Tansuo-1 (Image by Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, CAS)

The Institute of Geology and Geophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences completed two 10,000-meter-deep marine artificial seismic profile data acquisitions with its Chinese-made Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench on February 28. China is the first country to acquire data of that specific type, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The breakthrough was achieved by Tansuo-1, which reportedly placed 60 OBS in the Trench area with 56 of them successfully retrieved. The maximum depth reached by the 56 reclaimed OBS was said to be 10,027 meters.

According to experts, OBS play a vital role in oceanic surveys. The devices record the Earth's motion under the sea, thus providing information about the deep structure of the Earth's crust and upper mantle in offshore areas.

Portable Ocean Bottom Seismometers (Photo from Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Source: CRIENGLISH.com