One of the most important contributions of Krishna is his studies on the evolution of Indian Ocean on which he developed tectonic models and validated the same. He conducted extensive studies on the lithospheric studies of the central Indian Ocean in relation to the uplift of the Himalayas and on the primary hotspots of the global oceans and mantle circulation for which he has undertaken ocean expeditions. His studies assisted in a wider understanding about the relationship between the rise of the Himalayas, the sedimentation in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian monsoon. His studies have been detailed in several peer-reviewed articles; ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 85 of them.