The Chinese icebreaking research ship Zhongshan Daxue Jidi recently departed from Nansha in Guangzhou and has headed out to ice areas in the Bohai Sea to undertake a scientific investigations on the key processes of the Bohai winter ice-sea system and its ecological and environmental effects.
The voyage is organised and being led by Sun Yat-Sen University and also includes 12 other universities and research institutes throughout China. The voyage will have a planned duration of 44 days, during which the research team will cover the formation period, ice period, and retreat period of Bohai Sea ice in winter.
This is also the first time in China that a comprehensive survey of sea ice-ocean-ecology in the Bohai Sea ice area is carried out during winter.
The expedition team will set up two longitudinal sections and two observation cross-sections in Liaodong Bay and the central sea area of the Bohai Sea, focusing on the study of the process of sea ice generation and consumption in the Bohai Sea, the thermal and dynamic effects of the atmosphere and ocean on the process of sea ice generation and consumption in the Bohai Sea, and the influence mechanism of the sea ice generation and consumption process on the water environment.
The team will also construct an ecological dynamics model of sea ice in the Bohai Sea to reveal the potential impact of sea ice on the seasonal change of the surrounding ecosystems.