ZEVS radio station hosted a photo exhibition dedicated to the nature of the Murmansk region

Have you ever thought about the possibility of turning an entire planet into an enormous waveguide? You would say this idea is bordering on fantasy. The Russian Navy has been using it for 36 years…

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The colorful autumn Kola tundra (Pedziordench Mountain, 367 meters high). Photo by V. Novikov

At the end of the 1970s, the scientific community and industrial enterprises of our country created a unique object – a heavy-duty transmission antenna system of ultra-low-frequency (ULF) communication named "ZEVS". It was designed to transmit messages to deep-submerged mobile facilities.

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A dedicated power supply line used to provide heavy-duty transmission complexes. Photo by V. Novikov

But why was the unique radio station built on the Kola Peninsula and not somewhere else? After all, determining the location for such a grandiose object is not an easy choice. Many factors have come together, but the main and decisive was the geology of the Kola Peninsula.

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Harsh but fragile beauty of the Kola region. Photo by V. Novikov

In order to create a planetary waveguide, certain geological properties of the terrain were necessary – low thickness of sedimentary deposits (in the north-west of the Kola Peninsula it is practically absent) and low thickness of the granite layer (on the northern coast the basalt layer begins at 7-8 km). So, the base of the planetary waveguide is the basalt layer of the earth's crust.  Its role is to shield the signal generated by heavy-duty transmitters with virtually no loss of output power. The Earth's ionosphere is the second component of the waveguide. The basalt layer, like the ionosphere, exists anywhere on the planet, that is why "ZEVS" literally "sees through the Earth."

The usage of "ZEVS" is not limited to just military purposes. The powerful electromagnetic field emitted by the super-powerful station penetrates tens of kilometers deep into the Earth and allows scientists to study its internal structure with high accuracy. Since early 90s, the facility has been working for the benefit of applied and fundamental science. It provides significant opportunities for studying areas of the Barents Sea shelf that are possibly rich with oil and forecasting earthquakes almost anywhere in Russia.

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Central alley. The rowan tree. Photo by V. Novikov

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Northern rainbow over Lake Suelyavrench. Photo by V. Novikov

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Autumn shore of Lake Kukesyavr. Photo by V. Novikov

If you really care about what you do, you will be able to grow Crimean roses even in our harsh climate.

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Crimean roses. Photo by V. Novikov

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Lake on the mountain Pedziordenc (356 meters high). Photo by V. Novikov