Drilling Vessels and Platforms

The JOIDES Resolution

Technologically, the JOIDES Resolution is one of the best equipped drilling ships in the world and it is the 'heart' of the US Drilling Operator. Texas A & M University is responsible for the technical operation and maintenance of the ship.

Two special drilling teams participate on the 8-week cruises along with 30 international scientists. The teams work 24 hours a day at previously determined stations to retrieve sediment cores from the ocean floor. A precision satellite-controlled system maintains the ship's position over the drilling site in conjunction with 12 powerful propellers (see figure). This allows the drilling of holes in water depths up to 8,200 meters!

Formerly used as an oil exploration ship, the JOIDES Resolution was re-outfitted by the Ocean Drilling Program in 1984, making it equivalent to a floating research center. It replaced the GLOMAR Challenger, which had been used in the operations of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). The laboratory areas, totaling over 1,300 m², contain the most modern scientific equipment available so that initial investigations can be carried out immediately on board.

These initial investigations include core descriptions, chemical pore-water analyses, paleomagnetic measurements, X-radiographs, micropaleontological age determinations, physical measurements of the hole properties, and seismic measurements of the sea floor.

Further information about the drill ship

IODP Expedition 312 (ended in Dec 2005) was the last expedition of the USIO in Phase I of IODP. The JOIDES Resolution was newly renovated (US Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel, SODV) and is planned to again operate in Phase II in the spring of 2009.

The CHIKYU

The Chikyu was built by JAMSTEC (Japan Marine Science & Technology Center). This Japanese research vessel ("Chikyu" = "Earth") is equipped with a "riser drilling system" giving more stability while drilling. Operations for IODP did start in 2007.

Mission Specific Platforms

The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling defines expeditions with mission specific platforms that are related to European geoscientific topics.
The first MSP-Project was the scientific drilling in the Arctic in summer 2004. Successful drilling was performed down to a depth of 430m below sea floor.
During the second MSP cruise in 2005 a total of 632m of coral reef material was recoverd off the Pacific island of Tahiti. The New Jersey Shallow Shelf (Exp. 313) was drilled in 2009, andin 2010 the Great Barrier Reef Environmental Changes (Exp. 325).
For 2013 a MSP-expedition in the Baltic Sea is in planning.

Drillship DP Hunter off Tahiti