PANJIM: A team of 20 scientists of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Dona Paula will launch an expedition to the Indian Ocean on August 30, to conduct research to know the hydro-thermal activity and the rates of plate movement.
Director of NIO Prof Sunil Kumar Singh said that huge mountain chain is created within the Indian Ocean because of tectonic activity and the NIO team will study to know how this new crust is being formed, from where exactly materials are coming; how they are moving; speed of the movement and how it impact the overall plates movement.
It will be a three-year project to be undertaken by the CSIR-NIO and every year the team will go on expedition in the Indian Ocean, collect data such as temperature, salinity etc and collect water samples and sediment and crust formation in the surface to evaluate their chemical composition to explore the possibility of finding minerals enriched in rare earth elements etc.
The NIO team will be led by Dr Yateesh Vadakkeyakath.
According to Prof Singh, the main objective of the expedition is to study the tectonic movement, formation of new crust and understand plate movement through magnetic and gravity surveys. If possible, the team will try to identify the hydro-thermal plume. If such a possibility emerges during the study then the team will engage the underwater vehicle.
A similar expedition was undertaken way back in 2007 and 2009 and signature of hydro-thermal plume was found but it could not be confirmed.
“This will be a systematic study by the NIO team which will answer many questions pertaining to plate tectonics in this region,” Singh said.
20 NIO scientists to research hydro-thermal activity, plate movements in Indian Ocean
