EXPLORING EARTHBY SCIENTIFIC OCEAN DRILLING

2050 SCIENCE
FRAMEWORK
SummaryaWho We Are
We are an international scientific community
pioneering global-scale interdisciplinary research below
the seafloor of the world ocean. WE RESEARCH theprocesses that connect the solid Earth, ocean, life, climate,and society. WE EXPLORE the interconnected Earth inplaces that can only be accessed and understood throughscientific ocean drilling. WE TRAVERSE TIME to reveal
the many interactions that shaped Earth’s geologic past
to illuminate our future. WE COMMUNICATE knowledge gained through scientific ocean drilling to
the global community.

bScientific Ocean Drilling Through 2050
Two hundred million years of Earth history are locked in sediments and rocks beneath the world
ocean. Scientific ocean drilling provides access to this archive, allowing scientists to examine the interconnected processes that characterize the complex Earth system. It furnishes critical details about
geologic processes as well as natural hazards that pose risks to society. Analyses of samples recoveredby scientific ocean drilling establish the geologic context for interpreting human impact on climate
and the environment, providing the data needed to improve the accuracy of computer models thatpredict the pace of rising sea levels and the melting of polar and glacial ice. Sampling and analyses alsooffer glimpses of the types of microbial life that might exist elsewhere in our solar system and beyond.
The 2050 Science Framework guides scientists on important research frontiers that scientific ocean
drilling should pursue. Seven Strategic Objectives focus on understanding the interconnections within
the Earth system. Five Flagship Initiatives integrate these objectives into long-term research efforts
that address issues facing society. Four Enabling Elements advance the goals of scientific ocean drillingthrough broader impacts and outreach initiatives, partnerships, collaborations, continued technology
development, and innovative applications of advanced data analytics.

The 2050 Science Framework Structure

ENDURING PRINCIPLESOpen access to samples and data. Standard measurements. Bottom-up proposal submissions and peer review.
Transparent regional planning. Promoting safety and success through site characterization.
Regular framework assessments. Collaborative and inclusive international program. Enhancing diversity.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVESFLAGSHIP INITIATIVESENABLING ELEMENTS

Broad areas of scientific inquiry
that focus on understanding theinterconnected Earth system.

Long-term drilling endeavors that
aim to inform issues of particularinterest to society, typicallycombining goals from multiple
Strategic Objectives.

Key facets of scientific ocean drillingthat facilitate our research activities,
enhance our scientific outputs, andmaximize their impact.

1

THE OCEANIC LIFE CYCLEOF TECTONIC PLATESHABITABILITY AND
LIFE ON EARTH
Defining the conditions for, andthe role of, life in the marine realm.
Understanding what makes our planet
habitable, and where and how life originated and evolved, requires knowledge of the complex exchanges that
occur between the subseafloor biosphere, Earth’s crust, and atmosphere.

Investigating the genesis,
aging, motion, and destructionof oceanic plates.
Sampling Earth’s oceanic crust at different ages globally provides insight
into the processes that govern theoccurrence of earthquakes, tsunamis,
and volcanoes and the global cyclingof energy and matter that produces
critical economic resources and makes
Earth’s surface habitable.

EARTH’S CLIMATE SYSTEM
Unraveling ice sheet history,
sea level changes, andocean-atmosphere interactions.
Comprehending how Earth’s climate
system operates requires documenting
the onset, interconnectivity, and resilience of potentially vulnerable components of the system, including global
ocean circulation, sea ice and large
Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, and patterns of precipitation and aridity.

FEEDBACKS IN THE
EARTH SYSTEMSTRATEGICOBJECTIVES

Analyzing the sedimentary record of
past hazardous events and installing
subseafloor observatories to monitor
conditions before, during, and after
modern events, illuminate the subseafloor conditions that influence hazardous events, the mechanisms that
control their recurrence and timing,and the likelihood that they will occur
in the future.

2

Investigating Earth system feedbacks that have resulted in therepeated reconfiguring of continents, climate alternating between
hot and cold extremes, and theevolution of vastly different plants
and animals at different periods
provides insight into our planet’s
processes and responses over time.

TIPPING POINTS IN
EARTH’S HISTORY

NATURAL HAZARDSIMPACTING SOCIETY
Understanding natural hazards inthe marine environment.

Constraining the processes
that regulate or destabilize theEarth system.

GLOBAL CYCLES OF
ENERGY AND MATTER
Determining the role,mechanisms, and magnitude ofEarth system cycles.
Examining energy, chemical, nutrient,and fluid exchanges between Earth’s
sediments and rocks, ocean, atmosphere, and life reveals how global
cycles moderate Earth’s climate, form
natural resources, and control the
long-term evolution of life.

Using Earth’s geological past
to illuminate futureenvironmental change.
Studying critical environmental thresholds in Earth history that led to rapidtransitions into much warmer or colder
states provides the information needed
to evaluate the rates and consequencesof today’s changing climate.

FLAGSHIP
INITIATIVESGROUND TRUTHING FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE
Predicting how the Earth system will respond to increasing global temperatures is oneof the greatest challenges facing geoscientists. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations havealready exceeded 410 ppm in 2020 and, without action to reduce anthropogenic CO2
emissions, could surpass 900 ppm by 2100. Paleoclimate data collected through scientific ocean drilling established that atmospheric CO2 last exceeded 410 ppm morethan 3 million years ago. Values approaching 900 ppm were only realized during the
hot “greenhouse” climate that existed ~50 million years ago. Numerical climate andEarth system models are used to simulate Earth’s response to projected increases inatmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Model projections can provide information about shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns and rising sea levels that can beused in the design of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Scientific ocean drillingprovides the robust baseline data on global climate evolution over extended geologic
time periods that are critical for improving climate model performance.
Scientific ocean drilling will:• Provide information about the ocean’s response to past natural
climate variability to help improve models that predict
future change.

• Assemble paleoclimate records from globally
distributed sites in the ocean to identify whichparts of the climate system are most susceptible to abrupt and irreversible change.

• Compare past and modern records ofclimate variability to help identify
where human inputs are mostinfluencing Earth’s climate system.

• Improve the accuracy of modelsof global and regional sea levelchanges by probing how
the deep Earth cools down
and how different mantle
material gets redistributed.

3

PROBING THE DEEP EARTH
Scientific ocean drilling has long aspired to penetrate deep
into Earth’s oceanic crust and its underlying mantle. Since theMohorovičić seismic discontinuity (“Moho”) was postulated
in 1909, geoscientists have been unable to confirm that it
forms the fundamental boundary between Earth’s crust—oceanic or continental—and mantle and if it varies globally.
Understanding the nature of this seismic boundary in Earth’s
overall structure is fundamental, as Earth is the only solar system planet on which new oceanic crust is created in response
to mantle upwelling and convection. New multidecadal
scientific ocean drilling strategies seek to employ emerging
drilling, coring, logging, and monitoring technologies toprobe the deep Earth and finally reach the upper mantle. This
deep drilling will lead to a better understanding of Earth’s
formation and evolution; the nature of Earth’s deep interior
and its geodynamic behavior; the interrelationships between
the deep Earth and geological, biogeochemical, and climate
cycles; and the limits of life.

Scientific ocean drilling will:• Probe deep into the oceanic crust to better
understand its composition and structure
and the nature of the boundary between
oceanic crust and mantle globally.

• Establish the rates, distribution, and significance of fluid exchange in the subseafloor
between sediments, oceanic crust, andupper mantle.

• Examine how global geochemical cycling
and recycling at Earth’s subduction zones
affect the composition of oceanic crust andupper mantle through time.

Intact Sections

Tectonic Window

Understanding the deep Earth can be achieved by a series ofexpeditions that drills a transect of shallower holes through“tectonic windows” or penetrates the full, approximately
6–7 km thick, oceanic crust in one hole.

Peridotite

4

Upper Mantle

Gabbro

Crust

Lavas
Sheeted Dikes

ASSESSING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAZARDS
Undersea earthquakes and associated tsunamis cause someof our planet’s deadliest and costliest natural disasters. The
2011 magnitude 9.0 Tōhoku-oki earthquake and tsunami innorthern Japan took over 15,000 lives, with economic losses
estimated at US$235 billion, making it the most expensive
natural disaster in history. The 2004 magnitude 9.2 SumatraAndaman earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed
more than 230,000 people in 15 countries and caused losses
close to ~US$15 billion. The potential earthquake and tsunami
hazards of many of the world’s coastal zones are poorly known,
as many large events have no historical record due to theirlong recurrence intervals. Advancing our understanding of theearthquake and tsunami potential of tectonic plate boundaries
worldwide through scientific ocean drilling and long-term subseafloor monitoring will enable more reliable forecasts of therisks posed to vulnerable populations and infrastructure andimprove hazard preparedness and response.

Scientific ocean drilling will:• Acquire a comprehensive set of continuous measurements of changes inEarth’s crust over many decades to better
understand the processes leading to theoccurrence of large earthquakes.

• Use the ocean sedimentary record to
document the spatial distribution andfrequency of prehistoric large earthquakes and tsunamis.

• Collect a broad range of physical andchemical measurements from the subseafloor to establish the key factors thattrigger large earthquakes and tsunamis.

5DIAGNOSING OCEAN HEALTH
Ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and risingand falling nutrient levels are causing global changes
in marine ecosystems. Declining ocean health can devastate biodiversity, habitats, productivity, and fisheries,
putting life at risk. Similarly, in the pre-Anthropocene
epochs, periods of rapid global warming and cooling,
ocean deoxygenation and acidification events, as wellas meteorite impacts and episodes of excessive volcanism greatly perturbed ocean ecosystems. The ocean’s
sediment and rock records show how catastrophic environmental changes altered marine ecosystems and foodwebs. Scientific ocean drilling will offer a diagnosis ofocean health through geologic time and inform society
about the expected rates, durations, and magnitudes of
future ocean health deterioration.

6

Scientific ocean drilling will:• Reveal how increased rates of change in ocean
temperature and acidification affect marine
ecosystems and establish the mechanisms andtimeframes of adaptation and recovery.

• Establish how future climate change and excessive nutrient inputs may affect oxygen availability in the ocean and the magnitude andextent of the resulting ecological responses.

• Explore changes in ecosystem functioning in
the geologic past to provide insight into how
impaired, transformed, and potentially new
ecosystems will respond to future warming.

EXPLORING LIFE AND ITS ORIGINS
Marine sediments and oceanic crust host a complex, active, globe-spanning ecosystem in whichmicroorganisms live, interact, evolve, and die.
Microbiologists know little about the featuresand strategies that enable deep life to persist
in these geologic habitats, what communities
form under these extremely energy-limited conditions, and what geochemical and biochemical processes create their novel biosignatures.
Sustained scientific ocean drilling is required tosample and monitor a representative range ofEarth’s diverse subseafloor environments andthe multitude of microbial communities thatthey inhabit in Earth’s interior.

Scientific ocean drilling will:• Provide samples that will help elucidate the rules oflife for microbes that persist in a range of sedimentary
regimes and rock environments beneath the seafloor.

• Access the subseafloor in diverse environments to reachthe depths at which life is no longer able to survive.

• Provide insight into the potential adaptations of primordial life, the constraints under which it evolved, andhence the origins of life on Earth.

• Establish what life might look like in analogous environments on other worlds and what new organisms andfunctions reside in Earth’s subseafloor that might prove
useful in biotechnology.

Seamounts
Subduction Zones

Oceanic Crust

Scientific ocean drilling has provided samples from different subseafloor environments that harbor microbes, forexample, subduction zones where large earthquakes occur,
extinct undersea volcanoes or “seamounts,” and oceanic
crust near mid-ocean ridges.

7

ENABLING
ELEMENTSLAND TO SEABROADER IMPACTS AND OUTREACH
Scientific ocean drilling contributes vital data for
improving climate models, advancing earthquake
knowledge, and assessing the possibility of life onother worlds. Over the last 50 years, it has facilitatedglobal collaboration in science that has resulted inenduring cross-disciplinary partnerships in scienceand engineering. By providing opportunities for adiverse population of early career scientists, graduate
students, undergraduates, and educators to work
alongside international teams of experienced scientists and engineers, scientific ocean drilling willremain a preeminent scientific and technical training
ground. Communicating about the scientific process
and sharing data and results from this international
collaboration are essential for developing a scientifically literate global citizenry. Broader impact andoutreach efforts will be designed to support
educators and inform and inspire the public
to be better stewards of our planet.

8

Our multidisciplinary science does not stop at theshoreline. Strengthened collaborations between theocean and land scientific drilling communities will
advance their closely allied objective to establish
the underlying causes of earthquakes, tsunamis, andexplosive volcanism. Land-to-sea drilling collaborations will also enhance investigations of the connections between plate tectonics, Earth’s climate system,
ecosystems, life and habitability, sea level change, andsubseafloor freshwater flow beneath the coastline.

TERRESTRIAL TO
EXTRATERRESTRIAL
Space agencies around the globe aim to expand
knowledge of Earth and other worlds in our solar
system. Through space exploration, humankind
aspires to discover the fundamental physical laws of
the universe, decipher the conditions required forplanetary formation and evolution, and, ultimately,
unravel the origin of the universe and life. Scientificocean drilling’s investigations into Earth’s structure,magnetic field, and volcanism, the requirements forplanetary habitability, and the limits of life promotethese goals. Collaboration between space agencies
and scientific ocean drilling will benefit efforts tobetter understand planetary evolution, evaluate thepotential for indigenous life elsewhere in the universe,
and assess the risks posed by extraterrestrial impacts.
Earth’s ocean basins provide a reference frame for
exploring challenging environments and offer a natural laboratory for testing remote and space exploration robotic technologies.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
AND BIG DATA ANALYTICS
Scientific progress requires continuous advancesin the technology used to obtain samples and data
and the tools used to analyze them. Developments
in drilling, coring, logging, and observatory technologies are needed to establish more accurately
how the Earth system responded to and recoveredfrom past rapid environmental perturbations. They
are also needed to continuously measure activity inzones where large earthquakes initiate and to collectpristine samples of microbes that survive under
extreme conditions. Innovations in analytical tools
and techniques will maximize the scientific potential
of existing and future sediment and rock samples.
Scientific advancements also depend on the cyberinfrastructure to store, process, analyze, and model
the resultant large data sets and diverse data types
and integrate them with information gathered byother programs and disciplines.

9About the 2050 SCIENCE FRAMEWORKCITATION. Koppers, A.A.P., and R. Coggon, eds. 2020. Exploring
Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling: 2050 Science Framework. 124 pp.,https://doi.org/10.6075/J0W66J9H.
LEAD EDITORS. Anthony Koppers and Rosalind Coggon
AUTHORS. Cara Burberry, Steve D’Hondt, Sarah Feakins,
Marguerite Godard, Patrick Fulton, Kliti Grice, Patrick Grunert,
Chris Lowery, Katsuyoshi Michibayashi, Ken Miller, Rob McKay,
Antony Morris, Richard Norris, Matt O’Regan, Anais Pages,
Ross Parnell-Turner, Brian Romans, and Laura Wallace

COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT. Australia,
Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom,and United States of America
EDITING AND DESIGN. Ellen Kappel and Johanna Adams,
Geo Prose

Get the full report at
https://doi.org/10.6075/J0W66J9HIMAGE CREDITSFRONT COVER. Microbes: Jason Sylvan, Texas A&M University. Hydrothermal Vent: MARUM − Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften,
Universität Bremen (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/). Hurricane Damage: iStock.com/skrum. Coral Reef: iStock.com/
xrender. Desert: iStock.com/gorsh13. Glacier: iStock.com/Bernhard_
Staehli. Volcano: iStock.com/KalypsoWorldPhotography. Earth Image:https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/etopo1_large.jpg.
FRONT INSIDE COVER. (clockwise from the top)
• Core Description Scientist Jianghong Deng (University of Science andTechnology of China) and Organic Geochemist Olivier Sissmann (IFP
Energies Nouvelles, France) sample a core, International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 366, Mariana Convergent Margin. Credit:
Tim Fulton, IODP/JRSO.
• Sedimentologist Francesca Meneghini (Università degli Studi di Pisa,
Italy), Structural Geologist Heather Savage (Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory [LDEO], Columbia University, USA), Sedimentologist
Hannah Rabinowitz (LDEO, Columbia University, USA), and Structural
Geologist Ake Fagereng (Cardiff University, UK) describe a core during
IODP Expedition 375, Hikurangi Subduction Margin. Credit: Tim Fulton,
IODP/JRSO.
• Enjoying some sunshine during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 318, Wilkes Land Glacial History. Credit: John Beck, IODP/TAMU.
• IODP Expedition 381 Science Party and ECORD Science Operator teamin the Bremen Core Repository. Credit: V. Diekamp, ECORD/IODP.
• Paleontologist Thiago Pereira dos Santos (Universidade Federal
Fluminense, Brazil) works at the sample table, IODP Expedition 361,
South African Climates. Credit: Tim Fulton, IODP/JRSO.

PAGE 3. (top right) Forest fire at night. Credit iStock.com/Byronsdad.
(bottom left) Drone view of flooded neighborhood. Credit iStock.com/
RoschetzkyIstockPhoto.
PAGE 4. Illustration by Antony Morris and Geo Prose.
PAGE 5. (top left) Tsunami devastation in Japan after the 2011 Mw 9.0
Tōhoku-oki earthquake. Credit: iStock.com/enase. (bottom right) Damage
from the 2010 Mw 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Credit: Simon Haberle, Australian
National University.
PAGE 6. (top right) Heart Reef aerial shot taken near Whitsunday islands,
Queensland. Credit: iStock.com/byrneck. (bottom left) Tropical coral reef
off of Nakinyo Island, Myanmar. Credit: iStock.com/Waranya Sawasdee.
PAGE 7. Illustration by Geo Prose, inspired by Figure 4 in D’Hondt
et al. (2019), https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.146. Photo credits:(left) Deep sediments. From Figure 2 in Inagaki et al. (2015), https://doi.org/​
10.1126/science.aaa6882. (middle) Young oceanic crust. From Figure 3 inRamirez et al. (2019), https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01983. (right) Old
oceanic crust. Courtesy of Jason Sylvan, Texas A&M University.
PAGES 8/9. (left) The IODP Bremen Core Repository at MARUM. Image
credit: MARUM − Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften; Universität
Bremen; V. Diekamp. (middle) Copper River Delta glacier runoff flows into
the coastal waters of the Gulf of Alaska. NASA Earth Observatory image
by Robert Simmon and Jesse Allen, using Landsat 8 data from the USGS
Earth Explorer. (right) ECORD Summer School 2016 in Bremen, Germany.
The goal of the summer schools is to train the next generation of scientists. Credit: V. Diekamp, MARUM & IODP.

October 2020