China's scientific research ship, Xiangyanghong 01, returned to the port of Qingdao City, east China's Shandong Province on Friday after completing the first around-the-world maritime research that integrated oceanic and polar research.
The ship began its journey around the world on August 28, 2017 and covered about 38,600 nautical miles in its 263-day mission. It focused its researches on resources, environment and climate of the seabed.
During the fifth and sixth stage of the journey, Chinese research team on board found a large area of rich sediment of rare earth elements (REE) in the southeast Pacific Ocean.
"The main achievement in the southeast Pacific Ocean is the discovery of 1.5-million-square kilometer area of rare earth resources. It is first found in the world," said Shi Xuefa, principal investigator of the fifth stage of Xiangyanghong's journey around the world.
Scientists also gathered some samples of hydrothermal sulphide at the seabed of South Atlantic Ocean, a substance which helps to understand the origin of the Earth's original life process.
Hydrothermal sulfide is a kind of seabed deposit containing copper, zinc and precious metals such as gold and silver. Those metals formed sulfides after chemical reactions and settled at the seabed in "chimney vents."
During the mission, scientists also first discovered the existence of marine microplastics in Atlantic sector of the Antarctica.
"The around-the-world journey was mainly conducted in the southern hemisphere that humans know little about. The comprehensive maritime research focused on resources, environment and climate on the seabed. That is to say, these are the triad of researches," said Li Tiegang, director of the First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration.
Sources:cctvplus
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