Division of Ocean Sciences - Fall 2002 Newsletter
NSF 03-014
(Replaces NSF 02-055)

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Ocean Drilling Program

These are busy times here at NSF as we prepare for an orderly conclusion and wind-down of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and as we work toward the implementation of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), the new program of scientific ocean drilling that is slated to replace ODP starting October 1, 2003.

Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. (JOI) submitted a five-year program plan (FY2003 – FY 2007) for ODP which includes the final year of operations and a four year phase- down period. NSF convened a special panel of experts to review and provide recommendations on the five-year plan. An important element of the proposed phase-down activities is the expectation that the long-term responsibility for ODP scientific and physical assets will be transferred to appropriate contractors and organizations in the planned follow-on program, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) as it is developed and implemented. The panel commented that Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. (JOI) had prepared an excellent plan for the final year of operations. The panel did recommend, however, that additional contingency plans for information services and core curation should be considered in the event that IODP is delayed. These concerns were forwarded to JOI ODP management and, based on their formal response, NSF is confident that the termination of ODP will be completed in the same thorough and professional manner that has marked the last 20 years of ODP program operations.

NSF/ODP is fortunate to have acquired John Walter of NOAA as a visiting scientist/engineer to help with planning for the acquisition of IODP assets (non-riser vessel, repositories, etc.). John has experience with government contracting and ship acquisition. We are also pleased to announce that Dr. Jamie Allan has recently joined the Ocean Drilling Program as a Program Director. Jamie, who previously worked with the Program as a rotator, comes to us from the geology faculty of Appalachian State University.

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Japanese Agency for Marine Science and Technology celebrated the launch of their riser drilling vessel. Dr. Joseph Bordogna, NSF Deputy Director, and Dr. Margaret Leinen, NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences, were part of an NSF delegation invited to attend the launch. Drs. Bordogna and Leinen were among the dignitaries on the reviewing stand for the naming ceremony and launching by Princess Sayako of Japan. The vessel is named ‘CHIKYU,’ which means earth.

CHIKYU
Launch of the "CHIKYU," the Japanese riser drilling vessel

NSF and MEXT are nearing completion of a memorandum defining their cooperation and participation as the Lead Agencies in IODP.
Based on the JOIDES Science Committee’s (SCICOM) highest priority ranking of a proposal to drill on the Lomonosov Ridge, funds were approved in the FY2002 ODP Program Plan to begin the planning effort required to develop logistical and operational plans for Arctic drilling to the Lomonosov Ridge. Planning efforts by representatives of both ODP and the Joint European Ocean Drilling Initiative (JEODI) are now underway to mount a field program in 2004 under the auspices of IODP. In mid-February NSF approval was given to JOI to enter into a contract with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat for “Services to Develop and Implement Plans for an Ocean Drilling Expedition to the Lomonosov Ridge, Central Arctic Ocean.” In March, JOI briefed the interim Planning Committee (iPC) for IODP and the ODP Science Committee on the progress for Arctic drilling (a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation can be downloaded from http://www.joiscience.org/arctic.ppt.

The U.S. ODP Science Advisory Committee (USSAC) is sponsoring several workshops this year that bear on IODP. These include a workshop held in June to help define the characteristics, essential elements, and tasks of a program that will foster and sustain the full range of research and educational activities needed for successful U.S. participation in the IODP.

The U.S. ODP Science Support Program (USSSP) hosted an international workshop related to potential riser drilling in Japan’s Nankai trough. The workshop was intended to explore and better define the scientific opportunities created by access to the seismogenic zone of a subduction megathrust in a great earthquake and tsunami generating region. A robust science plan was developed to implement such a project at the Nankai subduction zone. The conveners for this international workshop were Harold Tobin (U.S.), and Gaku Kimura, Shuichi Kodaira, and Hitoshi Mikada (Japan), and Pierre Henry (France).

A third USSSP workshop/tutorial/short course is being planned for early in 2003 to help the U.S. scientific drilling community better understand site development requirements in IODP that will be required for complex drilling programs leading to riser drilling. This, hopefully, will stimulate the submission of proposals for site surveys and regional geophysical studies that ultimately lead to robust drilling programs.

Paul Dauphin (jdauphin@nsf.gov)
Brad Clement (bclement@nsf.gov)
John Walter (jwalter@nsf.gov)
Jamie Allan (jallan@nsf.gov)

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