China's manned submersible, Jiaolong, on Sunday proceeded along the southern slope of Zhenbei Seamount to its top, retrieving fresh basalt samples and bio-samples from the upper part of the seamount.

This is the fourth dive conducted by Jiaolong in the second stage of China's 38th ocean scientific expedition. Jiaolong completed three dives in the South China Sea on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Saturday's dive is China’s first time to conduct systematical observations and sampling from the bottom up along the seamount profile in the South China Sea.

“We've gained more from the 30th dive. We have retrieved several pieces of basalt at 1,100-meters deep, a 0.7 kg sample of semi-solid foraminifera sand at about 630-meters deep and seen corals, crinoids, sea urchins and starfish as well as large fish like sharks from 420 meters deep,” said Yang Gang, a senior engineer from the First Institute of Oceanography of China’s State Oceanic Administration, who was on-board Jiaolong during the mission.

These samples and data will play a significant role in studying the origins of the seamount chain in the South China Sea, the region's structural evolution and biodiversity, according to Yang.

The maximum depth of this drive was 1,101 meters. Jiaolong stayed underwater for eight hours including its seabed operation time which lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes.