Comments on the 2050 Science Framework have closed! Read more here!

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Thank you to those who provided input and comments on shaping the future of scientific ocean drilling by commenting on the 2050 Science Framework. We would also like to thank the ANZIC working group, Mike Coffin, Stuart Henrys and Anais Page.

The second, fully designed draft version of the 2050 Science Framework titled Exploring Earth Through Scientific Ocean Drilling can be viewed here >>> Click here to view the document <<<

The expected completion date of the framework is by 1 September 2020 and the final version will be presented to the IODP Forum in their meeting of 22-24 September 2020. 

LIEF BID UPDATE

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The ANU Research Office formally submitted the ARC LIEF Grant lead by Prof. Eelco Rohling on the 31st March.

Through February-March 2020, an 18-month ARC LIEF proposal has been proposed to cover IODP subscription and ANZIC organisation of Australian-New Zealand IODP interests. 13 Universities and 2 Partner Institutions have taken part. The bid was led by Prof. Eelco Rohling from the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, and concerns a total value of $4.74M, of which $3M is requested from the ARC.

If awarded, the project start date will be 1 January 2021.

ANZIC is offering travel bursaries to attend IODP Workshops for 2020

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ANZIC Governing Council are pleased to announce that they will be offering a maximum $3K AUD/NZD travel bursaries to attend IODP Workshops in 2020. Support will be made available to successful Australian & New Zealand applicants approved to attend workshop by organisers. ANZIC will select applicants based on the basis of ANZIC Science Committee ranking of applications.

APPLICATION FORM: Travel Bursary Application.pdf

Ancient ‘mirror image’ of Great Barrier Reef discovered off northern Australia

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Jackson Mccaffrey a University of Melbourne PhD student (supervised by A/Prof Stephen Gallagher and A/Porf Malcolm Wallace) has used detailed subsea seismic data and information from cores obtained from IODP Expedition 356 to discover an ancient great barrier reef off Australia’s coast.

Our research shows that a 2000 km long reef similar to the present east coast Great Barrier Reef persisted and expanded for millions or years around 15 million years ago off North West Australia and pretty much disappeared by 10 million years ago.

Nevertheless, the modern “less great” remnants of this reef are still present today as smaller patches off the Kimberley coast, the Rowley Shoals, Ningaloo Reef and the Houtman-Abrolhos reefs.

What could have led to the death of the North West Australian Great Barrier Reef?

We suggest that a combination of ocean/climate change and subsidence (the region started sinking at a very fast rate just prior to reef demise) caused the drowning of this huge feature, leaving a few small modern reefs today.

Published in the journal Global and Planetary Change

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/ancient-great-barrier-reef-discovered-off-northern-australia-20191030-p535rx.html


Draft Road Map for a post-2023 Science Plan

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Dear IODP Community Members …

Scientific ocean drilling is more than half a century old this year. Discoveries from scientific ocean drilling through the DSDP, ODP and IODP programs have helped reveal Earth’s history, and have been critical to shaping our understanding of how our planet works. But despite the wealth of knowledge gained though five decades of scientific ocean drilling, there remain many new scientific challenges that directly impact our society and that can only be addressed with future scientific ocean drilling.

Planning for a new science plan for the post-2023 era is now underway. International planning workshops have been held over the last year in India, Australia, Japan, Europe, and the United States, to capture the opinions of these international science communities. Another workshop will be held this month in China. By the end of this process, more than 800 participants will have worked together to assess the continuing relevance of the 2013-2023 science plan, and to explore possibilities for a new, post-2023 science plan in support of future scientific ocean drilling. The highlights and key outcomes of those planning workshops are now available.

In July 2019, eighteen international delegates comprising the Science Plan Working Group (see below my signature) met to produce a Science Plan Structure and Road Map document highlighting the commonalities in the workshop outcomes and indicating a potential way forward towards a new science plan. Key aspects of this proposed new science plan, entitled Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling, are:

  • A strong emphasis on interdisciplinary science at the crosslinks between science themes;
  • Enabling the next generation in scientific ocean drilling through a science plan that extends to 2050;
  • Eight open-ended strategic objectives that form the core of the science plan;
  • Five long-term, interdisciplinary flagship initiatives that address critical societal challenges;
  • Five-year programmatic reviews that allow intermediate adjustment or additions.

This Science Plan Structure and Road Map document was available for viewing. In January and March 2020 there will be two commenting cycles, when successive drafts of the future science plan will be made available to the community on the IODP.org website. As this is a new plan in support of the future generations of scientific ocean drilling researchers, we especially seek input from early- and mid-career scientists.

Thank you so much for your continued support and energy in providing scientific ocean drilling with a bright future into the mid-21st century!

Anthony Koppers, Chair

Instituting Scientific Ocean Drilling Beyond 2023

on behalf of the Science Plan Working Group

Delegates (18) of the Science Plan Working Group:

Anthony Koppers (Chair)   Oregon State University                     U.S.

Cristiano Chiessi                 University of São Paulo                      Brazil

Gail Christeson                    University of Texas at Austin             U.S.

Mike Coffin                           University of Tasmania                       Australia (ANZIC)

Rosalind Coggon                 University of Southampton                U.K. (ECORD)

Stuart Henrys                       GNS Science                                        N.Z. (ANZIC)

Yoon-Mi Kim                         KIGAM                                                   Korea    

Iona McIntosh                       JAMSTEC                                             Japan

Katsuyoshi Michibayashi   Nagoya University                               Japan

Yuki Morono                         KCC, JAMSTEC                                   Japan

Antony Morris                       University of Plymouth                        U.K. (ECORD)

Richard Norris                      Scripps Inst. of Oceanography         U.S.

Matt O’Regan                       Stockholm University                          Sweden (ECORD)

Anais Pages                         CSIRO                                                    Australia (ANZIC)

Dhananjai Pandey              NCPOR                                                  India

Sandra Passchier                Montclair State University                  U.S.

Zhen Sun                              S. China Sea Inst. of Oceanology    China

Huaiyang Zhou                    Tongji University                                  China