Yakov Gakkel

Yakov Yakovlevich Gakkel (Russian Яков Яковлевич Гаккель; * 5 Julijul / 18 July 1901greg in Saint Petersburg, .. † December 30, 1965 ) was a Soviet oceanographer. He was a candidate since 1938, since 1950 PhD, and finally since 1953 professor of geographical sciences.

Life and work

Gakkel visited in 1921, the Geographical Institute of the University of Petrograd and in 1925 the Geographical Faculty of the University of Leningrad. During this time, undertook his first expeditions Gakkel. Limnological research led him in 1924 to Karelia and 1925 geomorphological studies by Yakutia. In the winters of those years studies led him to the sea ice on the Gulf of Finland.

From 1932 he worked for the Arctic Institute in Leningrad, where he remained until his death. Here he was involved in a variety of areas of responsibility of the Institute. He has focused particularly on the oceanography, but also with studies on sea ice, with navigation problems, geomagnetism and geomorphology, as well as with the history of expeditions. He was in turn head of different departments, the Department of Geography and last expedition history. 1941/42, he was Deputy Director of the Arctic Institute.

During his work at the Arctic Institute he took - also commonly known as Wire - to a total of 21 expeditions, including the famous expeditions to the Sibiryakov (1932 ) and the Tscheljuskin (1934 ).

In 1948 he brought forward the idea to explore the Zentralarktische pool by driving stations. This work made ​​possible the discovery of the Lomonosov Ridge. The data that is largely based on these floating stations, served Gakkel to create the first bathymetric map of the Arctic Ocean.

Works

• Научные результаты работ экспедиции на « Челюскине » и в лагере Шмидта. Leningrad 1938 ( co-author and editor ).
• За четверть века: обзор деятельности Арктического института Главсевморпути за 25 лет ( с 1920 по 1945 год ). Moscow / Leningrad, 1945.
• Наука и освоение Арктики ( К сорокалетию советских исследований ). Leningrad 1957.

Honors

In 1966, the Gakkel Ridge, a mid oceanic ridge in the Arctic Ocean, named after him.