(Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
The team of the 42nd Chinese Antarctic Expedition left Shanghai on Saturday.
“During this expedition, China plans, for the first time, to conduct scientific drilling experiments in lakes deep in the Antarctic ice sheet,” said Wei Fuhai, director and chief scientist of China’s 42nd Antarctic Expedition. “Using domestically manufactured hot water and thermal fusion drilling systems, we will carry out clean drilling and sampling through an ice layer more than 3,000 meters thick.”
Antarctica’s subglacial lakes are characterized by extreme conditions, including high pressure, low temperature, darkness, and oligotrophy. They are home to a unique ecosystem, and preserve rich and valuable archives on the history of the ice cap and climate change. The study of these lakes is therefore essential to understand sedimentary processes as well as the evolution of life.
To deepen the understanding of Antarctica’s role in global climate change, the expedition team will collect long-term observational data in key regions such as the Amundsen Sea and the Ross Sea.
“Continuously improving our ability to understand, protect and utilize Antarctica is not only an inevitable requirement for China to become a strong maritime nation, but also a way to make new contributions to promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind,” said Long Wei, deputy director of the Polar Research Office under the National Oceanic Administration.
