Earth, Oceans and Life

— Scientific investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and New Technologies —

An Initial Science Plan (ISP) provides essential guidance and a fundamental framework for the operation and evaluation of scientific programs and defines the goals crucial to success. The ISP for IODP, "Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and New Technologies," was formulated from 1997 to 2001 by participation of an international community of scientists sharing scientific goals, challenging each other's imaginations and proposing innovative approaches to both new and long standing questions about the Earth. The ISP organizes IODP research into themes focusing on major Earth processes, encouraging specialists to broaden their proposals and collaborate with colleagues to maximize the scientific impact of each expedition. The ISP focuses on the three themes:

• The deep biosphere and the subseafloor ocean
• Environmental change, processes and effects
• Solid earth cycles and geodynamics.

Initial Science Plan (3.12 MB)

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