CHART Workshop 2009: Week 1 Summary

Dear Colleagues:

The current phase of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) ends in 2013, and planning for the IODP renewal has begun.  One important step in this planning is the on-line CHART meeting going on right now, and we need your input.

Why should I participate in CHART? The CHART meeting is an important venue for the U.S. community to organize their thoughts about the future scientific priorities of IODP. The actual numbers and diversity of participants will be a measure of U.S. interests. If you want to influence the new science plan and help justify renewal of IODP, now is the time.

Should I participate in CHART even if I think the initial science plan (ISP) for IODP is great? YES.  To secure renewal of IODP, we need to develop a new science plan that is fresh and compelling.  If there are parts of the ISP you think should continue to be emphasized, you need to speak up.

Should I participate in CHART if I plan to attend INVEST, the international planning meeting in Bremen in September 2009? YES.  The CHART meeting results will directly influence the INVEST meeting.  For example, the breakout group sessions at INVEST will be, in part, determined by the result of CHART.  In addition, productivity at the INVEST meeting will be much higher if we have already started organizing our plan.  CHART is an important part of the planning process.

Should I participate in CHART if I don’t know much about ocean drilling or have not been involved in IODP? YES.   In the past, the ocean drilling program has benefited tremendously from the infusion of ideas from outside those research fields traditionally served by ocean drilling.  Outside perspectives are needed to keep ocean drilling science focused on far-reaching science questions. We welcome your ideas on how ocean drilling is needed to meet today’s grand challenges in earth, biological and climate sciences.

Why is CHART an on-line meeting? CHART allows you to participate in science planning for IODP renewal while having time to think, consider other people’s ideas, and respond.  CHART has the capacity to include input from a lot of people because it is open to those that don’t have the time or resources to travel to another meeting.  The on-line format allows us to archive, in written form, input from every participant;  most meeting reports preserve popular or consensus views as expressed in writing by a few meeting organizers. CHART does not replace the needed face-to-face discussions that will take place in at the INVEST meeting in Bremen.

Best Regards,

Christina Ravelo
Chair, CHART Organizing Committee

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Now is your opportunity to influence the research priorities of IODP.  The conversation has started. Everyone may read the discussion boards, but we strongly encourage you to register and post a comment or question.

• CHART Homepage
• CHART Forum

Here are some highlights of what has been discussed so far.

Discussion Board on Emerging Fields:

• Posts during the first week have focused on CO2 storage and mitigation, extreme climate, and on geohazards.  The emerging fields suggested so far encompass both promising science and societal relevance.
• Unanswered questions: What can ocean drilling provide with regard to geologic and geo-engineered carbon sequestration? Where and how can we study extreme events with sub-century resolution? What are other key themes that have been embedded in individual drilling endeavors but now have the potential to thrive as stand-alone science programs?

Discussion Board on Solid Earth Cycles and Geodynamics:

• Participants have outlined justification for drilling to the MOHO and for making the exploration of the ocean crust an important focus of the new science plan for IODP.
• What other arguments can be made in support of this idea?  What other research thrusts in Solid Earth Cycles and Geodynamics should be emphasized in the new science plan?

Discussion Board on Deep Biosphere and Subsurface Ocean

• Participants have suggested increasing funding explicitly for microbiology studies to encourage more IODP participation among the community, and supporting technology development relative to microbial observatories.
• What other advances in geobiology are needed to further the microbiology for IODP, and how do we make microbiology more of a primary focus of IODP projects?

Discussion Board on Environmental Change, Processes and Effects

• The posts focused on capturing deep-time climate extremes on a time scale and scope that are informative for current and future climate change.
• Emerging questions from the discussion:  Can ocean drilling provide more answers to Milankovitch-scale variability than we already have (i.e., is there more to be learned from ocean drilling)? What ocean regions or proxies might best be studied to further the connection between model-based hypotheses and sediment-based observations?

Discussion Board on Strategies:

• The Strategies section of the CHART Workshop discussion board was the most active during the first week. We had intended initially to delay this part of the discussion, but participants clearly are anxious to contribute to strategy-related topics.
• There was much discussion regarding the treatment of existing drilling proposals, and the possibility of a truncated annual operations schedule.  Opinions differ on these points, but a consensus appears to be emerging.

Related Posts:

• CHART Workshop 2009: Week 4 Summary
• CHART Workshop 2009: Week 2 Summary
• CHART Workshop 2009: Week 5 Summary
• Science Support for IODP: Updates that Affect U.S. Scientists
• IODP New Ventures in Exploring Scientific Targets (INVEST): September 23-25, 2009