勘探

• Pinyin: kān tàn
• Hanzi breakdown: 勘 = 甚 (much) + 力 (force) — to investigate; 探 = 扌(hand) + 穴 (cave) + 木 (wood) — to probe, explore

Meaning

To explore; to survey; to prospect (for resources).

Technical term for geological or resource exploration — surveying land for oil, minerals, water, etc. Common in energy, mining, and geology contexts. Collocates with 石油 (oil), 地质 (geological), 矿产 (minerals), 队 (team).

Examples

1. 勘探队在这片沙漠地区发现了丰富的天然气储量。 The exploration team discovered rich natural gas reserves in this desert region.
2. 新的勘探技术大大提高了找矿的效率和准确性。 New exploration technology has greatly improved the efficiency and accuracy of finding mineral deposits.
3. 由于勘探成本太高，公司暂时搁置了这个深海油田项目。 Due to high exploration costs, the company has temporarily shelved this deep-sea oil field project.

Usage Guide

Context: geology, mining, energy, resources

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 勘探工作正在进行中。(Exploration work is underway.)
• 这次勘探发现了新的油田。(This exploration discovered a new oil field.)

Don't Say

• 我勘探了一下厨房。(勘探 is a technical term for resource exploration — for casually looking around, use 看看 or 查看)

Origin & History

勘 (to investigate, survey) + 探 (to explore, probe). To investigate and explore.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal