INTEGRATED OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM

Deep-sea Drilling Vessel "CHIKYU" Deep-sea Drilling Vessel "CHIKYU"

Deep-sea Drilling Vessel ""

The 'Integrated Ocean Drilling Program' ('IODP') is an international research program whose goal is to explore the structure of the Earth as recorded in oceanic sediments and rocks. It follows on the work previously performed by the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP).
The new program is slated to resume drilling operations in 2006 for the first time using two ships. The first
is a vessel built from scratch for the IODP by the Japanese Ministry of Economics Trade and Industry (METI, formerly MITI) called Chikyuu ("Earth"), though informally known as Godzilla Maru. She is the largest scientific research vessel
ever built, and uses a riser drilling technology to drill more effectively in deep water. The second vessel in the IODP as yet bears only the name SODV and is being constructed by an American consortium through a complete refit of the former JOIDES Resolution.
The "third leg" of the IODP family is represented by the European initiative ECORD to rent mission-specific platforms to carry out specific one-off drilling missions that are out of reach of the other two ships. These include drilling in very shallow water, or in the ice-covered seas.
On April 6, 2005, the IODP announced that it had drilled into the lower section of the Earth's crust for the first time.
Participating organizations include: ODP Management International, Inc., Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Texas A&M University, and Texas A&M Research Foundation.

Contents

References

External links

References

# IOPD news release of 2005/04/06

External links

★ Integrated Ocean Drilling Program official website

★ Learn more about IODP and the U.S. involvement

★ An educational view of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

★ JOI Learning - Education resources and programs associated with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program