MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian scientists using two mini-submarines to research Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, will alternate using the craft to spend more time underwater, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
"In order to collect scientific information on underwater life, more time is needed underwater," the expedition spokesman said.
The researchers will focus on monitoring the East Siberian lake's ecosystem and studying its flora and fauna, and hydrothermal and volcanic activity, as well as seeking more precise data on tectonic processes under the lake.
According to the spokesman, the decision to change the working schedules of the two mini-subs, which were diving at the same time, was made in order to improve the effectiveness of the research and to increase the number of hours scientists spend underwater.
The submarines have been diving together for periods of two or three hours, but by alternating dives they can increase the time spent underwater by researchers to up to 6 hours.
Each mini-sub is manned with a captain and two limnologists, specialists in freshwater bodies and their ecosystems.
Russian mini-subs conducted 52 dives last summer to study the lake's unique ecosystem and visited the deepest point of the lake, near the center off the island of Olkhon, with a depth of some 1,600 meters.
During last year's dives, a number of significant scientific discoveries were made. Notably, researchers took samples of oil that seeps through cracks in the lake's bedrock and is digested by lake organisms.
Many questions still remain unanswered, including the origins of the lake, believed to be 25 million years old, and the unique organisms that live in it.
The first dives this summer are taking place in the southern part of Baikal. In July, dives are planned in the center of the lake, and the expedition will move on to the north in August.
The second stage of the $7.5 million Baikal research project envisions over 100 deep-water dives this year, a Russian government official said last month.
