Earth Sciences

This summer, 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program will drill down through the seabed near Newfoundland, close to the legendary wreckage site. The mission: recover sediments that tell the story of climate change, ocean currents and glaciations over millions of years. See the pre-expedition introductory video and follow the events on Joides Resolution Facebook.

The main drilling target: an interval in the geologic past when the Earth was a lot warmer than today. The sediments of the Newfoundland ridges contain enough detail to teach us precisely what happened, when, and why. Paleontologist (nannofossils) Paul Bown is one of the scientific participants.

You can read about this expedition and its scientific objectives on Joides Resolution web site.  The IODP expedition 342 information page provides up-to-date details on the progress of the drilling.
Watch the series of YouTube videos: Episode I: Departure; Episode II: Core on Deck; Episode III: Time Machine;