Ignoring the icy winds coming from the South Pole, a group of Indian scientists will spend three months on board an isolated ship releasing tonnes of iron in the southern-most part of the Indian Ocean, close to the Antarctic waters. 

They aim to capture the carbon dioxide gas and store it in the ocean for hundreds of years so that at least some of the perilous consequences of global warming can be overcome.

“This is the first Indian experiment, which can provide a clue or two to the world whether the oceans can be used as a carbon sink,” Dr S W A Naqvi, the project leader from the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) told Deccan Herald.

Bangalore-based CSIR institute’s Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulations along with two other CSIR institutions and the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany will be a part of this initiative.

The scientists will release 20 tonnes of ferrous sulphate solution mixed with sea water on an area spanning a few hundred square kms to trigger the growth of plankton - a combination of many marine organisms and algae - which is also an important food source. 

Fertilising the ocean with iron is being thought of as an apt way to take away carbon dioxide from the atmosphere where its concentration is on the rise. Being a micronutrient, iron will spurt the growth of plankton, which in turn will consume the atmospheric carbon dioxide and reduce the amount of polluting gas from the earth.

But lack of evidence is blocking use of “ocean iron fertilisation” technique as a potential option to mitigate the danger of carbon dioxide build up. The Indian experiment - to be carried out using a German research vessel named RV Polarstern between January and March, 2009 - may answer some of the questions dogging the scientists.

Oceans can be utilised as a carbon sink only if the sequestered carbon - in the form of various types of plankton and their dead mass – sinks beyond 2000 metres depth and stay there for hundreds of years.