India’s launches its first South Pole expedition
November 1st, 2010 - 10:46 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) India Monday launched its first expedition to the South Pole to study the changes in climate patterns that have taken place in the Antarctica over the last thousand years.
Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan flagged off the expedition Monday.
The team will leave for Maitri — India’s second permanent research station in Antarctica — Nov 1 and will be back mid-December.
Rasik Ravindra, 62, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, will lead the team of eight scientists on the 40-day expedition.
“This is for the first time that India is sending an expedition to the South Pole. The scientists will bring samples that will give us information about climate change which have taken place in the last thousand years,” said an official.
The team comprises scientists who have experience of wintering over in Antarctica and knowhow of snow vehicles. The team will conduct various scientific experiments on its way to the South Pole.
“They will study variability of snow chemistry, bed rock topography and ice structure. They will collect meteorological parameter along the 2,000-km-long traverse,” the official added.
- India launches its first South Pole expedition Monday - Oct 31, 2010
- India's South Pole expedition to study climate change - Oct 29, 2010
- Indian scientists traversed shortest path to South Pole - Jan 11, 2011
- India's maiden scientific team reaches South Pole - Nov 22, 2010
- Cooking was toughest task on South Pole expedition: Scientists - Jan 11, 2011
- Scientific expedition completed to mark 30 years of Indian presence in Antarctica - Dec 01, 2010
- China to launch eight Antarctic, Arctic expeditions - Sep 25, 2011
- Army ski expedition hoists Indian flag at South Pole - Jan 15, 2011
- Ice samples show climate capable of abrupt changes - Sep 11, 2011
- New digital map reveals more secrets about Antarctica - Dec 16, 2011
- Drop in CO2 triggered polar ice sheet formation - Dec 02, 2011
- Antarctica was once a warm "greenhouse" world - Apr 30, 2010
- Team to retrace Shackleton's Antarctica trek - Sep 14, 2011
- India's third Antartica research station to open in 2012 - Jan 11, 2011
- Is El Nino causing ice to melt at the South Pole? - Oct 30, 2010
Tags: antarctica, climate change, climate patterns, India, knowhow, New Delhi, nov 1, ocean research, rasik, science and technology, scientific experiments, scientists, snow chemistry, snow vehicles, south pole expedition, technology minister, topography, variability