What flaperon barnacles revealed about MH370 mystery
Robyn Ironside, National Aviation Writer, News Corp Australia Network
August 31, 2016 12:30am
Subscriber only
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/na...bc109c0dc7
ANALYSIS of barnacles found on a flaperon from MH370 has added to the mystery surrounding the plane’s final resting place — with scientists in France and Australia reaching different conclusions.
Extensive testing by Australian National University (ANU) scientist Patrick De Deckker has revealed the onstart of growth of the barnacles occurred in warmer waters probably to the north of Perth.
The most extensive period of growth then took place in cooler water temperatures such as those in the latitude of Perth, and the more recent growth happened in the tropical waters around La Reunion island.
The French are yet to make public their findings on the barnacles but Professor Emeritus De Deckker confirmed they “differed somewhat” to his own.
https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/de-deckker-p
Painstaking analysis ... Professor Patrick De Deckker examining barnacles from MH370 debris at ANU in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith
He stressed the process of testing barnacles could only reveal so much about where they grew, because very little was known about when barnacles started to form, and how fast the growth occurred.
“We just don’t know if the barnacles have been growing since the flaperon’s been floating, or if they started growing in the last few months,” Professor De Deckker said.
“But my findings are consistent with the current search area and the drift modelling done by the CSIRO.”
Precision science ... An image of the work carried out by Professor Patrick De Deckker in the hope of determining where MH370 crashed.
Picture: ANU
The same 2.5 centimetre barnacle was used by both French and Australian examiners — but different techniques applied.
“For my analysis, I used a laser to create little holes of 20 microns, over the length of the barnacles. In all we did 1500 analyses,” said Professor De Deckker.
“The French have done about 100 analyses on the same shell, but they used larger holes.”
In addition, the French looked at the oxygen isotope content of the shell — which is made from calcium carbonate, whereas Professor De Deckker examined the calcium and magnesium to determine in what water temperature it grew.
“In order to solve the difference between the French results and mine, we’d need to do more work,” he said.
“That would be quite an extensive project and (mean) possibly growing barnacles in tanks and so on — and we just don’t have the money or time.”
Looking for clues ... The ANU’s Professor Patrick De Deckker examines a barnacle from MH370 debris.
Picture: Kym Smith
Professor De Deckker provided his time and expertise to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau free of charge.
“It would cost up to $1500 a day (for additional analyses of the type carried out by the French team) and we’d have to book a machine well in advance,” he said.
The search for MH370 is poised to move into the area of the Southern Indian Ocean that Professor De Deckker identified as the place where the barnacles grew for an extensive period of time.
Weather permitting, the 120,000 square kilometre search zone will be fully scoured by the end of the year — and investigators remain hopeful the plane will be found in that time.
MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to fly to Beijing with 239 people on board.
