Coral research may reveal climate change
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Deep-sea soft corals living at 2250m, approximately 350km south-west of Hobart. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)
Scientists are hoping coral they have taken from the floor of the southern ocean can unlock the secrets of climate change.
The CSIRO ship, the Southern Surveyor, has just returned with photos as well as live and dead coral samples taken during a three week voyage.
Professor Jess Adkins from the California Institute of Technology says the deep sea coral can be used to determine past ocean conditions.
He says the science could potentially predict climate change.
"We're gonna run back to the lab and begin with two radiometric techniques trying to date the corals," he said.
"To see if is there an even distribution are there the same number there through time or are they all modern or are there modes when climate changes which is what happened in the North Atlantic."
