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Issue 52 | May 2009
Induction meeting for Asian IODP Consortium and
Marine Geoscience Cooperation attendants
A consortium of 14 Australian and New Zealand universities, the Australian Research Council and three government agencies (including CSIRO) has signed up to the world's largest ocean research program, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
The Australian-New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC) is led in Australia by the Australian National University's (ANU) Professor Neville Exon and based at ANU.
The IODP is an international marine research program dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth through drilling, coring and monitoring the subseafloor. Hundreds of scientists from the 24 collaborating countries participate in IODP expeditions to investigate climate change history, geodynamics and solid-earth cycles and the deep biosphere.
The membership will allow local scientists to participate in the ten expeditions scheduled this year, including ocean drilling in the Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Antarctica and a research expedition scheduled to investigate environmental changes in the Great Barrier Reef.
Through membership, Australia and New Zealand will gain access to IODP activities including shipboard and post-cruise research, development and leadership of drilling proposals, and participation in planning and advisory committees.
The program operates several state-of-the-art drilling platforms:
The Wealth from Oceans Flagship (WfO) manages CSIRO's involvement in IODP. Some of the people from CSIRO who are involved in various aspects of IODP are:
Read an article written by Professor Exon on Australia's involvement in scientific ocean drilling (pg5) [PDF 1.22MB] which was published in West Australian Geologist.
