Expedition helps obtain Antarctic data

Scientists on the icebreaker Xuelong have for the first time obtained seabed topographic data of Antarctic waters after a full exploration, the Polar Research Institute of China said on Tuesday.

They have also acquired important data on oceanic gravity and magnetic forces during an ongoing expedition, China's 34th national scientific expedition to the Antarctic, which started on Nov 8 and is scheduled to be back in Shanghai in mid-April.

The data was obtained from recent geophysical surveys spanning nearly 3,000 square kilometers carried out in the Ross Sea's Terra Nova Bay near a planned research base, on which construction will begin soon and may be finished in 2022.