Shipboard Laboratory Briefs

Explore the unique laboratories onboard the JOIDES Resolution and learn about the scientific questions that expert scientists study in each of these laboratories.

Follow Expedition 312 - life at sea, Q&A with onboard researchers, and info about Exp. 312 hosted by our partners at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Dr. Suzanne O'Connell sailed on Expedition 312 as an educational liason. Follow the Expedition through her blogs and pictures.

This project is in collaboration with the Japan/US Public Understanding of Research.

History of Our Planet Revealed:
Stories Only Rocks Can Tell

a lecture presented by Dr. Paul J. Fox to the National Congress for Science Education
on August 4, 2005

Watch now!

The ODP in Film DVD presents three short films introducing the viewer to the Ocean Drilling Program, taking you out on our research vessel, the JOIDES Resolution, and explaining the science that we do at sea. Learn about how we collect cores of rock and sediment from the deep ocean, the science that we do, and what it is really like to live and work on a research vessel for two months. The DVD also includes more information about ODP’s accomplishments and history, a slide show of images, and resources from the web. To request a DVD write to deepearthacademy@oceanleadership.org.

From Gateways to Glaciation

This interactive CD-ROM takes students on a voyage of discovery on board the Ocean Drilling Program’s drill ship, JOIDES Resolution, to research the extent of glaciation over the Earth during the past four million years. Using cores from two ODP sites in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea, students work with scientists to investigate different sediment properties and then draw scientific conclusions with the guidance of the Chief Scientist. As students search for clues to the Earth’s climate history, they learn about the links between Northern Hemisphere glaciation, plate tectonics, and ocean circulation. This educational program motivates high school and undergraduate students to synthesize specific studies together to form a sound hypothesis of broader dynamic systems.

ODP: From Mountains to Monsoons is intended to bring scientific results of the Ocean Drilling Program into the classroom. In this program the student is invited to join a scientific ocean drilling expedition to the Indian Ocean to investigate the hypothesis that there is a link between the uplift of the Himalayan Mountains and the intensification of the monsoons in Southern Asia. During the program, sediment cores from three sites on the ocean floor are analyzed. At each site, the student works with real scientists in a variety of shipboard laboratories and then discusses the results with the Chief Scientist. Throughout the program the student learns about tools and techniques used by geoscientists and how to combine results from laboratory analyses into a viable theory.

Map courtesy of IODP-TAMU

Expedition 301T -
Costa Rica Hydrogeology

Watch Movie (QuickTime format, running time 5:46)

This short movie gives an overview of Expedition 301T and the recovery of osmosamplers from two boreholes off the coast of Costa Rica. The expedition sought to recover water samples which help to investigate fluid flow across the Costa Rica Margin and its implications for the seismogenic zone and subduction factory. By studying these fluids, scientists hope to discover conditions deep within the earth's crust and in turn provide a greater understanding of how earthquakes and volcanoes are generated in this area.

Read an article about this Expedition on the MBARI webpage and learn more about osmosamplers.

To learn more about Expedition 301T, visit the IODP Expedition info page.

Image courtesy of IODP-TAMU

Underwater Re-entry

Watch Movie (QuickTime format, running time :30)

Scientists frequently want to re-enter boreholes that have been drilled on past expedition. It is important to be able to go back to past boreholes to recover more rocks and sediment, recover or install long-term sampling instruments, or conduct downhole logging. In order to make the re-entry of boreholes an easier process, the drilling crew installs a re-entry cone. The re-entry cone is 13 feet wide and is cemented in place in the seafloor. To view a detailed description of the re-entry cone and a schematic, visit the ODP engineering technical note 31. This short video shows the drill string latching onto a re-entry cone at site 1253. This video was shot from the camera that is lowered down to the seafloor on a camera sled during drilling.

Image courtesy of IODP-TAMU

Tripping Pipe

Watch Movie (QuickTime format, running time 3:05)

Tripping pipe is the term used for the connecting or disconnecting of 30 meter sections of drill pipe. Watch this process in action.

The movies on this page require QuickTime 7 Player to run. To download the QuickTime player visit the Windows download page or the Macintosh download page.