IRKUTSK, June 10 (RIA Novosti) - An expedition to explore the depths of East Siberia's Lake Baikal, resuming on June 15, is not aimed at finding artifacts, but learning more about the world's largest freshwater body, the lake preservation fund said on Wednesday.
Two mini-subs conducted 52 dives last summer, also searching for gold taken by the White Army's Admiral Alexander Kolchak before he fled from the Bolsheviks across the lake in the winter of 1919-1920. No artifacts except for boxes of ammunition dating back to the 1920s have been discovered.
"The expedition does not aim to find the maximum depth of the lake or search for archaeological artifacts," the fund said in a statement. "But if new data on the issues is discovered during the planned dives, it will undoubtedly be made public."
The second phase of the expedition will focus on monitoring the lake's ecosystem, studying its flora and fauna, hydrothermal activity, and mud volcanoes on its floor. Scientists are also seeking more precise data on tectonic processes under lake's bed, the fund said.
During the Mir-1 and Mir-2 minisub dives last summer, a number of significant scientific discoveries were made. Notably, researchers took samples of oil that seeps through cracks in the lake's bedrock and is digested by the lake's organisms.
Many questions still remain unanswered, including the origins of the lake, believed to be 25 million years old, and the unique organisms that live in it.
The first dives this summer will take place in the southern part of Baikal. In July, dives are planned in the center of the lake, and the expedition will move on northward in August, the fund said.
The second stage of a $7.5-mln project envisions over 100 deep-water dives this year, a Russian government official said last month.
