TURKA (Russia), July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian submersibles involved in deep-water research in Siberia's Lake Baikal could join an international expedition to search for the ancient mythical island of Atlantis, a local environmental official said on Friday.

The Mir-1 and Mir-2 mini-subs, which carried out 52 dives in Lake Baikal last summer, have recently resumed their research in the world's deepest lake. Research earlier this week discovered evidence that most of Lake Baikal is much younger than the widely accepted age of 25 million years.

"We are planning to start an expedition to search for Atlantis. We will certainly use Mir submersibles during this expedition if they are not involved in other state-sponsored programs then," Mikhail Slipenchuk said.

He added that the search for Atlantis, as well as studies of Lake Baikal, will be aimed at attracting public attention around the world to the urgent issue of oceanography.

Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, which is believed to have sunk into the ocean around 9600 BC.

Atlantis has inspired literature, from science fiction to comic books to films, for centuries. Its name has become a byword for any advanced prehistoric lost civilizations.