NSF PR 03-41 - April 22, 2003
United States and Japan Sign Memorandum of Cooperation for
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
Program will foster continued study of Earth's geologic processes
Arlington, Va.—The United States and Japan have signed a
Memorandum of Cooperation, effective April 22, 2003, to proceed
with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The program
will be co-led by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology
(MEXT) of Japan and will use cores of sediment and rock from the
ocean floor to study the geologic processes that modify our
planet, the history of those changes in oceans and climate and
the extent and depth of the planet's biosphere.
Although NSF and MEXT will provide the primary scientific
facilities for IODP, significant scientific and financial
participation is expected from European and Asian nations. IODP
is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2003, and will have an
initial duration of 10 years.
Scientific ocean drilling was pioneered by the NSF in the late
1960s with the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), a test of the
plate tectonic hypothesis and a basic reconnaissance of deep-sea
sediments and rocks. In 1976, Japan and four other nations
joined with NSF to provide financial resources to support the
international phase of DSDP. DSDP was followed in 1985 by the
Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), our present phase of ocean
drilling, and an examination of Earth, ocean and climate
processes.
NSF provided the primary facility for both DSDP and ODP by
contracting and converting an industry drillship for scientific
drilling. International participation in planning, research and
funding of operations has grown from an initial five countries in
DSDP to more than 20 nations in ODP. This fiscal year will mark
the final year of ODP drilling, with phase-out of program
activity extending through 2007.
"Ocean drilling has become an essential capability in modern
geosciences research and education, and is used to examine
processes ranging from changes in the Earth's climate to the
movements of continents," said Rita Colwell, director of NSF.
"Drilling is the primary tool for sampling sediment and rock from
the 70 percent of the Earth's surface covered by oceans, and is
the only technique for sampling more than a few meters below the
ocean floor."
IODP will have three areas of initial emphasis:
The Deep Biosphere and the Sub-Seafloor Ocean: Drilling will
concentrate on expanding scientists' understanding of the
architecture and dynamics of the vast sub-seafloor plumbing
system, where water alters rock, modifies the long-term chemistry
of the oceans, flows through seismically active faults,
concentrates economic mineral deposits, and controls the
distribution of the deep biosphere.
The Processes and Effects of Environmental Change: Ocean
sediments provide a unique record of Earth's climate fluctuations
and allow detection of climate signals on three time scales:
tectonic (longer than 0.5 million years, and produced by changes
in continent positions and continental seaways); orbital (20
thousand years to 400 thousand years, produced by changes in
Earth's orbit); and oceanic (hundreds to a few thousand years,
produced by changes in ocean circulation). "These sediment
records will allow a sophisticated and detailed analysis of the
causes, rates and severity of changes in the Earth's climate
system and their relation to evolution," said Colwell.
Solid Earth Cycles and Geodynamics: The rates of mass and energy
transfer from the mantle to the crust and back are not constant
through time; the causes of these variations and their influences
on the global environment are poorly understood. Drilling during
the early phases of IODP will concentrate on sampling and
monitoring regions of the seafloor that currently have the
highest rates of energy and mass transfer, and comparing these
results to older geologic settings. A crucial initial program of
deep drilling will be to study the zone responsible for large
destructive earthquakes along active plate boundaries.
IODP scientific objectives require a heavy vessel for drilling
deep sedimentary and crustal holes; a lighter vessel for
obtaining high-resolution cores to address climate,
environmental, and sea-floor observatory objectives; and
occasional use of drilling platforms for Arctic and near-shore
projects that can't be undertaken from the two primary IODP
vessels, said Colwell.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology
(MEXT) of Japan is completing construction of the heavy drill
ship to address deep drilling objectives in the new program.
Their vessel, the Chikyu (which means Earth), launched in January
2002, will undergo outfitting and testing in 2003-2006, and will
be available for IODP operations in 2007. The Japan Marine
Science, Technology and Engineering Center (JAMSTEC) will operate
the vessel for IODP.
The National Science Board has approved release of a solicitation
for a U.S. contractor to manage the scientific and drilling
operations of the light drilling vessel to be supported by the
NSF for IODP. The contractor's responsibilities will include the
operation of an initial vessel to be used in 2004 and 2005, as
well as the selection of a long-term drill ship which will
undergo extensive conversion and scientific outfitting in 2005
and be used for the remainder of IODP. NSF followed a similar
procedure in supporting the conversion of both
the Glomar Challenger (for DSDP) and the JOIDES Resolution (for
ODP). The solicitation was released on March 19, 2003, with
proposal evaluations and contract negotiations to be completed by
August 2003.
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