2024-02-12 21:49:39
China’s first self-developed manned submarine, the Jiaolong, has arrived with the Shanghai Yihao vessel in the South Atlantic hydrothermal area for the country’s 83rd ocean expedition, the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) said.
With its various conventional environmental survey equipment, the submarine is expected to make 46 dives during the study of the marine biological environment, Radio China reported.
On January 27, the Jiaolong completed its first dive in the South Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,350 meters and successfully discovered hydrothermal vent communities and a large number of hydrothermal organisms. The submarine also conducted surveying and sampling operations, obtaining specimens of shrimp and deep-sea mussels.
As of Wednesday, the Jiaolong had successfully completed eight dives and conducted conductivity, temperature and depth surveys at multiple locations, COMRA said.
The 83rd expedition began on December 17, 2023, when the ship departed from Qingdao City, East China’s Shandong Province. It is scheduled to return to port in Qingdao in May.
The expedition consists of 81 people from 19 institutes and universities. Her focus is on scientific questions about the relationship between mid-ocean ridge biodiversity and typical landforms, geographic areas of hydrothermal organisms, and biological connectivity.