ABSTRACT
Permafrost is extensively developed below the bottom of the Arctic Ocean and its fringe seas. Information about the distribution, properties, and development of rocks of the sea-bottom cryolithic zone has long been necessary to support navigation through the northern maritime routes and for the construction of ports. In view of the prospective geological exploration and commercial exploitation of oil and other useful mineral deposits, as well as the construction of hydraulic engineering structures in the shelf zone of the Arctic seas, and particularly its shallow-water coastal area, the comprehensive analysis of the submarine permafrost data from the Soviet Arctic seas shelf is acquiring more and more importance. Submarine permafrost research on the Alaskan shelf has much to gain from the Eurasiatic Arctic shelf investigations. In addition to instructing students, the staffs of the departments study permafrost at various Arctic coast locations in Siberia and their work ranks with the investigations being carried out by the state institutes.
