Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international marine research program that explores Earth’s history and structure recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks, and monitors subseafloor environments. IODP builds upon the earlier successes of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), which revolutionized our view of Earth history and global processes through ocean basin exploration. IODP greatly expands the reach of these previous programs by using multiple drilling platforms, including riser, riserless, and mission-specific, to achieve its scientific goals. These principal themes are outlined in the Initial Science Plan: “Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific Investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and New Technologies”. (3.12 MB)
The deep biosphere and the subseafloor ocean;
Environmental change, processes and effects; and
Solid earth cycles and geodynamics.
Key Relationships
IODP is funded by four entities acting as international partners:
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) are Lead Agencies.
The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) is a Contributing Member.
The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is an Associate Member.
The India Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) is an associate member.
The Australia-New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC) is an associate member.
Interim Asian Consortium, represented by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), is an Associate Member.
Find out more by visiting the IODP website or download the IODP Primer
To learn about education programs related to IODP, visit Deep Earth Academy.
