A newly identified depression in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean has been officially named the Vavilov Depression after two Russian pioneers in oceanography. The feature, located within the Romansh fault zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, plunges to a depth of 7,061 meters and stretches approximately 190 kilometers along a fault line.
Researchers from the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences describe it as the westernmost of two distinct depressions in the Romansh fault system. It spans between 9 and 21.5 kilometers in width and is bounded by an isobath at 6,000 meters.
The naming was approved by the International Commission on the Names of the Features of the Relief of the World Ocean Floor (SCUFN) during its 38th meeting in November 2025. The application, prepared by the institute’s staff over several years of research, was officially recorded in the GEBCO Gazetteer in August 2026.
The name honors both the Russian research vessel “Academician Sergey Vavilov” and the Soviet scientist Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov. Dr. Dmitry Frey, a leading researcher at the institute, noted that the idea emerged during an expedition where scientists observed unusual water flow patterns in the depression’s depths.
Since 2002, the institute has conducted about 30 expeditions to the Atlantic, with 12 specifically aboard the “Academician Sergey Vavilov” research vessel. These efforts have revealed new ocean currents and topographical features in previously unexplored regions.
Ivan Dudkov, a researcher at the institute, highlighted that this naming represents the first application by the institute’s staff to SCUFN. He noted that the process took about three years—longer than anticipated.
