Russian mini-subs may join search for Atlantis in 2011
TURKA (Russia). July 10. KAZINFORM. 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; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
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; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.