The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s climate history, structure, mantle/crust dynamics, natural hazards, and deep biosphere as described in the IODP Science Plan. IODP facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and down-hole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution, Chikyu, and Mission-Specific Platforms (MSP). Proposal deadline: October 3, 2022.

The JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO) manages and operates the scientific drillship, JOIDES Resolution, on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). IODP is an international research collaboration that coordinates seagoing expeditions to study the history of the Earth recorded in sediments and rocks beneath the ocean floor. Qualifications: Ph.D. in geosciences or related field; Demonstrated on-going research experience is required; Experience as a seagoing scientist, especially in scientific ocean drilling, is preferred. Skills: Serve as the Expedition Project Manager to coordinate all aspects of pre-cruise expedition planning, sea-going implementation, and post-cruise activities; Provide scientific expertise and leadership to the improvement of shipboard science activities and laboratory developments; Duties include sailing as the IODP scientific representative on a two-month IODP expedition approximately once every 1 to 2 years. Closing date May 25, 2022.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and down-hole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution, Chikyu, and Mission-Specific Platforms (MSP). Investigators are reminded that the interval from the first proposal submission to expedition scheduling is on the order of 4-5 years due to the science and safety review process and required lead time for scheduling, and that adequate site characterization/site survey data are critical for success. Proponents are strongly encouraged to contact the facility’s science operator to discuss platform-specific operational and fiscal constraints before developing proposals. The IODP Proposal Manager can answer questions about eligibility to submit. Full proposal deadline: April 1, 2022.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s climate history, structure, mantle/crust dynamics, natural hazards, and deep biosphere as described in the IODP Science Plan: Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future. IODP facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and down-hole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution, Chikyu, and Mission-Specific Platforms (MSP). The deadline is October 1, 2021.

Apply to host an Ocean Discovery Lecturer for the 2021-2022 academic year. The Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) brings discoveries of the International Ocean Discovery Program to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. The 2021-2022 lecturer topics range from climate history, ocean circulation, ice sheet dynamics, marine magnetics to geomicrobiology and more; including C-DEBIer Karen Lloyd (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) on “The mysterious deep subsurface biosphere: What sustains one of the largest, slowest ecosystems on Earth?”.  Application deadline: May 15, 2021.

The ​JOIDES Resolution​ Facility Board (JRFB) is issuing a request for information (RFI) to understand the international scientific community’s intent to propose to the ​2050 Science Framework​. Responses to the RFI will be considered by the JRFB in consultation with the other Facility Boards, funding agencies, and the IODP Forum, and they will inform planning on a potential future drilling program. Submissions to the RFI require completing an online form in the Proposal Database System (PDB) that asks about science goals that would be addressed by your future proposal, the region that would be studied, and some additional planning information. You may submit more than one response. Submit by June 10, 2021 for consideration by the JRFB.

The U.S. Science Support Program sponsors workshops to promote the development of new ideas related to the study of the Earth’s processes and history via scientific ocean drilling. The primary goal is to identify promising new scientific objectives and research opportunities. The workshop program encourages wide scientific community involvement to bring a broader and multidisciplinary approach to standing hypotheses and to explore new directions for IODP research and communication. Workshop topics should be related to objectives outlined in the IODP Science Plan, Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future. Workshops may focus on a specific scientific theme or topic, or they may focus on a geographic region, integrating multiple topics. Regionally-focused workshops offer opportunities to develop drilling proposals for future target areas based on projected ship tracks, or to synthesize scientific results from past expeditions. Workshop proposals must be submitted by researchers affiliated with a U.S. institution. Funding may be requested for U.S.-based workshops or to support U.S. participants at large, international workshops. Proposals are accepted biannually and evaluated competitively by an independent review panel. The next proposal deadline is December 1, 2020.

It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the release of the completed 2050 Science Framework, entitled Exploring Earth By Scientific Ocean Drilling. Thanks to your scientific input and active participation in the review process, the 2050 Science Framework is now finished, endorsed by the IODP Forum, and available for download. On this website you can download three beautifully designed documents, prepared by the international IODP science community: the full 124-page 2050 Science Framework, a short 12-page summary, and a two-page pamphlet. The full-length framework document will guide scientists on the important research frontiers that scientific ocean drilling should pursue and often that only can be achieved through scientific ocean drilling. The framework focuses on the many ways in which scientific ocean drilling will increase our understanding of the fundamental connections among Earth system components while addressing a range of natural and human-caused environmental challenges facing society. The shorter summary and pamphlet versions are intended for a much wider, more general audience, to help us explain the societal importance and value of advancing these scientific frontiers through scientific ocean drilling.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) are now accepting applications for scientific participants from U.S. institutions to join Expedition 396 Mid-Norwegian Continental Margin Magmatism, scheduled for 6 August to 6 October 2021 aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Expedition 396 is a scientific ocean drilling project that seeks to understand the nature, cause and climate implications of excess magmatism during the northeast Atlantic continental breakup. The expedition will take place from 6 August to 6 October 2021. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in most shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, volcanologists, petrologists, igneous geochemists, inorganic and organic geochemists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, physical properties specialists, and borehole geophysicists. Good working knowledge of the English language is required. The deadline to apply has been extended to October 19, 2020.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s climate history, structure, mantle/crust dynamics, natural hazards, and deep biosphere as described in the IODP Science Plan Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future. IODP facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and downhole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution (JR), Chikyu, and Mission Specific Platforms (MSP). The number of proposals, at all stages of development, currently in the system for the JOIDES Resolution provide many high-quality options for scheduling the ship through the end of the current program and into 2024; therefore, we are not requesting new pre-proposals or full proposals. We will accept revisions to pre-proposals and full proposals already in the system, new Ancillary Project Letters (APLs), new Land-2-Sea proposals, and submission of proposals that were deactivated in 2020 with an encouragement to revise and re-submit. Deadline: April 1, 2021.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants with expertise in geochemistry or microbiology, to join the offshore phase and the onshore science party for Expedition 386 Japan Trench Paleoseismology. Expedition 386 will take place aboard a Mission-Specific Platform (MSP) organized by the ECORD Science Operator (ESO) and jointly implemented with the Institute for Marine-Earth Exploration and Engineering (MarE3) within the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). The deadline to apply is September 25, 2020.

The new issue of Scientific Drilling, a multidisciplinary ICDP-IODP program journal delivering peer-reviewed science reports from recently completed and ongoing international scientific drilling projects, is now available online. Deep biosphere-related articles include Microbial diversity of drilling fluids from 3000 m deep Koyna pilot borehole provides insights into the deep biosphere of continental earth crust (Bose et al.) and New Chikyu Shallow Core Program (SCORE): exploring mass transport deposits and the subseafloor biosphere off Cape Erimo, northern Japan (Kubo et al.).

Authors: Rosalind M. Coggon, Jason B. Sylvan, Trevor Williams, Gail L. Christeson, Damon A.H. Teagle, Carlos A. Alvarez Zarikian

The South Atlantic Transect (SAT) is a multidisciplinary scientific ocean drilling project that comprises two International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expeditions (390, October–December 2020, and 393, April–June 2021). These expeditions will recover complete sedimentary sections and the upper ~250 m of the underlying oceanic crust along a slow/intermediate spreading rate Mid-Atlantic Ridge crustal flow line at ~31°S. The sediments along this transect were originally spot cored more than 50 y ago during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 3 to help verify the theories of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. Given dramatic advances in drilling technology and analytical capabilities since Leg 3, many high-priority scientific objectives can be addressed by revisiting the transect. The SAT expeditions will target six primary sites on 7, 15, 31, 49, and 61 Ma ocean crust, which will fill critical gaps in our sampling of intact in situ ocean crust with regards to crustal age, spreading rate, and sediment thickness. These sections are required to investigate the history of the low-temperature hydrothermal interactions between the aging ocean crust and the evolving South Atlantic Ocean and quantify past hydrothermal contributions to global geochemical cycles. The transect traverses the previously unexplored sediment- and basalt-hosted deep biosphere beneath the South Atlantic Gyre from which samples are essential to refine global biomass estimates and investigate microbial ecosystems’ responses to variable conditions in a low-energy gyre and aging ocean crust. The drilling operations will include installation of reentry cones and casing to establish legacy boreholes for future basement hydrothermal and microbiological experiments. The transect is also located near World Ocean Circulation Experiment Line A10, providing access to records of carbonate chemistry and deepwater mass properties across the western South Atlantic through key Cenozoic intervals of elevated atmospheric CO₂ and rapid climate change. Reconstruction of the history of the deep western boundary current and deepwater formation in the Atlantic basins will yield crucial data to test hypotheses regarding the role of evolving thermohaline circulation patterns in climate change and the effects of tectonic gateways and climate on ocean acidification.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 395 Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Reykjanes Mantle Convection Expedition 395 will investigate mantle upwelling beneath Iceland, which supports the regional bathymetry and has led to changes in the height of oceanic gateways that control the strength of deep-water flow over geologic timescales. This drilling program contains three objectives: (1) to test contrasting hypotheses for the formation of V-shaped ridges that are the result of interaction between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Iceland plume; (2) to understand temporal changes in ocean circulation and explore connections with plume activity; and (3) to reconstruct the evolving chemistry of hydrothermal fluids with increasing crustal age, varying sediment thickness, and crustal architecture. Expedition 395 is based on IODP Proposal 892-Full2 (Mantle Dynamics, Paleoceanography and Climate Evolution in the North Atlantic Ocean) and will target the sediments and 130 m of igneous basement along with downhole logging at five sites east of Reykjanes Ridge. Four sites intersect V-shaped ridges/troughs pairs, one of which coincides with Bjorn Drift. The fifth site is located over 32.4 Ma oceanic crust devoid of V-shaped features, chosen to intersect Oligocene-Miocene sediments of Gardar Drift. Millennial-scale paleoclimate records are contained within rapidly accumulated sediments of contourite drifts in this region. The accumulation rate of the sediments is a proxy for current strength, and the sediments also provide constraints for climatic events including Pliocene warmth, the onset of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, and abrupt Late Pleistocene climate change. Major, trace and isotope geochemistry of basalts will allow us to observe spatial and temporal variations in mantle melting processes. This combined approach will explore relationships between deep Earth processes, ocean circulation, and climate. The expedition will take place from 26 June to 26 August 2020. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, petrologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, igneous geochemists, inorganic and organic geochemists. The deadline to apply is March 30, 2020.

Authors: Masako Tominaga, Beth N. Orcutt, Peter Blum, and the Expedition 385T Scientists

Abstract: International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 385T aimed to take advantage of a transit of the R/V JOIDES Resolution from Antofagasta, Chile, to San Diego, California (USA), to accomplish new sampling and data collection from legacy borehole observatories in Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Holes 504B and 896A on the southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift. In addition, the US Science Support Program organized the participation of 3 Outreach Officers to evaluate the performance of the JOIDES Resolution Outreach Officer program as well as 2 educators and 12 undergraduate students for a shipboard “JR Academy.” Our scientific objectives were to collect (1) new Formation MicroScanner logs from Hole 504B for improving lithologic interpretations of crustal architecture at this archetype deep oceanic crust hole and (2) fluid samples from both holes for evaluating the crustal deep biosphere in deep and warm oceanic crust. These operations in Holes 504B and 896A have direct relevance to Challenges 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, and 14 of the IODP 2013–2023 Science Plan. Accomplishing both of these scientific objectives required the removal of old wireline CORK observatories, including associated inflatable packers that were installed in the cased boreholes in 2001. The fluid sampling plan also included testing a new Multi-Temperature Fluid Sampler. Despite successfully removing the CORK wellhead platforms from both holes, we were unable to remove the packers stuck in casing at both locations after 48 h of milling operations in Hole 504B and 2 h of milling operations in Hole 896A, thus precluding accomplishing any of the scientific objectives of the expedition. We provide an assessment of the final state of the holes and recommendations for possible future operations.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 392 Agulhas Plateau Cretaceous Climate, aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Agulhas Plateau Cretaceous Climate Expedition 392 is a scientific ocean drilling project that seeks to understand the evolution of Earth’s climate system from the Cretaceous Supergreenhouse into the Icehouse world of the Oligocene through examination of temperature, ocean circulation, and sedimentation changes as pCO2 fluctuated from as much as 3500 parts per million by volume (ppmv) to less than 560 ppmv. The Late Cretaceous was marked by reduced meridional temperature gradients and oceanic sedimentation was punctuated by episodic deposition of organic-rich sediment known as Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs); however, whether these events resulted from enhanced productivity or sluggish circulation remains unclear. This expedition also seeks to understand the nature and formation of the Agulhas Plateau as a Large Igneous Province (LIP) following the breakup of Gondwana and its impact on the timing of oceanic gateway opening, which has implications for oceanic circulation, carbon cycling, and global climate during the Late Cretaceous. Expedition 392 is based on IODP Proposals 834-Full2 and 834-Add and will primarily target Cretaceous to Paleogene age sediment and igneous basement at five primary sites on Agulhas Plateau (4 sites) and Transkei Basin (1 site) to examine the nature of Agulhas Plateau basement, opening of oceanic gateways, and evolution of the climate system through the Cretaceous Supergreenhouse and into the Cenozoic. The expedition will take place from 4 February to 6 April 2021. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, petrologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, igneous geochemists, inorganic and organic geochemists, and microbiologists. The deadline to apply is December 2, 2019.

The U.S. Science Support Program, associated with the International Ocean Discovery Program, is currently accepting proposals for planning workshops. Proposed workshops should promote the development of new ideas and strategies related to the study of the Earth’s processes and history using scientific ocean drilling. The workshop program encourages wide scientific community involvement to bring a broader and multidisciplinary approach to standing hypotheses and to explore new directions for IODP research and communication. Workshops may focus on a specific IODP scientific theme or topic, or they may focus on a geographic region, integrating multiple topics. Regionally-focused workshops offer opportunities to synthesize scientific results from past expeditions, or to develop drilling proposals for future expeditions. Prospective workshop proponents should consider long-term projected ship tracks in identifying potential geographic areas for focus. Workshops aimed at developing drilling proposals for implementation in the period beyond the current IODP science plan (2023) are welcomed. Funding may be requested for U.S.-based meetings or to support U.S. participants at larger international workshops. Broad-based scientific community involvement, co-sponsorship by related programs, and the active participation of early career researchers are strongly encouraged. The submission deadline is December 1, 2019.

Follow along on IODP Expedition 385 “Guaymas Basin Tectonics and Deep Biosphere” with the cruise blog of Andreas Teske, co-chief scientist and professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. This expedition will explore the most famous ocean spreading center in the Gulf of California, Guaymas Basin, by drilling a Northwest-to-Southeast transect across its flanking regions and axial valley.  Look for expedition updates and images from the drill ship, the JOIDES Resolution, and for background on this expedition, deep earth science, hydrothermal vents, seafloor spreading in action, and subsurface microbiology and geochemistry. Take this opportunity to follow an exciting expedition probing the inner workings of an active seafloor spreading center!

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s climate history, structure, mantle/crust dynamics, natural hazards, and deep biosphere as described in the IODP Science Plan Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future. IODP facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and downhole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution (JR), Chikyu, and Mission Specific Platforms (MSP). Proposals are being actively sought for all three facilities. The JR is currently scheduled into the beginning 2022. Due to the recent facility renewal, we plan to schedule JR expeditions through the end of 2024. The JR is expected to operate in the Equatorial and North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Arctic in 2021 and 2022, and to complete its circumnavigation with a return to the east Pacific region by 2023, the western Pacific by 2023-2024, and potentially the Indian Ocean by the end of 2024. Proposals for these future operational areas are now needed. MSP expeditions are planned to operate once every other year to recover core from targets that are inaccessible by the other facilities (e.g., shallow water, enclosed seas, inland seas). MSP proposals for any ocean are welcomed. Completely new Chikyu riser proposals (other than CPPs) will not be accepted until after publication of a new post-2023 science plan. We also invite proposals that involve drilling on land and at sea through coordination with the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). Investigators are reminded that the interval from the first proposal submission to expedition scheduling is on the order of 4-5 years due to the science and safety review process and required lead time for scheduling, and that adequate site characterization / site survey data are critical for success. Next submission deadline: October 1, 2019.

In July 2019, eighteen international delegates comprising the Science Plan Working Group met to produce a Science Plan Structure and Road Map document highlighting the commonalities in the workshop outcomes and indicating a potential way forward towards a new science plan. This Science Plan Structure and Road Map document is now available for community commenting before it will be discussed at the annual meeting of the IODP Forum in Osaka in September 2019. Now is a key moment in which the IODP community can provide input, in particular to the overall new structure of the proposed science plan. In January and March 2020 there will be two other commenting cycles, when successive drafts of the future science plan will be made available to the community on the IODP.org website. As this is a new plan in support of the future generations of scientific ocean drilling researchers, we especially seek input from early- and mid-career scientists. Please respond before August 26, 2019.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 391 Walvis Ridge Hotspot aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Expedition 391 is a scientific ocean drilling project that seeks to understand the geodynamic significance and origin of the Walvis Ridge (WR), a long-lived hotspot trail that began ~132 Ma at the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. Because of its duration and volcanic expression, WR is the most influential of Atlantic hotspots and is thought to have a deep mantle plume source that can be projected to the edge of the African large low shear wave velocity province (LLSVP), a hypothesized plume generation zone. The hotspot displays long-lived (since ~70 Ma) isotopic zonation, a characteristic thought to originate at the LLSVP edge, and may be the first example of a hotspot split into three isotopically distinct seamount chains. The hotspot interacted with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) for most of its early history, producing both the WR and Rio Grande Rise (RGR). Valdivia Bank, a WR plateau, may have formed with the RGR around a microplate, and this added complexity raises questions about simple plume models and the geodynamic implications of this hotspot trail. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, petrologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, inorganic and organic geochemists, and microbiologists. The deadline to apply to sail is October 1, 2019.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 386 Japan Trench Paleoseismology, aboard a Mission-Specific Platform (MSP) organized by the ECORD Science Operator (ESO) and jointly implemented with the Institute for Marine-Earth Exploration and Engineering (MarE3) within the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all specialties. While other expertise may be considered, specialists in the following fields are required: sedimentology (with special focus on deep-water and hadal trench depositional environments, sediment fabrics, and X-ray computed tomography), event stratigraphy, micropaleontology (including expertise with siliceous microfossils and benthic foraminifera), tephra stratigraphy, paleomagnetics, stratigraphic correlation, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, physical properties, geophysics, paleoseismology, structural geology, and microbiology. For the offshore phase of the expedition, we are particularly looking for the following fields: sedimentology, micropaleontology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, physical properties, event stratigraphy, stratigraphic correlation, geophysics and microbiology. The deadline to apply is July 19, 2019.

The workshop Anatomy of a Long-Lived Oceanic Arc: Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc System and Analogs aims to: (1) review the results of extensive drilling by four recent IODP expeditions; (2) review other (non-drilling) approaches used to study the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) system; (3) present mantle and ocean floor drilling objectives in other systems and synthesize these with IBM results and goals; (4) make comparisons with arc and ophiolite field analogs around the globe; and (5) identify avenues for future collaborative research. The workshop will involve synthesizing results in the IBM arc system and analogous modern systems and outcrop analogs, a mid-week field trip to examine IBM rocks, and targeted discussion of thematic and geographic areas ideal for collaborative research, synthesis papers, and new research proposals. A number of travel support grants will be available for participants from U.S. institutions and organizations. Support for a limited number of international participants will need to be provided by individuals or IODP member countries. In addition to scientists within the IODP community and early career researchers, we also encourage researchers, including field geologists and modelers, who do not normally participate in IODP projects to apply. Workshop participation is open to U.S. and international researchers and the deadline to apply is May 1, 2019.

Guaymas Basin Tectonics and Biosphere: feedbacks between continental rifting, magmatism, sedimentation, thermal alteration of organic matter, and microbial activity

Authors: Andreas Teske, Daniel Lizarralde, Tobias W. Höfig

The Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California is a young marginal rift basin characterized by active seafloor spreading and rapid deposition of organic-rich sediments from highly productive overlying waters. The high sedimentation rates in combination with an active spreading system produce distinct oceanic crust where the shallowest magmatic emplacement occurs as igneous intrusion into overlying sediments. The intrusion of magma into organic-rich sediments creates a dynamic environment where tightly linked physical, chemical, and biological processes regulate the cycling of sedimentary carbon and other elements, not only in a narrow hydrothermal zone at the spreading center but also in widely distributed off-axis venting. Heat from magmatic sills thermally alters organic-rich sediments, releasing CO₂, CH₄, petroleum, and other alteration products. This heat also drives advective flow, which distributes these alteration products in the subsurface and may also release them to the water column. Within the sediment column, the thermal and chemical gradients created by this process represent environments rich in chemical energy that support microbial communities at and below the seafloor. These communities may play a critical role in chemical transformations that influence the stability and transport of carbon in crustal biospheres. Collectively, these processes have profound implications for the exchange of heat and mass between the lithosphere and overlying water column and may determine the long-term fate of carbon accumulation in organic-rich sediments.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 389 Hawaiian Drowned Reefs aboard a Mission-Specific Platform (MSP) provided by the ECORD Science Operator. The overall goal of IODP Expedition 389 is to sample a unique succession of drowned coral reefs around Hawaii now at -134 to -1155 m below sea level. Scientific drilling through these reefs will generate a new record of sea-level and associated climate variability during several controversial and poorly understood periods over the last 500 kyr. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all specialties. While other expertise may be considered, specialists in the following fields are required: carbonate sedimentology, corals, sedimentology, paleontology, palynology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, structural geology, paleomagnetics, microbiology, physical properties, geophysics, geodynamics, glacial isostatic adjustment, stratigraphic correlation and downhole logging. For the offshore phase of the expedition, we are particularly looking for the following fields: carbonate sedimentology, corals, sedimentology, paleontology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, microbiology, physical properties, and petrophysics/downhole logging. The deadline to apply is November 23, 2018.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s climate history, structure, mantle/crust dynamics, natural hazards, and deep biosphere as described in the IODP Science Plan Illuminating Earth’s Past, Present, and Future. IODP facilitates international and interdisciplinary research on transformative and societally relevant topics using the ocean drilling, coring, and downhole measurement facilities JOIDES Resolution (JR), Chikyu, and Mission Specific Platforms (MSP). All three IODP facilities are now encouraging new proposals. The JR is currently scheduled into early 2020. The JR is expected to operate in the Equatorial and North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Arctic in 2021 and 2022, and to complete its circumnavigation with a return to the Indo-Pacific region by 2023. Proposals for these future operational areas are strongly encouraged. MSP expeditions are planned to operate once per year on average to recover core from targets that are generally inaccessible by JR and Chikyu. MSP proposals for any ocean are welcomed. To encourage exciting Chikyu expeditions in the future, new pre-proposals for both riser and non-riser operations will be considered. Next proposal deadline: October 1, 2018.

The workshop on Scientific Exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific (SEA-NorP) will focus on the development of new proposals and reinvigoration of existing proposals for scientific ocean drilling in the Northern Pacific, Bering Sea and Western Arctic Ocean region. JOIDES Resolution is scheduled to operate in the Northern Pacific in 2023, so to ensure that the ship is used to best advantage in this region, now is the time to develop drilling proposals that could be linked through regional drilling strategies. The workshop will include discussion of hypotheses that can be tested by scientific drilling in the region, the technology necessary to achieve those goals, ideal sites for drilling based on existing data, and where additional site survey data is needed. Our goal is that multiple proposals will be initiated at the workshop, both for full cruise legs and for shorter, targeted expeditions around the following themes: ocean gateways, geohazards, volatile cycling, ice histories at transition zones, biosphere and climate. Experience in paleoclimate, paleoceanography, sedimentology, geobiology, geophysics, geochemistry, seismology, volcanology, structure and tectonics is sought. We encourage graduate students, early career scientists and those new to IODP to apply, as well as program officers, government representatives, and private sector scientists. A limited number of travel grants will be available. The workshop is open to U.S. and international participants, and the deadline for U.S.-affilitated scientists to apply is June 17, 2018.

We are pleased to announce the release of the JOIDES Resolution Assessment Report, and the accompanying JOIDES Resolution Community Survey Data Report, in support of the National Science Foundation’s request to the National Science Board for the renewal of funding for the JR facility for the next five years. The community overwhelmingly supports the JR and its ability to address high priority objectives of the IODP Science Plan. The Community Survey Data Report documents the responses of 876 of our colleagues, both national and international, and provides significant insights into the IODP community. The Workshop Report reflects the outstanding effort of the 81 attendees of the September 2017 workshop, “Assessment of the JOIDES Resolution in Meeting the Challenges of the IODP Science Plan”. Their tasks included developing expedition results reports in preparation for the workshop, reviewing comments from the Community Survey, and synthesizing the two datasets. The report includes the results of plenary sessions from the workshop that focused on future scientific opportunities that can be addressed in the next five years, as well as discussion surrounding the relationship of the JR to the National Science Foundation’s Sea Change report from 2015, in addition to a list of recommendations and updates for the next five years of JR operations.

Our School of Rock program is a professional development opportunity for formal and informal educators on board or involving the JOIDES Resolution. Teachers will work with scientists and technicians to learn about many aspects of earth science, geology, paleo-oceanography and more done aboard this amazing ship, what we learn from scientific drilling, and how to do the kinds of scientific analyses and lab exercises program-scientists do. This new-found knowledge will help teachers in creating or modifying existing resources for their students in many areas of the science curriculum. This year’s School of Rock is being jointly organized by the United States Science Support Program (USSSP) and the Australia and New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Program Consortium (ANZIC). It will focus on Pacific Rim geology and the science research of the JOIDES Resolution. In our continuing goal to broaden participation in the geosciences, we are especially interested in applicants from diverse backgrounds and/or who serve diverse communities. Apply by April 20, 2018.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is currently accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 385 (Guaymas Basin Tectonics & Biosphere) aboard the JOIDES Resolution. To learn more about the scientific objectives of the expedition, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, please register and join us for a web-based seminar on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 12:00 PM EDT.

Authors: P. Fryer, C.G. Wheat, T. Williams, E. Albers, B. Bekins, B.P.R. Debret, J. Deng, Y. Dong, P. Eickenbusch, E.A. Frery, Y. Ichiyama, K. Johnson, R.M. Johnston, R.T. Kevorkian, W. Kurz, V. Magalhaes, S.S. Mantovanelli, W. Menapace, C.D. Menzies, K. Michibayashi, C.L. Moyer, K.K. Mullane, J.-W. Park, R.E. Price, J.G. Ryan, J.W. Shervais, O.J. Sissmann, S. Suzuki, K. Takai, B. Walter, and R. Zhang

Abstract: Geologic processes at convergent plate margins control geochemical cycling, seismicity, and deep biosphere activity in subduction zones and suprasubduction zone lithosphere. International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 366 was designed to address the nature of these processes in the shallow to intermediate depth of the Mariana subduction channel. Although no technology is available to permit direct sampling of the subduction channel of an intraoceanic convergent margin at depths up to 19 km, the Mariana forearc region (between the trench and the active volcanic arc) provides a means to access materials from this zone.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 385 Guaymas Basin Tectonics and Biosphere aboard the JOIDES Resolution. IODP Expedition 385 will core and log a series of sites in the Guaymas Basin to investigate the relationship of tectonics, magmatism, sedimentation, carbon cycling, and microbial activity. The primary objectives are to: (1) explore the physical and chemical gradients along active and extinct fluid pathways associated with sill emplacement; (2) investigate subsurface microbial communities that are sustained by alteration products, in order to determine how efficiently they capture carbon-bearing alteration products; and (3) advance our understanding of the conditions that limit life in the deep biosphere. The expedition will occur from 19 September to 19 November 2019. Additional information about this expedition can be found on the Expedition 385 webpage. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, inorganic/organic geochemists, microbiologists, petrologists, petrophysicists, and borehole geophysicists. U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program, by visiting http://usoceandiscovery.org/expeditions. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2018.

Authors: Heuer, V.B., Inagaki, F., Morono, Y., Kubo, Y., Maeda, L., and the Expedition 370 Scientists

Abstract: International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 370 explored the limits of the biosphere in the deep subseafloor where temperature exceeds the known temperature maximum of microbial life (~120°C) at the sediment/basement interface ~1.2 km below the seafloor. Site C0023 is located in the protothrust zone in the Nankai Trough off Cape Muroto at a water depth of 4776 m, in the vicinity of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 808 and 1174. In 2000, ODP Leg 190 revealed the presence of microbial cells at Site 1174 to a depth of ~600 meters below seafloor (mbsf), which corresponds to an estimated temperature of ~70°C, and reliably identified a single zone of elevated cell concentrations just above the décollement at around 800 mbsf, where temperature presumably reached 90°C; no cell count data was reported for other sediment layers in the 70°–120°C range because the detection limit of manual cell counting for low-biomass samples was not low enough. With the establishment of Site C0023, we aimed to detect and investigate the presence or absence of life and biological processes at the biotic–abiotic transition utilizing unprecedented analytical sensitivity and precision. Expedition 370 was the first expedition dedicated to subseafloor microbiology that achieved time-critical processing and analyses of deep biosphere samples, conducting simultaneous shipboard and shore-based investigations.

Authors: Patricia Fryer, Geoffrey Wheat, Trevor Williams, and the Expedition 366 Scientists

Abstract: Geologic processes at convergent plate margins control geochemical cycling, seismicity, and deep biosphere activity in subduction zones and suprasubduction zone lithosphere. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 366 was designed to address the nature of these processes in the shallow to intermediate depth of the Mariana subduction channel. Although no technology is available to permit direct sampling of the subduction channel of an intraoceanic convergent margin at depths up to 18 km, the Mariana forearc region (between the trench and the active volcanic arc) provides a means to access this zone.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is issuing a special call for experienced scientists to apply for IODP Expedition 381 Corinth Rift Development aboard a Mission Specific Platform provided by the ECORD Science Operator in the following specialty: inorganic geochemistry with expertise in pore water geochemistry. The call is for scientists able to participate during the Onshore Science Party only (scheduled to start on 31 January 2018 and last for a maximum of 4 weeks, dependent on core recovery). U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating on this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP); please visit http://usoceandiscovery.org/expeditions/. The U.S. deadline for this special call is October 13, 2017.

Expedition 382 aims to recover 600 m long Late Neogene sedimentary sequences from the Scotia Sea to reconstruct past variability in Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) mass loss, oceanic and atmospheric circulation and to provide the first spatially integrated record of variability in iceberg flux from Iceberg Alley, where a substantial number of Antarctic icebergs exit into the warmer Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). This will (a) constrain iceberg flux during key times of AIS evolution since the Middle Miocene glacial intensification of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, (b) provide material to determine regional sources of AIS mass loss, address interhemispheric phasing of ice-sheet and climate events, and the relation of AIS variability to sea level, (c) provide information on Drake Passage throughflow, meridional overturning in the Southern Ocean, water-mass changes, CO₂ transfer via wind-induced upwelling, sea-ice variability, bottom water outflow from the Weddell Sea, Antarctic weathering inputs, and changes in oceanic and atmospheric fronts in the vicinity of the ACC, and (d) provide dust proxy records to reconstruct changes in the Southern Hemisphere westerlies to evaluate climate-dust coupling since the Pliocene, its potential role in iron fertilization and atmospheric CO₂ drawdown during glacials. Expedition 382 will also core a sediment drift on the Falkland slope to obtain subantarctic multi-proxy intermediate water depth records of millennial to orbital scale variability in the ocean, atmosphere, nutrients, productivity and ice-sheet dynamics in the SW Atlantic through at least the last 1 Ma. The deadline to apply is October 15, 2017.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is largely marine-based, highly sensitive to climatic and oceanographic changes, has had a dynamic history over the last several million years, and if completely melted, could result in a global sea-level rise of 3.3-4.3 m. Expedition 379 will obtain records from the continental shelf and rise of the Amundsen Sea to document WAIS dynamics in an area unaffected by other ice sheets as well and that currently experiences the largest ice loss in Antarctica. The primary objectives include (a) reconstructing the Paleogene to Holocene glacial history of West Antarctica, (b) correlating the Amundsen Sea WAIS-proximal records with global records of ice volume changes and air/seawater temperature proxy records, (c) constraining the relationship between incursions of warm water masses onto the continental shelf and the stability of marine-based ice sheet margins, and (d) reconstructing major WAIS advances onto the middle and outer shelf, including the first ice sheet expansion onto the continental shelf of the Amundsen Sea Embayment and its possible control by the uplift of Marie Byrd Land. U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in these expeditions should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program – visit. The deadline to apply is October 15, 2017.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is issuing a special call for petrophysics/downhole measurements and fluid geochemistry specialists to apply for Expedition 376 Brothers Arc Flux aboard the JOIDES Resolution. The deadline to apply is August 4, 2017.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 378 South Pacific Paleogene Climate aboard the JOIDES Resolution.  IODP Expedition 378 will investigate the record of Cenozoic climate and oceanography through a drilling transect in the far southern Pacific Ocean. In particular, it will target sediments deposited during the very warm Late Paleocene and Early Eocene including the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, as well as the Eocene-Oligocene transition to investigate how the Eocene earth maintained high global temperatures and high heat transport to the polar regions despite receiving near modern levels of solar energy input. Investigation of the recovered sediments also will constrain the subpolar Pacific climate, oceanographic structure, and biogeochemical cycling of much of the Cenozoic. These sediments will be used to characterize water masses, deep and shallow ocean temperature, latitudinal temperature gradients, the strength of upwelling, and the strength of the zonal winds to study both the atmospheric and oceanic climatic subsystems. The expedition will occur from 14 October through 14 December 2018. Additional information about this expedition can be found on the Expedition 378 webpage. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all shipboard specialties, including but not limited to sedimentologists, micropaleontologists, paleomagnetists, inorganic/organic geochemists, petrologists, petrophysicists, microbiologists, and borehole geophysicists. U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program, by visiting http://usoceandiscovery.org/expeditions. The deadline to apply is September 15, 2017.

The JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO) at Texas A&M University invites applications for a Research Scientist [Manager of Technical and Analytical Services (TAS)] to lead our Department of Technical and Analytical Sciences. The Manager of Technical and Analytical Services is responsible for the scientific laboratories aboard the R/V JOIDES Resolution, the JRSO staff who support those facilities, and serves as a member of the JRSO management team. Texas A&M is seeking an individual with the vision and knowledge to provide and support state of the art analytical facilities in a challenging, seagoing environment. The successful candidate will be a proven leader, who will oversee thirty-two staff who support directly the shipboard laboratories on IODP expeditions. The successful applicant will have demonstrated the ability to cooperate and work harmoniously with others, to foster collaboration among diverse scientific participants, and to engage the broader scientific ocean drilling community in setting priorities for shipboard scientific measurements and methods. A Ph.D. in geosciences or related field, 6 years’ of relevant professional experience, and demonstrated proficiency in directing a research laboratory(s) is required. Experience in project management and/or seagoing scientist, especially in scientific ocean drilling, is preferred. We will begin reviewing applications on August 1, 2017, but will continue to accept applications until candidates are selected for interviews.

Authors: Martin Krüger and Axel Schippers

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 347 to the Baltic Sea in 2013 was in line with the IODP Science Plan main research theme “Deep biosphere responses to glacial–interglacial cycles,” addressing questions such as deep biosphere evolution, its biogeochemical processes, and how the postglacial diffusive penetration of conservative seawater ions may alter the chemical composition and microbial physiology in the subseafloor biosphere. Consequently, we tried to enrich indigenous microorganisms at in situ conditions using a broad range of electron acceptors (for fermenters; Fe, Mn, and sulfate reducers; and methanogens), simple and complex carbon substrates (in mixtures or as single compounds), and a wide range of culture conditions (temperature and salinity) to cover varying environmental conditions and metabolic requirements. The most successful were enrichment cultures with a mix of polymeric substrates, which proved to be successful for all samples investigated. Also, iron- and manganese-reducing organisms could be enriched from all sites, whereas nitrate as an electron acceptor did not work well. Methanogenic enrichments were only successful for a few of the samples investigated. In these cases, different monomeric as well as complex substrates were converted to methane, indicating a metabolically versatile indigenous microbial community in the sediments.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 377 Arctic Ocean Paleoceanography aboard a Mission Specific Platform (MSP) provided by the ECORD Science Operator. To learn more about the scientific objectives of this expedition, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, please join in a web-based seminar on Monday 22 May 2017 at 1pm GMT (9:00 am EDT). To register for the webinar, click here.The offshore phase of Expedition 377 is provisionally scheduled for a maximum of 60 days during Autumn 2018, with only a subset of the Science Party participating. Offshore activities will focus on core recovery, curation, sampling for ephemeral properties, biostratigraphy, physical properties, preliminary lithostratigraphy (whole core observed at core ends and through plastic liners), and downhole logging. The cores will not be split at sea. Subsequently, an Onshore Science Party (OSP) will be held at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany, in early  2019 (exact dates to be confirmed), where the cores will be split. The OSP will be a maximum of 4 weeks long, the exact length dependent on core recovery. All members of the Science Party must attend the Onshore Science Party. Successful applicants will be invited either as an offshore-onshore participant, or as an onshore-only participant. Please note that there are no opportunities for offshore-only participation. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all specialties. While other expertise may be considered, specialists in the following fields are required: sedimentology, paleontology, palynology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, structural geology, paleomagnetics, microbiology, physical properties, geophysics, stratigraphic correlation and downhole logging. For the offshore phase of the expedition, we are particularly looking for the following fields: sedimentology, paleontology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, microbiology, physical properties, and petrophysics/downhole logging. U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program. The deadline to apply is June 23, 2017.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for Expedition 380 NanTroSEIZE Frontal Thrust Long-Term Borehole Monitoring System (LTBMS) aboard the D/V Chikyu. The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) Project comprises multiple expeditions over a multi-year period aimed at sampling and instrumenting the up-dip transition into the subduction seismogenic zone. The goal of Expedition 380 is to install an LTBMS in the accretionary toe region near the trough axis at Site C0006, previously drilled during IODP Expeditions 314 and 316. The LTBMS sensors will include: seafloor reference and formation pressure sensors, broadband seismometer, tiltmeters, volumetric strainmeter, geophones, and accelerometers. This will be the third LTBMS installed for the NanTroSEIZE project. The expedition is currently planned for 43 days, beginning on 23 October, sailing on 26 October (after three days of portcall), and finishing on 5 December, 2017. If LTBMS/CORK installation goes ahead of schedule, the ship will return early to port and the expedition will be complete. Additional information about this expedition can be found in the Expedition 380 Call For Participation. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) to sail on the expedition. Scientific specialties that will likely be required for the shipboard science party include observatory science and downhole logging. U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program. The deadline to apply is April 28, 2017.

July 10-12, 2017; Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA. Interactions between the land and ocean can provide important feedbacks to climatic evolution and surface processes. The Asian monsoon is an impressive example of these interactions as a major component of Earth’s climate affecting over half of the world population. In the Indian Ocean sector, close interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes with the tectonics of the India-Eurasia collision zone may have controlled both regional and global climate during the Cenozoic. The record of such interactions is best preserved in the ocean and was the target of recent scientific drilling across the region. Land-ocean interactions also play a critical role in modulating climate over Africa where complex interactions between the Indian monsoon and Atlantic occurs. Between 2013 and 2016, a series of IODP expeditions drilled in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific oceans covering the Asian and Australian monsoon domains and adjacent regions. The goal of this 2.5-day workshop is to review results of the recent regionally-focused scientific drilling expeditions in the Indian Ocean, to propose possible paths for an integrated understanding of the role and response of climate in regulating Indian Ocean hydrology, hydrography, sedimentation, and biogeochemistry, and to synthesize practical lessons for future scheduled and proposed regional IODP drilling campaigns. The workshop is open to U.S. and international participants, and the deadline to apply is April 28, 2017.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) at Texas A&M University is seeking a qualified individual to oversee curation efforts in support of JOIDES Resolution expeditions and the IODP Gulf Coast Core Repository. The Curator is responsible for oversight of the IODP core and sample collections at the Gulf Coast Repository (GCR) and on JOIDES Resolution expeditions, conservation of the core collection for future use, and supervision of all personnel and activities in the Gulf Coast Repository. The Curator is also expected to develop innovative uses of the core collection and repository. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience in a supervisory/management position, including experience with financial, programmatic, reporting, and personnel management. We prefer a background in project management, curation, and familiarity with IODP core curation policies. In addition, the Curator may sail on IODP expeditions if curation support is required. Although the Curator is not expected to sail routinely, the ability to sail is mandatory. At sea, the Curator will be responsible for creating a sampling plan for each site, processing cores as they are received, and training and supervision of the science party in IODP curatorial practice. We will begin reviewing applications on April 1, 2017, but will continue to accept applications until candidates are selected for interviews.

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 357 successfully cored an east–west transect across the southern wall of Atlantis Massif on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) to study the links between serpentinization processes and microbial activity in the shallow subsurface of highly altered ultramafic and mafic sequences that have been uplifted to the seafloor along a major detachment fault zone. The primary goals of this expedition were to (1) examine the role of serpentinization in driving hydrothermal systems, sustaining microbial communities, and sequestering carbon; (2) characterize the tectonomagmatic processes that lead to lithospheric heterogeneities and detachment faulting; and (3) assess how abiotic and biotic processes change with variations in rock type and progressive exposure on the seafloor. To accomplish these objectives, we developed a coring and sampling strategy centered on the use of seabed drills—the first time that such systems have been used in the scientific ocean drilling programs. This technology was chosen in the hope of achieving high recovery of the carbonate cap sequences and intact contact and deformation relationships. The expedition plans also included several engineering developments to assess geochemical parameters during drilling; sample bottom water before, during, and after drilling; supply synthetic tracers during drilling for contamination assessment; acquire in situ electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements for assessing fractures, fluid flow, and extent of serpentinization; and seal boreholes to provide opportunities for future experiments.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 376 Brothers Arc Flux aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Expedition 376 will investigate the fundamental, interrelated processes governing subseafloor hydrothermal activity at Brothers volcano, southern Kermadec arc. The primary objectives are to (1) Characterize the subsurface, magma-derived volatile phase for testing models predicting the existence of either a single-phase gas or a two-phase brine-vapor; (2) Explore the distribution of base and precious metals and metalloids at depth as well as the reactions that have taken place during their precipitation along fluid migration pathways to the seafloor; (3) Quantify the mechanisms and extent of fluid-rock interaction, and what this implies for the mass flux of metals and metalloids to the ocean as well as the role of magma-derived carbon and sulfur species in acting as agents for those fluxes; and (4) Assess the diversity, extent, and metabolic pathways of microbial life in an extreme, acidic, and metal-toxic (sub)volcanic environment. The expedition will occur from 5 May through 5 July 2018. Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in specialties including (but not limited to) sedimentologists, petrologists (igneous/metamorphic/sulfide), structural geologists, paleomagnetists, petrophysicists, borehole geophysicists, microbiologists, and inorganic/organic geochemists. To learn more about the scientific objectives of Exp. 376, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, please join us for a web-based seminar on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 1:00 pm EDT (register). U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in this expedition should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program, by visiting http://usoceandiscovery.org/expeditions. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2017.

The Proposal Database System (PDB) is the web-based interface for completing and submitting IODP proposals. PDB offers specific guidance and many proposal components are now created interactively; proponents are advised to begin working with PDB as soon as a proposal is planned. Complete proposal preparation guidance, format requirements, and review policies are explained in the IODP Proposal Submission Guidelines. A Call for Scientific Ocean Drilling Proposals is usually published at least two months in advance of the deadline with specifics about what types proposals are being sought. Proponents are strongly encouraged to contact the Science Operators to discuss platform-specific operational and fiscal constraints before developing proposals. The IODP Proposal Manager has sole authority to accept proposals or grant exceptions to deadlines and policies. Next Proposal Submission Deadline: April 3, 2017.

Follow along with IODP Expedition 366: Mariana Convergent Margin & South Chamorro Seamount (co-chief Geoff Wheat, Dec 8, 2016 to Feb 7, 2017) with onboard videos from Education and Outreach Officer Kristen Weiss on Vimeo.