A SOURCE FOR THE NEW CENTURY

How the Arctic was developed

A Unique Book Created in St.Petersburg

Valentin Moisseenko,
Russian Academy of Science,
Department for the Far East,
Chairman of the Amur Scientific Centre,
Vitaly Stepanov,
professor

        This is a masterfully edited book published in the early 2000 by a group of authors headed by academicians I.S.Gramberg and N.P.Lavrov and D.A.Dodin, a newly elected member - correspondant of the Russian Academy of Science. It produces a strong impression by setting out clearly the major economic goals for the development of the Arctic Regions and through the intensity of factual materials. It sums up the main results of the exploration of the Russian Arctic, discloses its abundance in mineral resources and points the way for the development of the region in the third millenium.
        The first two chapters of the book are devoted to the history of the discovery, the exploration and exploitation of the Russian Arctic as well as to the basic problems of living in the region, which occupies a good half of the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The history of the development of the Arctic Regions covers the period from ancient times until the end of the XX-th century and is described in a thorough, exciting and scientifically accurate manner. In the Arctic Regions are found the world's largest deposits of nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, apatite, oil, gas, diamonds, tin, rare metals and rare-earth elements, polymetals and manganese, as well as large deposits of gold, coal, graphite, tungsten, mercury, Iceland spar and fluorite. The prospects of oil and gas bearings are tentatively estimated at 90 billion tons, which makes Russia the world's leader in hydrocarbon fuel resources. However, the authors in all fairness point out that the development of the Arctic requires the coordination of efforts of different state structures, including the Russian Academy of Science and many ministries. It is obvious that the government has to work out a comprehensive plan for the further exploration and exploitation of the Arctic Regions.
        The following five chapters describe in detail the borders of the Arctic Regions from the authors' point of view, the terrain, the morphostructure of the area, its geological structure and natural resources. The material is presented in a contemporary and highly scientific level with beautiful full colour, which make it possible to inform the reader about the balance of ecology and diversity of nature, its geological structure and the enormous importance of the natural resources of the Arctic Regions for Russia. The main ore bearing provinces containing large and unique deposits of copper, nickel, tin, platinum, gold, silver, diamonds, rare metals and rare-earth elements are the Kolskaya, Kanino-Timanskaya, Taimyro-Norilskaya, Anabarskaya, Yakutskaya and Yano-Chukotskaya provinces. A number of new potentially promising ore bearing provinces have been discovered recently. It is justified that the future of the oil and gas industries belongs to the Arctic shelf, which is a gigantic oil and gas bearing super reservoir.
        A significant part of the book, contained in its final chapters, is devoted to the ecological vulnerability of the Arctic and to the culture of reclamation of its natural resources, which testifies to the fond attitude of the authors to the exploited region. The main issue is that for many years the de-resourcing of the Arctic was exploitative. Suffice it to remember the nuclear launching range on Novaya Zemlya, atomic waste burial grounds, the waste disposal of large metallurgic works polluting the air with millions of tons of sulphur dioxides and other noxious elements, as well as the outpouring of oil when exploiting oil and gas deposits. Therefore, the measures suggested for the ecologically safe exploitation of the natural resources of the Arctic Regions, are vitally important.
        In conclusion, we highly recommend this newly published book that, despite its brevity, will be a unique and valuable manual for many Arctic explorers both in our country and abroad.

City of Blagoveschensk