Updated Information Coming Soon!
Welcome to NanTroSEIZE!

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment, or NanTroSEIZE , is a multi-disciplinary, integrated study of a subduction zone off the coast of Japan, with planned deep drilling of the plate boundary fault system as its centerpiece. Great subduction earthquakes are the world's most powerful seismic events and cause tsunamis such as the devastating Indian Ocean megathrust earthquake of Dec. 2004. The fundamental goal of the IODP NanTroSEIZE project is to drill, sample, and place monitoring instruments into the plate boundary fault system spanning the upper limit of the seismogenic zone at this subduction zone, which has produced massive earthquakes in the past.

--- planned riser bore holes Locations and approximate depth of NanTroSEIZE drill sites

IODP Program Member Offices are currently accepting applications from interested scientists to staff a series of expeditions that make up Stage 1 of the NanTroSEIZE effort. Prospective applicants should review the Call for Applicants , NanTroSEIZE update , and the Stage 1 Scientific Prospectus .

NanTroSEIZE Stage 1 consists of five riserless drilling expeditions : two operated by the U.S. Implementing Organization (USIO) aboard a newly refurbished U.S. Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel, and three operated by Japan's Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX) aboard the R/V Chikyu .

See tentative stage 1 expedition schedule .

Location and approximate depth of Stage 1 site

NOTE: The original IODP proposals are organized by scientific theme, whereas the expedition "stages" are based on a scientific implementation strategy. Therefore, the five Stage 1 expeditions do not correspond to the five proposal documents on a one-for-one basis.

Click here to read article about NanTroSEIZE in Scientific Drilling, March 2006.
For more about the riser vessel, the Chikyu, click here .
For more about the riserless vessel, the U.S. SODV, click here .

Riser Vessel Chikyu	Riserless Vessel U.S. SODV