A geoscientist uses barnacles to try find lost MH370 flight
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Gregory Herbert-University of South Florida/Laurent ERRERA- Wikimedia Commons
A new method using barnacles to extract crucial ocean temperature data could hold the key to unraveling the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The research, detailed in a study published in AGU Advances on August 23, describes how the novel method could reconstruct the drift path and origin of debris from the ill-fated flight that went missing in 2014.
Barnacles recovered from MH370 wreck
The driving force behind this innovative approach is Associate Professor Gregory Herbert, an evolutionary and conservation biologist with expertise in marine systems, mainly focusing on shelled marine invertebrates like barnacles, oysters, and conchs.
"The flaperon was covered in barnacles, and as soon as I saw that, I immediately began sending emails to the search investigators because I knew the geochemistry of their shells could provide clues to the crash location," Herbert said in a press release.
He explained that French scientist Joseph Poupin, one of the first biologists to look at the flaperon, suggested that the biggest barnacles on it might have settled there not long after the crash and quite near to where the plane actually crashed.
"If so, the temperatures recorded in those shells could help investigators narrow their search," Herbert stated.
The method explores the distinctive growth patterns of barnacles, which create internal layers similar to tree rings daily. Significantly, these layers' chemistry directly reflects the water temperature during their formation.
Herbert's team conducted a growth experiment involving live barnacles, successfully decoding their temperature records for the first time. Subsequently, they applied this method to barnacles recovered from the MH370 debris.
Reconstructing MH370's debris path
Herbert's team combined the barnacle temperature records with advanced oceanographic modeling. This integration led to a partial drift reconstruction, offering fresh insights into the possible path of the debris.
Prior to this, investigators had focused their search efforts along the "Seventh Arc," a vast north-south corridor where the aircraft was presumed to have glided after fuel exhaustion.
One of the most promising aspects of this new technique lies in its ability to detect rapid changes in ocean temperatures along the Seventh Arc. This could aid in pinpointing the aircraft's exact location.
Even if the debris lies outside this arc, Herbert points out that the method can still provide valuable information. By analyzing the oldest and largest barnacles, researchers can significantly narrow down the search areas within the expansive Indian Ocean.
"Knowing the tragic story behind the mystery motivated everyone involved in this project to get the data and have this work published," said Nassar Al-Qattan, a recent USF geochemistry doctoral graduate who also analyzed the barnacles' geochemistry.
"The plane disappeared more than nine years ago, and we all worked aiming to introduce a new approach to help resume the search, suspended in January 2017, which might help bring some closure to the tens of families of those on the missing plane."
The complete study was published in AGU Advances on August 23 and can be found here.
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