Ocean Drilling Consortium (ECORD), third pillar in global Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
In the late 60s of the last century the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP, 1968-1983) validated the theory of plate tectonics, began to develop a high-resolution chronology associated with study of ocean circulation changes, and carried out preliminary exploration of all of the major ocean basins except the high Arctic. The following Ocean Drilling Program (ODP, 1985-2003), capitalizing on DSDP’s momentum, probed deeper into the oceanic crust to study its architecture, analyzed convergent margin tectonics and associated fluid flow and examined the genesis and evolution of oceanic plateaus and volcanic continental margins. ODP has also greatly extended our knowledge of long- and short-term climate change. This new, integrated Earth view is fundamental to the vision of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), which started in 2003. One of its objectives is to better understand, among other things: the nature of the earthquake-generating zone beneath convergent continental margins, the nature of the complex microbial ecosystem that inhabits Earth’s sub-seafloor and gas hydrates, and the tremendous frozen carbon reservoir that lies beneath continental margins. Other primary IODP goals and initiatives include a more complete understanding of past climate extremes and rapid climate changes as potential indicators of the sensitivity of Earth’s climate system to anthropogenic inputs; examination of the role of continental break-up in sedimentary basin formation as one key to future resource exploration and the formation and evolution of volcanic margins and plateaus as an example of Earth’s non-steady-state behaviour through time. The successful history of ocean drilling was secured through the availability of drill ships operated by the US, successively the Glomar Challenger during DSDP and the JOIDES Resolution during ODP. In IODP, the US continue to provide access to the JOIDES Resolution. After a first phase of drilling (2003-2005), she is presently being refitted and will offer enhanced capacities later this year. However, the challenging scientific objectives of IODP required a new era of marine research platforms, offering new drilling capacities and by that opening new areas of research. To be up to these challenges Japan has built a new ship with state-of-the art drilling technology, advanced security features and cutting-edge research facilities. The Chikyu will be available to the science community in fall 2007, and will allow to drill down to six to seven kilometres, in unstable formations, allowing a major step forward in oceanic scientific drilling. In parallel, a number of European countries decided that it was crucial to play a more visible role in the IODP. In the past the Europeans have contributed to international deep-sea drilling through individual grants, provided through national funding bodies. The European contribution was composed of membership fees from France, Germany, United Kingdom and smaller contributions by a group of other countries, which secured a number of berths on the drill ship. The combination of the diversified structure of European interests added to the fact, that Europe did not provide technical means for ocean drilling, resulted in limited impact on shaping the program. The reorganisation of the international drilling program during the transfer from ODP to IODP opened the window to unify European interests, which in 2003 resulted in the launching of ECORD, the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling. Since then, ECORD has evolved into the third pillar of the international IODP program. A number of scientific questions are explicitly addressed by the mission specific platform (MSP) approach of ECORD, which is considered a fundamental and essential part of IODP. Different MSPs attempt to drill sites, which the US or Japanese ships cannot target for technological reasons like ice-covered and shallow water areas. Platforms are contracted on a case by case basis to fit the specific technological requirements of a particular project. This unique approach provides new opportunities for the entire ocean scientific community and gives additional potential for a fruitful cooperation with the International Continental Drilling Programme (ICDP). Neither the USA nor Japan would be able to provide comparable facilities due to budgetary constraints. In the last two years two MSPs (ECORD) expeditions have delivered the bulk of high-profile scientific output within IODP by drilling successively the seafloor of the Arctic ocean (expedition IODP 302) and the drowned coral reef of Tahiti (expedition IODP 310). These results, together with input from ECORD scientists (proposals, participation, science), are an outstanding and extremely valued component of the international deep-sea drilling community; an outcome that is specifically recognized in an ECORD review carried out in 2006. The Deep Sea Frontier Initiative (DSF) now is a new European research initiative in which the three research communities of ocean drilling, ocean margin research and seafloor observatories will combine forces to substantially advance the knowledgebase in areas such as (geo)hazards, global climate change and the sustainable exploitation of biological and geological resources of the deep sea and its floor. This substantial achievement is a result of the work of ECORD-Net, the current ERA-Net project that supports ECORD activities. Integrated research is now being carried forward by a large group of European scientists with great enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the current achievements include aspects which need more attention in future. The ECORD review specifically describes the value of the current achievements, but it also encourages the scientists not to loose momentum through discontinuity in the current developments. The potential of the innovative MSP approach should be brought to a wider range of geoscientists (geomorphologists, geographers, glaciologists, coastal engineers, etc.), including better education of scientists as to what might be expected from an MSP cruise. Improved communication of objectives and achievements of ECORD, e.g. through the integration of European research on sea-floor observatories, and its great opportunities will enhance the impact on political and organizational level and will help to further increase efficiency in cooperation. The use of marine infrastructures and an improvement in their co-ordination in the framework of the DSF have been identified as essential. Future efforts will focus on supporting the effective use of the existing marine infrastructures. It is also of great importance that ECORD is developing a clear position on the European endeavour of strengthening its role in deep-sea drilling and polar science. This position will be embedded in a clear strategy for the mid- and long-term development of the European contribution to the international IODP program. In this regard, with the support of ECORD-Net and a continuation of ECORD into the FP7 via the DSF, the European consortium aims to develop closer co-operation with the EC through an ERA-Net plus and have a long-term goal of combined national and EU funding.
Parole chiave
Paesi
Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom