China’s new Antarctica expedition to conduct drilling experiments

Beijing, Nov 1 (PTI) China on Saturday dispatched its 42nd Antarctic expedition team with a mission to conduct drilling experiments in the coldest continent to explore its evolution process and natural resources.

China has been sending expeditions periodically to Antarctica, where it has five research stations to explore the resource-rich continent, but this will be the first time its team will focus on drilling the continent’s bed.

Several countries, including the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), have carried out drilling in the continent to explore its natural resources.

“During this expedition, China plans, for the first time, to conduct scientific drilling experiments in lakes deep in the Antarctic inland ice sheet,"  Wei Fuhai, leader and chief scientist of China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team, told Xinhua.

"Using domestically built hot-water and thermal-melting drill systems, we will carry out clean drilling and sampling through ice more than 3,000 meters thick," Wei said.

  China has been steadily expanding its footprint in Antarctica.

Last year, China opened its first overseas atmospheric monitoring station in Antarctica and established a telescope to leverage the continent's pristine atmospheric conditions for infrared and millimetre-wave observations.

The 42nd expedition left from Shanghai on Saturday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Antarctic subglacial lakes are characterised by extreme conditions, including high pressure, low temperature, darkness, and oligotrophy, hosting a unique ecosystem and preserving rich archives of ice-sheet history and climate change.  “Investigating these lakes is therefore essential for understanding sedimentary processes and the evolution of life. To further advance understanding of Antarctica's role in global climate change, this expedition team will collect long-term observational records in key regions such as the Amundsen Sea and Ross Sea, Wei said.

"Continuously enhancing our ability to understand, protect, and utilise Antarctica is not only an inevitable requirement for China to build itself into a strong maritime nation, but also a way to make new contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity,"  Long Wei, deputy director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, said.

Last year, China operationalised its sprawling fifth research station in Antarctica, which has a floor space of 5,244 square metres with facilities to support 80 expedition team members during summers and 30 members during winters, according to official media reports.

There are currently 70 permanent research stations scattered across the continent of Antarctica, which represent 29 countries from every continent on Earth.

India has two active research stations – Maitri and Bharti – in Antarctica.

The US has six stations and Australia has three.

China signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1983. The treaty designates the continent as a natural reserve and prohibits commercial resource extraction. PTI KJV  RD RD RD