Northeast Science Station (Russia)
Coordinates: 68°44′24″N 161°24′00″E / 68.73987°N 161.3999°E
The Northeast Science Station is an Arctic research station located in Chersky, Sakha Republic in Northeast Siberia, and is used as a year-round base for international research in arctic biology, geophysics, and atmospheric physics. The station also houses the administration of the Pleistocene Park, a local experimental wildlife preserve of 160 km2 where director Sergey Zimov is restocking the area with reindeer, horses, moose, bison and musk oxen, which he believes were previously abundant, but exterminated by unsustainable hunting. Zimov hopes to also introduce native predators such as bears, wolves and Siberian tigers when the animal population is high enough. His grandest vision is the DNA recreation of the Woolly Mammoth from an abundant supply of long-frozen carcasses.[1]
Named after Russian explorer Jan Czerski, Chersky is sited on frozen Pleistocene carbon. The sediments here are made up of 50% ice, and 50% loess, which is a windblown sediment - the carbon content of loess deposits is five times that of a rainforest floor. During each annual melt between 2 and 5% of the stored carbon in the loess deposits is lost.[2]