Russian expedition aims to go 100 metres deep in Antarctic waters

Kazan (Russia), Nov 27 (IANS/TASS) An expedition to reach a depth of 100 metres in the Antarctic waters, involving divers from the Republic of Tatarstan, was launched in Russia Thursday.

The expedition, organised by the Russian Geographical Society, aims to collect Antarctic water samples at a depth of 100 metres in order to study micro organisms.

This would be another stage in the Cold Pole project to study the far north, Arctic and Antarctic water environment systems and work out methods for diving under extreme conditions, said the press secretary of Russian Geographical Society's Tatarstan organisation, Alina Iskanderova.

The first two stages were devoted to the study of the unique Russian Arctic lakes of Labynkyr and Vorota in Yakutia.

If successful, the expedition would be the first to reach a depth of 100 metres in the Antarctic region. In the region, diving 20 metres is considered to be safe.

--IANS/TASS

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