Eastern Fram Strait Paleo-Archive (Expedition 403)

Summary from the Scientific Prospectus: The Fram Strait is a special gateway for ocean currents to flow between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The northward flowing current system plays important roles in regional and global climate change because of the heat, salt, and moisture it brings to the Arctic region, which influence the formation and melting of ice sheets and sea ice, as well as the overturning circulation of the ocean itself. Thick deposits of ocean sediments (sediment drifts) have accumulated over millions of years under the effect of the warm current flowing along the seafloor in the eastern Fram Strait. Shaped by the bottom current, and fed by the input of marine biological activity and sediments delivered by advancing and retreating glaciers on the nearby continental margin, sediment drifts contain the record of the past (paleo) oceanographic and climatic changes that occurred over millions of years. The dynamic history of ocean-ice interactions during global climate transitions, such as the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, and past periods of rapid warming and higher CO2 levels than today can be reconstructed from the detailed record contained in these sediment drifts. These paleoclimate data are valuable for groundtruthing climate models of projected future CO2, temperature, and ice sheet stability.

Below is a sample of recent articles featuring IODP expeditions, samples, data, or related research. Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request to post an article on this page. Journalists and communication professionals are encouraged to speak with the program's Media Contacts for photos or others resources.

• The JOIDES Resolution Embarks on Its Final Expedition, Eos
• How Earth's Most Powerful Ocean Current Changed Over the Post 5.3 Million Years, Cosmos
• Sea Changes for Scientific Ocean Drilling, Physics Today
• Scientists Find Evidence of Eruption that is Rewriting ‘Santorini’s Geological History’, eKathimerini
• China's First Homegrown Ocean Drillship Completes Trial Voyage, Global Times
• Supervolcano 'Megabeds' Discovered at Bottom of Sea Point to Catastrophic Events in Europe Every 10,000 to 15,000 Years, Live Science
• There is No JOIDES in Mudville, Eos
• Marine Sediments Reveal Past Climate Responses to CO2 Changes, Eos
• Scientists Drill into Earth's Crust, Gather Historic Samples of Mantle, USA Today
• In a Geologic Triumph, Scientists Drill a Window into Earth's Mantle, Washington Post
• At Long Last, Ocean DrillersExhume a Bounty of Rocks from Earth’s Mantle, Science
• The Classic Mediterranean Vacation Spot That Sits Over a Live Volcano, CNN
• Drilling for Earth's Climate Secrets Buried under the Sea, WHYY
• Ocean-drilling Ship that Revolutionized Earth Science Due to Retire, Nature
• Drilling Deeper into Ocean Floor in Search for Origins of Life, Wall Street Journal
• Smithsonian Scientists Unearth Signs of an Ancient Climate Calamity Buried Beneath the Seafloor, Smithsonian Voices
• Pliocene-Like Monsoons are Returning to the American Southwest, Wired
• Analysing Ancient Marine DNA in Antarctic Sediments, Tasmanian Times
• Japan's Next Great Earthquake Probed by Deepest-Ever Scientific Ocean Drilling, Engineering and Technology
• Deep Drilling Offers Clues to Japan's Next Big Earthquake, Futurity
• How the Tibetan Uplift Affects Evolution of Westerly Circulation, phys.org
• Seabed Core Samples Could Reveal Links Between Climate and Hundreds of Thousands of Years of Eruptions, Earthquakes, Stuff
• Could Earth Scientists Create Their Own Equivalent to the James Webb Space Telescope?, Discover Magazine
• Stretching of the Continents Drove Ancient Global Warming Event, Phys.org
• An Ambitious Vision for the Future of Scientific Ocean Drilling, Eos
• Research Leads to Deeper Understanding of Ocean Currents, NSF Research News
• India's Monsoon is Unique - It's an Enormous Movement of Water and Energy Across Earth, The Times of India
• Million-Year Study Shows Warming Will Make Indian Monsoons More Extreme Says Geoscientist Kaustubh Thirumalai, The Times of India
• A Million Years of Data Confirms: Monsoons Are Likely to Get Worse, New York Times
• Science Drill Ship Sets Depth Record Off Japan, BBC
• Climate Change: A Small Green Rock's Warning About Our Future, BBC
• How an Ill-fated Undersea Adventure in the 1960s Changed the Way Scientists see the Earth, Vox
• Tracking Past Earthquakes Along the Japan Trench, EurekaAlert (AAAS)
• 100 Million Year Old Seafloor Sediment Bacteria Have Been Resuscitated, Scientific American
• Space dust found in Chicxulub crater confirms asteroid’s dinosaur-killing role, Imperial College London
• Tracking Arctic climate change from a Greenhouse to an Icehouse world, EurekaAlert (AAAS)
• Scientists solve a major climate mystery, Space.com
• Paleoclimate puzzle explained by seasonal variation, Nature
• Will warming bring a change in the winds? Dust from the deep sea provides a clue, NSF Research News
• Life in the Chicxulub Crater years after it was formed, AGU Advances
• How hot is too hot for life deep below the ocean floor? EurekaAlert (AAAS)
• Microbial diversity below seafloor is as rich as on Earth's surface, URI Today
• The mission to drill through Earth's crust, CNN World

International Ocean Discovery Program (2013-2024)

(last updated: April 2024)

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003-2013)

Ocean Drilling Program (1985-2003)

Deep Sea Drilling Project (1968-1983)

Last updated June 4, 2024

Completed Expeditions (2014-2024)

Expeditions from previous scientific ocean drilling programs:

• Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions (2003-2013)
• Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions (Leg Summaries) (1985-2003)
• Comparative Statistics from ocean drilling programs