Deep-sea Drilling Program to Study Volatile Earthquake Zone
The launch of a series of scientific drilling expeditions that will retrieve geological samples and provide scientific data from the Nankai Trough fault zone has taken place. Scientists are prepared to drill deeply into the Earth to observe earthquake mechanisms.
The current Stage 1 expedition will continue until November 16. The following Stage 1 expedition will sail from Nov. 17-Dec. 19, 2007, with new scientist participation.
Logging While Drilling (LWD) investigations will occur at all Stage 1 drill sites. LWD operations consist of continuously drilling one or more holes at each site by drilling down at a controlled rate, with logging tools incorporated into the bottom-hole assembly, a relatively short distance (tens of meters) behind the drill bit. Log data are acquired very soon after the hole is cut to provide the best possible data quality. LWD operational and science data are crucial for optimizing subsequent Stage 1 expeditions and future drilling stages.
The current NanTroSEIZE expedition is led by co-chief scientist Harold Tobin, a marine geologist on the faculty of University of Wisconsin-Madison, and co-chief scientist Masa Kinoshita, a marine geophysicist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), a leading research institution in Japan.
"A fundamental goal of the NanTroSEIZE expedition," says Dr. Tobin, "is to put long-term monitoring instruments down inside the earthquake fault, so we can look at the physics of the fault process. We will be able to determine whether earthquakes actually have precursory signals – things that happen before the earthquakes – we can measure that will provide early warning systems for people on land."
Co-chief scientist Dr. Kinoshita explains that to people in Japan, earthquakes and tsunamis are serious matters. "Consequently, it is logical and relatively easy to excavate into the earthquake source to learn about its mechanism," he says. The NanTroSEIZE science party will excavate 6,000 meters below the 2,000-meter deep oceanic bottom to meet the expedition's scientific objectives.
Prior to its role in NanTroSEIZE, the Chikyu underwent a full schedule of systems integration testing near Shimokita Peninsula and in-situ testing of its drilling, coring and navigation systems. Sea trials for the custom-built drilling vessel began in 2005, and concluded more than two years later. The Chikyu is the first riser-equipped scientific research vessel in the world.
Its high-tech laboratories are specifically designed for core retrieval, description and analysis. Complex data sets are assembled onboard and entered into a vast IODP database. Daily and weekly logs are posted online from the ship for access by a global community of research scientists eager to glean news of these groundbreaking investigations.
Stage 1 NanTroSEIZE expeditions are managed by JAMSTEC's Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX) on behalf of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an international marine research program dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of Earth by monitoring and sampling subseafloor environments.
IODP has operated since 2003, extending the research legacies of the previous Ocean Drilling Program and the Deep Sea Drilling Project.