Tech & Sci
17:44, 28-Oct-2017
China to build its fifth Antarctic research station
["china"]
Share
Copied
According to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), China will build its fifth research station in the Antarctic.
Chinese researchers have selected Inexpressible Island in Terra Nova Bay in the Ross Sea as the site for the research station, said Qin Weijia, director of the SOA Polar Expedition Office.
"The new base will be a perpetual research station be able to independently carry out multiple scientific investigations in the Antarctic," said Qin at the annual academic meeting of China polar science, which concluded Friday in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province.
The Ross Sea is a deep-water bay in the Southern Ocean regarded as the least altered marine ecosystem on the Earth – a living laboratory that could possibly tell the history of Antarctic life.
China has built four Antarctic research stations during 30 years of research. Changcheng and Zhongshan serve as constant stations, and the two others, Taishan and Kunlun, provide services in summer.
China is building its first homemade polar icebreaker "Xuelong 2," which is expected to be completed in 2019. Scientists say it will provide a solid guarantee for China's polar expeditions.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency