The name of the Russian scientist Sergey Vavilov appeared on the map of the Atlantic Ocean
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- The name of the Russian scientist Sergey Vavilov appeared on the map of the Atlantic Ocean
One of the deepest depressions of the Atlantic Ocean was officially named the Vavilov Deep — Vavilov Depression. "The object" is located in the Romansh fault zone and reaches a depth of more than 7 thousand m. On September 18, the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Izvestia about how the underwater depression was named after the scientific research vessel (NIS) "Academician Sergey Vavilov" and the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov. (WOUNDS).
The Vavilov Depression appeared on the Atlantic map
The Vavilov depression is a large depression in the equatorial part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, elongated along the axis of the Romanche transform fault. In the central part of the fault there are two depressions separated by a threshold with depths of less than 5.5 thousand m. The Vavilov Depression is the westernmost of them. It stretches for about 190 km, its width varies from 9 to 21.5 km, it is limited by an isobath of 6 thousand m, and its maximum depth is 7,061 m.
The name of the object was approved by the International Commission on the Names of the Features of the Relief of the World Ocean Floor (SCUFN), which operates under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the International Hydrographic Organization. The application was prepared by the staff of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who have been investigating deep-sea bottom currents in the area for several years.
According to Dmitry Frey, PhD in Physics and Mathematics, a leading researcher at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the idea to name the unnamed depression appeared during one of the institute's expeditions to the equatorial Atlantic. In the Romansh fault, scientists carried out a set of measurements and found an abnormally fast water flow in the bottom layer. According to the researcher, it split into separate jets, which then merged together, resembling a waterfall system in a narrow underwater canyon at a depth of about 6 thousand meters.
Dmitry Frey
It is noteworthy that our "Academician Sergey Vavilov" worked in this basin for many years, after whom we decided to name the depression. This is especially symbolic for me, because "Academician Sergey Vavilov" is the first vessel on which I went on a scientific expedition to the open ocean.
How the depression got its official name
The name is given in honor of the NIS "Academician Sergey Vavilov", on board of which in 2011-2014 the staff of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences studied the currents of Antarctic bottom water and the relief of the bottom of the Romansh fault.
To assign an official geographical name to an underwater object, it was necessary to prepare an application with a detailed description of its coordinates, dimensions, depths and relief features, as well as justification for the proposed name. The application is also accompanied by bathymetric data: depth measurement results, maps, three-dimensional images and bottom relief profiles. The materials are reviewed by the GEBCO Subcommittee on Names of Underwater Landforms (SCUFN).
The application for the name Vavilov Deep was sent by the staff of the Institute of Oceanology in 2023 and approved during the 38th SCUFN meeting in November 2025 in Denpasar, Indonesia. In August 2026, the name was included in the GEBCO Gazetteer.
Ivan Dudkov, a researcher at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that this was the first experience of the institute's staff applying to SCUFN. According to him, the approval took about three years, which turned out to be much longer than expected. This was a particularly significant event for a specialist working in the field of hydrography who completed the GEBCO training program.
Ivan Dudkov
The Vavilov Basin has become one of the few names proposed by Russian researchers and approved by SCUFN over the past four years.
The application is based on data from long—term expeditions
The RAS emphasized that the preparation of the application would not have been possible without detailed bathymetric data. ""The main multipath survey was performed within the framework of the Russian-Italian PRIMAR program: in 1993, at the "Academician Nikolai Strakhov" Research Institute with a multibeam echo sounder Hollming Echos 625 and in 1996 at the "Gelendzhik" Research Institute with a SIMRAD EM12 echo sounder. Additionally, associated depth measurements obtained on other expeditions, including those on the "Akademik Sergey Vavilov" Research Institute, were used.
These materials made it possible to describe in detail the relief of the depression, determine its boundaries, and prepare maps and profiles for the application.
Evgeny Morozov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Hydrological Processes and Chief Researcher at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
We have been conducting research on Antarctic bottom water in the bottom abyssal layer of the Atlantic Ocean since 2002. During this time, about 30 expeditions were carried out, 12 of them to the "Academician Sergey Vavilov" Research Institute. During this time, we have discovered a number of new bottom currents in previously unexplored channels and faults of the Atlantic.
According to him, the Romanche is one of the key such faults: it ensures the transfer of deep waters between the abyssal basins of the western and eastern parts of the Atlantic.
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