China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team set sail from Shanghai on Saturday, starting a new scientific mission expected to last nearly seven months.
The mission will be supported jointly by two research icebreakers, Xuelong and Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2.
The expedition brings together a diverse team of over 500 members from more than 80 institutions in China, alongside researchers from over 10 countries and regions, including Thailand, Chile, and Portugal, fostering broader international scientific collaboration.
The team is expected to focus on three major research tasks and return to China in May 2026.
"First of all, we will advance the building of supporting facilities and system upgrade at Qinling Station, to further enhance operational support and scientific research capabilities of the station. The second task is to conduct multi-disciplinary comprehensive surveys and observations in Antarctica. We will carry out multidisciplinary surveys and observations in representative sea areas such as the Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea, to study the impacts of climate change on the Southern Ocean ecosystem," said Wei Fuhai, leader and chief scientist of China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team.
During this expedition, a suite of new technologies will be deployed and tested in the icy wilderness of the Antarctic.
"The third one is the application of domestically built equipment and technology in polar regions. China plans, for the first time, to carry out drilling and sampling experiments in lakes deep in ice sheet more than 3,000 meters thick. Technical validation tests will be conducted in Antarctica for China's independently developed and manufactured Snow Leopard 6×6 wheeled vehicle and the high-power fully hydraulic towing equipment," Wei said.
China's Qinling Station in Antarctica began operation on Feb 7, 2024.
China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team sets sail from Shanghai
