PANDA & Dome A station: 25th Chinese Antarctic Expedition

Posted on 03.11.2008 • in Projects

CHINARE IPY Logo

The International Polar Foundation (IPF) is sending a science communication officer to take part in the 25th Chinese Antarctic Expedition (CHINARE).

Jean de Pomereu will be onboard Chinese research ice-breaker, Xue Long,and at China's East Antarctic research station, Zhongshan, between 8 November and 20 December 2008. As observer of an important new chapterin Antarctic research and history, he will be sending back regular reports to be listed here and published on SciencePoles.

This project is made possible thanks to a partnership between the IPF, the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA), and The Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), within the spirit of international collaboration at the heart of Antarctic research, the Antarctic Treaty, and the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08.

Reports will focus on:

The expansion and modernisation of the Chinese Antarctic research infrastructure during the IPY and beyond. In particular:
- The building of China's third Antarctic station, Kunlun, to be built at Dome Argus (Dome A) during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 Austral summers. At an altitude of 4,083 meters, Dome A is the culminating point of the East Antarctic ice sheet, and one of the remotest locations on Earth.
- The modernisation of existing infrastructure at China's Zhongshan station
- The refitting of research ice breaker, Xue Long
Future research opportunities at Kunlun - Dome A station:
- Deep ice coring and the retrieving of a 1 to 1.5 million year climate record
- Mapping and remote examination of the Gamburtsev sub-glacial mountains and sub-glacial lake systems
- East Antarctic ice sheet and dynamics - and it's possible impact on future sea level rise
- Atmospheric monitoring
- Astronomy and the development of Dome A as perhaps the Earth's best natural cosmic observatory
Ongoing Chinese research in Antarctica during and beyond the IPY:
- Glaciology, geology, oceanography and marine biology in the Prydz Bay, Amery Ice Shelf, Lambert Basin, and Dome A transect regions
- Geology and meteorite collection in the Grove Mountains
- Atmospheric monitoring, geomagnetic observations, meteorology and geophysics at Zhongshan station
Historical and geopolitical perspective of Chinese research in Antarctica:
- International collaboration during the IPY and beyond
- Parallels with the development of US, Soviet, Japanese, and European inland station during the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year and later