China’s State Oceanic Administration (SOA) is to establish an air service team to explore the Antarctic with newly-developed equipment by the end of the year, it announced this week. The team will form part of a land, sea and air monitoring operation and the equipment will be specially adapted to the polar environment.
The SOA will also carry out a pilot deep-sea mining project, conduct deep-sea biological diversity research using a manned deep-sea submersible and build a deep-sea space station and several ‘smart’ state-run oceanic laboratories.
According to some estimates there could be as much as 200 billion barrels of oil under the Antarctic ice and snow – although recent calculations suggest that the price of a barrel of crude would have to stand at around $100 to make it worth extracting it.
China sets up team to explore Antarctic
Source: people