Nitrogen experiment among breakthroughs

The voyage taken by the research ship Tan Suo Yi Hao to the Marianas Trench from late June until Aug 12 made a series of breakthroughs in deep-sea scientific exploration, both domestically and internationally, according to scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The breakthroughs include a successful nitrogen cycle experiment conducted by the Yuanwei Shiyan ("on-site experiment") deep-sea elevator, a research device that is lowered with an anchor and was developed by the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering of CAS.

"It made history among similar devices internationally," said Liu Xincheng, the CAS scientist who headed the expedition.