In collaboration with their colleagues from the ROK and Mongolia, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) scientists achieved their first success in obtaining a 40.18m. specimen of ice core in the drilling operation from 5 to 25 June in an expedition to the (Hovd) Tsambagarav glacier in Altay Mountains of Mongolia.

The glacier is a Quaternary glacial relic, with a total area of more than 15km2 and a thickness of 90-100m. It is the headstream of the Hovd River, the largest river in the Central Asian endorheic basin. According to experts, the glacier and its vicinity are an ideal theatre for probing the interaction of the Arctic water vapor with westerly wind.

The joint expedition was first contrived in 2007 and related agreement was discussed and signed in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province in April 2008.

The ice core-drilling project was first proposed by Prof. QIN Dahe, director of the State Key Laboratory for Cryosphere Science under the CAS Cold & Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute. Its enforcement was under the leadership of its Prof. HOU Shugui from the Lab. This is the first successful attempt for Chinese scientists to obtain ice core samples from a foreign site except the polar areas.

(english.cas.ac.cn August 28, 2008)