China’s research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2 safely returned to Shanghai on Tuesday, successfully wrapping up the country’s 16th Arctic expedition with significant scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.
During the three-month mission, the two vessels completed comprehensive marine environment surveys in the Chukchi sea plateau, the Canada Basin, and the central Arctic Ocean. They made major strides in multidisciplinary investigations of the ice edge zone and integrated three-dimensional air-ice-sea observations.
The expedition revealed an enhanced injection of subsurface warm water from the Pacific Ocean into the Canada Basin and discovered a new massive hydrothermal plume zone in the abyssal depths of the Gakkel Ridge.
The finding of a substantial number of juvenile polar cod in high-latitude ice areas has updated the international understanding of the Arctic ecosystem.
Breakthroughs in geophysical surveys along the Gakkel Ridge yielded a complete record of the lithosphere’s electrical structure spanning 25 million years.
Researchers discovered that the bottom boundary of the lithosphere extends almost horizontally at a depth of about 60 kilometers, challenging the traditional plate cooling model’s predictions on plate thickening.
“The scale of the expedition and the total volume of tasks reached record highs, yielding fruitful results in new scientific discoveries, theoretical breakthroughs, technology testing, and equipment applications. This provides strong support for gaining a deeper understanding of and effectively responding to climate change, as well as advancing the sustainable development of the Arctic,” said Wang Jinhui, leader of China’s 16th Arctic expedition team.
The research vessels Jidi and Tansuo-3 are still carrying out their expedition tasks and are expected to return in mid-October.
Source: Bastille Post Global, September 30, 2026. https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/6207302-chinas-icebreakers-return-from-16th-arctic-expedition-with-major-discoveries
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