8.1 All Expeditions Advancing Ocean Knowledge
Starting with Glomar Challenger through JOIDES Resolution, and the continuing work of mission-specific platforms, Chikyū, and Meng Xiang, every scientific ocean drilling expedition past and present has advanced our knowledge of the deep sea. Depending upon the scientific objectives, each two-month expedition collected continuous cores, water and microbial samples, and borehole data in every ocean basin across the globe. Starting with a mission of pure discovery, the scientific ocean drilling community shifted its work along the research themes of climate and ocean change, biosphere frontiers, Earth connections, and Earth in motion.
Summaries have been compiled of significant accomplishments and advancements throughout the history of scientific ocean drilling. The following reports and publications are just a few of these works:
- ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) Greatest Hits, Volume 1: 1985-1996 and Volume 2: 1997-2003 (Joint Oceanographic Institutions)
- Scientific Ocean Drilling: Accomplishments and Challenges (National Academies, 2011)
- This video recording is from the 2018 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, when there was a Union Session on Fifty Years of Scientific Ocean Drilling: How the Past Informs the Future.
- Special Issue on Scientific Ocean Drilling: Looking to the Future (Oceanography Magazine, 2019)
- Progress and Priorities in Ocean Drilling: In Search of Earth’s Past and Future (National Academies, 2024)
- One can find additional books published in the popular press about scientific ocean drilling in the Books and Reports section of this OER.
This OER chapter does not necessarily highlight “the” most important and significant discoveries from scientific ocean drilling. Many scientific advancements have been made and will continue to be made from archive material stored in the core repositories. We present here a range of expeditions from regions across the globe to demonstrate to students the role and value of scientific ocean drilling in advancing our knowledge of our planet, not just for scientists but for society as well.
In Summer 2025, the European Petrophysics Consortium (EPC) at University of Leicester (UK) posted on Instagram a slideshow highlighting discoveries made through scientific ocean drilling, and how these discoveries shape how we understand Earth’s past, present, and future.
This OER chapter does not necessarily highlight “the” most important and significant discoveries from scientific ocean drilling. Many scientific advancements have been made and will continue to be made from expeditions on existing drillships and mission-specific platforms, and archive material stored in the core repositories. We present here a range of expeditions from regions across the globe to demonstrate to students the role and value of scientific ocean drilling in advancing our knowledge of our planet, not just for scientists but for society as well.
