- Chinese scientists discovered the body of water beneath Fiery Cross Reef and it’s thought to be expanding at a fast rate of 1 metre a year
- They believe land reclamation has accelerated the process, and similar reservoirs may be forming at other man-made islands.
A fast-expanding body of freshwater has appeared under one of Beijing’s controversial man-made islands in the South China Sea, a Chinese study has found.
The freshwater was discovered beneath Fiery Cross Reef, known as Yongshu in China, and is believed to be growing at a rate of about 1 metre (3.3 feet) per year – more than twice the speed observed on naturally formed islands.
Similar reservoirs could also be building up under other artificial islands across the region, according to researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology in Guangzhou.
They could “serve as an important water resource for local inhabitants and ecosystems”, the team led by marine geologist Xu Hehua said in a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Hydrology last month.
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, but there are rival claims from its neighbours, and its island-building activities over the past six years have unnerved the region and drawn criticism from the US.