The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) was an international marine research program running from 2003 to 2013. The program used heavy drilling equipment mounted aboard ships to monitor and sample sub-seafloor environments. With this research, the IODP documented environmental change, Earth processes and effects, the biosphere, solid earth cycles, and geodynamics. The program began a new 10-year phase with the International Ocean Discovery Program, from the end of 2013.
Navigating the route to discovery
Scientific ocean drilling represented the longest running and most successful international collaboration among the Earth sciences. Scientific ocean drilling began in 1961 with the first sample of oceanic crust recovered aboard the CUSS 1, a modified U.S. Navy barge. American author John Steinbeck, also an amateur oceanographer, documented Project Mohole for LIFE Magazine.
Legacy programs The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), established in June 1966, operated Glomar Challenger in drilling and coring operations in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as well as in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Glomar Challenger's coring operations enabled DSDP to provide the next intellectual step in verifying the hypothesis of plate tectonics associated with seafloor spreading, by dating basal sediments on transects away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
In June 1970, Glomar Challenger's DSDP engineers devised a way to replace worn drill bits and then re-enter boreholes for deeper drilling while in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York, in 3,000 m (10,000 feet) of water. This required the use of sonar scanning equipment and a large-scale re-entry cone. Process-oriented Earth studies continued from 1985 until 2003 aboard JOIDES Resolution, which replaced Glomar Challenger in January 1985 as DSDP morphed into the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). JOIDES Resolution is named for the 200-year-old HMS Resolution which explored the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica under the command of Captain James Cook. The Ocean Drilling Program contributed significantly to increased scientific understanding of Earth history, climate change, plate tectonics, natural resources, and geohazards. ODP discoveries included validation of:
fluids circulating through the ocean floor; the formation of gigantic volcanic plateaus at phenomenal rates unknown today; natural methane frozen deep within marine sediments as gas hydrate; a microbial community living deep within oceanic crust; climate change cycles
IODP funding agencies National consortia and government funding agencies supported IODP science and drilling platform operations. Participation in IODP was proportional to investment in the program.
Contributing member The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) was established in December 2003 with 13 European countries to represent the European contribution in IODP. The consortium grew into a collaborative group of 17 European nations (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and Canada that together comprise an IODP-funding agency. Working alongside Japan and the United States, ECORD provided the IODP scientific community with access to mission-specific platforms, which chosen to fulfill specific scientific objectives. These platforms have limited space on board for labs and scientists, and require an onshore science meeting to describe, process, and analyze the sediment samples collected immediately following a drilling expedition.
Associate members In April 2004, the People's Republic of China joined IODP as an Associate Member through sponsorship of China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). China's participation in IODP has given the Chinese marine science community a new impetus and increased their opportunity for deep-sea research. Chinese scientists participated in research expeditions and represent China's interests in the IODP Science Advisory Structure. The Republic of Korea joined IODP as an Associate Member in June 2006 through the sponsorship of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM). South Korea's memorandum of understanding with the lead agencies created the Interim Asian Consortium. Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India joined the IODP in 2008 as an Associate member. Since then, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa has been designated by India to look after all IODP related activities in India (IODP-India). In this direction, an international workshop on IODP drilling in Indian Ocean was organized in Goa during 17–18 October 2011. The workshop was co-hosted by IODP Management International and ANZIC. Hundreds of international Earth and ocean scientists participated in IODP on a voluntary basis. Participation took many forms: submission of a drilling proposal; sailing on an expedition; participation in an advisory capacity; attendance at a planning workshop or topical symposium. The program's central management office, IODP Management International, coordinated an integrated work plan between and among all IODP organizational partners. An annual program plan was written each fiscal year and included objectives and tasks necessary for drilling vessel operation, from science coordination to publications, data management, and outreach.
Uniquely IODP IODP distinguishes itself from its legacy programs by employing multiple drilling technologies/platforms and science/drilling operators to acquire sediment and rock samples and to install monitoring instrumentation beneath the seafloor. Samples and data collected during IODP drilling expeditions are available to scientists and teachers on an open-access basis, once members of the expedition parties have completed their initial studies.
Planning IODP drilling: science advisory structure
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