Chikyu has experienced operational difficulties with the gears on its azimuthal thrusters. A special task force was set up to investigate the issue in more detail and now reports that new thruster gears need to be fabricated and installed on all six thrusters before Chikyu can return to IODP operations. The fabrication and installation will require Chikyu to cease IODP operations until March 2009, when the vessel will be able to resume IODP operations for four months, from March–June 2009.
As a result of these technical difficulties, IODP Expeditions 318 and 319 planned for Dec. 2008–Feb. 2009 are deferred to a later date, yet to be determined. A new plan for Chikyu’s FY 09 operations (March–June 2009) will be generated by the Operations Task Force in the near future. Details will be reported in upcoming editions of IODP E-News and on the IODP Expeditions page.
ESO regrets to inform the drilling community that the New Jersey Shallow Shelf Expedition 313 will not take place in 2008. Following delayed progress with the contractor and limited alternatives, contract negotiations did not meet ESO’s timeline goals for this calendar year. ESO is now working towards a contract to implement in May-Aug. 2009. Look for future news about this expedition at www.eso.ecord.org/expeditions/313/313.htm, or the IODP Expeditions page.
NanTroSEIZE emerged as a news highlight of the 2008 EGU General Assembly held in April in Vienna. The co-chief project scientists, Harold Tobin (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison) and Masa Kinoshita (JAMSTEC), presented findings from the initial phase of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE). To see the BBC News article that resulted from the event, go to www.iodp.org/recently-in-the-news.
Harold Tobin and Masataka Kinoshita present NanTroSEIZE findings to journalists attending EGU.
Following its comprehensive refurbishment in Singapore, the JOIDES Resolution’s release from the shipyard is expected in August, with the riserless vessel resuming IODP drilling this fall. The renewed U.S.-sponsored scientific ocean drilling vessel includes all new decks, labs, drilling equipment, and accommodations, among other upgrades. Once the ship is released from the shipyard, science equipment will be installed and tested, followed by sea trials and transit to its first port of call (TBD). The drilling vessel’s schedule includes the Canterbury Basin Sea Level Expedition from Nov. 2008 to Jan. 2009, followed by the Wilkes Land Expedition from Jan.-March 2009. See a videotape of the refurbishment to date online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0_TW6cvhEg.
USSSP is currently accepting nominations for scientists who will serve on the U.S. Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling (USAC) and the IODP Science Advisory Structure (SAS). Open SAS positions include places on the SAS Executive Committee (SASEC), the Science Planning Committee (SPC), the Science Steering and Evaluation Panel (SSEP), Site Survey Panel (SSP), Scientific Technology Panel (STP) and Engineering Development Panel (EDP). New members will serve three-year terms starting in Oct. 2008. More information about all SAS panels and their various roles in IODP is online at http://www.iodp.org/sas/. U.S.-based scientists interested in USAC or SAS opportunities should contact Emily Powell,
, by June 16.
Under ECORD’s standard council rotation, Severino Falcon-Morales of the Ministerio de Education y Ciencia (Spain) has been named the new chair of the ECORD Council. In addition, Chris Franklin of the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) becomes the incoming chair. Bruno Goffe of Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers–Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (INSU–CNRS), France, becomes vice chair. These positions are effective from April 1–Sept. 30, 2008. To access contact information for all ECORD Council members, visit www.ecord.org/c/council.html.
A workshop to explore future scientific ocean drilling expeditions to the Arctic Ocean is planned for Nov. 2008 in Bremerhaven, Germany. Joint sponsors include the Arctic Ocean Science Board, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, European Science Foundation, and Nansen Arctic Drilling Program. “Arctic Ocean History, From Speculation to Reality” will focus on understanding this ocean basin, the continents that ring it, and the global climate system. The workshop will highlight results derived from cores collected during IODP Expedition 302, ACEX. Please contact Bernard Coakley, , or Ruediger Stein, , for more information.
IODP-Japan, including CDEX/JAMSTEC, the Kochi Core Center (KCC), J-DESC and IFREE are sponsoring an IODP exhibition booth at the Japan Geosciences Union Meeting from May 25-30, 2008, at the Makuhari Messe-International Conference Hall in Chiba, Japan. Visit IODP at Booth 17 on the exhibition floor; KCC at Booth 24. Also, a joint J-DESC–IODP–ICDP Town Hall Meeting will be held on May 27 at 17:30; find details in the IODP booth at the meeting. To see the scientific session schedule and other meeting information, go to www.jpgu.org/meeting_e/index.html.
IODP-MI chairs thematic review committees with members from the scientific community nominated by SASEC. The reviews evaluate progress achieved in relation to major scientific themes and goals stated in the Initial Science Plan. The first review on Climate Variability was recently completed and a report released. The review is based on a number of expeditions that address a common theme. A report is normally compiled and released one to two years after the expeditions are completed. Click here to see the report.
The 33rd International Geological Congress will open in Oslo, Norway, on Aug. 6, and extend until Aug. 14, welcoming an expected 6,000 scientists and dozens of exhibitors. A Scientific Drilling Symposium (SDD-01) will be held on Aug. 9, convened jointly by ICDP and IODP. The following oral presentations are scheduled for presentation:
IODP Achievements 2004-08 (M. Talwani, S. Humphris).
Recovering an Arctic climate record from the North Pole (K. Moran and J. Backman).
AURORA BOREALIS: a new research icebreaker for polar deep sea drilling (L. Lembke-Jene).
NanTroSEIZE Stage 1: First results of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Drilling project (H. Tobin).
Initial Results of magnetic fabric analysis from NanTroSEIZE Exp. 316 (Y. Kitamura).
IODP drilling of conjugate North Atlantic volcanic rifted margins, causes and implication of excess magmatism (R. Huismans).
Upcoming IODP Expedition: Drilling the Wilkes Land continental margin to obtain the record of Cenozoic East Antarctic ice sheet evolution (C. Escutia, et al).
Rapid sedimentation drives overpressure and submarine landslides in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico: IODP Exp. 308 (P. Flemings).
ANDRILL's drilling success during the fourth International Polar Year (D. Harwood).
Advances and challenges in continental scientific drilling (R. Emmermann, and U. Harms).
Characterization of gas from seismogenic depths of the San Andreas fault at SAFOD (T. Wiersberg and J. Erzinger).
ICDP FAR-DEEP: field mission accomplished: 3,600 meters of drillcores from 2500-2000 Ma rocks from Russian Fennoscandia for tracking the emergence of the aerobic Earth system. (V. Melezhik).
Lake El’gygtgyn drilling project: objectives and current stage of preparation (O. Jushcus).
Continental deep subduction and exhumation dynamics: Constrains from the main hole of the Chinese continental scientific drilling and the sulu HP-UHP metamorphic terrane (Z. Xu).
Continental scientific drilling and the study of terrestrial impact craters (C. Koeberl).
The Petn Itz Scientific Drilling Project: a 200-ka record of climate change in lowland Central America (F. Anselmetti).
The Scientific Drilling Symposium begins at 8:30 and ends at 5:30 p.m. Many scientific drilling posters also will be presented. An IODP booth will be situated on the IGC exhibition floor: visit Booth CO2-21. To register go to www.33igc.org/coco. For more information on the symposium e-mail
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As an ECORD member, the National Environmental Research Council (NERC, UK) has invested15 million British pounds (US $29,315,250) in the initial five-year phase of IODP research, and has now committed to another five years of funding to carry over to 2013. At an event to be held at the Royal Society of London on July 7, NERC will showcase the achievements and major scientific outcomes of IODP since it began operating, and highlight some of the exciting expeditions mounted on the IODP research vessels. Registration for the event is free, and requested by June 2. Register online at www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/ukiodp/events/080707/regform.aspx. For further information please contact Sasha Leigh () or the UK IODP Science Coordinator ().
The new Virtual Seismic Atlas is an online open-access community resource that shares the geological interpretation of seismic data. Users can browse freely through the site to find seismic images and interpretations. There are also downloadable higher-resolution images for any user’s use. Launched in April 2008, the online database and search engine provide a global platform for users who wish to find and compare seismic examples, interpretations and analogues. The atlas is free to use, jointly run by the Universities of Aberdeen and Leeds, and sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Geological Society of London, the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and several energy companies. Bookmark this new resource at www.seismicatlas.org.
May 19—Submission deadline for Past Climate Change Workshop, Potsdam, Germany. NOTE: Deadline for application extended to May 29. http://www.iodp.org/climate-ws-workshop/
May 19-22—Science Steering and Evaluation Panel (SSEP) Meeting, Busan, Korea.
May 25-30—Japan Geosciences Union Meeting 2008, Chiba,Japan www.jpgu.org/meeting_e. Visit IODP at Booth 17.
June 8-13—ASLO Summer Meeting, sponsored by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography; cosponsored by the Society of Canadian Limnologists and the North American Benthological Society. Session to attend: Free Choice Learning: Where Science, Education, and Careers Meet, convened by Leslie Peart (IODP) and George I. Matsumoto (MBARI). http://aslo.org/stjohns2008
June 11-13—Asia’s Subsea Conference and Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For further information, contact .
June 16-18—Environmental Protection and Safety Panel (EPSP) Meeting, Hannover, Germany.
June 16-20—Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) Fifth Annual General Meeting, Busan, Korea. Visit the IODP booth sponsored by Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM). www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2008/index.asp
June 22-28—Science Advisory Structure Executive Committee (SASEC) Meeting, Beijing.
To download IODP E-NEWS in a PDF format CLICK HERE For more information or inquiries about any topic in this e-newsletter, please e-mail
IODP E-News is a bimonthly publication of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International (IODP-MI). It is produced and distributed by IODP-MI for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Ministry of Culture, Education, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and other participating countries. Its content is based upon research supported under NSF Contract OCE-0432224.
