ScienceChina’s Mengxiang drilling vessel retrieves deep-sea basalt samples in South China Sea

China’s ocean drilling vessel Mengxiang has completed a 30-day trial mission in the South China Sea, recovering basalt from a basin at a depth of 4,100 meters. The achievement makes China the world’s third country to retrieve hard-rock samples from deep ocean basins with a drilling vessel and raises its capability to the 5,000-meter level. Mengxiang can drill to 11,000 meters.

deep-sea drillingbasalt samplesSouth China Seaocean science

CChina News Service★★★☆☆2026-09-28 07:33Original