Tomsk Technical University (TPU) specialists will work on a software and hardware package for areal study of the seabed, to search for mineral resources. The technology has the greatest potential with regard to exploration of the Arctic shelf reserves.

 

According to ITAR-TASS report, the software/hardware package is to include: a supercomputer; hardware to explore the seabed; software; data processing and interpretation modules. It will make possible to carry out engineering surveys with higher accuracy and efficiency and also to build a 3D model of the bottom topography – today, there is no other package with similar performance capabilities. At present, the scientists carry out field experiments at the Ob River; afterwards, jointly with partner companies, they will continue improving the technology at the Black Sea.  The project will be completed by 2020.

The designers do not speak of the project’s details, just having mentioned that their main partner  is a Skolkovo resident.

Today the Arctic continental shelf is one of the most prospective areas for mineral production.  Its area covers 32 million sq. kilometers and borders with eight countries: Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.

According to the Science magazine, the shelf’s reserves exceed 80 billions barrels of oil and 1,500 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Most of oil reserves are located at the Alaska coast and gas reserves – at the Russian coast.