Research News
Together with Dr Hanno Meyer (middle), Vladimir Putin bored into the permafrost ground to examine a probe of permafrost ice. Photo: Thomas Opel/AWI
More information:
Putin Supports Permafrost Research
Nearly a quarter of the land area on Earth is covered by permanently frozen ground thawing only in summer and only on the surface. Permafrost is most prevalent in Russia and in Central Northern Siberia the ground can be frozen up to 1,500 metres in depth. Permafrost stores enormous amounts of methane, which are released when the ground thaws and can further fuel global warming.
In order to investigate these processes, the AWI operates the German-Russian Samoylov Research Station in the Lena Delta in Northern Siberia. During his visit to the Samoylov Station this summer, Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was so impressed by the work done there, that he addressed the Duma to grant funds of several millions towards building a modern station. "For twenty years, we maintain a close friendship with our Russian colleagues and I am glad we are perceived as a reliable partner in Russia", says Prof. Dr Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten, Head of the AWI Research Unit Potsdam. The results of the last "Expedition Lena 2010" are still being evaluated but one thing is certain already: 56 centimetres thawing depth in summer – never before did the ground thaw that deeply during the ten years the scientists have been conducting measurements at the site.
