IODP Scientists Set for New Expedition

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) will carry out the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 380.

The “NanTroSEIZE stage 3: frontal thrust long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS)” will be executed via the ultra deep-water drilling vessel Chikyu from January 12 to February 24, 2018.

Expedition 380 will install a new LTBMS at site C0006, in the Frontal Thrust of the Nankai accretionary prism. This will complement the currently deployed borehole observatories in the Kumano Basin (site C0002) and in the Shallow Megasplay (Site C0010).

The LTBMS will be connected to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET) undersea cabled network, and will provide real-time pressure, strain, and seismological data.

The shipboard researchers include eight members from five countries, including Drs. Yuya Machida and Toshinori Kimura from JAMSTEC.

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is a multinational cooperative project that started in October 2013. The scientific drilling vessel D/V Chikyu, operated by Japan, and the JOIDES Resolution, operated by the U.S., are utilized for expeditions. There is also an option to charter mission-specific platforms by European countries. The mission of the IODP is to shed light on global environmental changes, the earth’s mantle and crustal dynamics and tectonics, and the biosphere beneath the seafloor. It took over the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program carried out from October 2003 to 2013.