Chinese researchers are busy with their surveying work on Mount Qomolangma May 22, 2005.

The map released by Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping shows the climbing route of Chinese mountaineers heading for the top of Mount Qomolangma. (Xinhua)

The file photo taken May 12, 2005 shows a couple of Chinese Mount Qomolangma Expedition Qimei(L) and Laji(R) wave to their friends before their heading for the top of Mount Qomolangma from a camp at the altitude of 5,200 meters.

This is the second measurement endeavor taken by the Chinese over the past three decades. The first measurement done by Chinesein 1975 reported the height of the world's top mountain at 8,848.13 meters above sea level.

The 24-member team spent 77 minutes on the top of the peak, erecting a 2.5-meter-long survey beacon and establishing aGPS (global positioningsystem) monitoring station there for height measurement in the next two days and in the future. The researchers and mountaineers also used a radar device to detect the thickness of the snow and ice coat of Mount Qomolangma, whichstraddles the border between China and Nepal. The final result of the current measurement will exclude the thickness of ice and snowcapping the peak.

The GPS and radar device, used for the first time by Chinese surveyors, are foramore precise result. The traditional trigonometric leveling method, which was used in the 1975 expedition, however, is stillused in this mission for results comparison.

The team started its final assault on the peak at 3:30 a.m. from a camp at 8,300 meters above sea level and scaled the top of the peak around 11:08, braving strong gales and temperature as lowas minus 29.6 degrees centigrade. It started retreating from the top at 12:25.

This final maneuver waspostponed several times fromthe original planned date of May 5 to May 22 due to bad weather conditions.

Meanwhile, researchers have begun surveying at six selected sites, ranging from 5,200 to 6,300 meters above sea level, where surveyors can see the top of Mount Qomolangma. They are expected to do the measuring for the next twodays,said Zhang Jiangyuan,leader of the team.

A second team of Chinese researchers and mountaineers areexpected to assault the top of Mount Qomolangma Monday.

Geological theory predictsthat Mount Qomolangma, which was formed about 60 million years ago, is growing about 10 millimetersa year as a result of crustal upthrust in the Himalayas, but some researchers in recent years have contended that the summit is becoming shorter as it begins to subside.

The height of the peak has been a subject of controversy for decades. A survey by an American research team in 1999 said the peak is 8,850 meters.

"Measurement of Mount Qomolangma's height has an important bearing on our lives," said ZhangYanping, chief directorof the measurement efforts, "What attracts people's attention is not onlythe height of the peak, but also the changes of the peak's height and geological changes in the area, which will have a great impacton global biosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere."

"It's our bounden duty to measure the height of Mount Qomolangma," said ChenBangzhu, head of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, in a congratulatory message, calling the current scaling a "great daring feat in the history of Mount Qomolangma's height measurement."

"Resultsof the current measurement will provide important datafor the study of crustal movement and for other geoscience studies," Chen said.

The ongoing survey is part of China's fourth large-scale comprehensivescientific survey on Qomolangma, jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, and the government of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Scientists will also conduct research on the impact of global warming on glaciers and make observations of atmospheric physics andchemistry, bio-diversityand environmental changes in the Himalayan region, said Zhang Jiangqi, a researcher with the Chinese academy of Sciences, the top research body of natural sciences in China.

A monument will be erected at the mountain's base camp to mark the current measurement efforts. The final result is expected to beannounced in August. Enditem