“Core on deck!” The End of SODV and the Return of the JOIDES Resolution as the IODP Riserless Vessel

Abstract

In February 2009, after a 3-year operational hiatus in order to undergo a major retrofit, the JOIDES Resolution (or simply the JR, as it has been called since 1985) reverberated with the trademark phrase, “Core on deck!”. For the crew and technical staff aboard during the JR’s sea trials cruise in January–February 2009, it brought shouts of joy and tears of relief from years of rebuilding the JR in a Singapore shipyard, and a realization that we were “really” going back to carrying out international expeditions. But what does the phrase mean to marine geoscientists around the world?For most scientists, it means that one of the only tools to explore sediments and rocks in the deep sub-seafloor throughout the world’s oceans is finally available again. This unique research facility is our community’s equivalent to the Hubble telescope and provides the access we need to the deep ocean. Accumulating an impressive array of accomplishments, the JR (Fig. 1) has served as the sole scientificdrilling vessel for the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP, 1985–2003) and for the initial phase of riserless drilling for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP, 2003–2006). Over 120 expeditions since 1985 have retrieved samples encompassing a latitudinal range from 80.5°N to 70.8°S, a water depth range from 85 m to nearly 6000 m, sub-bottomdepths as deep as 2.1 km, and a total depth range (water depth plus penetration) over 6.9 km.

Keywords

• JOIDES Resolutoiin