From the IODP 2050 Science Framework.
Ground Truthing Future Climate Change
By collecting the robust data required for reconstructing global climate evolution over extended geologic time periods, scientific ocean drilling will provide information that is critical for improving climate model performance.
Probing the Deep Earth
By penetrating deep within oceanic crust, scientific ocean drilling will lead to a better understanding of Earth’s formation and evolution and the connections between tectonics, earthquake and volcanic hazards, climate, and our planet’s habitability.
Assessing Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards
By acquiring samples and deploying instruments in offshore and nearshore fault zones, scientific ocean drilling will enable more reliable assessments of the risks posed by major earthquakes and tsunamis and will facilitate improved hazard preparedness and response.
Diagnosing Ocean Health
By retrieving sedimentary records that preserve key information about past responses of biological activity to natural cycles and catastrophic events, scientific ocean drilling will enable a more informed assessment of the expected rates, duration, and magnitudes of future ocean health deterioration.
Exploring Life and Its Origins
Scientific ocean drilling and monitoring in borehole observatories will advance research into the distribution and limits of deep microbial life, novel microbes and their biotechnological applications, the emergence and evolution of life on Earth, and the possibility of life on other worlds.