Scientific Ocean Drilling

What is IODP?

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is an international marine research program that explores Earth’s history and structure recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks, and monitors subseafloor environments. IODP builds upon the earlier successes of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) which revolutionized our view of Earth history and global processes through ocean basin exploration.

Three platforms are provided. The JOIDES Resolution (USA), the mission-specific platform (MSP; ECORD) and the Deep-sea Scientific Drilling Vessel “Chikyu” operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in Japan.

Scientist activities are managed by the IODP Program Member Offices.
J-DESC is a PMO in Japan.

More detail: IODP Website

Science Plan of IODP

IODP Science Plan for 2013-2023 “Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present and Future”

Four principal themes include：

• Climate and Ocean Change: Reading the Past, Informing the Future
• Biosphere Frontiers: Deep Life Biodiversity and Environmental Forcing of Ecosystems
• Earth Connections: Deep Processes and Their Impact on Earth’s Surface Environment
• Earth in motion: Processes and Hazards on Human Time Scales

2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling

The 2050 Science Framework has a 25-year outlook, inspiring state-of-the-art approaches for scientific ocean drilling far into the mid-21st century. Foundational Earth science research is described in seven Strategic Objectives and five Flagship Initiatives with Enabling Elements that encourage innovation and new discoveries.