A Taiwanese oceanic research team has discovered gas hydrate deposits in waters south of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) during a recent mission to the South China Sea, a marine geophysicist overseeing the project said.
The discovery was made during a 19-day exploration aboard the 2,700 tonne deep-sea research vessel Ocean Researcher 5 that ended on March 8. Natural gas hydrates are considered a potential energy resource, but an economical extraction method has proven elusive.
Hsu Shu-kun of National Central University’s College of Earth Science said the existence of the gas hydrate deposits was proven through analysis of seismic reflection and sub-bottom profiling data.
Further investigation would be required to determine the extent of the deposits, as some of the natural gas might have leaked due to undersea landslides, Hsu said.
The mission also discovered an undersea volcanic group about 30km southeast of the Pratas, he said.
The group, which comprises more than 60 volcanoes covering an area of 3,000km2, probably dates back to the Miocene period, he added.
Another discovery made during the voyage involves the South China Sea’s ability to absorb carbon.
Under normal weather conditions, the sea’s surface water can absorb 260,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day, which is 35 percent of Taiwan’s daily carbon emissions, Hsu said.
The sea’s carbon-absorbing ability increases under the influence of strong weather fronts, he said.
The South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast deposits of natural gas and oil, is claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Taiwan currently controls the Pratas Islands and Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) — the largest of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai