IODP to Operate Three Drilling Platforms in 2009

Newswise — The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) will conduct scientific ocean drilling operations aboard all three of its platforms in 2009, from March until December. This is the first time since IODP began operations in 2004 that all three platforms will operate at the same time. Riser drilling will be conducted aboard the Chikyu; the newly modernized JOIDES Resolution will conduct riserless operations; mission-specific operations will be conducted using platforms customized for specific environments. Scheduled operations will explore climate change, sea level change, the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone, and oceanic plateau formation.

"Scientific ocean drilling is the only technique that can ground-truth surface geophysical and geological investigations," says IODP Management International (IODP-MI) President Manik Talwani. "The data IODP amasses not only holds tremendous potential for improving the quality of life in communities worldwide, but also in creating a trajectory for vast possibilities in projecting geological events, identifying and mitigating geohazards, and perhaps making medical discoveries. We are pleased that all three platforms are working this year, providing scientists with ample research opportunities."

IODP-MI, as the central management hub of IODP, coordinates the program's global database, archives geological records for access by scientists in three repositories, publishes scientific findings from expeditions, and coordinates the annual schedule of research expeditions.

Each of the three IODP platforms is managed by an IODP Implementing Organization (IO):"¢ The riserless vessel, JOIDES Resolution, is managed by the USIO, a group comprised of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Texas A & M University, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. The JR's first port of call will be Honolulu, Hawaii."¢ The riser drilling vessel, Chikyu, is managed by JAMSTEC's Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX). The port of call for its next expedition is Shingu, Japan."¢ Mission-specific operations are managed by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) Science Operator (ESO). The platform selected for New Jersey Shallow Shelf is the lift boat, the LB Kayd . Its first port of call has yet to be determined.

IODP is supported by two lead agencies, the U.S. National Science Foundation and Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. Additional program support comes from the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD), the People's Republic of China (Ministry of Science and Technology), the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, and the Australian"New Zealand IODP Consortium.