Proceedings of the ocean drilling program / Материалы программы океанского бурения

The scientists of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) have embarked on what could prove to be one of the most important earth science initiatives of the decade—an initiative rivaling in scope and impact the exploration of the frontiers of outer space. The program explores our planet’s last frontier—the Earth’s structure and history as it is revealed beneath the oceans. The scope of the program’s scientific goals excites the imagination, challenges the intellect, and enhances the spirit of cooperation among peoples in countries around the world.
Between 1872 and 1876, HMS Challenger undertook the world’s first major oceanographic expedition. That expedition greatly expanded man’s knowledge of the world’s oceans and revolutionized our ideas about planet Earth. From 1968 to 1983, another ship named Challenger logged more than 375,000 miles on 96 voyages across every ocean for the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Among the project’s many remarkable discoveries were the confirmation of seafloor spreading and the establishment of the relative youth of the seafloor, thus verifying the dynamic and changing nature of the Earth’s crust.
Today, the Ocean Drilling Program, which began in 1983, brings new resources to bear on scientific ocean drilling. A new drillship is in operation—the JOIDES Resolution—one of the world’s most modem and best equipped drillships with enhanced capability for drilling and coring in polar areas and rough weather, expanded laboratory space, facilities for more scientists, and a major drill-hole logging program. The name of the ship was derived from the international scientific partnership that directs the program—the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES)—and from the flagship of Captain Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific Ocean in the late 18th century. Texas A&M University is responsible for science operations in the program, and Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory is responsible for the logging program.
The Ocean Drilling Program truly has international participation. In 1975, the International Phase of Ocean Drilling-began with member nations—the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and France—all providing funds and scientific guidance for the project. Today, ODP partners include the U.S.A., the Canada/Australia Consortium for the Ocean Drilling Program, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Science Foundation, which represents Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. The National Science Foundation, with funds contributed by the United States and international partners, supports the scientific operations and planning for the ODP through a contract with Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. (JOI).
The information gained by the program leads to a better understanding of the Earth and its dynamic processes. Drilled sediment cores and logs reveal clues to past climatic history and tie into parallel studies of paleoclimates from glacial ice cores drilled on the continents. Understanding these sediment cores will enable scientists to complete the map of major geologically active regions of the Earth, and to identify processes that lead to dynamic change such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain and continental growth. We are far from being able to predict such changes accurately now; but with the new tools and understanding, the accuracy of such predictions can be improved. This better understanding of the Earth’s system(s) will allow us to identify regions of potential mineral and energy resource development, an issue of worldwide human interest. The Ocean Drilling Program is not in itself aimed at finding resources, but the knowledge of the Earth’s processes that is gained through such a basic research program will inevitably provide pieces of information required for such resource discovery and exploitation.
The program is fully under way in its aim to further the understanding of the Earth’s dynamic systems. People of our planet will benefit directly and indirectly from this research in both their daily living and work activities. This multinational endeavor will perhaps foster other cooperative efforts in science or among societies. The Ocean Drilling Program has distinguished ancestors in the original Resolution and Challenger expeditions and the Deep Sea Drilling Project. The National Science Foundation is proud to be playing a leading role in this program, and we are looking forward to significant and innovative science for many years to come.