Sun Yat-sen University - Xisha Islands
Located in Guangdong, close to the South China Sea, CUHK has an indissoluble bond with the ocean: promoted and participated in the first scientific investigation of the Paracel Islands in Chinese history in 1928; approved the construction of scientific research ships by the Ministry of Education in 2016; led the construction of the Southern Ocean Experiment in 2018 In the laboratory, organize the "Return to Xisha" scientific expedition, marching into the sea and chasing deep blue dreams.
The vessel "Sun Yat-Sen University" was launched ["released"] 92 years after China's first scientific expedition to the Xisha Islands. In May 1928, researchers from Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University promoted and participated in the scientific research on Yongxing Island, the largest of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea and the island that is located on the prefecture-level Sansha City of South China's Hainan Province.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in November 1946, the school sent professional investigators and survey personnel to participate in the reception of the Paracel Islands. In 1947 four scholars including Wang Guangwei from the Department of Geography, Lu Faxi from the College of Agriculture, Zhang Hongda and Li Guofan from the Department of Biology participated in the second scientific investigation of the Paracel Islands. The expedition team took the "Zhongji" ship to the Paracel Islands and published a series of papers on coral reef island geology, phosphate rock, plants and soil.
Professor Yuan Jiayi from the Department of Geology once went to Xisha in 1980 for a scientific investigation, and published an article "Nature and Development of Yongxing Island and Shidao in the Paracel Islands" after returning. Professor Liang Baihe from the Department of Geology participated in the 1983 "Scientific Investigation Group on Modern Carbonate Sedimentation in Hainan Island and Paracel Islands" initiated by the Chinese Sedimentary Society. He studied the modern coral reefs, biological sediments and modern reef island limestone diagenesis, rock types, A systematic and comprehensive survey of rock sedimentary structures and other issues was carried out. After returning, he published the article "Depositional Characteristics of Surface Sediments in Qinglan Port and Adjacent Seas of Hainan Island".
The then-dean of the Department of Geology, Professor Huang Yukun, presided over the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s “Late Cenozoic Geology of the South China Coast” in 1987. The project team members Zou Heping, Wang Jianhua and Xia Fa went to the Paracel Islands for scientific research. "Journal of Sun Yat-Sen University·Late Cenozoic Geology of South China Coast", "Tectonics and Mineralization" and "Marine Geology and Quaternary Geology".
Professor Deng Ruru of the School of Geographical Sciences and Planning is an academic leader in ocean remote sensing research. Since the 1990s, Professor Deng Ruru has been investigating and researching Xisha. He visited Xisha at least twice a year. His team has been at the forefront of the world in satellite remote sensing research on marine life. Professor Xu Yongjie from the Department of Archaeology followed the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to Xisha in 2010 to salvage the shipwreck of "North Reef No. 1".
In June 2016, Sun Yat-sen University's marine comprehensive scientific research practice ship project was approved by the Ministry of Education. The maiden voyage of the "South China Sea Scientific Expedition" scientific expedition team set sail on August 8, 2016.
In July 2017, Sun Yat-sen University and the 708th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation signed a contract for the design of the marine comprehensive scientific research practice ship of Sun Yat-sen University. The "South China Sea Scientific Expedition" scientific expedition team conducted a multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensional and three-dimensional comprehensive scientific investigation of the northern region of the South China Sea in the summer of 2017.
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen University's Xisha scientific expedition, the "Return to Xisha" expedition voyage was organized in 2018. In July 2018, the school's marine scientific expedition team set sail again and went to Xisha to carry out a series of comprehensive scientific investigations, including underwater human heritage, marine life, marine natural product compounds, marine geology, physical oceanography, marine atmosphere, island and reef development and utilization Wait. In the winter of 2018, the scientific expedition team of the "South China Sea Scientific Expedition" obtained relevant data on the seasonal changes between the population and concentration of phytoplankton as well as the distribution characteristics, marine fungi and their metabolites.
In March 2020, Chinese researchers from the Sun Yat-sen University aboard a manned submersible, first spotted a three-meter long whale at a depth of 1,600 meters in the South China Sea. There are also researchers using artificial intelligence to predict changes in the salinity of the surface in the South China Sea.
