(Text by LEI Yanli, leiyanli@qdio.ac.cn)
Yanli successfully completed a manned submersible dive. Credit: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
My research focuses on marine calcifying organisms such as foraminifera and corals, analyzing their biological characteristics and the relationships between their diversity and marine environmental factors, including temperature, salinity, pH, and CO2 levels. Of particular interest is examining the variation of their functional genes in relation to long-term Earth historical events, which helps reveal the connection between marine biodiversity and global changes. This research is crucial for understanding how future climate change will impact marine ecosystems and biodiversity. In addition to my scientific work, I am also involved in developing these research techniques into international standards.
The photograph above was taken aboard the Exploration No. 2. At the invitation of Academician JIAN Zhimin, I joined the SY740 mission of the Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior) manned submersible in the South China Sea, reaching a maximum depth of 1,967.1 meters. I became the first female scientist from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), to complete a manned submersible dive.
During this expedition, I collected cold-water corals and their skeletons from the Beiyue Seamount in the central South China Sea and conducted an ecosystem survey of the cold-water corals. Additionally, I retrieved rock and sediment samples. These valuable specimens provide essential data for studying changes in cold-water coral ecosystems and mid-depth water mass exchanges in the South China Sea.
In the future, my research team will collaborate closely with the paleoceanography team from Tongji University to further analyze these samples, aiming to explore the diversity of cold-water corals in the South China Sea and their adaptive mechanisms to paleoceanographic changes.
Prof. LEI Yanli is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Sea Research, the Manager and Convenor of ISO/TC8/WG15 on Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions and Carbon Neutrality, and the Director of both the Shandong International Marine Standards Innovation Center and the ONCE International Standards Research Center.
More details: http://english.qdio.cas.cn/people/jzg/202207/t20220725_309805.html
(Editor: ZHANG Yiyi)