DATE2024.08.02 #Press Releases

Academic research vessel Hakuho Maru departs for research in the Indian Ocean

-- Comprehensive research from the Earth's formation history to modern ocean structure, ecosystems, and climate impacts--

Summary

Research groups led by Professors Kyoko Okino and Yukio Masumoto of The University of Tokyo will conduct a three-month observation survey in the Indian Ocean using the academic research vessel Hakuho Maru (Figure). A total of 65 researchers (including graduate students) from 15 universities and research institutes throughout Japan will be on board for this voyage.

The first half of the cruise is for an integrated observation of the eastern Indian Ocean by an interdisciplinary research team of marine physics, biogeochemistry, and ecology. Comprehensive observations will be conducted in the tropical and subtropical open ocean areas, where biological production in the upper ocean is relatively low due to limited concentration of biogeochemical substances. By conducting observations in regions where there is particularly little field data available to date, we expect to gain new insights into the distribution of trace elements and various substances in oligotrophic waters as well as into the relation between biological dynamics and background ocean conditions.

In the latter half of the project, we will conduct a comprehensive survey along the giant fault in the Central Indian Ocean Ridge, mainly by geophysical observation and rock sampling. Transform faults, which are cracks in the seafloor, expose cross sections of the oceanic crust from the past to the present. Taking advantage of the unique conditions of long transform faults, we will reveal the history of the formation of the ocean floor from the present to the past 11 million years ago, and approach the actual conditions and factors responsible for the long-term variations in the Earth system.

Figure: Scheduled port calls and research area for the Shiraho Maru's 2024 Indian Ocean voyage

For more information, please visit the website of Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo (in Japanese).

Iinks：JAMSTEC