NOW OPEN! Expressions of Interest (EOIs) close: 17 March 2023

ANZIC is seeking up to nine new representatives on the Science Committee starting from mid-April 2023.

Scientific Ocean Drilling is among the world’s longest running international scientific collaborations, delivering a vitally important research capability and is driven by a flow of drilling proposals provided by the scientific community. It creates critical synergies with other national and international research infrastructures for the marine sciences and geosciences and generates unparalleled opportunities for cross-disciplinary research partnerships.

IODP allows scientists access to some of Earth’s most challenging environments, collecting data and samples of sediment, rock, fluids, and living organisms from below the seafloor.

ANZIC has facilitated the involvement in IODP science of many Australian & New Zealand scientists and educators from across a wide range of fields, offering career-defining opportunities to boost their research, skills and international networks.

The ANZIC Governing Council has a well-established Science Committee, and the two groups work closely together.

Scientific Oversight of the ANZIC Science Committee

1. Setting the criteria for ANZIC IODP Expeditioner selection reflecting IODP policy and guidelines.
2. Assess and rank applicants for Expeditioner status and support by ANZIC.
3. Set the criteria for ANZIC post-expedition and legacy project support, reflecting IODP policy and guidelines.
4. Assess and rank applications for ANZIC post-expedition and legacy project support for advice, reflecting appropriate support of post-expedition and legacy grants.
5. Set criteria, assess and rank applicants for other calls for scientific funding support (e.g. workshops) supported by ANZIC.
6. Execute effective scientific governance of ANZIC.

The Science Committee will also set scientific criteria for assessing and ranking any other matters that the ANZIC Office or the ANZIC Governing Council delegates to the Science Committee.

The structure of the committee reflects the science undertaken by IODP. With the recent release of the new 2050 Strategic Framework and membership rotation, the structure of the ANZIC Science committee will evolve to bring on wider expertise to reflect the new Strategic Objectives, Flagship Initiatives and Enabling Elements in the Framework. 

The role is extremely rewarding and a significant boost to broadening your knowledge, skills, and national network across IODP. We are looking for representatives who are willing to embrace the collaborative, collegiate, and constructive ethos of the review process. ANZIC seeks to promote diversity within the Science Committee, therefore applications by women, non-binary, and minority groups, ECR, MCR and established researchers are encouraged to apply for these roles. You do not need to have experience with IODP expeditions to apply. Applications are open to all ANZIC members (University and Research Organisations).

Assessment and selection: Members of the Science Committee encompass expertise across IODP Research Themes.

EOI Application

Scientists interested in volunteering for these opportunities should send a cover letter and a two-page CV to iodp.administrator@anu.edu.au by 17 March 2023.

Cover letters should clearly indicate your primary field of expertise, briefly describe any previous committee experience, describe your interest in the scientific drilling programs (now and in the future), and clearly identifying your alignment to with direct reference to: Strategic Objectives (primary and secondary alignment), Flagship Initiatives (Primary Alignment), and Enabling Elements (Primary Alignment) outlined in the 2050 Strategic Framework.

Two-page (max) Curriculum Vitae should include:

1. Academic/professional qualifications.
2. Employment history.
3. Selected recent publications or relevant government/industry reports or outputs.
4. Recent synergistic sctivities (e.g. service, committee, reviewer).
5. Relevant field experience (last 5 years).

Selection Process

Applications will be administratively processed by the ANZIC Office and provided to the ANZIC Science Committee Chair, who will convene a sub-committee to assess the applications. A shortlist will be provided to the ANZIC Program Manager for consideration and subsequent ANZIC Governing Council approval. The outcome is anticipated to be announced in mid-April 2023.

Interested? Questions?

Please contact ANZIC Program Manager, Dr Sarah Kachovich.

Committee membership means an invited member acknowledges and abides by their institutional Code of Conduct and Professional ethics guidelines, policies, and procedures, or equivalents, and the IODP Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy in all matters related to serving as a Committee member.

Future Opportunities for Australia in international scientific drilling

After 50+ and 25+ years respectively, both the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) continue to facilitate new and significant discoveries in our understanding of the Earth’s lithosphere, biosphere, cryosphere and atmosphere through scientific drilling. 

While the current phase of IODP ends in 2024, the future of scientific drilling looks bright. The high level of community interest is reflected in the large number of proposals under consideration in all the world’s oceans. Existing US and Japanese scientific drilling vessels that underpin IODP’s success are aging but remain fully capable. Europe and Japan are working to implement an expanded Mission Specific Platform approach to scientific drilling that allows coring in regions unreachable by larger vessels (e.g. ice-covered oceans and through the land-to-sea transition zone). Meanwhile, new ocean drilling vessels are coming online in China and are in the early stages of planning in the United States. This broad range of offshore drilling capabilities complements the infrastructure supported by ICDP to drill in a range of terrestrial and near-shore environments, including lakes.

To ensure that Australian researchers retain the opportunity to continue their historically significant contributions to scientific drilling around the world, the Australian and New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC) is currently working with AuScope to secure longer-term access to this international research infrastructure under the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. This initiative is being designed to not only maintain Australian involvement in global scientific drilling initiatives, but to expand opportunities to access subsurface samples across the Australian continent, the coastal transition zone, our extensive continental shelf and out into the deep abyssal plains. 

ANZIC ROADSHOW 2023: DATES AND VENUES

WORKSHOP: Exploring planetary processes with IODP science
(in-person only)

ANZIC presenter biographies

Ron Hackney commenced at the Australian National University as the Director of ANZIC in mid-2022. He previously spent 14 years at Geoscience Australia working in and leading a range of national precompetitive geoscience projects. This followed a six-year stint in Germany as a postdoc at Freie Universität Berlin and as Junior Professor for Solid Earth Geophysics at the Christian Albrechts Universität zu Kiel. Ron has a PhD from the University of Western Australia, an MSc in Geophysics from Victoria University of Wellington and a BSC (Honours) from the Australian National University.

Sarah Kachovich commenced at the Australian National University as the ANZIC Program Manager in late-2021 and was announced as Superstar of STEM (2023-2024) by Science and Technology Australia. Previously, she spent 3 years sailing as a Marine Technician onboard the IODP Research Vessel, the JOIDES Resolution for Texas A & M University. Sarah has PhD in radiolarian micropaleontology from the University of Queensland where she also sailed as the Radiolarist onboard the IODP Expedition 362: Sumatra Subduction, in 2016. She completed a BSC (Honours) from the University of Wollongong.

Who should attend?

A major goal of the Australian and New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC) is to train the next generation of scientists and promote IODP-motivated science. The workshop is open to participants from all career stages and scientific backgrounds. However, the course is tailored for individuals who:

• are early in their career and/or would like to introduce and make use of IODP data in their research, and/or;
• would like to get more involved in IODP in some capacity, either through accessing and using data, sailing on an IODP research expedition, or joining the ANZIC Science Committee.

If you have previously been involved with IODP or ANZIC, we also welcome your involvement in the workshop to share your experience and expertise with anyone new wishing to get involved.

For more information, contact sarah.kachovich@anu.edu.au

ANZIC is delighted to host Dr Marguerite Godard from Géosciences Montpellier at the Université de Montpellier, France in Canberra on 7 and 8 February. Dr Godard is in Australia for meetings about the New Caledonia Drilling Project (NCDP), an initiative to drill and sample the New Caledonia peridotites and associated lithologies on-land, in coastal waters, and beneath the deep oceanic sub-seafloor.

While in Canberra, Dr Godard will deliver two seminar, to be held at ANU Research School of Earth Sciences (4pm, Tuesday 7 February) and Geoscience Australia (11am, Wednesday 8 February), with both live-streamed for online access – see below for full details. ANZIC members are welcome to attend these hybrid seminars and learn more about this exciting research.

If you would like to meet with Dr Godard while she is visiting Canberra, please contact ANZIC Director Ron Hackney

RSES Seminar: Linkages between Serpentinization and Carbon Trapping in the Semail Ophiolite (Oman)

4pm, Tuesday 7 February
Jaeger 1 Seminar Room (and online), ANU School of Earth Sciences, Acton ACT

REGISTER HERE

The Semail Ophiolite preserves a section of Tethyian oceanic lithosphere obducted onto the Arabian peninsula. Its mantle section is variably serpentinized. It hosts several H₂-rich alkaline springs suggesting that serpentinization is still active today and carbonate-rich areas that can be used as analogues to develop techniques for CO₂ geological storage. At the field scale, the linkages between serpentinization and carbonate-forming reactions is evidenced in two key locations of the Semail Ophiolite: the Wadi Mansah area (OmanDP Hole BT1B) where fully-carbonated peridotite (listvenites) outcrop along the ophiolite basal thrust and in the Wadi Dima and Batin areas exposing carbonate-rich serpentinized harzburgite- and dunite-dominated basements, respectively. 

By combining petrostructural, mineralogical, and geochemical approaches (elemental chemistry, C and O isotopes), we show that the ophiolite underwent widespread serpentinization induced by the ingress of seawater-derived fluids in Wadi Dima and Batin and by slab-derived fluids in Wadi Mansah. Carbonation reactions are closely associated with serpentinization, but show different reaction pathways producing Mg-carbonates (and quartz) in Wadi Mansah and Ca-carbonates and serpentinites in Wadi Dima and Batin. Preliminary results suggest a control by the composition of incoming fluids (salinity, pH, solute concentrations, …) and, in particular, by their CO₂ concentrations (high in Wadi Mansah compared to Wadi Dima and Batin). Both reaction pathways are associated with the (possibly abiotic) formation of minor fractions of reduced-carbon species, but they are distinguished by elemental remobilization (Mn, Cr, Li, Pb,…) in Wadi Mansah and by evidences of H₂-rich fluids in Wadi Dima and Batin. Investigations are still ongoing with a focus on the Batin site that hosts the first multi-borehole observatory (MBO) in an ultramafic basement, which was developed as part of OmanDP. Comparing the petro-structure and composition of drilled cores to downhole borehole physical and hydrodynamic measurements will provide a unique dataset to investigate reactive transport and the linkages between the basement structure, fluid flow, chemical fluxes and deep biosphere associated to serpentinization and their impact on H₂ production and CO₂ mineralization in natural environments.

Geoscience Australia Seminar: The  New Caledonia Ophiolite Land-to-Sea Drilling Project (SW Pacific): Exploring, on-shore and off-shore, the structure, composition and resources of an exhumed mantle wedge section

11am, Wednesday 8 February
Raggatt Theatre (and online), Geoscience Australia, Symonston ACT

REGISTER HERE

The New Caledonia Ophiolite Land-to-Sea Drilling Project (NCDP), submitted to the International Continental Scientific Program (ICDP) and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), aims at sampling the the New Caledonia peridotites and associated lithologies on-land, in coastal waters, and the deep oceanic sub-seafloor. The project builds upon the expertise and results acquired thanks to the ICDP Oman Drilling Project (2017-2018; Semail Ophiolite). NCDP will allow (1) investigating the geodynamic, magmatic and hydrothermal processes driving, and resulting from, the formation and emplacement of the ophiolite and the possible interplays between obduction and climate over geological times in the still poorly known SW Pacific, and (2) developing borehole observatories to measure, in subaerial and marine settings, the hydrogeological and (bio-)geochemical processes that control, and are influenced by, low temperature serpentinization and H₂-rich/CO₂-capturing peridotite-hosted hydrothermal systems. NCDP will provide a unique dataset to address critical questions on the coupling between serpentinization, hydrogen production, carbon mineralization and metal remobilization over the different stages of obduction.

About Dr Marguerite Godard

Dr. Marguerite Godard is CNRS Senior Researcher (French National Centre for Scientific Research) at the Géosciences Montpellier laboratory (France). Her research combines petro-structural, mineral and geochemical studies of oceanic and ophiolite rock samples, mostly sampled by drilling, with experimental approaches to investigate reactive transport in mantle rocks, from magmatism to serpentinization. 
She co-authored more than 100 publications in international scientific reviews and books (ORCID 0000-0003-3097-5135). M. Godard is one of the main proponents of the Oman Drilling Project of the International Continental Drilling Programme (2017-2018).

For undergraduates with a particular interest in marine geoscience, exposure to scientific field techniques and meeting like-minded undergraduates can be sparse in initial years of study. This is why the 2022 ANZIC Marine Geoscience Masterclass was such a wonderful opportunity. 

Hosted by geoscientists from Macquarie University in Sydney, undergraduates from Australia and New Zealand experienced nine days jam-packed with field trips, field data collection, lab sessions, tours, seminars, and everything in between. Two Australian students, Emily Conn from University of Queensland (UQ) and Issi Port from University of Tasmania (UTas), reflect on their experiences and impacts on their future study.

Our first official day, held at the University of Sydney, kicked off with ANZIC Director Dr Ron Hackney introducing us to the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), its history, and how ANZIC fits into its story. He also brought core replicas from previous IODP voyages, including a 1997 transect core marking the K/Pg boundary, collected north of the Chicxulub Crater! Professor Jody Webster took us through fossil coral cores collected on the JOIDES Resolution, and Dr Maria Seton guided us through constructing our own ship-time drilling plan with GPlates. 

The next two days were hosted at the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS), and we had a blast travelling via water taxi. We also experienced valuable boat time collecting sediment, plankton, and CTD water readings in Sydney Harbour. We analysed these samples under microscopes, along with logging harbour sediment cores collected in 2019. Lab time was followed with presentations from prominent Australian marine researchers and was capped off with kayaking around the foreshore (see below).

After many enjoyable days in Sydney, we hit the road and spent four days on the South Coast of NSW, learning the stratigraphy of the Sydney Basin. Day trips saw students slip, slop and slap, scramble on seaside cliffs, and sidestep swells, all for science! We were taught to identify fossils, bioturbation, and sedimentary structures, to reconstruct the paleoenvironment these beds were deposited, and connect these to modern analogues. Students worked their way through lithostratigraphy in chronological order, visiting the Wasp Head Formation, Snapper Point Formation, Wandrewandian Siltstone, and other Shoalhaven Group formations (see below).

The final field day saw students visiting a Permian/Triassic (un)conformity under the Sea Cliff Bridge, Clifton (see below). These towering sedimentary cliffs gave students a larger perspective of lithologies previously visited, as well as the chance to see the Permian Illawarra Coal Measures and its boundary with overlying Triassic sedimentary sequences. 

The diversity and comradery between students provided a supportive and holistic learning atmosphere; exposure to different facets of marine geoscience challenged all students, and fostered opportunities to share knowledge and to learn from each other. Emily and Issi did not spare a moment to share anecdotes from their voyage aboard the R/VInvestigator in 2022.

Emily loved being in an environment filled with people passionate about the sea and rocks. She particularly enjoyed mock-planning a drilling expedition and deploying instruments from the boats in the harbour, as she hopes to lead a voyage in the future. Emily’s main aspiration is to study submarine volcanoes for her Honours, which can be done through marine sediment cores made of tephra. Therefore, the field days were an incredibly valuable review and development of her sedimentary skills and knowledge. 

Issi most enjoyed the field days, absorbing information from George, Stefan, Inna Kampoli and Lauren Gorojovsky on the local geology. Being born in Sydney, but now a Hobart-based geologist, Issi had never previously been exposed in-depth to the Sydney Basin stratigraphy and palaeohistory. The richest learning experience in the field for Issi was learning to visualise and interpret paleo-sedimentary depositional environments through field observations. He thinks this skill will not only prove him well in his upcoming Honours project, but also a valuable skill for future geological studies. He is also excited to bore his non-geology friends in Sydney with all he’s learned, as he walks the infamous, heavily trafficked, Bondi to Bronte walk in the morning. 

Issi and Emily had a wonderful time at the 2022 ANZIC Masterclass, and along with their undergraduate student cohort, would like to thank ANZIC IODP, Macquarie University, University of Sydney, SIMS, and all the wonderful organisers for this incredible opportunity!

Applications close 1 March 2023

INFORMATION WEBINAR: 11am Tuesday 14 February EST/ 2am Wednesday 15 February AEDT (recorded for replay) – click here to register

Background

The North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans are major players in the climatic evolution of the Northern Hemisphere and in the history of meridional overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. The establishment of modern North Atlantic water has been identified as one of the main forcing mechanisms for the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Many uncertainties remain about the establishment, evolution, and role of the northern North Atlantic-Arctic Ocean circulation in relation to the opening of the Fram Strait, and its impact on the Earth’s global climate during major climatic transitions that have occurred since the Late Miocene.

Understanding system interactions between ocean currents and the cryosphere under changing insulation and CO₂ conditions of the past is particularly important for ground truthing climate models. The reconstruction of the paleo Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet (SBSIS) is critical as it is considered the best available analogue to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, whose loss of stability is presently the major uncertainty in projecting global sea level in response to present-day global climate warming induced by rapidly increasing atmospheric CO₂ content. Reconstructing the dynamic history of the western margin of Svalbard and eastern side of the Fram Strait at the gateway to the Arctic is key to understanding the linkage between atmospheric CO₂ concentration, ocean dynamics, and cryosphere as main drivers of climate changes. 

Scientific objectives

The key scientific objectives of Expedition 403 are:

1. The development of a high-resolution chronostratigraphic record of the Late Miocene-Quaternary
2. The generation of multi-proxy data sets to better constrain the forcing mechanisms responsible for Late Miocene to Quaternary climatic transitions
3. The identification of orbital, sub-orbital, millennial scale climate variations such as Heinrich events and possible associated meltwater
4. The evaluation of impacts and feedbacks involving past sediment-laden prominent meltwater events on water masses properties, ocean circulation, ice sheet instability, slope stability, and biota
5. The reconstruction of paleo SBSIS dynamic history in relation to changes in the ocean current pathways and characteristics as mechanisms inducing ice sheet instability and fast retreat
6. The study of glacial and tectonic stresses and their effect on near-surface deformation and Earth systems dynamics, and
7. The linkages between large-scale environmental changes and microbial population variability.

These objectives will be accomplished through coring and borehole logging multiple holes at five sediment drift sites to create a composite stratigraphy.

For more information on the expedition science objectives and the JOIDES Resolution expedition schedule, see http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/. This site includes links to individual expedition web pages with the original IODP proposals and expedition planning information. 

Who should apply

We encourage applications from all qualified scientists. The JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO) is committed to a policy of broad participation and inclusion, and to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all program participants. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in many shipboard specialties, including sedimentologists, biostratigraphers (siliceous, calcareous, and organic-walled microfossils and palynomorphs), organic and inorganic geochemists, microbiologists, physical properties specialists/borehole geophysicists (including downhole measurements and stratigraphic correlation), and paleomagnetists. Good working knowledge of the English language is required.

How to apply

Applications for participation must be submitted to the appropriate IODP Program Member Office. In your application, please specify if you are interested in participating offshore-onshore or onshore-only. Please note that there is no option to participate offshore-only. 

Applications should reach the appropriate Program Member Office no later than 1 March 2023.

Proposal deadline: 17 February 2023

ANZIC invites proposals from member institutions to host the ANZIC Marine Geoscience Masterclass in 2023 and 2024.

Scope

The ANZIC Marine Geoscience Masterclass aims to introduce high achieving undergraduate students to specialist techniques and unique opportunities to prepare them for future participation in scientific ocean drilling expeditions run under the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). Hosting an ANZIC Masterclass is a great opportunity to share knowledge from and expertise in IODP. Up to 20 students are selected by member institutions to attend the annual ANZIC Masterclass.

How will ANZIC support you?

• Provide funding of up to AUD~$65k per year to host the ANZIC Masterclass
• Arrange all marketing materials, including a welcome pack, posters and a unique ANZIC Masterclass logo. 
• Assist with travel arrangements for participants and provide ongoing support.

Proposal submission

Proposal submissions should include the following:

• Host details – which institution/s are involved in the proposal, indicating the lead proponent. 
• Proposed dates and schedule for the Masterclass 
• Venue for events and accommodation
• Outline of proposed field trips, site visits and logistics
• List of Masterclass co-ordinators
• List of staff and teaching support

Budget

Developing a budget is an important task in planning and managing the ANZIC Masterclass. The budget should include income and expenditure with realistic figures. 

A budget template is provided as an attachment to this Call.  

Guidelines

Host co-ordinators will be expected adhere to the following guiding principles for the ANZIC Masterclass event:

1. ANZIC Masterclass convenors will need to be committed to providing a safe, productive environment that supports an open exchange of ideas, that provides equal opportunities for everyone to learn and thrive, and that promotes an environment that is free of bias, discrimination, and harassment. Teaching flexibility will be essential to target a varied knowledge base of experienced students. 
2. The host institution will develop a risk management plan and will include the appropriate risk actions to treat the identified risk and incident reporting measures for the event.
3. It is anticipated that the host will conduct an end of course student survey to evaluate the benefits and provide meaningful feedback. 
4. Food should be a part of your budget and we encourage the convenor to provide a variety of healthy and nutritious food: 
5. consider offering food sourced locally or using local suppliers;
6. ensure there is plenty of fruit and vegetable options available; and
7. offer a variety of cuisines to suit a range of dietary requirements and cultures.
8. Fieldtrips/site visits/workshops should be carefully planned and cover a range of educational material during which students become familiar with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), scientific drilling in general and Earth science more broadly through interactions with IODP scientists. Practical hands-on activities are encouraged and can include, but are not limited to, logging exercises, exposure to IODP cores , grab samples, examining sedimentary rocks, volcanic succession, smear slides, virtual drill ship tours and guided tours of research labs.
9. A diverse selection of speakers should be included in the ANZIC Masterclass Program. These speakers should have a track record of remarkable scientific achievements, experience on an IODP Expedition and been involved in discoveries made as part of IODP. The purpose of this program is to engage students, enhance knowledge and to raise the profile of IODP and marine geoscience more broadly.
10. Accommodation for the ANZIC Masterclass can consist of multi-shared arrangements. The space must be comfortable and have the required amenities and facilities for interactive group discussions. 
11. Travel arrangements – all domestic/international flight arrangements are to be arranged either by ANZIC or by the convenor. All flights should be economy class and be directly to and from the location of origin. If any variations of travel are requested, a calculation of the direct route would be determined and the quoted funds would be made available to the participant to complete their own booking. Travel insurance is the responsibility of the participant. 
12. The duration of the ANZIC Masterclass should be a minimum of five full days and it should be scheduled at a time that would allow involvement from all ANZIC member institutions. 
13. It would be expected that the invitation to participate in this event is extended to our International IODP partners, in particular to ECORD who provide ANZIC access to their training courses.

Terms & Conditions

The successful host will be required to sign an agreement with Australian National University/ANZIC IODP that formalises terms and conditions associated with funding the ANZIC Masterclass.  

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: click here to register

Registration is now open for ANZIC’s Future D.E.E.P. regional planning workshop, taking place in Hobart from 3-4 April 2023. The Future DEEP workshop will provide an important channel for the development of innovative drilling proposals concerning diverse scientific topics for submission to scientific ocean drilling programs (for post-IODP drilling) and ICDP. The free two-day hybrid event is open to all.

The workshop will be introduced with a plenary session of international invited speakers outlining the broad science plans of the scientific drilling programs (post-IODP platform providers, ICDP) and capabilities (including site surveys and other national drilling and digital infrastructure), as well as lightning talks reviewing key themes and ideas in the regional context during breakout sessions. A field trip and networking event are also available to in-person attendees. 

Stay tuned for more details on this much-anticipated opportunity to explore the next phase of scientific drilling and trigger new proposals for implementation in our region and beyond. The ANZIC Office is currently accepting short email Expressions of Interest (EOI) for focused themes for breakout sessions, with submissions open until 15 March 2023.

Find out more here: Future D.E.E.P Workshop

The Hellenic arc – comprising the Santorini, Christiana, and Kolumbo volcanic centres in Greece’s Aegean Sea – is one of Europe’s most active volcanic centres. It is also particularly hazardous, producing many highly explosive eruptions with catastrophic impacts throughout Earth’s history.

IODP Expedition 398: Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field, onboard the JOIDES Resolution from 11 December 2022 until 10 February 2023, will drill deep into the sediments around these volcanoes and inside Santorini caldera to provide a rich record of volcanic activity extending back around three million years. Growing our understanding of island arc volcanism is crucial work, with roughly 800 million people across the globe threatened by volcanic eruptions. 

University of Tasmania PhD candidate Acacia Clark will represent ANZIC in the Onboard Science Party for the expedition, while Victoria University of Wellington Post Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Jenni Hopkins will join the Onshore Science Party. We spoke with Acacia as she prepared to fly out ahead of boarding.

Q&A with Acacia Clark, University of Tasmania

Tell us a little about your career and research to date.

I’m about 18 months into my PhD at UTas, where I’m investigating explosive silicic eruptions. I’ve divided my PhD into two parts; the first is focused on Mount Tarawera in the North Island of New Zealand, looking at the 1315 CE Kaharoa eruption which fluctuated in intensity over short time periods. This is unusually unsteady behaviour that isn’t well understood. I’m looking at what influenced that unsteadiness, and because it was quite a hazardous eruption. If something similar was to happen again, it would be devastating for New Zealand and probably also for Australia so it’s really important to understand as much as possible about this eruption. 

The second part is focused on the Hellenic arc in the Mediterranean, and that’s where the expedition comes into play. Silicic eruptions also occur underwater, but we don’t know much about silicic submarine eruptions – they’re hard to get to given they’re under a lot of water so we don’t have much data. On Expedition 398, we’ll be able to drill into the sediments that are surrounding these underwater volcanoes to gain high-resolution data from these eruptions and help us understand how these submarine eruptions can be quite different to those on land.

What is your specific role on the expedition?

My role is as a core describer, so I’ll be looking in high detail at the cores once they come onboard and describing and logging what I see. This includes looking at the different materials that the core is made up of, such as volcanic ash, pebble-sized volcanic products known as lapilli, or marine sediments. I was lucky enough to sail as a core describer on an expedition earlier this year on RV Investigator where we also drilled for sediments containing volcanic tephra, so I have some experience going in.

What are the key questions that Expedition 398 seeks to answer through the sediments that you’ll be examining?

Volcanic eruptions, particularly highly explosive ones, are very hazardous and life threatening. They produce huge ash plumes, very hot ground-hugging ash and rock flows, and even earthquakes and tsunamis. To understand how these hazards are linked to volcanic activity, we have to look at what’s driving that volcanism and how these volcanoes interact with their surroundings, whether these are terrestrial or marine environments. During the expedition, we’re going to explore questions around the links between the crustal tectonics, volcanic activity and magma genesis, the dynamics and impacts of explosive submarine volcanic and caldera forming activity, and how calderas collapse during explosive eruptions and recover to enter new magmatic cycles. We’ll also be touching on how the marine ecosystem reacts to volcanic eruptions, because that hasn’t really been explored in detail.

Why is the Hellenic volcanic arc system an ideal location to seek those answers?

It’s actually a really great place to try and answer these questions, because it consists of three large volcanic centres – Christiana, Santorini, and Colombo – along with several submarine volcanoes. Volcanoes in this region have erupted quite explosively in the past, and the deposits on land have been extensively studied but the majority of the erupted deposits lie on the sea floor within rift basins and the Santorini caldera itself. These deposits are hundreds of meters thick so hold a really great record of the volcanic history of the area. By drilling to sample these deposits we’ll be able to fill gaps in the onshore records, but we’ll also access much older deposits than those preserved on land. This will give us an extensive record of the past history that goes much further back than what we’ve already learned from the land deposits. 

What’s the significance of filling that gap in our knowledge, including in our region?

One important reason is that submarine volcanic activity can generate tsunamis and also earthquakes – which can also trigger a tsunami separately. Anyone who lives near the ocean probably wants to know how that might occur or when that might occur, including here in Australia. The Kermadec arc, which contains several active volcanoes, extends from the top of the North Island of New Zealand up to Tonga; there was a massive eruption earlier this year that produced a devastating tsunami for Tonga. It’s important for us to understand submarine volcanic activity and island arc volcanism because it can generate tsunami events, and they can have huge impacts.

What are you hoping to find in the sediments, and what will that bring to your research moving forward?

One of my key aims is to learn more about submarine volcanic processes. Hydrostatic pressure and water does influence a volcanic eruption and it changes the depth at which magma begins to degas and fragment and quench; that’s different to what we see on land. The majority of Earth’s volcanism happens under the ocean surface, so it’s vital for us to know how volcanic activity is influenced by this environment. I’ll also be looking at different ways we can distinguish primary eruption-fed deposits – those emplaced directly by a volcanic event – from those that have been transported from another location and resedimented; it’s not always easy to tell when looking at a core. Without knowing which deposit has come from which type of event we get a mixed or misleading view.

As a PhD candidate early in your research career, what does being part of an IODP expedition mean to you?

It’s a pretty amazing opportunity; I feel very lucky. Who wouldn’t want to go on a ship and experience cutting edge research as it’s happening? I’ll also get to meet and work with some of the best scientists in the world in these fields. As a young scientist, I’m looking forward to learning from everyone on board and collaborating with them, and making great connections that will continue into the future.

As you’re preparing to board, how are you feeling about life at sea for the next two months? What are you most looking forward to?

I’m quite excited to be heading off to sea. I have some idea of what to expect from my previous research voyage, and what excited me most there was when we would bring up the core and open it to see what was inside. It’s strange feeling to think that you’re looking at sediments that have been sitting on the ocean floor for years and years, and we’re the first people to look at them. You don’t know what you’ll find and there’s a story in every core, so I’m really looking forward to that. But I have to admit I’m also really looking forward to the food; I’m not a great cook but I love eating, so it’s just luxury having people make food for you every day!

When it comes to characterising Earth’s complex and multiscale seismic behaviour and its impacts, short historical records – and even shorter instrumental records – don’t offer the long-range perspective needed to understand the drivers behind recurring high-magnitude earthquakes. 

“At the moment in Australia we’re working on around a 50-year record, and there’s so much we still don’t understand about how earthquake systems work,” explains University of Western Australia’s Professor Myra Keep, whose research focuses on structural geology and tectonics.

Professor Keep is onboard the JAMSTEC-operated scientific drilling vessel Chikyu for the Personal Sampling Party (PSP) linked to International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 386: Japan Trench Paleoseismology, for which she is team leader for hydroacoustics.

“We’re looking for evidence of previous mega earthquakes – the huge magnitude nines – in the sediment cores and in the hydroacoustic data images and bathymetry. We’ve got some very fine control on where we are in terms of depth and what’s under the surface, and it’s going to tell us a lot more about how these systems work.”

Expedition 386 aims to fill the gap in long-term records of giant earthquakes by examining prehistoric events to construct a long-term history, delivering crucial observational data to reduce epistemic uncertainties in seismic hazard assessment in the region and beyond. According to Professor Keep, the Japan Trench is an ideal location for this work.

“It’s on a plate boundary in a highly seismically active zone, and the density of population in this region means earthquakes can have an even more devastating impact,” she explains.

“The Japan Trench is among the world’s deepest hadal trenches and is part of a complex plate boundary system where two subduction zones meet. If we can establish how frequently these earthquakes are happening and where the sediments are coming from, we can tell which sections of the plate boundary are failing, and that will give us much higher resolution data.”

It’s been an unusual expedition, and not just because it is the first Mission Specific Platform (MSP) collaboration between ECORD and JAMSTEC. Professor Keep was due to sail onboard the JAMSTEC-operated RV Kaimei in early 2020, but COVID-19 hit and Expedition 386 was delayed. It eventually went ahead in April 2021, with only a small Japanese skeleton crew onboard to collect the samples while the rest of the Science Party waited for news online.

Despite these hurdles, the mission achieved its objective of sampling 15 sites across the Japan Trench, using giant piston coring to recover 831 metres of continuous upper Pleistocene to Holocene stratigraphic successions. It also delivered two new depth records in scientific ocean drilling and coring: the deepest water site ever drilled and cored at the water depth of 8023 metres, and the deepest sub-sea level sample, recovered from 8060.74 metres below sea level. 

“The capacity to take such deep samples opens up possibilities for our comprehension of the planet that have never existed before, and that’s very exciting to be part of.”

The Onshore Science Party from February to March 2022 also charted new territory as the first to take place entirely online.

“The cores were transported to Chikyu in port, and a small crew of Japanese scientists were onboard splitting and logging all the core while the rest of us were online across different time zones. There were daily midnight meetings with everyone trying to look at the samples on the screen; it was tough.”

Though the pandemic continues to wreak havoc – and Japan only recently reopened to the world – Professor Keep is delighted that the PSP is now taking place onboard Chikyu in Shimizu Port, where scientists will take 18,300 samples from the cores. She says nothing replaces the opportunity to examine the sediments in real life.

“You can make all sorts of interpretations on screen or from remotely sensed data, but there’s no substitute for getting your hands on the rock: seeing it, feeling it, and then trying to put it together in context,” she says. 

“Interacting with the cores will enable me to better link the sediments to the horizons I can see in the imagery. It’s also very inspiring working alongside a brilliant international team across different fields and learning from each other; there are some really interesting ideas coming out of our discussions.”

What scientists hope to discover through Expedition 386 has direct relevance for offshore paleoseismology in Australia, and to Professor Keep’s own research into tectonics, fault reactivation and neotectonics along Australia’s North West Shelf.

“I’ve spent the last two decades looking at remotely imaged hydroacoustic and seismic data and documenting landslides in the region. Despite Australia supposedly not being particularly seismically active, and Western Australia in particular being a long way from a plate boundary, we’ve found a lot of unexpected activity,” she says.

“We have evidence of earthquakes young and old, and without those obvious plate tectonic drivers it’s difficult to explain them and understand how frequently they occur and where the stress is coming from. By looking at these sediments from an area where we know earthquakes are controlling them, we can compare this to our own data and see if there are any common characteristics.”

Professor Keep says continued international scientific ocean drilling collaboration is vital as we navigate a changing climate, growing urban populations and more frequent natural disasters with bigger impacts.

“Oceans make up 79 per cent of our planet, yet we know less about the deep ocean trenches than we do about Mars or Venus. We’re going to be looking increasingly to the oceans as our biggest unexplored resource; the more we know, the better we can understand the potential from a food security, health, and risk management perspective.”

Follow ANZIC on Twitter (@anzic_iodp) and Facebook (@ANZICIODP) for the latest news and discoveries from Expedition 386.