Today (November 7), China’s 43rd Antarctic expedition team organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources set off from Sanya, Hainan to the Antarctic.
This expedition focuses on five major directions, including responding to global climate change and upgrading and constructing scientific research stations. It will carry out all-round and three-dimensional Antarctic comprehensive scientific research tasks, continue to improve my country's polar understanding level and global ocean governance capabilities, and will fully complete the on-site construction and acceptance work of the Qinling Station, carry out survey and mapping of the proposed supporting facilities for the Mary Byrd Station, and carry out preliminary preparations for the upgrading of the Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station. In typical sea areas such as the waters adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula and the Astronaut Sea, multi-disciplinary comprehensive surveys and long-term monitoring of physical oceans, ocean chemistry, marine biology, marine geology, atmosphere and sea ice will be carried out to focus on the impact of climate change on the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
This inspection will also focus on polar testing of domestic equipment such as the AR500 large unmanned helicopter and THT550 ice sheet tractor to comprehensively improve the independent support capabilities of polar equipment. At the same time, we will deepen bilateral and multilateral international scientific research and security cooperation.
This scientific expedition is jointly supported by the three ships "Xuelong", "Xuelong 2" and "Dayang". More than 600 scientific expedition team members from more than 100 domestic units participated. It is expected to complete all tasks and return home in April 2027.
my country’s Antarctic scientific expedition has achieved fruitful results
In the past five years, my country's Antarctic expedition has made fruitful achievements in infrastructure construction, research and development of independent scientific expedition equipment, polar scientific research, and participation in global polar governance.
In the past five years, my country's Antarctic expedition support capabilities have been improved by leaps and bounds, and many breakthroughs have been achieved in independent research and development of technical equipment.
The Qinling Station stands tall on the ice sheet, with a clean energy system accounting for 60%, fully implementing China’s “green inspection” initiative.
The Zhongshan Station Ice and Snow Runway Airport, which will be completed in 2022 and put into use in 2023, will end the long-term history of borrowing foreign runways for my country's Antarctic expeditions and enhance my country's Antarctic comprehensive scientific expedition, international cooperation and polar emergency response capabilities.
The successful test of domestic polar-orbiting satellite communication broke the long-term dependence on overseas satellite services and bid farewell to the "information island" of polar scientific research.
The independently developed and manufactured "Snow Leopard" 6×6 wheeled vehicle has been put into use, filling the gap in my country's polar high-speed maneuverable vehicles. The rapid transportation of personnel, scientific expedition support and emergency rescue capabilities have been significantly improved, and the inland scientific expedition has moved from "heavy-loaded slow travel" to a new model of efficient mobility.
Long Wei, Deputy Director of the Polar Expedition Office of the State Oceanic Administration: The depth of subglacial hot water drilling has set a new international record. We have led many countries to implement joint autumn and winter surveys of the Antarctic Ross Sea and Prydz Bay. The number and quality of Antarctic scientific papers published rank first in the world.
At present, our country has initially established a comprehensive survey and monitoring system for the entire Antarctic season and three-dimensional sea, land and air cooperation, which has changed the previous limitations of single seasons, local sea areas, and single point observations, and achieved all-weather integrated detection of multiple elements of the Antarctic ice sheet, atmosphere, ocean, biology, and geology. It has provided data support for studying and judging polar climate change, analyzing the ecological evolution of the Southern Ocean, and conducting precise scientific research.
my country has 411 Antarctic place names included in international organizations
Antarctic place names are a direct reflection of polar scientific research capabilities and governance voice. So far, 411 of my country's Antarctic place names have been included by international organizations, marking the effective improvement of my country's scientific research capabilities and governance voice in the field of Antarctic geographical naming.
Long Wei, deputy director of the Polar Expedition Office of the State Oceanic Administration: These works help deepen the comprehensive understanding of Antarctic environmental factors and lay a solid foundation for understanding the mutual impact of Antarctic and global climate change.
