Discovering our oceans: A new era of ocean research drilling has dawned
Thursday, October 10, 2013 - 06:00
in Earth & Climate
During the past decades the findings of scientific ocean drilling expeditions have fundamentally changed the way we look at our blue planet. Today we have a much better grasp of how processes like earthquakes and tsunamis develop; ocean drilling made it possible to prove the theory of plate tectonics and we know a lot more about climate change and the limits of life deep below the seafloor. However, many issues remain to be solved. Hence the launch, on October 1st, of a new era of ocean research drilling: over the next decade, the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) will focus on scientific challenges that are of immediate interest to society.