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The Integrated Ocean Drilling 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) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), which revolutionized our view of Earth history and global processes through ocean basin exploration. IODP greatly expands the reach of these previous programs by using multiple drilling platforms, including riser, riserless, and mission-specific, to achieve its scientific goals. These principal themes are outlined in the Initial Science Plan: "Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific Investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and New Technologies". (3.12 MB)

The deep biosphere and the subseafloor ocean;
Environmental change, processes and effects; and
Solid earth cycles and geodynamics.
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Key Relationships


IODP is funded by six entities acting as international partners:

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,   Science and Technology (MEXT) are Lead Agencies.
The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) is a Contributing Member.
bullet.gif The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is an Associate Member.
bullet.gif Interim Asian Consortium, represented by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), is an Associate Member.
bullet.gif Australian-New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC)
bullet.gif India Ministry of Earth Science (MoES)

The Ocean Drilling Program office at NSF (part of the Marine Geosciences section of the Division of Ocean Sciences, within the Directorate for Geosciences) is responsible for administering commingled funds directed towards the science operating costs (SOCs) of all IODP operations. These commingled funds come from the international partners as part of their membership fees used for the conduct of IODP science. Platform operating costs (POCs) are the responsibility of the agency supplying the platform capability.
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Read more about:
bullet.gifImplementing Organizations
bullet.gifIODP Council
bullet.gifProgram Member Offices
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