12th of July. We’re giving answers on your questions!

Today the expedition worked in accordance with the plan: a SSS survey of a deep-water structure Huraj was performed. New acquired data are being processed. There’re a lot of

research issues that require further profound analysis. So today we devote our diary to the answers on common questions.

Before the expedition our most curious young friends were very interested how the life onboard is going on. But now everyone has an opportunity to ask any questions about Class@Baikal-2015 expedition via e-mail or social networks. And here are the answers on some of the questions.

Dasha K. (6 years old): “What about catering onboard? Do you need to catch fish for dinner? Is it possible to get an ice-cream?

Answer: Dear Dasha, the catering is extremely good. The food is tasty, almost as at home. Breakfast, lunch, 5 o’clock tea and dinner. For breakfast we always have porridge, for lunch – soup and for 5 o’clock tea we usually have cakes. But today we got a piece of pizza!! It’s possible to go fishing in free time but there isn’t any. The whole day we spend working and in the evening we’re too tired for fishing. But dear cooks took care of us and filled in the fridge with fish in advance. As for ice-cream, we’re not so lucky as you are! Unfortunately, there is no ice-cream onboard.

Sereja N. (32 years old): “Is there local Lochness monster in Baikal Lake? I can’t imagine such a huge lake without its “hero”.”

Answer: Dear Sereja, the main “hero” of Baikal – the spirit Burhan. According to locals the most important thing you should know about spirits is that you’d better be afraid of them and try to please them (to please Burhan you should “burhanit’”). As soon as you “poburhanil” everything is good – the weather and the acquired data. But if you forgot to please Burhan, be prepared for a storm. You would ask me what is it “burhanit”? To “burhanit” means to fill in the glass with a drink (the stronger the better), dip in a tip of your finger and sparge the liquid in front of you. But the alcohol is forbidden onboard, so to please Burhan is impossible for us. And as the result it’s foggy and windy during the whole day – the idol is angry.

Jenia B. (30 years old): “Why do you have so many gas cylinders onboard?” How many shots can you produce with them?”

Answer: Dear Jenia, gas cylinders convey gas at high pressure to the airgun (seismic source). As soon as gas is pumped into the airgun the inner piston opens up and… boom! Dear Jenia, today we conducted a field-experiment especially for you. We released a dozen of gas cylinders in water and counted the number of shots. The shooting frequency was 1 shot for 5 seconds. Firstly, the pressure of gas compression for one shot was 100 atm. The productivity of 12 gas cylinders and 0.5 l airgun was 410 shots. Not too bad! With 24 gas cylinders we can perform seismic profiling during an hour. Next we tried to shoot with lower pressure – 50 atm. We got 800 shots! In this case we’re able to work more than 2 hours.