TOMSK, Jan 9 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of Tomsk State University (TSU) and University of Newcastle will study the carbon cycle of the Vasyugan Swamp together, the press service of TSU said on Thursday.
It was previously reported that a quarter of all carbon accumulated by terrestrial ecosystems is stored in the marshes of Western Siberia. In 2018, scientists from York University studied peatlands in the Vasyugan Swamp, which absorb from the atmosphere greenhouse gases – carbon and methane – and play a crucial role in cooling the planet.
With reference to the Director of the TSU Center of Excellence "BioClimLand" Sergey Kirpotin, it is explained that the Vasyugan Swamp attracts the attention of many scientific groups of the world because this swamp plays a large climate-forming role. Its study helps to understand the causes of global environmental changes that are happening on the planet.
"Researchers of TSU and University of Newcastle will study the carbon cycle of the Vasyugan Swamp together. The first step will be the holding of the workshops necessary to "dock" the research groups. The UK Science and Innovation Network which supports the creation of international research projects, allocated a grant to the British", – is said in the message.
It is specified that already in February 2020, TSU scientists will go to the first joint seminar in Britain. They will also deliver peat samples taken in the Vasyugan Swamp in December 2019 to analyze lignin, which "will provide more accurate data on the representation of woody vegetation in the past, and, ultimately, on the carbon cycle on which on our planet depends a lot of things"."It was the long-term change in the carbon cycle in the distant past that led to the alternation of cold ice ages and warm interglacials. In order to predict further changes on the planet, it is very important to understand the patterns of processes that took place in the past", – Kirpotin is quoted.
Also in February 2020, scientists from University of Newcastle will visit two TSU research stations included in SecNet network and the international project Interact II. During the seminars, researchers plan to discuss the topic of joint research and decide on the filing of joint applications to research foundations supporting international projects, adds the TSU press service.