Russian scientists begin trial exploration of world's deepest lake

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian scientists leading a submarine expedition to probe the world's deepest lake on Thursday carried out test dives ahead of the start of the operation next week, reports said.

The trial runs at Lake Baikal lasted two hours with two submarines diving to a depth of around 420 metres (1,386 feet), the Russian media reports quoted the organisers as saying.

On Tuesday, the expedition will begin in earnest with the submarines attempting to descend 1,637 metres (5,402 feet) to the bottom of the lake which has a unique ecosystem and has never been explored.

The expedition is being organised by Artur Chilingarov, a pro-Kremlin member of parliament and an Arctic explorer who led the team of scientists that planted a flag at the bottom of the North...