The expedition within the framework of the program “Study of the influence of mud volcanoes and methane seeps on biological communities in the abyssal zone of Lake Baikal” was carried out from September 2 to 6, 2020.

The expedition within the framework of the program “Study of the influence of mud volcanoes and methane seeps on biological communities in the abyssal zone of Lake Baikal” was carried out from September 2 to 6, 2020.

The aim of the expedition was to obtain additional hydrological, geochemical, microbiological, geothermal and geological data on hydrate-bearing structures discovered during the 2019 expedition within the MHP III-19 project and at sites with supposed outcrops of ancient sediments on the bottom surface in central and southern basins of Lake Baika

During the expedition, cores of the bottom sediments were sampled, and their lithological description was carried out. Samples of pore waters were taken from the cores by centrifugation to determine anionic and cationic compositions. Sampling was carried out to compare communities with other methane discharge sites to detect dominant phyla in these communities, uncultured lineages of bacteria and archaea as well as Baikal clusters of microorganisms. Representative samples of gas hydrates were taken from the structures discovered during the 2019 expedition for repeated X-ray crystallography. The samples of water and sediments were taken to measure the concentration of dissolved methane.