchers to the subglacial lake exceeds ten million rubles. This is the price of ice specimens that are over a million years old.
«A significant volume of experimental data has been obtained, and we are currently processing it. Studying the properties of ice using destructive and non-destructive methods is essential for developing highly efficient mechanical drilling technologies with minimal energy consumption and maximum speed, as well as for constructing models of glacial stress conditions and monitoring glacier dynamics. In the future, we plan to carry out research directly in the borehole», - explained Sergey Ignatiev, Head of the Department of Descriptive Geometry and Graphics at the Mining University.
The current work is part of a broader project aimed at comprehensive research of Lake Vostok beneath the ice. The first stage of this project involves the construction of a deep access well, in compliance with global environmental safety standards. Unlike the initial wells, the new one is planned to have a larger diameter (200–250 mm), which will allow for the delivery of scientific research equipment to collect water and sediment samples from the lakebed.
For the first time, the Mining University carried out a geological and geophysical research program in Antarctica, conducting comprehensive studies in the Larsemann Hills oasis. This explains the deployment of five specialized university staff members to the Progress Station. Based on their findings, locations were selected for future deep geological and geophysical drilling operations.
«In the final stage of the field season, geological traverses were carried out to determine the nature of magnetic anomalies identified during the scheduled survey, to conduct detailed study and sampling of pegmatite formations of various origins, as well as to perform detailed geophysical investigations and control measurements for confirmation and localization of the anomalies», - noted Dmitry Ushakov, lead engineer of the Arctic Research Center.
«In the final days of the expedition, the part of the geological and geophysical team remaining at Progress Station was engaged in sorting, checking, and cataloguing nearly 600 kilograms of samples collected during the season. This is a painstaking but critically important stage, without which scientific research would simply be impossible», - Ivan Babenko, postgraduate student of the Department of Historical and Dynamic Geology.
Currently, several scenarios for future work in the area of Progress Station during the 71st RAE season are already under consideration. The maximum program will include work ‘both in breadth and in depth.
«Research ‘in breadth’ means conducting a complex of geological surveys on the remote Stornes Peninsula. This area is designated as a specially protected region of Antarctica due to the presence of rare borosilicate minerals. Polar researchers from the Mining University will strive to answer the question of the causes of the formation and concentration of boron mineralization. There are also plans to cover nearby islands with a network of geological traverses, depending on logistical feasibility.
Work ‘in depth’ includes geological support for drilling operations, which will be carried out at locations identified this season in collaboration with geophysicists. Documenting the core with markings of sections for further sampling is labor-intensive and monotonous, but we are eager to begin. It’s an opportunity to work with unique material—one might say exceptional—since in East Antarctica there are no wells in exposed bedrock deeper than the first few dozen meters, and even those were drilled in loose Quaternary deposits. Moreover, the drilling results will help determine the nature of the identified magnetic anomalies and test our own hypotheses», - said Nikita Krikun, lead engineer at the Arctic Research Center.
In addition to the listed objectives, next year the polar geologists plan to conduct detailed specialized studies on the already familiar Broknes Peninsula—carrying out the extraction of oriented samples for paleomagnetic research and preparing oriented thin sections to assess fracturing at the micro-level. This will allow the reconstruction of the region’s geological history spanning more than one billion years!
Geophysicists are also currently working on their plans for the coming year.
«Among the key tasks for the future is the expansion of the area for detailed magnetic surveys in the vicinity of Progress Station, which proved highly effective during the past season. The research results will help forecast the geological structure of the Earth’s crust in areas hidden beneath the ice cover and determine the locations for new wells to be drilled from the glacier.
Before the drilling program begins, ground-penetrating radar studies are planned to detect hidden fractures in the glacier, ensuring the safety of logistical operations and personnel, as well as the optimal placement of the drilling site. Following the drilling, a comprehensive set of geophysical well logging (GIS) activities will be carried out to thoroughly study the physical properties of the geological section penetrated by the wells», - shared Gleb Gorelik, Associate Professor of the Department of Geophysics.
The return journey home took the polar researchers over a month.
«We departed from Vostok Station on February 13 as part of a sled and tracked vehicle caravan, which lasted for 11 days. In the early days of the trek, air temperatures dropped to minus 64 degrees Celsius. In such conditions, the tracks of the tractors would tear, and the journey was repeatedly halted for repairs. During the trip, we worked on preparing materials for reports and scientific papers—an extremely difficult task in a constantly jostling cabin. One of the most vivid moments of the journey was seeing the blueberry-colored night sky again after two months of polar daylight» - recalled Danil Serbin, Assistant of the Department of Drilling.
On February 23, the glacio-drilling team reached the Antarctic coast. From there, they, along with the mining team working at Progress Station, were flown by helicopter to the research vessel "Akademik Fedorov." The journey to the shores of the African continent (Cape Town) took another 36 days. The vessel made intermediate stops near Molodezhnaya Station, Mount Vechernyaya (Belarusian station), and Novolazarevskaya Station. The trip was not without its incidents.
«While crossing the ocean, a small Spanish fishing vessel requested help, and we took aboard a fisherman who had fallen seriously ill to transport him to a hospital in Cape Town. Mutual assistance must always be present in such remote regions as Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, regardless of politics or other factors. On the way to South Africa, our ship detoured to avoid a cyclone, but while passing through the Roaring Forties, we were still caught in a force 7 storm. In such rough seas, it becomes nearly impossible to do anything. But somehow you get used to the difficulties and continue processing your research data. It becomes not only a necessary part of the expedition but also a way to detach yourself from the surrounding environment», - summarized Danil Serbin.
Although all members of the expedition have now safely returned to the walls of their alma mater, their work is far from over. The analysis of the collected materials will lay a solid foundation for future research seasons. In a certain sense, everything is only just beginning.
