Han Xiqiu is on the scientific research ship. Photo provided by interviewee
Han Xiqiu (middle, bottom row), chief scientist of the first leg of China’s Ocean 38 voyage, and scientific expedition team members on the “Chaoyang Red 09” scientific research ship. Photo provided by the interviewee
During the days when he was not at sea, without the sharpness of the sea breeze, Han Xiqiu’s skin became fairer again. At the age of 53, she speaks softly and smiles. Her journey of thousands of miles across the vast ocean did not leave many marks on her face.
Jamaica Sugar Daddy But she is destined to be the “daughter of the sea”. As the first female chief scientist of China’s ocean science expedition, she led the team to uncover the darkest secrets of the earth and let the world see the deepest beauty of the planet.
71% of the earth’s surface area is ocean, and there are abundant “blue resources” stored on the seabed. In Han Xiqiu’s eyes, the vast seabed is an underwater treasure map full of mountains, rivers and ravines.
” She and her team were searching for “seabed mineralization sites” for the country in the vast ocean thousands of meters deep. “Human beings go to the deep sea, just like humans explore space, for future sustainable development.” Han Xiqiu said.
Go deeper into the sea
Han Xiqiu was born in a peasant family in Taizhou, Zhejiang. Her life choices seemed quite satisfactory at first glance. She wanted to do something that some people thought had nothing to do with men. She wanted to go to the sea, and to the farther reaches of the sea. Go deeper.
Mineral resources are one of the material bases for social and economic development. With population growth and social development, marine resources are inevitably drying up.
“Take copper as an example. The global market demand for copper basically doubles every 10 years. Calculated based on the current global proven marine copper reserves and annual mining volume , its static recoverable life is only 40 years,” Han Xiqiu said, in order to ensure the sustainable development of the social economy Jamaica Sugar Daddy, we need to find new ones. Mineral resources continue to be crucial, and seabed exploration and development will become the general trend.
In 2005, my country organized China’s first oceanographic global scientific survey voyage and launched a plan to investigate the sources of polymetallic sulfides in the international seabed area. Han Xiqiu served as the chief scientist assistant for the Pacific and Indian Ocean segments, and began her process of searching for “treasures” in the deep sea.
From March to April 2007, Han Xiqiu served as the chief scientist for the third leg of the 19th voyage of “Ocean 1”, becoming the first person in the history of China’s ocean science expedition Chief Female.
“Our voyage mission is mainly to explore for minerals on the vast seabed, including looking for the ‘black smokestacks’ on the seafloor.” Han Xiqiu said.
“Black smokestack” is a phenomenon in which the high-temperature hydrothermal fluid emitted from the seabed quickly precipitates to form black metal sulfide minerals after encountering cold seawater, which looks like billowing “black smoke”. Over time, hydrothermal sulfides rich in copper, iron, zinc, gold and other metal elements precipitated around the vent, forming multi-metallic sulfide accumulations shaped like chimneys.
“There is a ‘seabed mining farm’, which continuously produces copper and zinc mines rich in gold and silver.” Han Xiqiu has served as chief scientist or team leader 10 times.The team led the discovery of 12 polymetallic sulfide deposits (sites) in the international seabed area, and named 16 oceanic seafloor geographical entities discovered by the new survey.
The battle between time and wisdom
In the vastness Finding a hydrothermal area with a diameter of only a hundred meters on the dark ocean floor, and then accurately locating the “black smokestack” is like “finding a needle in a haystack”. It is a dual competition of time and wisdom.
Han Xiqiu still has an unforgettable memory of the first time he independently discovered the “Jade Emperor” hydrothermal area in the northeastern Indian Ocean. It was May 2010, the devil’s westerly belt in the northeastern Indian Ocean, the day before “Dayang 1” was about to set sail.
At that time, the vicious wave crashed directly onto the four-story bridge window. “But when I think about the obvious hydrothermal anomaly that has been discovered, and I don’t know when I will return to this sea area next time, the ‘Courageous Gentleman’ and the ‘Curious Gentleman’ encourage me in my heart, hold on a little longer, hold on a little longer, Find polymetallic sulfide minerals,” Han Xiqiu recalled.
With the determination to win, Han Xiqiu and his team started waiting from midnight. When the storm subsided slightly in the early morning, everyone decided to put the TV grab into the sea for a last ditch effort. At this time, the gusts came again, a level 10 storm roared. “Dayang No. 1” dragged two to three tons of weight and fought against the wind and waves and moved forward against the waves.
Han Xiqiu directed the ship’s progress from the bridge, and the ship owner personally operated the ship. The scientific expedition team fought the storm for four hours and never gave up. Until her walkie-talkie beeped: “FaJM EscortsUnderstanding White HotJamaicans Sugardaddy Liquid accumulation!” “We have discovered sulfide, and we have obtained samples!”
This is the first time that Han Xiqiu has led a team After making a major discovery, she galloped, roared, and screamed, rushing from the fourth-floor bridge to the surface of the ship. “That kind of ecstasy is something I will never forget.” She named it after “Yuhuang Mountain,” a famous mountain in Hangzhou. In view of the unknown seamount under investigation, the hydrothermal area here was named the “Jade Emperor” hydrothermal area.
Now, facing a similar discovery, Han Xiqiu is much “calm”. She has grown from an eager “fighter” to a “female general” who commands decisively.
The scientific expedition operations on the ocean are non-stop 24 hours a day, and it is almost a race against time. The scientific expedition team faces unknown challenges all the time, and has missed danger many times. In the midst of strong winds and waves, such a high-intensity and high-risk task not only did not deter Han Xiqiu, but instead aroused her fighting spirit.
“The traditional concept is that the ocean is the battlefield of men, but now the times are different. From the sky to the sea, women can make contributions just like men.” Han Xiqiu said that in scientific research At work, she is a scientist first and then a woman.
Poetry and things in the distance
New Year’s Eve The scientific expedition to the ocean is arduous, but in Han Xiqiu’s eyes, the rich and colorful underwater world and the silk-like ocean surface add a lot of poetry to the days at sea.
In 2017, Han Xiqiu boarded the “Jiaolong” manned deep submersible and dived to the seafloor hydrothermal area for near-bottom observation and sampling. She described the underwater scene she saw with her own eyes – thousands of meters of deep seabed, most of it was cold Jamaicans Escort desolation, The hydrothermal activity area is like a raging mining field and a vibrant paradise for life. Around the mouth of the chimney with the “thick smoke” billowing, there are groups of hydrothermal blind shrimps, snails and crabs. A little further away, white lotus-like sea anemones bloom on the undersea hills, swaying against the ocean currents…
When the scientific research tasks are progressing smoothly, she will also take some time to watch the stars, play with the moon, write lyrics and compose poems. She named the ocean floor geographical entity. , all poetic and full of wonderful meanings.
She named a ridge in the southeastern Indian Ocean “Lying Silkworm”, not only because the ridge resembles a lying silkworm, but also because “Silkworm” reminds people of Jiangnan; there are two The two hydrothermal areas are named “Tianxiu” and “Daluan” respectively. The former comes from “The Book of Songs·Shang Song·Changfa” “Where is the rest of the sky? Neither competitive nor flamboyant, neither hard nor soft.” The meaning is as follows. Fortunately, it was discovered that it had been missing for a long time in this area due to many international scientific expeditions. The latter is taken from “The Book of Songs·Ode to Shang·Xuanniao” “Ten dragon flags are carried by the dragon flag”, which means that there are many carts with dragon flags flying in the air, loaded with tribute food and wine. There are swarms of shrimps and crabs in the hydrothermal activity area, and the hydrothermal fluid ejected from the depths of the ocean shell is like fine wine and jade. All of this is like the “Manchu-Han Banquet” prepared by God for the scientific expedition team.
During this Lunar New Year, Han Xiqiu posted a Spring Festival couplet on the door of his office: Climb the mountains to see the beauty, dive into the sea to explore the depths. Hengbiao: Love the earth.
“I study the characteristics of the earth, its past and future, and love the earth like my mother.” Han Xiqiu said that before deep-sea development, it is necessary to understand the distribution of resources and its surroundings environment and ecological characteristics in order to scientifically formulate strategies for deep-sea development and surrounding environment protection.
This year, after more than 180 days and nights of hard work, Han Xiqiu successfully applied for a national key R&D project together with colleagues from 5 domestic universities and research institutes. In the next 5 years, She will lead the team to carry out cross-integrated research on marine geology, microbiology and environmental science around the ecological environment around the seafloor hydrothermal mineralization system.