The 11,600-ton icebreaker Shirase left Tokyo Monday, bound for Antarctica on Japan's 47th observation mission there.
Seven members from the 60-member expedition team have already arrived in Antarctica by air at Japan's Dome Fuji base. The remaining 53 plan to fly to Australia, where they will board the icebreaker and proceed to Antarctica in early December for observations at Japan's Showa Base.
At Dome Fuji, the members plan to drill about 3,000 meters into the ice to take samples for studying climate change over the past million years, according to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry. They also aim to take bedrock samples of the continent. At Showa Base, the team plans to observe the aurora australis and conduct research on human health in low temperatures.
Japan has been sending observation teams to Antarctica since 1956.
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