China inaugurated its fifth base in Antarctica this Wednesday, February 7. The Qinling scientific research station on the Ross Sea will strengthen studies of the ice cap, marine ecology and climate change.
Located in the maritime area closest to the South Pole, in the “last of the oceans”, as explorers say, the Qinling base should be able to accommodate nearly 80 researchers in the summer and around thirty in the winter. The 5,244 m² of structures will be devoted to glaciology, geophysical and biomedical research, meteorology and astronomy.