MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) conducted for the first time a large-scale test of seismic exploration technology. Scientists assessed options for major earthquakes on the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the expedition's leader Alexey Sobisevich told TASS.

Surface manifestations of a supposedly strong earthquake were detected on the archipelago's Alexandra Land Island in 2021, he told TASS.

"The researchers have conducted aerial photography of Cape Melekhov, analyzed digital terrain models and orthoimages. By using these materials, they have confirmed the assumptions as correct," he said.

This year, the expedition group continued field research to verify the past crustal fluctuations' scales, to study the archipelago's seismic activities and to assess the immediate prospects for the development of the seismic process.

About the research process

"This time, the work was both on land and on the ice surface. It was the first large-scale test of seismic exploration technology in real conditions," the scientist explained.

Three seismic profiles were laid across Cape Dvoynoy, he continued. Obtained data will be processed, and the scientists will confirm whether they really were able to determine the seismic fault structures from the ice surface.

"In geophysical terms, this year's research on the Alexandra Land Island will be final. We will publish a scientific article about earthquakes, their nature and factors influencing their development," he said.

The study was conducted at the first stage of a comprehensive expedition to the Arctic's Alexandra Land Island, organized by the Russian Geographical Society. Other studies, in addition to seismology, were in another five scientific areas, RGS's representative Natalia Belyakova told TASS.