Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, conducted its fourth dive last Sunday around the Zhenbei Seamount in the South China Sea.
中国载人潜水器蛟龙号于上周日在中国南海的珍贝海山完成了第四次深潜。
Jiaolong stayed underwater for eight hours in its fourth dive in the second stage of China's 38th ocean scientific expedition, which will last until May 13, authorities said.据官方透露，在中国海洋科学考察第二阶段中，蛟龙号于第四次深潜时在水下停留长达八小时，而这次考察将一直持续到五月十三号。The maximum depth of the dive was 1,101 meters beneath the sea surface, where it retrieved a number of basalt samples.这次深潜的最深处是海平面以下1101米，蛟龙号在那里取回了一些玄武岩的样本。In the meantime, it collected a 0.7-kilogram sample of foraminifer grit at the depth of 630 meters, and brought back samples of sediments and seawater near the seabed as well as high-definition photos and video footages.与此同时，它在630米深处收集了0.7千克的有孔虫沙样本，并带回了海底附近的沉积物和海水样本，以及高清晰度照片和视频片段。"We have also caught sight of corals, sea lilies, anemones, and large fishes like sharks above 420 meters," said Yang Gang, a senior engineer on board the submersible.
潜水器上的高级工程师杨刚称：“我们还看到了珊瑚、海莉、海葵和如鲨鱼一样的超过420米的大型鱼类。”Yang said that the new discoveries could shed new light on the study of the South China Sea's formation and evolution, biodiversity, and the cause of the seamount chain in the area.杨刚表示，这些新的发现可以进一步阐述中国南海的形成与演变、生物的多样性和海山链形成的原因。Instead of using trawling as a sampling method, Jiaolong is able to conduct refined sampling mission and obtain ample samples, said Shi Xuefa, a researcher with the State Oceanic Administration.国家海洋局的研究员石学法称，除了捕捞式的采集方法，蛟龙号还可以精细抽样任务并获得丰富的样本。Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.以神话传说中的龙来命名的蛟龙号，于2012年6月在马里亚纳海沟创下了7062米的下潜最深记录。