The International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP3)

The International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP3)After decades of unified international programmes, from DSDP to the International Ocean Discovery Program that ended on 30 September 2024, post-2024 scientific ocean drilling initiatives will see a transition from a single international programme operated by independent platform providers to independent ocean drilling programmes.Through a two-year long process of exchange of views and ambitions, ECORD and Japan agreed to build a joint scientific ocean drilling programme: the International Ocean Drilling Programme - IODP3(IODP-cubed).IODP3 consists of an international scientific collaboration addressing important questions in Earth, Ocean, Environmental and Life sciences described in the ‘2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling, based on the study of rock and/or sediment cores, borehole imaging, in-situ observatory data, and related geophysical imaging obtained from the subseafloor.IODP3 will adopt a transparent, open, flexible, and international modus operandi, programme-wide standard policies and guidelines, sustainable management, and publicly accessible knowledge-based resources.IODP3 will implement and fund two types of expeditions: offshore expeditions and Scientific Projects using Ocean Drilling ARChives (SPARCs).Proposals supporting these expeditions will be submitted through a bottom-up process to the IODP3 Science Office by teams of proponents belonging to the international research community. All proposals will be evaluated by the Science Evaluation Panel (SEP) in a fair, open, and transparent manner, in terms of both scientific excellence and completeness and quality of the site characterization data packages. The Safety and Environment Advisory (SEA) Group will provide independent advice regarding potential safety and environmental issues associated with the proposed IODP3 drill sites.IODP3 offshore expeditions and SPARCs will be scheduled by the MSP Facility Board (MSP-FB), based on their scientific merit and operational constraints within the limits of the available resources.Offshore expeditions will be implemented by the IODP3 Operators, the ECORD Science Operator (ESO) and/or JAMSTEC-MarE3, following an expanded Mission Specific Platform (MSP) concept by diversifying drilling and coring technologies and applying them to all drilling environments, as determined by scientific priorities, operational efficiency, and better value for money. The duration of IODP3 expeditions will be flexible and be determined by scientific requirements and available funds.Land-to-Sea Transects (L2S), requiring scientific drilling at both onshore and offshore sites to be implemented jointly with the International Scientific Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) are one of prime objectives for IODP3.Scientific Projects using Ocean Drilling ARChives (SPARCs) are international and multidisciplinary projects that have objectives originating from or that are based on ocean drilling archives (i.e. cores, samples, and data from current and past scientific ocean drilling programmes) without new drilling or other operations at sea. Each SPARC will have a funded duration of three years and will receive €300,000 for its implementation.