IMPACTs from Scientific Ocean Drilling

Please see below for details on each type of impact.

1. Assessing and predicting threats to human society—from tracking the threats from large earthquakes and tsunamis, tipping point behavior in ecosystems and climate, and testing models to understand likely future environmental change on a warmer Earth.
2. Discovering new resources—from evaluating genetic resources and making novel discoveries in the "deep biosphere to assessing the nature and size of energy reserves such as gas hydrates, reservoirs for carbon sequestration in the ocean, and the economic potential of deep sea mineral resources.
3. International leadership—by investing in new technology, science infrastructure and human capital to maintain our leadership in Scientific Ocean Drilling.
4. Capturing public imagination and understanding of Earth—on such topics as the origin of life, the most extreme forms of life, Earth analogs for life on other worlds, an unparalleled view of Earth's past, and where we come from.
5. Training the next generation—increasing diversity in STEM fields and interdisciplinary training in Earth and Life sciences, marine engineering, data architecture and integration, and collaborations with the space sciences.

Read quotes from the 2050 Science Framework that relate to Scientific Ocean Drilling IMPACT, or check out the full 2050 Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling.

Details on Scientific Ocean Drilling IMPACTs

IMPACT--Assessing Threats to Society:

Ocean drilling will enable robust identification of tipping points in Earth's climate system and improve modeling and IPCC assessments of climate sensitivity and direct examples of what a future warmer Earth would be like. Further, by directly instrumenting dangerous marine fault zones worldwide, we can predict the risks to vulnerable populations posed by subduction zone earthquakes and tsunamis for improved hazard preparedness and response.

IMPACT--Discovering New Resources:

By plumbing the most extreme environments on Earth, scientific ocean drilling can discover new organisms and novel biochemistry for geobiotechnology. One of the most commonly used methods in biology today—PCR—was developed with hot spring microbes. What new biology could we discover in the high pressure, high temperature deep ocean? Furthermore, scientific ocean drilling can explore opportunities for submarine CO2 sequestration by inventing improved drilling/ logging technologies. Finally, drilling can assess potentially new Earth resources, such as gas hydrates, Rare Earths, and the nature of deep sea ecosystems exposed to marine mining.

IMPACT--Growing Our International Leadership:

Our present leadership in ocean drilling and the Earth and Space sciences will fade if we do not invest in new technology and research methods ourselves.  Other countries, notably China, are making investments in new drilling platforms and science infrastructure that challenge our leadership. Further, we have set up the system, practices and rules for international collaboration over Earth exploration, data and sample sharing, and publication, but these standards are under threat if we withdraw.

IMPACT--Capturing Public Imagination:

By studying the life that inhabits extreme subseafloor environments, we can understand what primordial life looks like, the constraints under which it evolved, and hence the origin of life on Earth. Collaborations between international space agencies and scientific ocean drilling will assess the potential for life elsewhere in the solar system and beyond to answer one of the greatest scientific questions of all: Is Earth life unique in the universe? Scientific ocean drilling is also a key tool for exploring the environmental context of human origins and unveiling the details of Earth's environmental and geologic history. Further, we can plumb the deep interior of our planet to understand Earth's formation and evolution, tectonics, and interlocking geological, geochemical, and climate cycles. Integration of modern satellite data with historic paleoclimate records from scientific ocean drilling will be a powerful new approach to understanding Earth's interconnected processes today and climate evolution into the future.

IMPACT--Training the Next Generation:

Scientific ocean drilling is a preeminent training ground for the next generation of Earth scientists, and capitalizes on its international, cross-disciplinary community to advance participation of traditionally underrepresented groups. Using a variety of social media and web-based platforms, the excitement of exploration ad new insights on our planet are broadly disseminated to educators, policymakers, and the public, securing scientific ocean drilling's position as the authoritative source of information about the Earth system.