Indonesia, American experts conclude marine expedition
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.