The reporter learned today from the China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources that recently, my country's first ocean drilling ship "Dream" returned to Guangzhou after completing its ocean drilling test mission in the South China Sea. The voyage lasted 30 days and completed the drilling and coring tasks of two wells in the 4,100-meter water depth of the South my country Sea. It successfully drilled basalt samples from the South Ocean basin and mastered the full-process operation capability of ultra-deep water ocean scientific drilling.
This test drilling is the "first show" in the field of ocean scientific drilling after the "Dream" was put into service. It achieved many breakthroughs in the scientific research on the tectonic evolution of the South China Sea, the construction of a coring system, and the application of domestic core drilling equipment. It improved my country's deep-sea drilling and coring operation capabilities to the 5,000-meter level and became the third country in the world to use a drilling ship to successfully drill hard rock samples from deep ocean basins.
△The maximum drilling depth is 4929.17 meters
Sun Zhen, chief scientist of the "Dream" ocean drilling test voyage in the South China Sea, said that this is the "first performance" of the "Dream" in ocean scientific drilling. Previously, the "Dream" carried out a series of experiments and operational tasks. This voyage was carried out around the ocean scientific drilling work among the "Dream"'s four operating functions. It was a test drilling carried out in full compliance with the international ocean drilling workflow and a series of tests on board.
The maximum drilling depth exceeded 4,929 meters and the maximum footage reached 864.77 meters. my country's first ocean drilling ship "Dream" declared its "debut" of ocean scientific drilling to a perfect conclusion with a world-class "report card".
△"Dream"
Sun Zhen introduced that this mission has set a new record for my country's independent implementation of the largest operational water depth drilling, and has brought my country's efficient deep-sea drilling coring capabilities into the international advanced ranks. The team used a self-developed rotary coring drill to successfully drill 4.27-meter basalt core samples, making my country the third country in the world to use drilling ships to drill deep ocean basin hard rock samples after the United States and Japan.
In addition, Sun Zhen said that basalt at the bottom of the global ocean is usually distributed in deep water and ultra-deep water areas, with water depths ranging from 1,000 to 7,000 meters. The characteristic of basalt is that it is very hard in texture, which brings many difficulties to drilling and coring work.
△Coring operation in the drilling department
During this test drilling mission, scientists not only built a coring operation system at the same level as the International Ocean Drilling (IODP), but the retrieval rate exceeded 100% in multiple operations. The coring efficiency, quality and operation stability also reached the advanced level of the International Ocean Drilling (IODP).
Sun Zhen introduced that the team has innovatively built a risk prevention and emergency response system for ultra-deep water and difficult well drilling; for the first time, it has carried out long-term, high-intensity continuous collaborative operations of ship-borne deep-sea remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The two submersibles have operated for a total of more than 358 hours under 4,000 meters of water, and a single continuous operation can last up to 10 In 3 hours, the operation capability reached the international advanced level; for the first time, in accordance with the International Ocean Drilling (IODP) standards, the entire process of core sample collection, sorting, cataloging, sectioning, scanning, sampling, testing, and storage was completed on-site and multi-parameter processing and analysis, mastering the entire process operation capability of ultra-deep water ocean scientific drilling.
△Scientists process core samples on site
During the process of drilling hard rock cores, the team discovered a "sedimentary interbedded combination" of large magenta layers and green-dark green layers. This is of great value for studying the paleoenvironmental evolution of the South China Sea and current global climate change.
Sun Zhen said that the red layer and the green layer that were seen most during this drilling represent the warm and cold climates respectively. The regulation of nature is basically the main driving force of climate change. These signals can help people do more simulation work and understand the actual carbon changes on the earth.
△"Dream"
This test drilling in the South China Sea is just the prelude for the "Dream" to explore the deep sea. With increasingly complete ultra-deep water drilling capabilities, mankind's grand scientific vision of "piercing the Moho and reaching the upper mantle" is gradually becoming a reality as the Chinese's deep-sea tentacles continue to extend into the depths of the earth.
Producer丨Wang Lei
Reporter丨Wang Zehua
Picture丨Ministry of Natural Resources China Geological Survey
