China's Antarctic expedition team is selecting the site for
building a third station around the highest point on the continent,
the team's captain told Xinhua Saturday.
The team is selecting the site in an ice land of 6,000 square
kilometers around Dome A, the continent's peak point at 4,093
meters above sea level, Sun Bo said on board the ice-breaker
Xuelong, or snow dragon, en route to Argentina.
The vessel is to ship more building materials for the extension
work of China's two stations on the continent.
The target area of the site-selection is a rectangular place of
200 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, the captain said.
He added that the site-selection work is extremely difficult as
it is being carried out on so high a place on the continent's
icecap where the air is rare and the weather is inclement.
Thanks to the hard work of the scientists, China is expected to
draw the first precise topographic map of the area of 450 square
kilometers surrounding Dome A.
A 17-member Chinese expedition team successfully scaled Dome A
for the second time in mankind's history on Jan. 12 after a
grueling 21-day journey.
China started to launch its 24th expedition on the South Pole on
Nov. 12, when the ice breaker Xuelong left China's eastern coastal
city of Shanghai carrying 91 researchers and 40 crew members.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2008)