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Researchers are exploring the growth patterns on barnacle shells as a means to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of flight MH370 in 2014. Gregory Herbert, a geoscientist from the University of South Florida, has discovered that barnacles found on MH370 debris washed up on the African coast could potentially unlock important information.
Aug. 23 (UPI) — The University of South Florida and its team have been investigating the role of barnacles in determining the fate of flight MH370, which vanished over the Indian Ocean in 2014.
According to Gregory Herbert, a geoscientist at South Florida, the barnacles on the debris that was discovered on the African coast last year could hold vital clues about the origin of the debris.
“When we found the flaperon (part of the wing) covered in barnacles, I immediately reached out to the search investigators. The shells of these barnacles potentially contain geochemical information that can help locate the crash site,” Herbert said in an interview.
Barnacles grow by adding layers to their shells daily, similar to tree rings. Researchers believe that these growth patterns can reveal details about the water temperature at the time the barnacles formed.
French researchers were the first to examine the barnacles on the debris. They discovered that the barnacles may have formed shortly after the crash, making the information within their shells potentially relevant to the investigation.
“If the barnacles are indeed from the time of the crash, the temperature recorded in their shells can assist investigators in narrowing down the search area,” Herbert added.
The search efforts so far have spanned thousands of miles off the coast of Australia, focusing on an area known as The Seventh Arc. The variations in water temperatures within this region could help pinpoint the exact location of the MH370 wreckage.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, or MH370, disappeared on March 8, 2014, during its journey from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur with 239 individuals on board. Investigators believe the plane crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
The Malaysian government concluded that the Boeing 777 did not deviate from its flight path by accident, suggesting that it was manually flown to its final destination rather than being on autopilot.
The findings related to barnacles and their significance in the MH370 investigation were published in the journal AGU Advances, with support from the University of California, Davis, and the National University of Ireland Galway.
