ODP Final Technical Report - Ocean Drilling Program - Texas A&M ...

ODP Final Technical ReportThe Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)ranks as one of the most significantinternational scientific endeavorsever, rivaling the international collaborationsamong physicists in the early 20th century.ODP traversed the world’s oceans from theArctic Ocean to the Weddell Sea, collectingsediment and rock samples, recording downholegeophysical and geochemical information,and establishing long-term boreholeobservatories. More than 2,500 scientists representingmore than 220 institutions sailed onODP legs (see “Leg Planning” in the “ProgramAdministration” chapter). These legs retrieved36,365 cores—nearly 223 kilometers of sedimentand rock—leading to more than 7,200peer-reviewed scientific publications. The“Scientific Themes/Objectives” figure belowillustrates the number of legs devoted to eachof the scientific themes that were drawn fromthe 1989–2002 ODP Long Range Plan andpursued during the Program.“ODP ranks as one of the mostsignificant internationalscientific endeavors ever…”Scientific ocean drilling has made fundamentalcontributions to our understanding of theEarth. For instance, we now know that theparadigm of plate tectonics offers tremendousnew insights into the way Earth works, includinga better understanding of natural hazardssuch as earthquakes and volcanoes. ODPscientific research has deepened our understandingof the mechanics of plate tectonicsand continental drift by elucidating variousplate motions and evolution of continentaldrift over the past 100 to 120 million years,demonstrating that hotspots—once thoughtto be stationary—can slowly migrate, confirmingthat the oldest ocean crust is younger thanJurassic in age, and quantifying the amount ofocean sediment recycled into Earth’s mantle atsubduction zones.Studies of marine sediments have resulted in amuch better understanding of natural climaticvariability, and we are beginning to learn howto factor global change into planning for thefuture. We have established and quantifiedODP Legs Grouped by Scientific Themes/Objectives from the 1989–2002 Long Range Plan45422Structure and composition ofthe crust and upper mantleDynamics, kinematics, anddeformation of the lithosphereFluid circulation in thelithosphereCause and effect of oceanicand climatic variabilityEngineering tests anddevelopment (not specifiedin the ODP Long Range Plan)84032