Chinese research ship "Xiangyanghong 10" returned to China on Sunday with fruitful results after completing the nation's 49th ocean expedition.
The ship docked at Changzhi Island pier in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province.
"Xiangyanghong 10" departed on Dec. 6, 2017, with scientists onboard set to explore polymetallic sulphide deposits in the southwest and northwest Indian Ocean.
To fulfill the mission, researchers upgraded the unmanned submersible Qianlong 2.
"The Qianlong 2 used to need a mother vessel to monitor it. Now we’ve developed a new mode and it does not need the mother vessel to monitor it any more. After it went down to work, the mother vessel we were on went on with its task. Once it finished its task and came back, we retrieved it. This greatly improved efficiency," said Tao Chunhui, principal investigator of this ocean expedition.
During the voyage, researchers found three mineralized zones, two anomaly mineralized zones, and nine anomaly zones in the southwest Indian Ocean.
Researchers also investigated microplastics, anoxia and ocean acidification in the Indian Ocean, the first time Chinese researchers survey in the Indian Ocean. They also retrieved submerged buoys at the Ninety East Ridge, providing data for studying ocean dynamic environment and changes and filling the gap of deep-sea current observation at this region.
"[What we did] are important measures to learn more and protect the ocean. It is also a way for us to fulfill our obligation as a major power. We have done a great job in basic investigation," said Tao.
Sources:cctvplus
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