OREANDA-NEWS. March 28, 2013. An oceanic research team comprising leading Taiwan academics has discovered gas hydrate traces in the South China Sea, according to the National Science Council.

The discovery was made during a 19-day voyage aboard the 2,700-ton Ocean Researcher V—Taiwan’s largest locally designed and built marine studies vessel. Launched in August last year, the Kaohsiung-based ship was on its maiden voyage.

Headed by Hsu Shu-kun, an earth science professor at National Central University in Taoyuan County, the team’s other members included professors from National Sun Yat-sen University, National Taiwan Ocean University and National Taiwan University.

The exploration project, which wrapped up March 8, furnished evidence of gas hydrates in waters south of the Dongsha Islands, Hsu said. This finding was based on signals from bottom simulating reflectors during seismic reflection and deep-towed sub-bottom profiler analysis, he added.

“But due to the occurrence of pockmarks and massive undersea landslides, natural gas might have leaked. This calls for further studies to determine the exact size of resource.”

According to Hsu, other notable discoveries during the voyage include an underwater volcano chain 30 kilometers southeast of Dongsha. Made up of 60 vents spread over 3,000 square kilometers, the Dongsha Submarine Volcanoes are estimated to have erupted 12,000 years ago and might have undergone a similar formation process as the basalt rocks in Penghu County, he said.

A scarp running north-south was also identified 30km west-southwest of Dongsha, Hsu said. “The Dongsha Scarp stretches for over 60km, with the largest drop measuring more than 300 meters. We estimate its formation is due to a right-lateral fault.”

In addition, the team discovered that under normal weather conditions, the surface of the South China Sea can take in 260,000 tons of carbon dioxide per day, which is approximately 35 percent of Taiwan’s daily emissions.

Hsu said in severe weather, such as a strong front with a wind speed of 15 meters per second, the sea’s absorption of carbon dioxide is nine times higher, or 328 percent of Taiwan’s daily emissions. “This is new scientific knowledge,” he said.

The South China Sea contains the Nansha (Spratly), Xisha (Paracel), Zhongsha (Macclesfield Bank), and Dongsha (Pratas) islands. The islets and surrounding waters, believed to be abundant in natural resources, are integral parts of ROC territory.