16 July. We start a countdown or from dawn till dusk
Today was the first day devoted entirely to the bottom sampling. Seven gravity cores and fifty eight samples of hydrocarbon gases were collected.
Before the bottom sampling started, this morning Kudaev Artur and Sakhigbareev Ruslan have come through the dedication to marine geologists, they were busy with arranging of the instruments for forthcoming work.
Today we worked in Elovskiy and Gloustnoye areas. We faced unexpected difficulties with the Irkutskaya structure in Elovskiy area - the first core was empty, the second one recovered just small amount of the sediment. But such an occasion could not dishearten us.
The work in geochemical laboratory was in full swing. One of the components of the geochemical work onboard is to shake jars with samples - it is necessary to disintegrate the gas-bearing sediments for further gas extraction. This process takes a lot of time that is why every concerned person tries to modify the process even until the automation. The most interesting idea belongs to Artur Kudaev, he has suggested putting the jars on working washer. But our experience says that manual shaking is more effective.
To tell the truth I didn’t like the sediment recovery of this day. It was hard to work with. I think that many people from geochemical team are agree with this.
The lecture of Oleg Khlystov was at the end of the day. He imparted with us the story of an origin of the Baikal and history of its evolution.
The sun set down but our work will be continued. See you tomorrow!
Photos: Svetlana Bubnove, Artur Kudaev