More than two dozen international scientists began an expedition on the Portuguese coast this Thursday to investigate marine sediments and, through them, understand how climate change occurred thousands of years ago.
The expedition is an initiative of the “International Ocean Discovery Program” (IODP), a scientific marine research organization that studies the dynamics of the planet by recovering data recorded in sediments and rocks on the seabed.
In a statement about “Expedition 397”, the organizers point out that temperatures are rising and that the planet is experiencing a time when the global climate is changing, and it is necessary to understand what will happen next.
“Sometimes, to know the future, we have to look to the past. ‘Expedition 397’ aims to collect marine sediment cores off the coast of Portugal that will provide high-resolution data on variations in the Earth’s ancient climate. “, Explain those responsible, adding that the more past environments are understood, the easier it will be to assess how the planet is changing today and how it will change in the future.
According to the statement, the expedition runs until mid-December and takes place off the southwest coast of Lisbon. The 26 scientists will investigate areas where marine sediments accumulate rapidly, allowing a highly reliable record of climate change on time scales of hundreds to thousands of years, going back as much as three to six million years.
The statement explains that the climate signals from the Iberian margin will then be compared with those collected in the ice of the two hemispheres, providing a link between oceanic and atmospheric changes, including the concentration of greenhouse gases.
Scientists will collect sediment core samples at different depths, between 1,300 and 4,700 meters below sea level, allowing them to study how deep-sea circulation and ocean chemistry have changed in the past, including their role in storage. deep-sea carbon dioxide and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Most sediment in the deep sea accumulates at a relatively slow rate, one to two centimeters every 1,000 years, but the sediments in the area the scientists will be working with are deposited in larger amounts, 10 to 20 centimeters every 1000 years.
Source: TSF
