The new Science Plan of ICDP: Achievements and Challenges in Continental Scientific Drilling

English Abstract:

Understanding the complex System Earth is despite great progress in deep geophysical sounding and modeling advances depending on samples and observations at depth. The rocks and fluids of our ever-changing planet contain matter, heat, energy, and life as well as archived records of what has gone before. These precious relicts and living systems need to be probed and monitored in situ and need to be collected and analyzed. The scientific results obtained by scientific drilling cover the spectrum of the earth sciences from climate change, natural hazards and earth resources to the origins and evolution of life on Earth. The need to drill has never been greater and requires addressing the needs of our growing population for energy, sustenance, and quality of life.

The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, ICDP addresses these questions in terrestrial environments. It is an infrastructure for scientific drilling that facilitates outstanding science at globally important sites bringing together scientists and stakeholders from 24 nations. The new science plan for the ICDP addresses five scientific key topics including: Active Faulting and Earthquakes, Global Geodynamics, Global Cycles Effecting Climate And Environmental Change, Heat And Mass Transport, The Ubiquitous Hidden Biosphere, and Cataclysmic Events. Each of these themes is tackled with respect to socioeconomic relevance, past achievements are described and fundamental open issues, future scientific targets and recommendations are presented. Potential future science goals include man-made earthquakes, borehole observatories in active environments, drivers, feedback and tipping points of Earth climate, deep time studies of global cycles, harvesting magmatic geothermal heat at shallow depth, deep hard-rock and geothermal microbiology, basin-size impact craters. In addition, ICDP is planning to cooperate closely with other programs to open new joint targets such as land-sea drilling transects.