Tracking Tsunamigenic Slip Across the Japan Trench (JTRACK) (Expedition 405)

Summary from the Scientific Prospectus: The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded and was accompanied by a devastating tsunami. Slip during the earthquake was exceptionally large at shallow depth on the plate boundary fault, which was one of the primary factors that contributed to the extreme tsunami amplitudes that inundated the coast of Japan. International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 405 aims to investigate the conditions and processes that facilitated the extremely shallow slip on the subduction interface in the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Proposed work includes coring and logging operations at two sites in a transect across the trench. The first site, located within the overriding plate, will access the fault zone in the region of large shallow slip, targeting the plate boundary décollement, overlying frontal prism, and subducted units cut by the décollement. The second site, located on the Pacific plate, will access the undisturbed sedimentary and volcanic inputs to the subduction zone. A borehole observatory will be installed into the décollement and surrounding rocks to provide measurements of the temperature in and around the fault over the following several years. Sampling, geophysical logs, and the observatory temperature time series will document the compositional, structural, mechanical, and frictional properties of the rocks in the décollement and adjacent country rock, as well as the hydrogeologic structure and pore fluid pressure of the fault zone and frontal prism—key properties that influence the effective stress to facilitate earthquake slip and potential for large slip. Results from Expedition 405 will address fundamental questions about earthquake slip on subduction zones that may directly inform earthquake and tsunami hazard assessments around the world.

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.

• Japan's Deep-Sea Vessel Digs for Answers to 2011 Earthquake, The Japan Times
• Lost City's Plumbing Exposed by the Longest Mantle Core Ever Drilled, Eos
• Dismantling the Ship that Drilled for the Ocean's Deepest Secrets, New York Times
• Scientists Drill Deeper Into Earth's Mantle Than Ever Before, Probing for the Origin of Life on Earth, Smithsonian Magazine
• Ship Brings Rocky Clues to Life's Origins Up from Ocean's Lost City, New York Times
• Deepest-ever Samples of Rock from Earth's Mantle Unveiled, Nature
• What Will Happen If This Iconic Research Vessel Stops Drilling in the Deep Sea?, Smithsonian Magazine
• Svalbard: The Last Hunt for the Future, Oceanographic
• 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: September 2024)

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003-2013)

Ocean Drilling Program (1985-2003)

Deep Sea Drilling Project (1968-1983)

Last updated August 9, 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