With rare traces of human presence but rich natural and scientific resources, the polar regions, a scientific book of which scientists devote themselves to the perseverant read, have accumulated huge quantities of exact and detailed records of the evolvement of the Earth’s climate, environment and geosphere, human activities, and a good many outer space events. The scientists set up sensors to get data and collect samples of ice core, biology, sediment, meteorite, rock, and fossil to study in labs.
Since the first Antarctic research expedition in 1984, China has conducted a lot of polar scientific research expedition activities. Formed by one research ship and three stations (R/V Xuelong, Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station, Arctic Yellow River Station), a polar research expedition system has been set up. Up to now totally 22 Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions (CHINARE), two Arctic marine science cruises, and three years of the Arctic Yellow River Station Research Expeditions had been successfully completed. Except research expeditions conducted in the stations and the adjacent areas, 18 Southern Ocean science cruises，three science expeditions on Amery Ice Shelf, four science traverses on the Grove Mountains, and five science traverses on inland icecap had been accomplished in the important areas of the Antarctica. All of the previous CHINARE had collected from a world of ice and snow in the polar regions a huge quantity of precious samples such as snow,ice core, plants and animals, meteorites, sediments, rocks, minerals, and fossils.
The Resource-sharing Platform of Polar Samples （hereinafter as the Platform）thus acts as a distributed “bank” storing the samples and specimen, mainly providing those scientists who try to initiate the relevant studies but can not go to the polar regions with samples and information to make utmost use of the precious sample resources.
In December 2005, the Experimental Standardization and Sharing of the polar region biological and geological samples project（No：2005DKA21406）, as a part of the National Infrastructure Natural Resources for Science and Technology Platform Plan, was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and thus this Platform starts up.
Subject to the type and distribution of most of the polar samples, the Platform consists of one website and five depositories. PRIC curates the deep-space depository, the ice-snow depository and the sediment depository, while the rock depository is jointly curated by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Geomechanics and the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and the biology depository is jointly curated by the Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences and PRIC. PRIC sets up and maintains the polar sample sharing data and information website BIRDS, providing services of management and query on the polar sample information and services of handling the application for the samples.
In the coming years, with the further coordinating and integration of the exiting sample resources and the expanding of the wild polar sample collecting area, the type and scalar of the polar samples for the Platform will increase dramatically so as to provide national and international scientists with more polar samples and specimens.
Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) affiliated to the State Oceanic Administration is in charge of the construction of the Platform together with several institutes under Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Land and Resources. Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration affiliated to the State Oceanic Administration governing PRIC , and other polar resource related organizations jointly found the Polar Sample and Resource Sharing Council in charge of the management and sharing of the polar samples for all relevant organizations.
BIRDS is the initials of the name of five polar sample depositories . They are: Biology Depository ，Ice-snow Depository，Rock Depository，Deep-space Depository(including the Antarctic meteorites)，Sediment Depository。
Platform manages and publishes its resource information via the BIRDS website. The Platform provides the domestic and international scientists and researchers with services of information query and online application, and also provides all relevant resource organizations with issuing sample information and data management services.
Resources of BIRDS website are categorized as samples and specimens. Samples usually refer to those media which are not categorized or analyzed, such as snow-ice, sediment, and universal dust. The commonness information of all kinds of specimens are compiled in accordance with the Criterion on the Commonness Description of the Natural Scientific and Technical Resources issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, while the commonness information of all kinds of samples are compiled in accordance with the Criterion on the Commonness Description of the Polar Sample Resources, and the resources information are submitted to the E-Platform(http://www.ninr.cn) of the Ministry of Science and Technology periodically.
The scientific popularization column is set up in the BIRDS website to show people the scientific significance, the collecting process, and analysis and research of the polar samples by multimedia means such as pictures, audios, and videos Every sample depository holds exhibitions periodically, presenting the public with the biology, meteorites, and rock samples from the polar regions.
