China Travel Forum

[Aynur]

The 11 members of the China Antarctic Expedition team accomplished their research mission to Grove Mountains and returned to Zhongshan Station yesterday, China News Service reported.

During the 58-day expedition, the members collected a record-high 5,354 meteorite samples. They also collected geological data which will facilitate the future compilation of a geologic map of Prydz Bay, a deep embayment in Antarctica between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast.

This mission is the summer section of China's 22nd expedition to the Antarctic. It lasted from November 2005 to mid-February 2006, and the winter section commenced on February 15 and will not be finished until November of this year.

"We have finished most of our research projects on Grove Mountains. Some were completed ahead of the schedule. And no accidents happened," said Yang Huigen, Deputy Captain of the expedition and Deputy Director of China Polar Research Center.

As one of the most magnificent areas of the Antarctic, Grove Mountains (72°45′S 75°0′E) is a large, scattered group of mountains and nunataks extending over an area of approximately 65 by 32 kilometers, located 460km from Zhongshan Station, China's first Antarctic expedition base.

Grove Mountains is notorious for severe weather conditions. Expedition team members work under a temperature of -25°C and are prone to hazards caused by ice calving. "We are heavily influenced by gales in the area, in which visibility is down to nil," Yang said, "We can't even make out the vehicles in front of us."

The expedition team will depart for China aboard the survey ship "Xuelong" on February 26, the report said. It is estimated that they will arrive in Shanghai on March 28.
2006-02-20 Beijing Time