scholarly journals “One Belt, One Road”: Northern Ambitions of China or the “Ice Silk Road”

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Irina Kichigina
Keyword(s):  
Science Research ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Blue Book ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Sea Route ◽  
One Belt One Road ◽  
Collaborative Exploration

China's activities relating to the proclaimed One Belt, One Road Initiative continue, and today China is doing a lot to develop the Northern direction of this main transport route. Traditionally, the development of the Northern Sea Route has always been in the hands of Russia, but today, China is investing colossal resources in the implementation of the idea it suggested. Getting transport priorities right will not only help shorten the distance and time of cargos delivery but is also an opportunity for China to reinforce its positions in science, research and technology. Moreover, China is taking efforts to search for areas of reasonable investment, which will allow it to optimize the North-East transport direction as part of the "Ice Silk Road" in the future. In 2018, the "White Book", "China's Arctic Policy" based on China's participation in the development of the Arctic and then the "Blue Book" were published, as the result of its scientific research in the North and the Arctic. In these books, China’s strategy and position as of a new “Northern” power is described. On the basis of the approved priority directions of its development, China sets specific tasks and completes them in the shortest possible time, which creates additional risks for Russia as the time frame of implementing projects as well as the multilateral agreements of China do not fully conform to Russia's position. Thus, since 2013, new vessels suitable for operation in the difficult conditions of the North have been built and launched together with the COSCO Shipping Group. As a result of the intensified activities of China in the North, the transport load has increased both on the Russian shipping companies of the Northern Sea Route and on the infrastructure of the ports, whereas investment implementation rate of the projects of their reconstruction remains low. As a consequence, China offers to participate in the modernization of a number of ports on the Ice Silk Road as well as in the collaborative exploration of the North.

scholarly journals The nuclear icebreaker fleet of Russia in the first quarter of the XXI century. Challenges and prospects for the development of the Northern Sea Route

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-25
Author(s):  
Ю.Л. Бордученко ◽  
И.Г. Малыгин ◽  
В.Ю. Каминский ◽  
В.А. Аксенов
Keyword(s):  
Decisive Role ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The North ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Current State ◽  
Northern Sea Route ◽  
Transport Problems

Арктическая зона в XXI веке становится важнейшим гарантом устойчивого развития Российской Федерации. Вклад Севера в экономику России во многом будет определяться масштабами и темпами развития Арктической транспортной системы. Необходимо расширение коммерческого и научно-исследовательского судоходства, развитие транспортных узлов и коридоров, полярной авиации, грузопассажирских морских полярных перевозок. В этих условиях Россия в целях обеспечения своих геополитических интересов должна постоянно поддерживать активное присутствие в этом регионе. Оно выражается в проведении научных исследований, разведке и добыче полезных ископаемых, обеспечении морских грузоперевозок с использованием ледоколов и специализированных ледокольно-транспортных судов. Этого невозможно достичь без развития уникального атомного ледокольного флота. В настоящее время Россия является мировым лидером в области применения атомного ледокольного флота для решения транспортных задач в морях Арктики и неарктических замерзающих морях. Для успешной конкуренции России необходимо не упускать этого лидерства и постоянно развивать и совершенствовать атомный ледокольный флот как ключевое звено инфраструктуры функционирования Северного морского пути. В статье представлен краткий обзор текущего состояния и перспектив развития атомного ледокольного флота России. Показана определяющая роль атомного ледокольного флота в обеспечении судоходства по трассам Северного морского пути для развития экономики Арктического региона России. The Arctic zone in the XXI century is becoming the most important guarantor of the sustainable development of the Russian Federation. The contribution of the North to the Russian economy will largely be determined by the scale and pace of development of the Arctic Transport System. It is necessary to expand commercial and research shipping, develop transport hubs and corridors, polar aviation, and cargo and passenger sea polar transportation. In these circumstances, Russia must constantly maintain an active presence in this region in order to ensure its geopolitical interests. It is expressed in conducting scientific research, exploration and extraction of minerals, providing sea cargo transportation using icebreakers and specialized icebreaker-transport vessels. This cannot be achieved without the development of a unique nuclear icebreaker fleet. Currently, Russia is a world leader in the use of nuclear-powered icebreaking fleet for solving transport problems in the Arctic seas and non-Arctic freezing seas. For successful competition, Russia must not lose this leadership, constantly develop and improve the nuclear icebreaker fleet as a key link in the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route. The article provides a brief overview of the current state and prospects for the development of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet. The article shows the decisive role of the nuclear icebreaker fleet in ensuring navigation along the Northern Sea Route for the development of the economy of the Arctic region of Russia.

Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts from European seas: source of potentially economic cobalt mining.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egidio Marino ◽  
Javier González ◽  
Teresa Medialdea ◽  
Luis Somoza ◽  
Rosario Lunar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
World Production ◽  
Critical Metals ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The World

<p>The world increasing demand of electric vehicles (EVs) that use lithium-ion batteries (LIB), in which cobalt is one of the essential elements, focused the attention on its demand that is calculated will increase of 7-13% annually until 2030. The actual production of cobalt, usually extract as by-product of nickel and copper mine, is reduced to almost 20 countries between which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the bigger producer with 55% of the world production. In Europe cobalt is produced only in Finland that actually provides 2.300 tonnes, the 2% of the world production. In this way several projects have been promoted by European Union, with the Raw Material Initiative, in order to find and evaluate the sustainable production of important materials in Europe.</p><p>MINDeSEA[1] project is part of the GeoERA and represent the collaboration of 12 national geological institution partners, to characterize marine deposits and their contents in Critical Raw Materials (CRM) and to generate a comprehensive cartography and metallogenic models of them. The first preliminary map produced in 2019 represents the localization and evaluation of cobalt rich deposits in the oceans within the EEZ and ECS of the European countries.  Cobalt deposits are represented essentially by hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts located essentially in the Macaronesian area of the north east Atlantic Ocean (in the Portugal and Spain), submarine plateaus, as the Galicia Bank (in the north west Spanish) and in the Arctic Ocean ridges (Norway and Iceland). The report differentiates between occurrences (<0.05 wt. %) and deposits (>0.05 wt. %), with the possibility of more than 200 Mt resources per potential deposit.</p><p>Detailed mineralogical, geochemical and metallogenic studies are being developed in crusts from the Macaronesia. Fe-Mn crusts absorb dissolved elements in seawaters on the surface of the fresh precipitated oxy-hydroxides during their slow growth through millions of years. Several elements are concentrated in Fe-Mn crusts and between them cobalt is one of the most enriched trace metals (average 0.6 wt. %) accompanied by other strategic and critical metals such as nickel, copper, tellurium, molybdenum and rare earth elements plus yttrium (REY) (respectively 3000, 500, 150, 500 and 3500 µg/g). Micro Raman and micro X-Ray diffraction can be used to differentiate the mineralogy in laminae of less than 20 microns. On the other hand, electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), are useful in order to quantify contents of CRM in the different mineral phases. These are innovative techniques in order to identify critical-elements bearing minerals and thus choose the metallurgic method for a more efficient and sustainable extraction of the interesting elements.</p><p>The evaluation of a seamount as a future mine site has to take into account all these mineralogical and chemical features as well as a proper knowledge of the seamount (morpho-structure, geology, oceanography, ecosystems) and the Fe-Mn crust thickness and extension</p><div><br><div> <p>[1] This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166</p> </div> </div>

scholarly journals The Northern Sea Route in Political and Economic Frame of Reference in the 17th and Early 20th Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-278
Author(s):  
Alena Raspopina
Keyword(s):  
Polar Region ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
Transport Channel ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Sea Route ◽  
North Polar

The article considers the influence of economic and political factors on development of the state policy on the Northern Sea Route and its effective use. The success that Russia reached in the foreign policy, has determined the cautiousness or openness of its actions in the Arctic Seas. The article briefly describes the navigational and hydrographical traffic conditions in the Arctic Seas, the dangerous areas for sailing are noted in the text, as well as the new attempts that Russia made to establish navigation in the area. The intense activity in the North Polar Region, including research activity, was determined by economic interests, such as opportunities for maritime trade and transport routes development, as well as political interests, which include defense of own territories and development of new lands. The research is based on valuable sources of information on the North Polar Region, one of which is European and Russian geographical maps of the18th and 19th centuries, which managed to cover many blank spots, that resulted in delineating a clearer Arctic shoreline of Russia. Although the Northern Sea Route could hardly become a major transport channel due to the severe natural conditions, Russia tried to sustain its influence and defend its territories, especially when real threats to its national interests in the Arctic region arose.

Resident and anadromous forms of arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) from North-East Europe: an example of high ecological variability without speciation

2019 ◽  
Vol 485 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-246
Author(s):  
A. A. Makhrov ◽  
I. N. Bolotov ◽  
V. M. Spitsyn ◽  
M. Yu. Gofarov ◽  
V. S. Artamonova
Keyword(s):  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Arctic Charr ◽  
Arctic Char ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
Ecological Variability ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Two Samples

Samples from 11 populations of the Arctic char of the North-European part of Russia belonging to the anadromous and resident forms and two samples from Lake Sobach'e (Taimyr) were studied. The nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene was determined in 60 individuals. In the majority of populations, the same COI haplotype was found. In some populations of the resident chars, haplotypes differing from the widespread haplotype in a single nucleotide substitution were found. The obtained genetic data give no reason to distinguish the resident form of the Arctic char from lakes of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula as an independent species, Salvelinus lep- echini. The adaptation of the Arctic char to the unstable environmental conditions is ensured primarily by its phenotypic plasticity.

scholarly journals Geological assessment of the East Greenland margin

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 61-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B.W. Fyhn ◽  
Thorkild M. Rasmussen ◽  
Trine Dahl-Jensen ◽  
Willy L. Weng ◽  
Jørgen A. Bojesen-Koefoed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us ◽  
Greenland Margin

The East Greenland margin consists of a number of sedimentary basins, platforms and structural highs (Figs 1, 2). Due to the challenges imposed by the Arctic climate, the region is in an early stage of exploration, and knowledge of the geology and petroleum potential of the margin is limited. However, the significant prospectivity of the conjugated European North Atlantic margin and the nature of the North- East Greenland onshore geology prompt for future offshore exploration. The US Geological Survey thus highlighted the North-East Greenland margin in their latest assessment of the Arctic region (Gautier et al. 2011). With a mean estimate of undiscovered recoverable oil, gas, and natural gas liquids of approximately 31 billion barrels of oil equivalents, the US Geological Survey ranked the North-East Greenland margin fourth in the entire Arctic region, only superseded by known producing petroleum provinces.

The Northern Sea Route: Soviet Exploitation of the North East Passage.

1953 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 558
Author(s):  
George B. Cressey ◽  
Terence Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Sea Route

Biochemical composition and productivity of reindeer pastures in the Arctic tundra subzone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
E. D. Alekseev ◽  
N. A. Struchkov
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Arctic Tundra ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Natural Pasture ◽  
Reindeer Breeding ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
Grass Meadow ◽  
The Republic

Northern domestic reindeer breeding in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a traditional and ethnos-preserving industry of the indigenous peoples of the North living there. Anabarsky national (Dolgan-Evenki) district is a place of compact residence of one of the small peoples of the North – the Dolgans. They have preserved their unique traditional method of keeping and breeding of domestic reindeer. Northern vegetation, especially Arctic vegetation is very vulnerable and tender. The problem of ecological and floristic researches of pasture plants in the North-East of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is one of the most important tasks. Domestic reindeer are kept on natural pasture feed, so the urgent task is the rational exploitation of reindeer pastures, which is based on the study of productivity, changes in plant diversity under the influence of grazing and man-made impacts. These factors of influence on the state of deer pastures (degradation and loss of the main feed of deer-lichens) remain poorly studied at present. The purpose of the researches was to provide scientific justification for the rational use and protection of reindeer pastures, to study the feed supply of natural reindeer pastures in the Arctic tundra subzone of the Anabarsky national (Dolgan-Evenki) district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The results of researches have shown that the maximum yield has been observed in the camp #2: willow-grass meadow – 38 centner/ha DM and grass meadow – 41,3 centner/ha DM. Herbages 5 camps (herb-cotton-grass meadow, mixed grass-meadow of mossy plants, willow-grass meadow, grass meadow, forb-grass meadow, sedge meadow of mossy plants) reindeer pastures have been characterized by a high nutritional value feed, allowing to develop and strengthen the feed base for the development of reindeer breeding in the subzone of the Arctic tundra of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

scholarly journals Genetic consequences of climatic oscillations in the Quaternary

2004 ◽  
Vol 359 (1442) ◽  
pp. 183-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Temperate Species ◽  
Genetic Constitution ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Climatic Oscillations ◽  
North East ◽  
The North

An appreciation of the scale and frequency of climatic oscillations in the past few million years is modifying our views on how evolution proceeds. Such major events caused extinction and repeated changes in the ranges of those taxa that survived. Their spatial effects depend on latitude and topography, with extensive extinction and recolonization in higher latitudes and altitudinal shifts and complex refugia nearer the tropics. The associated population dynamics varied with life history and geography, and the present genetic constitution of the populations and species carry attenuated signals of these past dynamics. Phylogeographic studies with DNA have burgeoned recently and studies are reviewed from the arctic, temperate and tropical regions, seeking commonalities of cause in the resulting genetic patterns. Arctic species show distinct shallow genetic clades with common geographical boundaries. Thus Beringia is distinct phylogeographically, but its role as a refugial source is complex. Arctic taxa do not show the common genetic pattern of southern richness and northern purity in north-temperate species. Temperate refugial regions in Europe and North America show relatively deep DNA divergence for many taxa, indicating their presence over several Ice Ages, and suggesting a mode of speciation by repeated allopatry. DNA evidence indicates temperate species in Europe had different patterns of postglacial colonization across the same area and different ones in previous oscillations, whereas the northwest region of North America was colonized from the north, east and south. Tropical montane regions contain deeply diverged lineages, often in a relatively small geographical area, suggesting their survival there from the Pliocene. Our poor understanding of refugial biodiversity would benefit from further combined fossil and genetic studies.

The ecology and reproductive biology of Cherbonniera utriculus and Molpadia blakei from the N.E. Atlantic

1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Tyler ◽  
D. S. M. Billett ◽  
J. D. Gage
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
Great Variability ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
East Atlantic ◽  
Norwegian Sea ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of

The Molpadiida is an order of sea cucumbers identified by their stout body, the posterior region narrowing to simulate a tail and the absence of tubefeet. Typically they inhabit muddy environments from shallow water to abyssal depths. In the past the great variability in the taxonomic characters of this order has led to the formation of many genera and species (Heding, 1931, 1935), but more recently it has become apparent that many diagnostic characters change markedly during the life history of these holothurians and as a result fewer species are now recognised (Deichmann, 1940; Pawson, 1977). In a revision of the Atlantic molpadiids Deichmann (1940) recorded just three species from the north-east Atlantic (Molpadia blakei, M. musculus and Hedingia albicans) with a further three species from the Arctic Ocean and Norwegian Sea (M. arctica, M. borealis and Eupyrgus scaber). To these Sibuet (1974) added the new genus and species Cherbonniera utriculus found in the Bay of Biscay.

Polar Silk Road will reshape trade and geopolitics

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Economic Viability ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Northern Sea Route ◽  
Strait Of Malacca

Subject Shipping in the Arctic between China and Europe. Significance Climate change is leaving Arctic waters navigable for longer periods, opening a new shipping route from East Asia to Europe along Russia's northern coast. Dubbed the ‘Polar Silk Road’ (PSR) in China and 'Northern Sea Route' (NSR) in Russia, it could eventually become an alternative to the main Strait of Malacca and Suez Canal route, altering global supply chains and geopolitics. Impacts The PSR's economic viability is premised on it being a reliable and safe route; that time is still far off. Melting ice will unlock new natural resources and commercial opportunities. The foremost use of the PSR initially will probably be for shipping resources extracted from the Arctic to markets elsewhere.

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