Submarino chino Jiaolong explora minerales a 5,000 metros de profundidad en el Pacífico
China’s manned deep-sea submersible, the Jiaolong, has reached a new record depth of 5,188 meters.
Las Naciones Unidas aprobaron el plan de Beijing para explorar una franja del fondo del océano entre África y la Antártida en busqueda de depósitos de metales. La exploración la realiza el submarino tripulado chino Jiaolong, preparado para inmersiones sin precedentes de 5,000 metros, lo que supera las capacidades de exploración actuales de EE.UU.
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SE DIÓ LA LARGADA A LA MINERÍA SUBMARINA: en rojo sulfuros polimetálicos en el Océano
Submarino chino Jiaolong se ubicó segundo en record mundial de inmersión.
Aug 2nd, 2011 -El submarino tripulado de aguas profundas chino Jiaolong, realizó su quinta prueba de inmersión en el Océano Pacífico.
Durante las misiones anteriores del Jiaolong, la tripulación tomó fotografías y video, exploró el fondo del mar, y tomó muestras del suelo marino. El objetivo de las inmersiones de prueba es la realización de investigación científica y la prueba de las diferentes funciones del submarino. El buceo representa un desafío a su capacidad para soportar la presión del agua. La tripulación debe trabajar bajo el agua por seis a ocho horas en cada misión.
Las Naciones Unidas aprobaron la explotación de minerales de los fondos marinos de chinos y rusos.
Fuente: Wall Street Journal por Jeremy Page – viernes 22 de julio 2011
BEIJING- Las Naciones Unidas aprobaron el plan de Beijing para explorar una franja del fondo del océano entre África y la Antártida en busqueda de depósitos de metales. La exploración la realiza el submarino tripulado chino Jiaolong, preparado para inmersiones sin precedentes de 5,000 metros o 16,400 pies, lo que supera las capacidades de exploración actuales de EE.UU.
En la primera de cuatro inmersiones previstas, el sumergible Jiaolong llegó a 4.027 metros a las 5:26 am del jueves 21 de julio, hora de Beijing, de acuerdo con la Administración Oceánica China. La prensa estatal dijo que se debía de hacer otro intento a 5.000 metros la madrugada del viernes, pero la inmersión se pospuso debido a la mar brava que se espera que dure tres días.
El Jiaolong está explorando un lugar entre Hawai y América del Norte, donde a China le concedió derechos para explorar minerales la Autoridad Internacional de los Fondos Marinos (International Seabed Authority – ISA), en el 2001.
La Autoridad Internacional de los Fondos Marinos es un organismo de la ONU que supervisa la minería en aguas internacionales. La ISA, reunida en su sede en Jamaica, dijo que había aprobado el martes las aplicaciones de China y Rusia-los primeros países que pretenden explorar depósitos minerales relativamente recién descubiertos llamados sulfuros polimetálicos, que se forman alrededor de las chimeneas volcánicas en las cordilleras submarinas.
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Al alcanzar la profundidades de 5.000 metros, el Jiaolong ahora es capaz de explorar más de 70 por ciento de los fondos marinos del mundo. Estas inmersiones de prueba allanan el camino a un intento de inmersión récord de 7.000 metros en 2012.
Japón es el poseedor del récord mundial actual, con sus sumergible Shinkai que alcanzó 6.527 metros en agosto de 1989.
China, inició el proyecto Jiaolong en 2002. China es el quinto país en enviar personas a más de 3.500 metros bajo el nivel del mar, después de Estados Unidos, Francia, Rusia y Japón.
“Jiaolong” es el nombre de un dragón mítico del mar. Pasó su primera prueba de fuego entre mayo y julio del año pasado, con 17 inmersiones en el Mar Meridional de China, llegando a profundidades de más de 3700 metros.
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LA CARRERA POR LA EXPLOTACIÓN DE LOS MINERALES DE LOS FONDOS MARINOS
La Autoridad Internacional de los Fondos Marinos (ISA – International Seabed Authority) aprobó las solicitudes de empresas privadas patrocinadas por Nauru y Tonga, Estados insulares del Pacífico, para explorar yacimientos minerales del lecho marino en aguas internacionales. Es la primera vez que esto ocurre, anteriormente sólo se había aceptado las aplicaciones de Estados y entidades estatales.
La solicitud de China, del año pasado, fue para un sitio en la Dorsal del Suroeste de India (Southwest Indian Ridge), que divide el mar entre África y la Antártida. Rusia, que también tiene un sumergible en aguas profundas, se aplica a explorar un sitio de la Dorsal del Atlántico Medio (Mid-Atlantic Ridge).
Científicos de los EE.UU. en el submarino Alvin descubrieron sulfuros polimetálicos, que contienen metales básicos, que incluyen cobre, plomo y zinc, así como oro y plata, en 1979, cuando se encontraron con chimeneas submarinas vomitando líquidos sobrecalentados en el suelo marino de la costa oeste de México. Pero la inversión de EE.UU. en este tipo de investigación ha disminuido en las últimas dos décadas, lo que contrasta con algunas economías emergentes ávidas de intensificar sus esfuerzos para desarrollar la tecnología para explorar y explotar los recursos minerales bajo los océanos (el 70% de la superficie de la Tierra).
“Los EE.UU. está a punto de perder la infraestructura, los recursos humanos, y el conocimiento empresarial necesario para el éxito en la exploración de la parte sumergida del planeta”, dijo Rachel Haymon, profesora/investigadora en el Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de la Universidad de California. ”Los que nos especializamos en este tipo de cosas en EEUU, vemos que enfrentamos el retiro, acelerado por la falta de financiación, y la desgracia es que hay muy pocos que siguen nuestros pasos”, añadió la profesora Haymon, quien fue uno de los investigadores que descubrieron las ventilas submarinas de la costa mexicana en 1979. Otro obstáculo para los EE.UU. es que no ha ratificado la Convención de 1982 de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar, y por lo tanto no es miembro pleno de la ISA. Sólo tiene estatuto de observador.
China, que ha ratificado la Convención y es un miembro de ISA, ha participado activamente en la exploración en aguas profundas desde el año 2002, cuando lanzó un programa que incluía el desarrollo del submarino Jiaolong.
Si la misión actual del Jiaolong tiene éxito, superará al Alvin, el único sumergible activo de EE.UU., cuya profundidad máxima de inmersión es de 4.500 metros. Una versión mejorada del submarino Alvin, capaz de llegar a 6.500 metros de profundidad, está programada para operar el año 2015.
El Jiaolong está diseñado para una profundidad máxima de 7.000 metros, y se planea que intente su inmersión máxima el 2012. Eso lo pondría por delante del sumergible Shinkai de Japón, el campeón mundial, que puede bajar a 6.500 metros.
La revista británica Nature Geoscience publicó un artículo en julio de 2011 en el que investigadores japoneses afirmaron haber descubierto grandes depósitos minerales de tierras raras en el fondo del Océano Pacífico, al este y al oeste de Hawai, en profundidades que van de 3500 metros a 6.000 metros. Las tierras raras son utilizadas en una variedad de productos de alta tecnología.
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Los otros sumergibles capaces de explorar por debajo de 3.500 metros, son el Nautile de Francia y el Mir de Rusia, el cual plantó una bandera rusa en el lecho marino debajo del Ártico en 2007.
Los expertos chinos elogiaron la misión del Jiaolong y la aprobación de la ISA, para ellos son hitos en el programa de China de exploración en aguas profundas.
“La economía china se está desarrollando, y el gobierno central finalmente se da cuenta que no es suficiente desarrollar solamente la minería en tierra”, dijo el profesor Wang Pinxian, jefe del Laboratorio Estatal de Geología Marina de la Shanghai Tongji University. “El océano es rico en recursos. Así que este es un gran paso, estamos empezando a prestar atención a la exploración de minerales oceánicos. ” Agregó que costaba 150 millones de yuanes ($ 23 millones de dólares), el proyecto de investigación del próximo año que usará el Jiaolong para explorar una zona volcánica en el Mar de China Meridional, en donde China está sosteniendo disputas territoriales con Taiwán, Vietnam, Filipinas, Malasia y Brunei.
El Jiaolong plantó una bandera china en el fondo del Mar del Sur de China el año pasado, alimentando los temores regionales de que China podría utilizar su recién descubierta tecnología con fines comerciales o militares en aguas en disputa. Los funcionarios chinos dicen que el Jiaolong es sólo para uso civil.
La Asociación China para Investigación y Desarrollo de Recursos Minerales del Océano (China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association), cuya solicitud fue aprobada por la ISA, no respondió a una solicitud de comentarios sobre sus planes para explorar el fondo del mar entre África y la Antártida. Pero de acuerdo con las nuevas normas sobre los sulfuros polimetálicos adoptada por ISA el año pasado, el próximo paso de China es firmar un contrato con la ISA para explorar más de 10.000 kilómetros cuadrados durante los próximos 15 años, aunque el área se puede reducir a la mitad después de ocho años.
http://www.isa.org.jm/files/images/maps//Sulphides_Global.jpg
China: Jiaolong Starts its Fifth Test Dive
Posted on Aug 2nd, 2011
China’s manned deep-sea submersible, the Jiaolong, kicked off its fifth test dive eight hours ago at the northeast Pacific Ocean. In its first four attempts, the submersible has reached a new record depth of 5,188 meters. It is on its way returning to the surface.
During the Jiaolong’s earlier missions, the crew took photos and video, surveyed seabed, and took samples from the ocean floor. The purpose of the test dives is to conduct scientific research and test the vessel’s different functions. Deep-sea diving poses a challenge to vessels’ capacity to withstand water pressure. The crew must work underwater for six to eight hours at a time.
By reaching depths of 5,000 meters, the Jiaolong is now capable of exploring more than 70 percent of the world’s seabeds. These test dives pave the way for a record-breaking 7,000-meter test dive attempt in 2012.
Japan is the current world record holder, with its Shinkai submersible reaching 6,527 meters in August, 1989.
China, initiated the Jiaolong project in 2002. China is the fifth country to send people more than 3,500 meters below sea level, following the United States, France, Russia and Japan.
The Jiaolong is named after a mythical sea dragon. It passed its first major benchmark between May and July last year, with 17 dives in the South China Sea, reaching depths of over 37-hundred meters.
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China’s first manned submarine sets new record
Published: 29 luglio 2011
The Jiaolong, China’s first manned deep-sea submarine, reached a depth of 5,000 meters during its second test dive at 6:07 a.m. Beijing time on July 26, 159 minutes after it entered the water. It dived to 5,057 meters below sea level 10 minutes later, setting a new Chinese deep dive record and marking a milestone in the country’s history.
Ji Guo, a senior official of the State Oceanic Administration, said that since the Chinese Academy of Engineering held a conference on the development of China’s manned deep-sea submarines about 10 years ago, Xu Qinan and other experts as well as related departments have actively cooperated with one another. They have made unremitting efforts to design and produce China’s first manned deep-sea submarine.
The vessel was only able to dive to 1,000 meters underwater at the initial stage, but now can reach a depth of over 5,000 meters. The Jiaolong will soon conduct a record-breaking 7,000-meter test dive.
Important step for China toward great deep-sea power
How should we regard the significance of this ongoing marine experiment ?
Ji believes that exceeding the depth of 5,000 meters indicates that China has made a breakthrough in the high-tech marine realm. and it means that China is already able to reach 70 percent of the deepest regions of the world’s oceans. And it is also a significant technological leap of China’s marine exploration.
“Of course, this successful deep-sea diving will offer technical supports for China to fulfill its international duties.”
Ji explained that the latest round of deep-sea diving was carried out in an ore district of 75,000 square kilometers at the international seabed of the Pacific. China has the right of priority to prospect for and exploit the ores in this district. And while enjoying the right, China is also responsible of making specific investigations and environmental evaluations for this district. That is also one of the tasks of the Jiaolong in this deep-sea diving.
The successful marine experiment this time also attracted the attention of many international media. The U.S. Wall Street Journal said predicted that the Jiaolong’s crossing of the 5,000-meter mark will become a remarkable event in the competition between China and the United States in the high-risk technological realm.
The Japan Times commented that it only took China 10 years to realize the dream of its ancestors and join the club of great deep-sea powers.
The U.S. Nature magazine said that it was a historic moment in China’s natural exploration and the new depth reached is a milestone of China’s engineering technology.
The U.S. Philadelphia Trumpet newsmagazine said that after the successful experiment of reaching the depth of 5,000 meters, China will march forward to the even deeper limit of 7,000 meters in 2012. If it succeeds, it means China will be able to explore 99.9 percent of the world’s oceans.
http://www.fabioghioni.net/blog/2011/07/29/chinas-first-manned-submarine-sets-new-record/
U.N. Clears China Sea-Floor Plan
Source: Wall Street Journal By Jeremy Page - posted on July 22, 2011
BEIJING—As China’s first manned deep-sea craft prepared for a landmark dive to 5,000 meters, or 16,400 feet, that surpasses current U.S. capabilities, a United Nations body approved Beijing’s plan to explore a swath of ocean floor between Africa and Antarctica for metal deposits.
In the first of four planned dives, the Jiaolong submersible reached 4,027 meters at 5:26 a.m. Thursday, Beijing time, according to China’s State Oceanic Administration. State media said it had been due to make another attempt at 5,000 meters early Friday, but the dive was postponed because of high seas that were expected to last three days.
The Jiaolong is diving at a site between Hawaii and the North America mainland, where China was granted rights to explore for minerals in 2001 by the International Seabed Authority, a U.N. body that oversees mining in international waters.
ISA, meeting at its headquarters in Jamaica, said it had approved on Tuesday applications from China and Russia—the first from any countries—to explore relatively newly discovered deposits called polymetallic sulphides that form around volcanic vents in ridges on the seabed.
ISA also approved applications from private companies sponsored by members states—the Pacific islands of Tonga and Nauru—to explore seabed mineral deposits in international waters. That was a first; it had previously accepted applications only from states and state entities.
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China’s application, made last year, was for a site in the Southwest Indian Ridge, which bisects the ocean between Africa and the Antarctic. Russia, which also has a deep-sea submersible, applied to explore a Mid-Atlantic Ridge site.
U.S. scientists in the submersible Alvin discovered polymetallic sulphides, which contain base metals that include copper, lead and zinc, as well as gold and silver, in 1979 when they found vents spewing superheated fluids on the ocean floor off the west coast of Mexico.
But U.S. investment in such research has declined over the past two decades, even as some resource-hungry emerging economies stepped up their efforts to develop the technology to explore, and ultimately exploit, resources under the oceans, which cover roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface.
“The U.S. is on the brink of losing adequate infrastructure, human resources, and corporate knowledge necessary for success in exploring the submerged majority of our own planet,” said Rachel Haymon, a research professor at the Marine Science Institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“Those of us who specialized in this type of thing are rapidly retiring now, a process accelerated by lack of funding, and, sadly, there are too few to follow in our footsteps,” added Prof. Haymon, who was among the researchers who discovered the vents off the Mexican coast in 1979.
Another obstacle for the U.S. is that it is hasn’t ratified the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and so isn’t a full member of the ISA. It has only observer status.
China, which has ratified the convention and is an ISA member, has been active in deep-sea exploration since 2002, when it launched a program that included developing the Jiaolong.
If the Jiaolong’s current mission is successful, it will surpass the Alvin, the only active U.S. submersible, whose maximum depth is 4,500 meters. An upgraded version capable of reaching 6,500 meters is slated to be ready by 2015.
The Jiaolong is designed for a maximum depth of 7,000 meters, and plans call for it to attempt that next year. That would put it ahead of Japan’s Shinkai, the world’s deepest-diving active submersible, which can go down to 6,500 meters.
The British journal Nature Geoscience published a paper this month in which Japanese researchers claimed to have discovered vast deposits of rare-earth minerals—used in a variety of high-tech products—on the ocean floor east and west of Hawaii at depths ranging from 3,500 meters to 6,000 meters.
The only other vessels capable of exploring below 3,500 meters are France’s Nautile and Russia’s Mir, which planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the Arctic in 2007.
Chinese experts hailed the Jiaolong’s mission and the ISA’s approval as milestones in China’s deep-sea exploration program.
“China’s economy is developing, and the central government finally realizes that it’s not nearly enough only to develop mining on land,” said Prof. Wang Pinxian, head of the State Laboratory of Marine Geology at Shanghai Tongji University. “The ocean is rich with resources. So this is a big step that we are starting to pay attention to exploring oceanic mineral exploration.”
He added that he was leading a 150 million yuan ($23 million) research project next year that would use the Jiaolong to explore a volcanic site in the South China Sea, where China is locked in territorial disputes with Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Jiaolong planted a Chinese flag on the floor of the South China Sea last year, fueling fears in the region that China could use its newfound technology for commercial or military purposes in disputed waters. Chinese officials say the Jiaolong is for civilian use only.
The China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, whose application was approved by ISA on Tuesday, didn’t respond to a request for comment about its plans to explore the seabed between Africa and Antarctica.
But according to new rules on polymetallic sulphides adopted by ISA last year, its next step is to sign a contract with the ISA to explore up to 10,000 square kilometers over the next 15 years, although the area will be halved after eight years.
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- 29 Jul 2011 … Published: 29 luglio 2011 Posted in: guerre, tecnologia … The Jiaolong,
China’s first manned deep-sea submarine, reached a depth of 5000 … on the
development of China’s manned deep-sea submarines about 10 years ago, …www.fabioghioni.net/…/2011/…/chinas-first-manned-submarine-sets-new-record/ – En caché – Similares - 3 days ago … Chinese navy grows bolder. Richmond Times Dispatch July 31, 2011 … Chinese
Submarine Aiming for Record Deep-Sea Dive …. Sure it was, just like years ago
when a Chinese submarine came up to surface within hailing …schema-root.org/region/asia/china/…/submarines/ – En caché – Similares - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 then, the submarine was beyond the ability of the …
and the ability of various vehicle functions such as diving in the deep sea. …
A few weeks ago, the ISA issued a permit for China and Russia to explore the …www.yousaytoo.com/chinas-sea-dragon…/959619 – En caché – Similares - Read ‘China sub makes first dive to below 4000m’ on Yahoo! News. A Chinese
submersible conducted the country’s deepest manned dive ever Thursday in the
latest milestone for China’s deep-sea ambitions as … By Dan Martin | AFP – Thu
, 21 Jul, 2011 …. Michael H about a week ago. Wow. China is investing in
military …ca.news.yahoo.com/china-sub-makes-first-dive-more-4-000m-094451321.html – En caché – Similares - July 26, 2011. Chinese deep-sea submersible Click to play video … China’s deep
sea sub launch. RAW VISION: China’s manned submersible Jiaolong embarks on a
5000 metre deep test dive …. Posted in: Gadgets on the go Date: 2 hours ago
…www.theage.com.au/…/race-to-the-bottom-chinese-sub-dives-5000-metres-20110726-1hxs1.html – Similares - 26 May 2011 … Forty years ago, it was a fishing village with a small port in a sheltered, …
May 26, 2011. 5:12 pm EDT. There was a peaceful phrase that was … oceans and
run deep sea submarines, China will need a lot more money. …blogs.reuters.com/…/2011/…/in-pakistans-gwadar-port-chinese-whispers-grow/ – En caché – Similares - Tuesday 9th August 2011 | Ramazan 8, 1432 … July 26, 2011 (2 weeks ago) … “I
don’t think it will be a very long time before China can perform deep-sea ocean-
floor mining,” he said, noting that many of the most valuable oceanic …www.dawn.com/2011/…/chinese-submarine-logs-new-depth-milestone.html – En caché – Similares - 13:31, July 28, 2011 … The Jiaolong, China’s first manned deep-sea submarine,
reached a depth of 5000 meters during its second test … held a conference on
the development of China’s manned deep-sea submarines about 10 years ago, …english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/…/7454243.html – En caché – Similares - 1 Aug 2011 … China´s manned deep-sea submersible, Jiaolong, is carrying out its fifth diving
attempt at the northeast Pacific Ocean. The operation started five hours ago.
… China’s submarine to conduct 5km test dive 2011-07-17 …english.cntv.cn/program/asiatoday/20110801/104928.shtml – En caché – Similares - 3 Aug 2011 … Despite China’s military build-up, US Navy submarines are more than a match …
passed through the PLA a few years ago, and it was shocking. … August 3, 2011
at 2:55 pm. The shallow waters in east China sea is not …. Chinese submarines
sunk in the deep sea due to incompetent and poor quality. …the-diplomat.com/flashpoints…/2011/…/us-vs-china-undersea/ – En caché – Similares
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