More than 30 Russian and Vietnamese scientists worked day and night for a month, collecting deep-sea sediment samples on the Vietnamese continental shelf to determine the formation of minerals.
The results of the survey were announced by the research team on November 21 in Hanoi. The survey was carried out on a research ship named Academician MA Lavrientiev of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Far East Branch (FEB RAS), taking place from October 20 to November 21, in the East Sea of Vietnam.
The activity is within the framework of the Vietnam – Russian Federation Marine Research Cooperation Program, co-chaired by the Institute of Earth Sciences (IES – under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) and the Russian Pacific Institute of Oceanography, named after Academician VI Il’ichev (POI FEB RAS).
On the ship, more than 30 scientists from both countries work 24 hours a day. Associate Professor Dr. Renat Shakirov, head of the Russian scientific survey team, described the survey atmosphere as an “endless shift”. “During the day, taking samples. At night, creating geophysical profiles. The joint research team works day and night. So, there is no time to sleep. Sometimes there is no time to eat,” he said.
Associate Professor Dr. Renat Shakirov, head of the Russian scientific survey team, told about the trip of the research ship named Academician MA Lavrientiev. Image: Trong Dat
Mr. Shakirov said that the research team encountered many disadvantages in weather conditions, when strong winds, big waves and storms continuously appeared in the East Sea. However, the Lavrientiev ship never stopped operating. “The ship allows us to maintain safe scientific research capabilities in all weather conditions,” Mr. Shakirov said, and evaluated the survey team of the two countries as “a very professional group with a high spirit of cooperation.”
According to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Anh, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences, the complicated weather caused many times of big waves and strong winds to cover the entire survey area. However, the research teams of the two countries have “flexibly adjusted the plan and ensured absolute safety for the entire journey”. “Thanks to the sense of responsibility and professionalism of the crew and the team of scientists, the survey completed a huge amount of work,” he said.
Dr. Nguyen Trung Thanh, head of the Vietnam survey team, said that in one month, the team completed dozens of measurement lines with a total length of thousands of kilometers, collected 79 sediment samples from a depth of 5 m below the seabed, used to conduct future research and analysis, supplementing the limited field data source on Vietnam’s continental shelf.
The Vietnamese delegation’s research goals focus on clarifying the process of sediment transport and deposition, determining the formation of minerals such as gas hydrates, deep-sea manganese shells, and rare earth elements; Research biological and geochemical cycles in the ocean and ancient climate fluctuations.
Dr. Nguyen Trung Thanh, hopes that the collected sediment samples will help “clarify ancient sea level changes and support the protection of the marine environment”.
Russian and Vietnamese scientists collected deep-sea sediment samples on the continental shelf during a survey by a research ship named Academician MA Lavrientiev. Image: IES
According to the Institute of Earth Sciences, initial results recorded many gas geochemical anomalies and signs of sediment containing methane and light hydrocarbons, along with highly valuable geophysical and oceanographic data. These discoveries are assessed to contribute to supplementing the database on geology and resources of Vietnam’s continental shelf, improving the deep-sea research capacity and international cooperation of the two Academies.
In the preliminary report, Russian scientists also mentioned finding deep-sea mud with characteristics that “do not appear in the North Sea such as the Sea of Japan or the Bering Strait”. Mr. Shakirov assessed that this could be “a new mineral resource”, with unique composition and application potential, that needs to be comprehensively analyzed in the post-survey period.
This is the second survey trip this year between the two Academies. The trip also marked a special milestone, being the 100th survey trip of the Institute of Pacific Geology (under the Russian Academy of Sciences), and was dedicated to the memory of Professor Anatoly Ivanovich Ashirov – who spent more than 40 years researching geology and gas chemistry in Vietnamese waters, contributing to the assessment of oil and gas potential on the continental shelf.