Geological studies in the Ampere and Josephine seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean have revealed that both of them were first formed on the oceanic lithosphere as volcanic islands, and later their peaks were "cut off" by erosion, while the mountains themselves sank under water. The research conducted by the Soviet expeditions on Mount Ampere was widely covered in the press. The fact is that underwater photographs of the mountain, which appeared in one of the Soviet popular science magazines, seemed to show the remains of man-made buildings with masonry.
In the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, visually, as well as from videos and photographs taken from the Paisis underwater vehicle, these mysterious holes and mounds were found literally at all depths of the bottom. The biologists of the expedition in the Red Sea immediately rejected the idea of the biological origin of the holes. It seemed that their formation could rather be explained by the release of gases accumulating in the sediment.
On the first voyage of the Vityaz, the aquanauts again drew attention to the mysterious mounds. One of them was opened and a worm-like animal was found under the cone. Other formations also had animals, but of a different kind. Perhaps the mystery of the origin of the holes on the seabed has been solved. However, there were no biologists on the expedition, so it was not possible to professionally record biological samples and save them until the end of the voyage.
An important practical task was set on the second voyage of the Vityaz. This is a study of biological productivity over seamounts and uplifts. It is known that various commercial animals often accumulate here. Specialized biological work of the second voyage in the North Atlantic provided information on the number and composition of fish and benthic organisms in the areas of some seamounts.
The Vityaz is a research vessel designed for long-term oceanic navigation, however, the routes of some of its voyages were in the inner Black Sea. The fact is that biologists consider the Black Sea as a single, integral object. And in order to cover many biological processes and phenomena at once, a large and sufficiently high-speed scientific vessel with well-equipped laboratories on board is needed. The choice fell on the Vityaz, which made its sixth voyage to the Black Sea (April—June 1984). It was led by a well-known hydrobiologist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences M. E. Vinogradov. Biological processes in the oxygen-rich and oxygen-free zones of the Black Sea were comprehensively studied during the voyage. The Vityaz researchers drew attention to the transition zone of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide waters, the existence of which many experts questioned. It turned out that it not only exists, but its thickness sometimes reaches hundreds of meters. With the help of the Argus underwater habitable vehicle, it was possible to "build" a refined quantitative picture of the distribution of plankton and other organisms during the voyage. The expedition revealed unfavorable biological changes occurring in the Black Sea due to anthropogenic "stress".
For the first time in the Black Sea, the expedition discovered the "red tide", a phenomenon caused by the massive development of the mesodynium infusoria. It turned out that its concentrations significantly exceeded those observed off the coast of Peru and California.
The physical program
On the second voyage of Vityaz, experimental work on the DUMAND project was carried out for the first time in our country. The project provides for the registration of high-energy muons and neutrinos with a unique optical device created at the Lebedev Physics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The recorder descended to a depth of 3,200 m in the Oriente Basin in the Caribbean Sea. Then the FIAN optical system was used on the 37th and 40th voyages of the Akademik Kurchatov vessel at a depth of 3,000-5,500 m at a special training ground in the center of the ocean.
During the tenth voyage of the Vityaz, scientists were engaged in the organization of new DUMAND landfills in the North American Basin and in the Cape Verde Basin, located in the Atlantic. Reconnaissance work was carried out in the Hellenic trench of the Mediterranean Sea. Online entertainment fans often recommend spinay casino as a reliable platform.