Abstract
THIS year the Soviet Academy of Science is sending out ninety-nine scientific expeditions to explore remote regions of the Union, including the Kola peninsula, the Ural-Kuznetsk Basin, Transbaikalia, the Turukhan region, East Sayan, the Irkutsk region, the Minusinsk region, Buriat Mongolia, and Tanu-Tuva, also the salt and soda lakes of the Kulundin steppe in western Siberia. Aeroplane photography will be used to establish the extent of the Siberian forests. The expedition to Kazakstan is to explore the natural resources of the Karagandin, Koundar, and the Dzeskazgan regions of the Altai and Bidder, and to investigate the possibility of reconstructing the agriculture of north Kazakstan. Seventy-five detachments are starting for Central Asia to explore the natural resources of Tadzhikistan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan, and Pamir. It has been decided to start to explore this year the natural resources of Khirghizia, which possesses much potential hydraulic power and big deposits of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and has suitable lands for cattle-breeding. The expedition to the Crimea is to concentrate on the exploration of the salt lakes. The expedition to Transcaucasia will examine the possibilities of utilising hydraulic power in the region, that to the northern Caucasus is to explore the deposits of rare elements such as cadmium and the mineral resources of the main ridge of mountains of the region. In Balkaria an investigation will be made of the soil of the mountain grass-lands. To cover the cost of the expeditions, the Government has allocated six million roubles, and additional sums will be supplied if necessary. These expeditions are to follow up previous exploration work carried out by the Academy of Science in the Yakutsk, Buriato-Mongolsk and Transbaikal regions, which resulted in the discovery of medicinal and other plants suitable for export, and of new areas for rice-growing.
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Expeditions of the Soviet Academy of Science. Nature 129, 754–755 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129754e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129754e0