U.S. Scientific Ocean Drilling

10/16/2026

The second call to participate in Expedition 501: New England Shelf Hydrogeology is now open, inviting scientists to explore offshore freshened groundwater systems and their geological, geochemical, and microbiological processes.

Research opportunities include glacial sedimentology, paleoclimate, stratigraphic correlation, basin analysis, and innovative geochronological methods.

📅 Application deadline: 13 November 2026
🔗 Learn more and apply:
https://iodp3.org/second-call-to-participate-501/

10/12/2026

SODCO and the GCR are in Denver this week for GSA Connects! If you’re at the conference, find us in the Exhibit Hall under the Triassic banner. Hear about the latest in scientific ocean drilling, grab some giveaways, and tell us what you’re up to at the conference.

Exhibit Hall hours:
Monday, 10/12 – 10am–6:30pm
Tuesday, 10/13 – 10am–6:30pm
Wednesday, 10/14 – 10am–2:00pm

10/07/2026

A new paper in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology describes the primary sources of sediment input to the Iberian Margin.

IODP Expedition 397 drilled into the Iberian Margin off the coast of Portugal to access a remarkably detailed climate record buried beneath the seafloor. This region receives sediments from multiple sources, leading to high accumulation rates. This creates a rich record, but it also makes it difficult to identify the original source of the sediment.

Focusing on the last 250 thousand years, the new study integrated clay mineralogy, grain-size data, and end-member modeling to distinguish between different possible sources. The authors identified three major sources: Iberian sediments delivered by river, North African dust delivered by wind, and particulate material from the Mediterranean Sea delivered by ocean currents. African dust appears to have been the dominant source, but its relative contribution varied with climate conditions linked to North African humidity and wind patterns.

Find the paper at https://doi.org/10.1029/2026PA005431

📷 Carlos Alvarez Zarikian, IODP JRSO & Sandra Herrmann, IODP JRSO

09/30/2026

Is your life missing a comic book about scientific ocean drilling? Not anymore!

On joidesresolution.org, you can find free PDF downloads of books that have been produced from IODP’s education and outreach efforts. Come for the comics, stay for the poetry, beautiful illustrations, and photographs.

The collection includes books for elementary and middle grade kids, as well as high schoolers and adults. Suggested audiences and background information can be found on the website. Visit joidesresolution.org/node2998/.

09/25/2026

The 2026 AGU Honors recipients have been released, and we are impressed with the representation from the scientific ocean drilling community!

Among the 2026 AGU Honorees are those who have sailed as co-chief scientists, science team members, and outreach officers, who have completed Schlanger Fellowships, and who have led SciOD educational programming. Several have advised the SciOD community on committees like JRFB, USAC, and the new SODCO Advisory Board. We are pleased to see AGU recognize their scientific and professional accomplishments with Awards, Prizes, Lectures, Medals, and Fellowships.

Congratulations to the 2026 AGU Honorees!

View the AGU Honors announcement: https://www.agu.org/honors-home/announcement

09/22/2026

A recent study of IODP Expedition 402 cores examined the process of mantle exhumation, when deep mantle rocks move upward toward the seafloor.

Expedition 402 drilled into continental margin in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the west of Italy. Because this ocean basin is relatively young, mantle rocks that were uplifted during its formation are more accessible, offering rare insights into mantle processes.

In this study, scientists focused on granitic intrusions, analyzing when and under what conditions granite crystallized and what role this had in the rapid pace of mantle exhumation. Read the paper in Science: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec6950

📷 Tiffany Liao, IODP JRSO (left) and Xiangyu Zhao & IODP (right)

09/16/2026

The AGU Distinguished Lecturer series is accepting requests to engage a speaker. The program connects AGU Honorees with students and scholars through live lectures. Lectures explore grand challenges and societal impacts in each AGU Section.

The 2026-27 series includes Tim Druitt, co-chief on IODP Expedition 398. The lecture, “Fire in the sea. Exploring the offshore realm of highly explosive island volcanoes” will report on efforts to answer fundamental questions on volcanic activity using IODP and other data. Learn more about Tim Druitt: https://connect.agu.org/collegeoffellows/committees/speakerseries/meet-the-lecturers/tim-druitt

Learn more about the AGU Lecture Series:

The Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS) program is a free lecture series developed by the AGU College of Fellows (COF) to connect AGU Honorees with students and scholars from across the globe through live, virtual or in-person lectures. The lectures provide a high-level synthesis of specific fields f...

09/14/2026

A recent Ocean Networks Canada expedition to the Cascadia Basin caught sight of multiple octopuses lounging on CORKs, subseafloor borehole observatories. The CORKs were installed during IODP Expedition 327 in 2010.

CORKs (Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kits) are used to collect long-term measurements from drill holes. Sealing off the hole from the ocean, CORKs can measure borehole pressure and temperature as well collect subseafloor fluid and microbiology samples. These long-term observations allow time for boreholes to recover from drilling disturbances so scientists can understand their natural state.

CORKs are an important tool for subseafloor research––and as a bonus, provide resting spots for octopuses!

📷 Stills from the ONC Summer 2026 Expedition Leg 2 Dive Log, and the same CORKs before deployment in 2010. Spot the “Octopus parking only” message!

Exp 327 photo credits to William Crawford, IODP/TAMU and Katerina Petronotis, IODP/TAMU.

09/10/2026

The 2025-26 Schlanger Fellows recently presented their research at the SODCO Advisory Board meeting. Congratulations to Yangzhuang Li, Halima Ibrahim, Batoul Saad, Milena Rodriguez-Pilco, Rachael Gray, Molly Robinson, and Amy Hagen.

SODCO is excited to resume the Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship for the 2027-28 academic year. If you're a graduate student with an idea for a research project using scientific ocean drilling data, look out for a call for proposals this fall.

More details about the fellowship program and application process will be announced soon.

09/08/2026

⚓️ Sailing opportunity for students!

US GO-SHIP is accepting applications from students to participate in an upcoming re-occupation of a central Pacific meridional hydrographic transect aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson.

The cruise has two legs. The first will cover the southern portion of the transect, from New Zealand to Tahiti, and take place between January and March 2027. The second will cover the central portion of the transect, from Tahiti to Hawaii, and take place between March and April 2027.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with review beginning September 21, 2026. Learn more: https://usgoship.ucsd.edu/2026/08/27/p16s-c-student-cruise-opportunity-review-begins-9-21-26/.

US GO-SHIP is part of the international GO-SHIP network, which aims to develop a globally coordinated ocean observation network.