National Day, I’m on duty—expressing my love for the motherland through steadfast dedication.

During the National Day holiday, Sichuan-based geophysical exploration personnel can be found all across the motherland. They keep their longing for family in their hearts and regard their steadfast dedication as the most sincere declaration of love for their country.

Guangxi Project: Raising the Flag and Singing Loudly—Resonating with a Powerful Call to Advance Geophysical Exploration

In Longtou Township, Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 30-year-old geophysical engineer Liu Lei is leading his colleagues in on-site data collection operations. Although October should be a season of crisp autumn weather, the work area still swelters under temperatures of 35°C, leaving everyone working on site soaked to the bone with sweat.

The project Liu Lei is working on involves geophysical exploration for the Yizhou-Donglan Expressway in Guangxi. During the National Day holiday, the field technicians meticulously and responsibly carried out their tasks. As the project leader, Liu Lei not only ensured safe production but also rigorously maintained technical quality, guaranteeing the steady progress of the project going forward.

“Our team members have missed out on many holidays, and we’re deeply grateful for their families’ understanding and support. Even though the work area is sweltering under the scorching heat, it can’t dampen the enthusiasm of our geophysical exploration team. Our efforts are truly worthwhile—after all, we’re working so that local residents can enjoy better transportation.” It was already late in the afternoon, and Liu Lei, who had just wrapped up field operations, said with deep emotion. He then promptly resumed his evening work, meticulously organizing data and processing information indoors.

Sichuan West Project: Fighting on the Plateau, Celebrating National Day

The Chengdu-Wenchuan Expressway, stretching from Chuanzhu Temple to Wenchuan, has a total length of 206.4 kilometers. The route is located in a plateau region, with the highest elevation reaching 3,400 meters. The terrain features steep mountain ranges and significant elevation differences, characterized by rugged, high-altitude canyon landscapes along the entire stretch, presenting challenging topographical conditions.

Early on the morning of October 1, personnel from the Sichuan Resources Geophysical Exploration-Chuanwen Expressway Geophysical Exploration Project set out on their busy and fulfilling day, carrying instruments on their backs, stepping through the morning dew, and greeting the rising sun.

The Wide-Field Electromagnetic Method team has begun data collection at the Xining Guan Tunnel, which is 2,800 meters long and has a maximum burial depth of 260 meters. There are no roads crossing the tunnel site; all instruments and equipment had to be carried by hand to the collection points. After more than two hours of climbing mountains and wading through streams, the collection team finally reached the designated location. They set up the collection stations, connected the cables, checked the continuity of the receiving lines, and measured the grounding resistance. With everything in place and ready, they awaited instructions from the transmitting station. Accompanied by the rumbling roar of the generator set, the transmitting station staff announced, “Frequency group 11 has been transmitted—data collection can begin.” Thus, the data collection work officially got underway. The recording personnel carefully observed geological conditions and potential interference along the route, meticulously keeping detailed field shift logs. Meanwhile, the instrument operators kept their eyes glued to the instrument screens, monitoring data quality, uploading photos of the on-site data, and ensuring that high-quality raw data was successfully collected.

The high-density electrical method team has begun data collection at the Huangshengguan Tunnel, which is 1,472 meters long and has a maximum burial depth of 160 meters. The planned data-collection period is two days. After an hour-long drive, we arrived at the tunnel site near the base of the mountain around 8:30 a.m. Since there’s no road along the survey line, all instruments and equipment had to be carried uphill by hand. Given the length of the survey line and the heavy workload, the staff quickly checked and counted the main cables, electrodes, converters, power supplies, data-acquisition instruments, and other equipment before setting off toward the survey line. Around 10:00 a.m., the first batch of equipment arrived at the designated location. Immediately afterward, the site supervisor divided the team into two groups: one group was responsible for laying out the cables, while the other continued down the mountain to carry the main cables and electrodes. Data collection officially began at 3:38 p.m. The technicians monitored data quality in real time, and the cable-laying crew retrieved the main cables and electrodes according to the progress of the data acquisition. All tasks were proceeding smoothly and efficiently. Unfortunately, the plateau weather turned unpredictable—nature did not cooperate. Thunderstorms broke out, accompanied by heavy rain, forcing us to pack up and descend the mountain. We’ll re-establish and rearrange the equipment for data collection the following day.

The geophysical exploration team from Sichuan carries forward the revolutionary tradition of never fearing hardship or fatigue, bravely battling against high altitudes and towering mountain ranges. With great enthusiasm, they are working tirelessly on the front lines of surveying for the Sichuan-Wen Highway, contributing their modest efforts to ensure the early opening of this vital transportation route. Their work supports the development of ethnic minority regions and celebrates the birthday of our great motherland, wishing it ever greater prosperity and flourishing!

Guizhou Project: Steadfastly Persevering Despite Adversity

At 6:20 a.m. on October 1, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, the logging personnel from the Geophysical Exploration Institute were already on their way to the well site, poised to embark on a brand-new logging journey. Well Andi No. 1 is a geological data well for shale gas, located in Anchang Town, Zhen’an County, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province. The wellhead is situated in a relatively remote location—on a hillside about 60 meters from the nearest road. Since the logging truck cannot drive directly into the well site, the logging operators cannot see the wellhead themselves and must rely entirely on workers to relay instructions up and down the borehole, which greatly complicates the logging operations.

During the logging operation, to ensure safety, the staff had to remain constantly alert and closely monitor the computer screens. By analyzing the real-time logging curves displayed on the screens, they could promptly determine whether the logging probe was stuck or blocked inside the well—this vigilance continued for about twenty hours. As the last logging probe slowly rose from the wellhead, long-lost smiles finally appeared on everyone’s tense and weary faces. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the entire team, the logging operation ultimately succeeded in collecting more than ten logging parameters as per the design specifications, thus successfully completing the logging task for this well.

On the occasion of our motherland’s 73rd birthday, when the whole nation is celebrating with joy, we are fortunate to be stationed in the field, making our modest contribution to the country’s shale gas energy endeavor—this is the best blessing we can offer to our motherland.

Yibin Project: Traveling through mountains and rivers, without asking when we’ll return.

The fracturing monitoring projects at the Ning 209H9 platform and the Ning 209H1 platform, located in Jiusi Town, Xingwen County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, are still in full swing during the National Day holiday. The project team members who have remained on site have not returned home to visit their families for nearly three months now.

At 3 p.m. on October 3, to ensure the smooth completion of the final stage of construction, the project team members set off fully equipped to various instrument stations to prepare for data collection.

As is customary, before making connections, a multimeter should be used to check whether each test lead has a clear and unobstructed ground connection. Yet precisely at this moment, the N line—which had been perfectly conductive during the morning monitoring—suddenly became obstructed.

The N-line stretches across 2 kilometers, with a maximum elevation difference of 700 meters. The terrain is extremely steep and the landforms are unusually complex, making it very difficult to locate and survey. Therefore, the project was divided into three sections, with teams conducting inspections along these segments.

Although autumn has already arrived, the so-called “autumn tiger” remains fiercely intense during the National Day holiday. The ultraviolet radiation is unusually strong, and as we climb mountains and scale trees under the scorching sun, our sweat not only soaks through our clothes but also blurs our vision. However, perseverance pays off—eventually, everyone pinpointed the root of the problem. A steep cliff had collapsed after prolonged exposure to the sun, sending loose rocks tumbling down and precisely severing and burying the N-line deep beneath the soil. After careful handling, the project team managed to hang the N-line high up in a tree, successfully resolving the issue of the N-line being out of service. At 6:20 p.m., the fracture monitoring work was smoothly completed.

The “autumn tiger” is like a grasshopper after autumn—defeated by the heavy rain that fell on the night of October 3rd. As the “autumn tiger” departs, what greets us isn’t the “autumn breeze” but rather feels more like the “winter wind.” On October 4th, before dawn, we continued preparing for the fracturing monitoring project at the Ning 209H1 platform: laying out lines, checking cables, and debugging equipment—all these meticulous steps ensure that we’ll be able to carry out normal monitoring during the fracturing operations.

Inner Mongolia Project: Traveling thousands of miles under the stars and moon.

We’re delighted to celebrate National Day—now is the perfect time for this project. The wide-area electromagnetic monitoring project for fracturing wells 1-567 in Daniudi, Ordos Basin, has officially kicked off.

During the National Day holiday, all members of the Sichuan Resource Geophysical Fracturing Monitoring Project Team remained steadfast at their posts, traveling thousands of miles to prepare for operations in the Ordos Basin. Party member comrades volunteered enthusiastically, taking the lead and setting the pace. They braved harsh conditions, battling through deserts and enduring extreme cold, celebrating the motherland’s birthday with full enthusiasm and welcoming the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China with outstanding achievements.

We wish our motherland prosperity and flourishing, and its people happiness and good health. We also wish the Institute of Geophysical Exploration to grow stronger and bigger, and for the Sichuan Resources Geophysical Exploration brand to become ever more renowned!

Executive Producer | Zhang Guangda
Reviewed by | Zou Zhongping
Editor-in-charge | Zhou Huiying
Photos and Text | Each Project Department
Editor | Wen Han