VARANASI: "Oceans and climate are linked to each other. Far from the static, Atlantic Ocean contributes a lot to climate change," shared Prof A D Singh, department of geology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He has returned recently from an ocean expedition to Atlantic Ocean.
Singh, who was invited by the Unites States Implementing Organisation (USIO) through the Ministry of Earth Sciences India (IODP-India) to participate as one of the shipboard scientists in the International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP-399), Mediterranean Outflow Expedition said: "Many large currents flow beneath the ocean at different depths and together these currents form a global conveyer belt that transfers heat and buffer Earth's temperature or climate," said Singh.
According to him, water of Mediterranean Sea is saltier and denser than Atlantic Ocean and therefore it plunges more than 1000 metre down slope, building up mountains of mud at the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway where the Mediterranean Sea enters Atlantic Ocean that holds a record of climate change and tectonic activity that spans much of the past 5.3 million years. The circulations generated at Strait of Gibraltar passes through Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean and have great record of climate change.
Another key discovery at the expedition was related to oil and natural gas exploration. The team of 35 scientists under expedition's scientific leaders Prof Dorrik Stow (UK) and Javier Hernandez-Molina (Spain) also researched on the contourites deposits at the Strait of Gibraltar that are deposits of rocks that have been deposited by the ocean current in the ocean bed. "These contourites are highly rich in hydrocarbons and gas hydrates and it is believed they can confirm their use as fuel in future. Scientists onboard the highly advanced JOIDES Resolution to drill the 8,000 metre of holes into the deep sea floor at seven different sites in the Gulf of Cadiz and on the west Portuguese continental margin. While working at the sea floor, we also witnessed the leakage of some gas hydrates," informed Singh.
Singh is the second geologists from India who has been a part of a sea drilling project. Prof M S Srinivasan of BHU was the first scientist to be a part of Deep Sea Drilling Project in early 80s. In the expedition scheduled from November 18, 2011 to January 17, Singh along with eminent scientists from 13 countries (including the US, France, Germany, Japan, UK, Australia, China) spent two months at Atlantic Ocean and carried out research on global climate change and explored marine energy resources.
