In the area of permafrost

The staff of the Faculty of Ecology of Landscape Architecture visited the Institute of Permafrost named after P.I. Melnikov in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The world's only unique Permafrost Institute has opened its doors to the participants of the Block Seminar of the project "Improving postgraduate education in the field of sustainable agriculture and agrosystems of the future" (SAGRIS).

Among its visitors were employees of our university: Associate Professor of the Department of Chemistry and Plant Protection Yulia Aleksandrovna Bezgina and Assistant Professor of the Department of Ecology and Landscape Construction Muradova Alina Valerievna.

The main directions of scientific activity are the study of the evolution of the permafrost zone under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors, as well as engineering geocryology. The institute has an underground laboratory and a museum. The Federal Cryostorage of Plant Seeds is located on the territory of the Institute.

The history of the Institute begins with the organization in 1941 in Yakutsk on the initiative of the founder of permafrost studies, Professor M.I. Sumgin Research Permafrost Station of the Institute of Permafrost named after V.A. Obruchev of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Moscow). In 1956, the permafrost station was transformed into the North-Eastern branch of the Moscow Institute. In 1960-1961, on the basis of this department, the Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created. It also included the Igarskaya, Anadyr and Aldan research permafrost stations.

At present, the structure of the institute includes 8 scientific subdivisions in Yakutsk, and includes five regional scientific subdivisions. They study the dynamics of permafrost in areas of intensive industrial development of the permafrost zone of Yakutia (Vilyui research permafrost station); alpine cryolithozone of our planet (Kazakhstan high-mountain geocryological laboratory, Almaty); very dynamic permafrost processes occurring in the subarctic regions of the country (Igarskaya geocryological laboratory, Krasnoyarsk Territory); permafrost rocks of the extreme North-East of Eurasia (North-East research permafrost station, Magadan). Comprehensive monitoring scientific research is also carried out at geocryological stations located in various regions of Siberia.

In 1969, the Institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for major successes in the development of national geocryology. In 1995, by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) M.E. Nikolaev Institute was named after its founder and first director, Academician Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov.

A unique attraction of the institute is the baby mammoth Dima. In the XX century, Yamal became a real Klondike for mammoth hunters. However, it started in Magadan, well, this is half a bast shoe on the map, for our country it is not very far. In June 1977, sensational news spread around the world - a six-month-old baby mammoth was found at the Susuman gold mine in Magadan. He was named Dima, after the stream on the banks of which he was found. The scientific name is "Magadan Mammoth". The kid is well preserved, even the trunk survived. By the way, it is most often eaten by predators, so the mammoth's trunk is a very rare find. Judging by the contents of his stomach and by the teeth, he ate his mother's milk. Experts suggested that he lagged behind her and died of hunger. However, no one saw this, because this ancient tragedy happened about 40 thousand years ago.

The participants of the excursion "got acquainted" with Dima and visited the underground laboratory of the Permafrost Institute, which was created to study permafrost in natural conditions. The laboratory is not only a unique scientific structure, but also a historical and cultural object. Its premises are worked out in the sandy sediments of the river. Lena. The upper gallery is at a depth of five meters, the lower one is twelve meters, and the lowest point of the laboratory (the floor in one of the chambers) corresponds to an elevation of 15 meters from the surface.

The participants of the excursion express their sincere gratitude to the researcher of the Institute of Permafrost Science, specialist in the field of regional geocryology, Murzin Yuri Andreyevich for an interesting, informative and fascinating excursion. 

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