Russian PM starts deepwater descent on Lake Baikal
IRKUTSK. August 1. KAZINFORM. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has begun a descent to the depth of 1,400 meters in the waters of Lake Baikal; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
He is descending there in the Mir deepwater research capsule, with the aid of which Russian scientists study the floor of the world's deepest natural freshwater reservoir.
The mission is expected to last three hours, the descent itself will take about an hour. After that the capsule will move along the Obruchev fault (a fault is a fracture in the earth crust accompanied by a displacement of one side of the fracture with respect to the other side) and will then ascend to the surface.
Expeditions on the Mirs on the Baikal this year started a month and a half ago and the researchers have performed 41 descents over this period of time.
Experts claim the reserves of methane there may stand at around a trillion cubic meters. This is almost the same amount as the reserves of the Kovytka gas condensate field in Eastern Siberia, one of the biggest deposits ever found on the surface of our planet; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.