China’s team arrives in Argentina_文教Education
members of the chinese antarctica research team aboard the polar expedition ship xuelong (snow dragon) arrived in ushuaia, argentina friday after they finished work in a station on the continent.
under the plan, the xuelong will stay in ushuaia, southern argentina, for three days for replenishment and then go back to
zhongshan (dr. sun yat-sen) station, one of the two stations china built on the continent in the 1980s.
the team was welcomed by argentine local government officials and chinese embassy officials on their arrival in the afternoon.
while visiting the ship, a senior local government official said the arrival of the chinese research team and the ship was an
important event in the relations between argentina and china. thus, the provincial governor has signed an order to permit the ship to harbor in ushuaia port, he added.
zhang zhanhai, head of the research team, said chinese scientists’ 21st expedition to antarctica is of great significance,
as they plan to make it to the summit of dome a, the highest point on the ice-covered continent.
the research team has finished most of the tasks since it left china on oct. 25, 2004 for the 150-day expedition, zhang added.
the ship is expected to go back to china in march.
according to zhang, the 146-member expedition marks the first human attempt to scale the peak, which is 4,083 meters above sea level. a major task for the expedition is to make preparations for selecting a location for china’s third research station in antarctica.
meanwhile, yuan shaohong, captain of the xuelong, said the ship will be completely revamped in may or june this year after this expedition, which will be completed by august 2006.
after the rebuilding, the xuelong will have an increased laboratory area of 300 square meters, and its capacity for scientific research, automation safety and living conditions will all be greatly improved.
since china inaugurated its first antarctic research station, changcheng (the great wall), about two decades ago, the country has launched an antarctic expedition every year.
during the past 20 years, china has invested a total of 900 million yuan (about 110 million us dollars) in the south pole research and achieved great progress in the research of the polar climate and weather, glaciers, bio-resources, oceanic chemistry and physics, especially in the field of polar aerolite, where china is on a par with the united states and japan.
currently, 47 countries have signed the antarctic treaty and 28 have set up research stations on antarctica. countries that want to build research stations in the region must pass strict environmental protection check.
under the plan, the xuelong will stay in ushuaia, southern argentina, for three days for replenishment and then go back to
zhongshan (dr. sun yat-sen) station, one of the two stations china built on the continent in the 1980s.
the team was welcomed by argentine local government officials and chinese embassy officials on their arrival in the afternoon.
while visiting the ship, a senior local government official said the arrival of the chinese research team and the ship was an
important event in the relations between argentina and china. thus, the provincial governor has signed an order to permit the ship to harbor in ushuaia port, he added.
zhang zhanhai, head of the research team, said chinese scientists’ 21st expedition to antarctica is of great significance,
as they plan to make it to the summit of dome a, the highest point on the ice-covered continent.
the research team has finished most of the tasks since it left china on oct. 25, 2004 for the 150-day expedition, zhang added.
the ship is expected to go back to china in march.
according to zhang, the 146-member expedition marks the first human attempt to scale the peak, which is 4,083 meters above sea level. a major task for the expedition is to make preparations for selecting a location for china’s third research station in antarctica.
meanwhile, yuan shaohong, captain of the xuelong, said the ship will be completely revamped in may or june this year after this expedition, which will be completed by august 2006.
after the rebuilding, the xuelong will have an increased laboratory area of 300 square meters, and its capacity for scientific research, automation safety and living conditions will all be greatly improved.
since china inaugurated its first antarctic research station, changcheng (the great wall), about two decades ago, the country has launched an antarctic expedition every year.
during the past 20 years, china has invested a total of 900 million yuan (about 110 million us dollars) in the south pole research and achieved great progress in the research of the polar climate and weather, glaciers, bio-resources, oceanic chemistry and physics, especially in the field of polar aerolite, where china is on a par with the united states and japan.
currently, 47 countries have signed the antarctic treaty and 28 have set up research stations on antarctica. countries that want to build research stations in the region must pass strict environmental protection check.