Scientific Achievements of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003-2013) and International Ocean Discovery Program (2013-present)

English Abstract:

This talk will present an overview of scientific and programmatic highlights of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP, 2003-2013) and initial results from the first two years of the follow-on Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (also IODP). Results from the first IODP will be summarized with respect to the three main themes and eight initiatives of the IODP Initial Science Plan (ISP) “Earth, Oceans and Life.” The first IODP made significant contributions in the ISP objectives related to past greenhouse climates, rapid climate change and sea level history in the current icehouse world, subseafloor hydrogeology and biosphere, subduction zone seismogenesis, and accretion of oceanic crust formed at slow and fast spreading rates. The Science Plan for the second IODP, “Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future,” builds on the ISP to define four main themes with thirteen important scientific challenges to be addressed over the ten-year period 2013-2023. It is still early in that period, but proposal pressure is already strong across these themes and challenges. Expeditions early in the second IODP have made or will make a strong start at addressing two specific challenges: the role of subduction zones in generating continental crust and the control of regional precipitation exemplified by the Indian Ocean monsoon system. In addition, the new IODP is cooperating closely with ICDP to define a coordinated approach to “amphibious” drilling projects that require both at-sea and on-land drilling to be fully addressed.