Expeditions

During Expedition 327 we will install subseafloor observatories in two new holes in oceanic crust, replace an observatory in an existing hole to facilitate long-term monitoring, recover and replace an instrument string deployed in one of the Expedition 301 subseafloor borehole observatories; and complete remedial cementing of another Expedition 301 observatory that is not sealed at the seafloor.
Expedition 327 will also include an international education and outreach program intended to develop tools and techniques that facilitate the communication of exciting scientific drilling results to a broad audience, build educational curricula, and create media products that will help achieve critical outreach goals.

DATES: 4 Jan - 9 Mar 2010

C0-CHIEF SCIENTISTS: Carlota Escutia Dotti (Spain) and Henk Brinkhuis (The Netherlands)

LOGGING STAFF SCIENTISTS: Annick Fehr and Trevor Williams

STAFF SCIENTIST: Adam Klaus

SAILED FROM: Wellington New Zealand to Hobart, Australia

On Expedition 317, the scientists investigated ancient changes in sea level. In other words, how deep was the ocean in the past? The scientists on this expedition were (and are) working to figure out how much of the change in sea level that we see in the rock record is caused by actual rise and fall of sea level (because of glaciers freezing and melting), and how much of it is because rocks got pushed up out of their ocean home.

Expedition 324 to Shatsky Rise explored one of the most fundamental questions of modern geodynamics - the process of mantle convection and its impact on Earth’s surface through volcanism.

Expedition 323: Bering Sea Paleoceanography began in Victoria, BC, Canada 5 July 2009 and ended on 4th September, 2009 in Yokohama, Japan. In addition to our own blogs, several scientists had their own blogs: Hirofumi Asahi, a sedimentologist with the Ocean Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, Japan and his colleagues blogged in Japanese at: http://blog.canpan.info/hadeep/.

Dr. Sev Kender, a micropaleontologist from the British Geological Survey blogged on his experiences as part of 323 at Get Jealous.

Expedition 321T cemented reentry cones around sub-seafloor borehole observatories and play host to the School of Rock 2009 teacher workshop.

To learn more about this year's School of Rock, click on the link above and read their blogs on our blog page daily.

Expedition 320: Pacific Equatorial Age Transit (Part 1) was our first post-renovation cruise! This expedition began in Honolulu, Hawaii on 5 March 2009 and ended on the 5th of May when Expedition 321 began. In addition to our own blogs, several expedition scientists have posted their thoughts and impressions through other online sites.  Each one provides a different and enriching view of our work in the Equatorial Pacific. See the links provided below for access to the scientists' blogs. 

Dr. Paul Bown, a micropaleontologist from University College London, blogging about this expedition on the Natural Environment Research Council’s Planet Earth Online.  

Rice University’s Dr. Lizette Leon-Rodriguez posted a Spanish language blog on her page at Academia.edu.

Dr. Thomas Westerhold blogged in German through his page hosted by marum at the University of Bremen.

Logging scientist Trevor Williams, from the Borehole Group at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory posted at Popular Mechanics.

Expedition 321 is a continuation of Expedition 320 - with a whole new science party.

This expedition officially began on at the end of Expedition 320 on the 5th of May, but the ship embarked from Honolulu on May 9th. Watch for blogs from our scientists and special video updates from reporter Appy Sluijs, as our team continues coring the amazing sediments of the paleoequator!