Peking University, Oct. 31, 2011: From Aug. 21, 2011 to Oct. 24, 2011, three doctor candidates directed by Prof. Zhou Liping from College of Urban and Environmental Sciences of Peking University (PKU), took part in the “comprehensive scientific expedition and research of South China Sea’s oceanography”, a program supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China on an oceanography research ship named “Dongfanghong No. 2”. This expedition covered a wide area from 11 degrees north latitude to 36 degrees north latitude.
The three doctor candidates Hu Bin, Liu Niankai and Zhang Jingcan mainly work on paleooceanography, marine geochemistry and Quaternary geochronology. The sediment samples they obtained from the seafloor of South China Sea will be used on the filtration of pelagian and demersal foraminifers and further research in paleooceanography and marine geochemistry. They also collected seawater samples from different depths in the ocean to analyze radioactive isotopes and the stability of seawater in South China Sea. Moreover, they collected total suspended particulates in the atmosphere and will do analysis of chemical composition and isotope with them.
During the expedition, Dongfanghong No.2 was successively affected by a series of typhoons including Typhoon Nanmadol, Typhoon Neast, Typhoon Haitang and Typhoon Nalgae. However, the three PKU doctor candidates together with teachers and students from Tongji University, Ocean University of China, Xiamen University and Chinese Academy of Sciences, overcame the difficulty and completed the mission safely.
Oceans are an important part of the earth. The massive matter and energy it contains can make significant influence on other layers of the earth. Therefore, learning about and studying oceans are important for us to learn the past, present and future of the earth. Peking University established the Ocean Research Center in March 2010, which consists of teachers from 8 different faculties. Since it was set up, its teachers and students have not only worked on ocean researches but also taken part in ocean scientific expeditions actively. They have established cooperative relation with domestic maritime units, and accumulated precious experience for more teachers and students in the Ocean Research Center to take part in ocean scientific expeditions in the future.
As director of State Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control at College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Prof. Hu Min with her research group has carried out an important environment protection project “Research on the Transboundary Transportation and Interrelationship of Air Pollutant in East Asia”.
Led by Prof. Zeng Limin, doctor candidates Guo Qingfeng, Wang Zhibin, and Hu Weiwei and master candidate Wan Lin observed the chemical composition and optical characteristics of gaseous pollutant including NOx, SO2 and O3 and air particulate matter along the seaside in East China.
Members of the marine geochemistry research group led by Prof. Chen Yongshun from School of Earth and Space Sciences, Doctor Feng Yongge and Chen Yanchao and master candidate Cao Yuliang and doctor candidate Wang Xianguang took part in the global expedition on a research ship named “Dayang No. 1” respectively in the period from January to Octor this year.
In addition, in 2008, Associate Professor Huang Baoqi from School of Earth and Space Sciences participated in Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)’s Cruise 313 special production platform project and mainly worked on the pelagian foraminifer stratigraphy since Cenozoic era. From July to November last year, Doctor Yao Jinxian and doctor candidate Hu Bin from Prof. Zhou Liping’s research group took part in Dayang No. 1’s “Dayang Cruise 21” global expedition respectively and accumulated valuable experience of observing and sampling on the ocean.
Written by: Xu Xinyi
Edited by: Cao Yixing
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
