At www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/83349/print/ we learn that a Russian scientists has said that the first settlers on Sakhalin Island in the North Pacific have been dated between 100-200,000 years ago. From here it is just a short hop across to the Americas but in contrast he said the first human settlers of the Americas came from Siberia. It was not Columbus but unknown Siberians that first established a foothold – between 20 and 25,000 years ago.
At www.physorg.com/print204286161.html we learn that Russia’s territories in the Arctic may contain 100 billion tons of oil and gas. Russia, the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark all claim jurisdiction in the region – on the proviso the polar ice shrinks to allow it to take place. One potential area of friction is the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain chain stretching across the Arctic Ocean and probably attached to the Siberian mainland. This particular piece of geology may hold some surprises if it is ever mapped or investigated by camera as it is conceivable it may actually have been above the sea at some point in the past.