The first topographical map of Mt. Grove in the Antarctic, based on research by a 1999-2000 Chinese expedition to the remote area, has been created by the Chinese Antarctic Center of Surveying and Mapping of Wuhan University.

Previous to 1999, Mt. Grove had been one of the few areas left on earth that had not been visited by explorers on foot. Located some 400 to 500 km (about 250-300 miles) south of China’s Zhongshan Research Station, it covers an area of about 3,200 square km (1,236 square miles) in a mountainous area of the Antarctic ice sheet. The research station was established in 1989 in the Larsemann Hills.

From January 1-31, 2000, surveying and mapping experts from Wuhan University conducted field measurements on Mt. Grove that enabled the publication of a topographical map of about 120 square km (about 46 square miles) at a scale of 1:25,000. While in this area around the Mt. Grove, the Wuhan University team set up two Global Positioning System stations and buried three Chinese bronze survey plaques.

Since November 1984, China has organized 17 expeditions to South Pole. The surveying and mapping of Mt. Grove establishes a base for China to further its scientific survey and research in the Antarctic.

(Xinhua News Agency 07/09/2001, translated from Chinese by CIIC)