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Explorers brave risks in name of science
By Wang Shanshan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-05 06:18
A team of 15 scientists returned to Beijing on Friday from a journey to the
heart of Hohxil in Northwest China, becoming the first people to survive a trip
deep into the largest uninhabited area in China, the third largest in the world.
"The precious first-hand information gathered, which complements 10 academic
disciplines, will contribute greatly to studies on the formation of the
Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and to efforts to preserve the ecological environment
on the plateau," Ding Lin, team leader and geologist with the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, told China Daily.
He added that the success of the expedition marks the start of a three-year
project by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to investigate Hohxil, which covers
about 83,000 square kilometres in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan
Plateau, and has an average altitude of 5,300 metres above sea level.
It took the scientists 40 days to complete their first journey, and will be
followed by at least two in the next three years. During the 600-kilometre trek,
they often had to walk with heavy loads on their backs across a bleak landscape
of frozen earth, karst formations, glaciers and volcanoes, according to Ding.
"The weather changed in most unexpected ways. At one time, the temperature
dropped 40 C within half an hour in the middle of the day, when a snowstorm
suddenly drove the sunshine away. The content of oxygen in the air was only half
that in Beijing," he said.
In one dangerous situation, five scientists on a search mission had to
abandon their two trucks when they sunk into an ice river, forcing them to walk
22 kilometres back to the camp through a snowstorm.
Though challenged by the harsh environment, the scientists managed to collect
information on the local geological and topographical features, glacial
landforms, rivers and lakes, frozen soils, volcanoes, minerals, plants and
animals, which will be analysed at the academy's institutes in Beijing and
Nanjing of East China.
They also for the first time collected data on the area's climate, as they
set up temporary weather monitoring stations along the way.
Li Jian'guo, a researcher with the Nanjing Institute of Geology and
Palaeontology, brought back 150 kilograms of fossil specimens.
(China Daily 11/05/2005 page2)
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