ARKHANGELSK, May 26. /TASS/. The first comprehensive expedition, dubbed North - Territory of Discoveries, along the Sotka canyon-type river in the Arkhangelsk Region's Pinezhsky Nature Reserve started from Arkhangelsk. Specialists of the Russian Arctic National Park, experts from research centers in Arkhangelsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Yaroslavl Region, as well as cosmonaut, Hero of Russia Ivan Vagner, are taking part in it, a TASS correspondent reports.
The official start was given at the Sokolov Sports School, where the cosmonaut met with young kayaking athletes. The expedition will be on non-motorized watercraft - kayaks. Vagner is experienced in rafting along rivers, including in the Arkhangelsk Region. "I've been studying rivers, and I enjoy experiencing new rivers, interesting ones. I know the most difficult rivers in the Arkhangelsk Region, and this river is not difficult, but it is very beautiful there. It is most important to draw attention to our region, to the nature reserve, to the national park," he told TASS.
The expedition unites 30 participants. The route will run across the reserve, thus camp sites will be organized with fire precautions and in compliance with other environmental legislation requirements. The river's 40 km run through the specially protected natural area. The Sotka is the only canyon-type river in the Arkhangelsk Region. It has a pronounced seasonal water regime, and hydrologists will study it. "Our task is to assess ecological conditions of the river and surrounding areas, maybe to identify some pollutants, if any. Research in such protected areas makes a great contribution to the general awareness and to monitoring of natural sites. We'll sample water, soil, vegetation, and sediments, and we'll take a series of water measurements: turbidity, depth, and velocity," senior researcher at the Hydrology Laboratory of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Geography Maria Sidorova said, adding specialists would use obtained data to develop a program of more in-depth research.
