Tekno Netral
Ekspedisi Samudra Hindia Temukan 149 Spesies Baru dan 1.000 Gigi Hiu
Ekspedisi bawah laut di sekitar Pulau Christmas dan Kepulauan Cocos (Keeling) pada 2021-2022 berhasil mengidentifikasi 1.059 kelompok taksonomi, termasuk 149 spesies baru, dengan sampel dari kedalaman 94-5.431 meter. Selain itu, peneliti menemukan sekitar 1.000 gigi hiu di Dataran Abisal Cocos yang merekam keberadaan hiu selama lebih dari 22 juta tahun, termasuk megalodon yang telah punah, sehingga lokasi tersebut dijuluki Kuburan Gigi Hiu. Temuan ini juga mencakup nodul polimetalik, menunjukkan dasar laut kawasan tersebut menyimpan rekaman kehidupan dan proses geologi jutaan tahun.
Poin-Poin Utama
- Oceans cover 71% of Earth surface, with 90% of ocean areas exceeding 1,000 meters in depth.
- Two expeditions conducted in 2021 and 2022 around Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
- Samples collected from 22 seamounts, the two island groups, and surrounding abyssal plains.
- Sampling depths ranged from 94 to 5,431 meters.
- Seamounts in the region are volcanic structures formed 40 to 120 million years ago.
- Some seamounts reach tens of kilometers in diameter and rise thousands of meters from seafloor.
- Researchers collected benthic animal samples plus temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen data.
- Underwater cameras and environmental DNA from water used to identify organisms.
- Study identified 1,059 taxonomic groups in total.
- 149 of those taxonomic groups represent species not previously described.
- Species composition changes with increasing depth.
- Approximately 1,000 shark teeth found at the Cocos Abyssal Plain site.
- Shark teeth collection spans over 22 million years of presence for various shark groups.
- Teeth found include great white, mako, tiger sharks, and extinct megalodon.
- Polymetallic or manganese nodules also found at the site, including attached to some shark teeth.
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