Chinese submarine seismograph first dive into Antarctic waters

According to the report of the 28th Antarctic scientific expedition of the Great Ocean Team, the 28th Antarctic expedition team of China successfully deployed one in the Prydz Bay waters of the Antarctic at 17:24 on the 17th (20:24 pm on the 17th, Beijing time). China-developed submarine seismograph (OBS).

Seabed seismograph is expected to be recycled in March next year

This is the first time China has set up a submarine seismograph in the Antarctic waters, and will continue to observe the earthquakes on the Antarctic continent and its surrounding waters.

According to Jiao Yutian, the captain of the 28th Antarctic expeditionary expedition team in China, the submarine seismograph was set at a depth of 571 meters.

In addition, the scientific expedition team is expected to deploy another submarine seismograph in the northern part of Prydz Bay, Antarctica, in the early morning of the 18th.

These two submarine seismographs were completed by Yan Yanliang and Yan Guangming of the First Institute of Oceanography of the State Oceanic Administration. They will be recycled in March 2012. After the instruments are recovered, their data will be brought back to China for further analysis. Information on the structure and state of the lower crust of the crust and upper mantle, and the study and resolution of the mantle process of the reconstruction of the Gondwana continental tectonic and the crust dynamics of the Gondwana ancient lithosphere, the Antarctic plate boundary and its crustal structure, and the formation of large volcanic rocks Problems such as the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins are of great significance.

Recover the sub-systems deployed for the first time every year for the first time

At about 2:30 a.m. Beijing time on the 18th, the crane on the Xuelong scientific expedition lifted a series of orange ball buoys and a yellow funnel-shaped object out of the Prydz Bay of Antarctica.

This time it was the set of submarine systems deployed by the 27th Antarctic expedition team last year. It "sleeped" for a year on the sea bottom of Prydz Bay. This is the first time that the Chinese Antarctic expedition team has reclaimed the submarine deployment system that was deployed in the next year. The scientific expedition team then deployed a new submarine system in Prydz Bay.

China successfully recovered a set of submarine systems deployed in the same scientific expedition during the 26th Antarctic expedition. The 28th Antarctic expedition team leader Jiao Yutian told reporters that the longer the submarine system is placed on the sea floor, the more data it records. However, due to various variables in the seafloor situation, the longer the time spent in the seabed, the more likely the failure rate of the submersible system will increase, and the greater the difficulty of recovery.

According to the member of the 28th Antarctic expedition team, Zhao Jun, the submersible standard system that was recovered this time had sediment traps, temperature and salt meters and other equipment. The data recorded by the submerged system can be used to investigate the long-term changes in water characteristics and movement processes in the Prydz Bay. Among them, the sample of particulate organic matter collected by the sediment trap will help study the carbon cycle in the ocean.

It is understood that the 28th Antarctic expedition team plans to deploy four submarine systems in the waters of Prydz Bay. (Xinhua News Agency)

The submarine seismograph can obtain the structure and state information of the lower part of the crust and the upper mantle, which is of great significance for the study of the Antarctic plate boundary and its crustal structure.

Submersible system

The longer the time spent on the seabed, the more valuable the data. The recorded data can be used to investigate the long-term changes in water characteristics and movement processes in Prydz Bay.