On February 7, China’s fifth Antarctic research station, Qinling Station, opened, filling the gap in China’s research in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica.
The new research station is located along the coast of the Ross Sea area, close to the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest in Antarctica. This area is located in the rapid ice flow area of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea Sea Ice Triangle. It is the lithosphere, cryosphere and biosphere of the Antarctic region. Areas where typical physical geographical units such as the atmosphere and the atmosphere are concentrated and interact. It is a sensitive area to global change and an ideal place for polar scientific investigation.
Zhang Beichen, leader of China's 40th Antarctic Scientific Expedition, said that the team members who built the new station upheld the polar spirit and overcame unfavorable factors such as tight time, heavy tasks, and harsh construction environment, and successfully completed the station construction task, which embodies China's polar expedition undertakings. The style of passing down the fire from generation to generation demonstrates the strong driving force for building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation. The new Ross Sea station is the first wintering research station built in China in the new era. The completion of the research station coincides with the 40th anniversary of China's polar expedition, which is of epoch-making historical significance. The construction of the research station is a highlight of China’s 40th Antarctic expedition.
The design concept of the main body of the Qinling Station is derived from the Southern Cross navigation used by Zheng He on his voyages to the West. It has a construction area of 5,244 square meters and can accommodate 80 summer expedition personnel and 30 winter expedition personnel. Qinling Station uses lightweight and high-strength construction technology and materials, which can withstand ultra-low temperatures of minus 60 degrees Celsius and strong corrosion in the coastal environment.
"Compared with the previous inspection station, the overall design and construction of the new station has a higher degree of application of digital and assembly technologies." Liu Yanhui, consultant chief architect of China Architectural Design Institute and chief design director of the new station project, said in an interview with reporters.
China's fifth Antarctic scientific research station will be a year-round scientific research station that can independently support multi-disciplinary comprehensive scientific research projects on land, ocean, atmosphere, glaciers and other areas.
According to reports, in the next step, the relevant supporting facilities of the new research station will be further improved, and the installation and deployment of various scientific observation monitoring facilities will be completed one by one. (Video produced by Ruan Yulin, Cao Xufan and Liu Peng, sourced from the Ministry of Natural Resources)
Editor in charge: [Li Yan]