American scientists recently said that in the past decade, they can finally reveal one of the biggest mysteries of our time - where Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashed, and the key evidence may be the small crustacean barnacles attached to the wreckage of the passenger plane.
The shell of barnacles contains information about the different water temperatures they have been exposed to throughout their lives, helping to trace their movements.
The new study was reportedly led by Gregory Herbert, an associate professor of evolutionary biology at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The research team says that the outer shell of barnacles contains information about the different water temperatures they are exposed to throughout their lives.
Experts believe this information could help trace their trajectory and find where they first attached to the wreckage of the airliner, and then where MH370 fell.
The wreckage of MH370 washed up on the island of Reunion off the coast of Africa.
Although no one knows exactly what happened to MH370, it is widely believed that the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean because several pieces of washed wreckage were confirmed to be part of the airliner.
On March 8, 2014, Boeing 777 commercial airliner MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia and disappeared en route to Beijing.
Flight MH370 mysteriously veered westward over the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean.
The plane mysteriously veered westward over the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean, and all 239 people on board were thought to have been killed.
The incident sparked a massive multinational search operation. It was the most expensive search in aviation history, costing $200 million. But the operation was officially halted in January 2017, with families of those missing slamming it as "irresponsible."
In January 2018, private contractor Ocean Infinity launched a second search, but returned six months later.
Professor Herbert was inspired when he saw photos of the wreckage of the plane washed up on the African coast of Reunion a year after the crash.
The wreckage of the wings on the MH370 that helped stabilize the aircraft during takeoff and landing was found covered with barnacles.
Professor Herbert said he emailed search investigators as soon as he saw the barnacle because he knew the geochemistry of the barnacle shell could provide clues to the crash site.
The shells of barnacles and other shelled marine invertebrates grow daily, creating layers that resemble the growth rings of trees.
Professor Herbert said the chemical composition of each layer of barnacle shell is determined by the temperature of the surrounding water when the layer formed. Therefore, knowing where in the ocean is hotter and where is cooler can trace where barnacles are when they grow.
Research led by Professor Herbert proves that it is possible to know the ocean temperatures that barnacles experience as they grow each layer of submillimeter-thick shell.
In the study, published in the journal AGU Advances, Professor Herbert and colleagues conducted a laboratory growth experiment with live barnacles to unravel temperature records from their shells.
He said the research team grew the barnacles in the lab under different thermostatic conditions for several weeks, and then chemically analyzed the new shells that grew during that time.
The team found that the chemical composition of the shell is predictable, so it is possible to know the ocean temperature that barnacles experience as they grow each layer of submillimeter-thick shell.
After the experiment, they applied this successful method to small barnacles extracted from MH370.
With the help of experts from the University of Galway in Ireland, they combined water temperature records of barnacles with oceanographic modeling to simulate the drifting location of the wreckage.
French scientist Joseph Poupin was one of the first biologists to study the barnacles covering the flaps of flight MH370.
Pupin concluded that the largest barnacle attached to the wreckage was probably old enough to take root on the wreckage shortly after the crash, and very close to the actual crash site where the plane was.
Professor Herbert believes the temperatures recorded in these largest shells could help investigators narrow down their search.
However, the new study only used data from smaller barnacles. Professor Herbert said it was a pity that the largest and oldest barnacles had not yet been used for research.
Still, he said, the new study demonstrates that the method can be applied to barnacles grown on wreckage shortly after the crash, reconstructing a complete drift path back to the crash site.
The search for MH370 spanned thousands of kilometers along a north-south corridor known as the "seventh arc."
So far, the search for MH370 has spanned thousands of kilometers along a north-south corridor known as the "seventh arc," where investigators believe the airliner may have taxied after running out of fuel.
Because ocean temperatures change rapidly in the arc, Professor Herbert believes this method could reveal exactly where airliners are. Even if the airliner is not in the arc, studying the oldest and largest barnacles can narrow down the search in the Indian Ocean.
He said barnacles could provide clues to restart the search for MH370 and ultimately provide answers for bereaved families.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin