Going to the Sea Floor and Below

1. Going to the Sea Floor and Below Michael J. PassowEarth2Class Workshops for TeachersOriginally presented 17 Oct 2009

2. After a long refit, the “JOIDES Resolution” drilling ship has returned to sea to continue its already- impressive history of making new discoveries! http://joidesresolution.org/ http://www.iodp.org/riserless-vessel/4/

3. The JR is now involved in exciting research across hemispheres • Pacific Equatorial Age TransectExp. 320-321 fact sheet320 March 5—May 5, 2009      • Pacific Equatorial Age Transect / Juan de Fuca321May 5—July 5, 2009 (incl. “School of Rock 2009”)    • Bering SeaExp. 323 fact sheet323 July 5—Sept. 4, 2009      • Shatsky RiseExp. 324 fact sheet324 Sept. 4—Nov. 4, 2009     • Canterbury BasinExp. 317 fact sheet317 Nov. 4, 2009—Jan. 4, 2010     • Wilkes LandExp. 318 fact sheet318 Jan. 4—March 9, 2010

4. In today’s E2C Workshop, Dr. Trevor Williams will provide an update about living and working on this unique research vessel, based on his latest shipboard experiences during The Pacific Equatorial Age Transect (Expedition 320) in March – May 2009.But everyone can now learn more about what happens on the JR through the new website: http://joidesresolution.org/

5. The first ocean drilling research vessel was the “Glomar Challenger.” deep-sea drilling ship.T http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/glomar.html

6. Lamont and Ocean Drilling • Lamont scientists have been highly involved in ocean drilling from its beginning in the 1960s. LDEO was part of the DSDP, the first step toward today’s multi-national program. • More about the DSDP and the R/V “Glomar Challenger” is available at http://www.iodp.tamu.edu/publicinfo/glomar_challenger.html

7. Confirmation of the Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis • Almost as soon as the “Glomar Challenger” began its scientific drilling efforts, spectacular results were obtained! • During DSDP Leg 3 (1967), a series of cores confirmed that the age of the ocean floor varied, becoming progressive older on opposite sides of the mid-ocean ridgehttp://www.oceanleadership.org/classroom/plate_tectonics_nannofossils

8. ODP: Ocean Drilling Project1983 - 2003 • DSDP expanded and evolved into the ODP • The JR replaced the “Glomar Challenger”, reflected the new JOIDES and the historic “HMS Resolution” of Captain James Cook • More about the ODP phase can be found at http://www-odp.tamu.edu/index.html

9. The JR replaced the “Glomar Challenger” and expanded exploration capabilities • http://www-odp.tamu.edu/resolutn.html Workshop.

10. IODP: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program2004 -- present • International marine research program that explores the Earth's history and structure as recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks, and monitors subsea floor environments. • Builds upon earlier successes of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), which revolutionized our view of Earth history and global processes through ocean basin exploration. • Greatly expands the reach of these previous programs by using multiple drilling platforms, including riser, riserless, and mission-specific, to achieve its scientific goals.

11. Riser, Riserless, and Mission-Specific Vessels Riser vessel: Chikyu Mission-Specific Platforms http://www.iodp.org/mission-specific-platforms/ http://www.iodp.org/riser-vessel/

12. E2C and Ocean Drilling • Dr. Geraldo Iturrino has presented many E2C Workshops about the excitement and achievements gained through ocean drilling, and is part of the “E2C Team” Gerry is aboard the JR as we sit here • Other Borehole Research Group scientists have joined us over the years to share what they have helped discover at sea and on land • Trevor has described his work with ANDRILL, the Antarctic DRILLing project • Recently, Trevor Williams provided “Popular Mechanics Online” reports from the JR

13. JR and K – 12 Education • Teacher-at-Sea programs Classroom teachers have served aboard several expeditions, beginning with Jonathan Rice in Expedition 301. E2C sponsored a ship-to-shore teleconference with Jonathan and Gerry during his trip.

14. IODP’s School of Rock • During a transit cruise in 2005, about a dozen teachers joined Leslie Peart, now the Consortium for Ocean Leadership Education Director, for the first SOR • With the JR in drydock for its refitting in 2007, the second SOR showed teachers (including me) what scientists can learn as they study the cores now stored at the Gulf Coast Repository at Texas A & M in College Station.

15. School of Rock 2008 • School of Rock 2008 also utilized the cores in the GCR to focus on climate change

16. Deep Earth Academy School of Rock 2009 In late June-Early July during the transit between San Diego CA and Victoria BC, a selected group of teachers participated in this year’s “School of Rock” aboard the JR.

17. Other Deep Earth Academy Education Resources Over the past few years, cooperation among the Deep earth Academy staff, SOR teachers, IODP scientists, and JR staff members have produced a vast collection of educational resources for all grades. These are available through the Teach It! links. (Note: Some are currently off-line for updating.)

18. School of Rock 2010? • I haven’t heard yet if there will be a SOR in 2010—it depends on the ship’s schedule, the research programs, and available funding • But if it happens, E2C will be among the first to know and will disseminate the announcement • So maybe someday, you’ll be a School of Rocker aboard the JR, perhaps with Trevor!

19. What else could the future bring? • Maybe at some point in the future we will be able to fulfill a dream hatched over lunch in the Lamont cafeteria more than six years ago to take a group of E2C teachers aboard LDEO’s research ship, the “Marcus G. Langseth,” during a transit cruise. Or maybe you’ll have “teacher-at-sea” opportunities during research cruises? Who knows? • In the meantime, we’ll always have kayaks!