Fri, 01 Aug 2003

Indonesia, American experts conclude marine expedition

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The Baruna Jaya VIII research vessel is back at anchor in Benoa harbor in Bali province after completing a one-month expedition in waters across the archipelago.

The Collaborative Oceanographic Research Expedition to the Indonesia Throughflow (CORE IT) started on July 2 and finished on Wednesday. It was participated in by both Indonesian and American experts.

Data and information gathered during the Palaeo-Oceanography expedition were considered crucial to understanding the periodic cycle of ENSO (El Nino/La Nina Southern Oscillation) phenomenon, which has caused significant changes to the global climate.

A total of 14 U.S. marine scientists and 13 Indonesian experts, including the director of the Natural Resources Inventory at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), Yusuf S. Djajadihardja, were involved

The U.S. scientists come from Rutgers University, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the State University of New York, while the Indonesian experts consisted of researchers from the BPPT, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and the Fisheries and Marine Research Agency (BRKP).

"The expedition was aimed at ascertaining the water mass that is transported from the Pacific Ocean into the Indian Ocean via the Indonesian archipelago's inner bodies of water (Arlindo)," Yusuf said.

This figure will then be compared with a reconstruction of what it was thought happened during the Holocene period some 10,000 years ago. The results of the comparison will reveal changes in the transported water mass in the region.

During the study, the researchers gathered scientific data from various spots across the archipelago, including the Bali Basin, Mandar Gulf, Mahakam Delta, Sulawesi Basin, Halmahera Sea, Kau Gulf, Banda Sea, Saleh Gulf and the Selayar Sea.

"This includes the data compiled by using the vertical transect method up to a depth of 200 meters along the Arlindo's route in the Makassar Straits and Sulawesi Sea," said another member of the expedition, Fadly Syamsudin.

He said the data was the key to understanding the ENSO phenomenon as the Arlindo occurred along the Equator, where the heat convection rate ranged from 28 degrees to 29 degrees Celcius.

"If the water mass transported in the Arlindo decreases, there is a probability that we will have the La Nina phenomenon. If it increases, El Nino may take place," Fadly said.

The data would also provide the experts with significant information on fish migrations in the region.