ESCI 1908: Sea change: geological perspectiveR

Java Python ESCI 1908: Sea change: geological perspective

COURSE PROJECT

Paleoceanography  has  been  greatly  influenced  by  three  consecutive  international  drilling programs: the Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP)(1967–1982, Legs 1-96), Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) (1983–2003; Legs  101-210),  and  Integrated Ocean Drilling Program / International Ocean Discovery Program  (IODP)(2003–present;  Expedition  301-378  –  Feb  2020).  Collectively,  these programs have recovered >400 km of sediment and rock cores from below the seafloor in all ocean basins, within 15° of both of the Earth’s poles, and a full range of geological settings. Studies of these cores have contributed greatly to the scientific understanding of Earth history, climate change, plate tectonics, natural resources, natural hazards, the development of life, and the subsurface biosphere.

For this project we will focus on the scientific accomplishments of the Ocean Drilling Program. Two publications were produced for each drilling leg. The Initial Reports, prepared on board ship, provide an introduction to the scientific goals of the leg and the geological setting, a summary of the principal scientific and engineering results, and chapters for each site describing the rock types recovered and other aspects of core (e.g., geochemistry, pore fluid chemistry, structure, microbiology) and borehole (borehole data).  The Scientific Results include a series of peer-reviewed papers that describe the results of shore-based studies related to a leg.

PROJECT:

The goal of this project is to give you practical experience researching a scientific question that was addressed by ocean drilling.   You  will  learn how  marine geologists identify a scientific question that requires drilling, what types of data are required to select a site for drilling, what types of sediments and/or rocks are found in a specific geological environment, and what types of data are collected, both onboard ship and in shore-based labs, to the address the scientific questions posed.

Part I - Selecting Your Research Topic and ODP Leg - select by February 13th (A signup list will be posted on Canvas or e-mail to VP).

The first step is to select a research question (e.g., what was climate like 5 million years ago?) or geological environment (e.g., Pz ocean basin evolution) that interests you.   The next  step is to identify an ODP Leg that recovered the sediment or rock required to address your research question. Here are some tips about how to find a research questions and link your research question to an ODP Leg: browse the ODP Discoveries web site: http://www.odplegacy.org/science_results/highlights.html

-    search a scientific database (e.g., Web of Science) (or a web browser) using keywords from your research question AND “ODP” (e.g., climate AND ODP)

-    OR http://iodp.tamu.edu/search.html

Once you have come up with a list of a few potential legs, make your final selection by looking through the&nb ESCI 1908: Sea change: geological perspectiveR sp;ODP Initial Reports and Scientific Results volumes – these are available in the library and on line at: http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/.

Finally, once you have identified an ODP Leg, you should narrow the scope of your project topic by selecting one drill site.  You may site select a site because it was the deepest hole, had the best recovery, or best addresses your research question.

Note: One or, more commonly, several sites are drilled during an ODP Leg. Each  site is given a number (e.g., 894).  All drill holes spudded in within ~ 1 km radius of each other are considered to be the same site; each hole is given the same site number followed by a letter designation (e.g., Hole 894G).

Do not select IODP Expedition 302 ACEX, as it will be used as an example by the instructor.

Part II - Background on Drilling Leg - due March 12

(10%) Using the Initial Report volume for your selected Leg, prepare a one-page (singe- spaced, 1-2 figures only) background sheet for one or more sites. Include:

(i) A summary of the scientific goals of the drilling leg.

(ii) Description of one or more site – include what site survey data were used to select the site(s). Be sure to include site location, lithology and geological age.

(iii)  Summary of the principal results for one or more  site – as reported in the Initial Results volume.

Note: no other source of information is required.

Part III - Scientific Results /Presentation - A PDF file of your presentation should be submitted to Dr. Pospelova by 6 pm, one day prior to your presentation day. Presentation days are April 16th and 23rd.

Select an aspect of the scientific results that you find interesting.   For  example,  for  a  gas hydrate site, you may focus on the depositional history of the sedimentary rocks, geochemistry of the sediments or pore fluids, correlation of borehole physical properties (or not) with regional geophysical data, microbiology, etc. For a paleoclimate site, you could study the microfossil assemblages used to determine the chronology of the cores, microfossil assemblages and their chemistry used to deduce environmental conditions, or the depositional history of the sedimentary rocks.

Using the Web of Science database (available on the UMN library web site), find  1-2 journal articles that either directly address or refer to an aspect of your selected scientific theme (e.g., Late Quaternary climate change).

(90%) Make a 10 minute presentation highlighting the goals and results of your selected leg. Provide a synthesis of the published results that demonstrates that you understand the concepts being tested using these journal articles, as well as those found in the Scientific Results. Explain methods that were used to generate these results. Make sure that you integrate the results reported by different sources