Apply to Sail: Expedition 389 Hawaiian Drowned Reefs
The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is now accepting applications for scientific participants on Expedition 389 Hawaiian Drowned Reefs, aboard a Mission-Specific Platform (MSP) provided by the ECORD Science Operator. To learn more about the scientific objectives of this expedition, life at sea, and how to apply to sail, you can view a recorded informational webinar from 31 October 2018 (click here to access).
The overall goal of the Expedition 389 drilling campaign is to sample a unique succession of drowned coral reefs around Hawaii now at -134 to -1155 m below sea level. As a direct result of Hawaii’s rapid (2.5- 2.6/kyr) but nearly constant subsidence, a thick (100-200 m) expanded sequence of shallow coral reef dominated facies is preserved within the reefs. These reefs span important periods in Earth climate history, either not available or highly condensed on stable (Great Barrier Reef, Tahiti) and uplifted margins (Papua New Guinea, Barbados) due to a lack of accommodation space and/or unfavorable shelf morphology. Specifically, these data show that the reefs grew (for ~90-100 kyrs, albeit episodically) into, during and out of the majority of the last five to six glacial cycles.
Therefore, scientific drilling through these reefs will generate a new record of sea-level and associated climate variability during several controversial and poorly understood periods over the last 500 kyr.
The project has four major objectives:
1) To define the nature of sea level-change in the central Pacific over the last 500 kyr, we will construct a new, more complete sea level curve from the drowned Hawaiian reefs that will allow: a) more detailed testing of Milankovitch climate theory predictions and; b) improved constraints on millennial-scale sea-level changes over the last 500 kyr.
2) To identify critical processes that determine paleoclimate variability of the central Pacific over the last 500 kyr, we will: (a) reconstruct the mean and seasonal/interannual climate variability from massive coral samples; and (b) use these records to investigate how high latitude climate (e.g., ice sheet volume), pCO2, and seasonal solar radiation impact subtropical Pacific climate. This approach can be used to test theoretical predictions of climate response and sensitivity to changes in boundary conditions and climate forcing.
3) To establish the geologic and biologic response of coral reef systems to abrupt sea-level and climate changes, we will: (a) establish the detailed stratigraphic and geomorphic evolution of the reefs in response to these changes; (b) test ecologic theories about coral reef resilience and vulnerability to extreme, repeated environmental stress over interglacial/glacial to millennial time scales; and (c) establish the nature of living and ancient microbial communities in the reefs and their role in reef building.
4) To elucidate the subsidence and volcanic history of Hawaii, we will: (a) refine the variation through space and time of the subsidence of Hawaii, and; (b) improve the understanding of the volcanic evolution of the island.
The proposal describing the primary drill sites, as well as up-to-date expedition information, can be found on the ECORD Expedition 389 webpage. Please see http://www.ecord.org/expeditions/msp/ for an overview of Mission Specific Platforms in IODP.
The offshore phase of the expedition is provisionally scheduled for a maximum of 60 days during September-October 2019, with only a subset of the Science Party participating. Offshore activities will focus on core recovery, curation, sampling for ephemeral properties, biostratigraphy, physical properties, preliminary lithostratigraphy (whole core observed at core ends and through plastic liners), and downhole logging. The cores will not be split at sea. Subsequently, an Onshore Science Party (OSP) will be held at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany, starting in mid- to late-January 2020 (exact dates to be confirmed), where the cores will be split. The OSP will be a maximum of 4 weeks long, the exact length dependent on core recovery. All members of the Science Party must attend the Onshore Science Party.
Successful applicants will be invited either as an offshore-onshore participant, or as an onshore- only participant. Please note that there are no opportunities for offshore-only participation.
Opportunities exist for researchers (including graduate students) in all specialties. While other expertise may be considered, specialists in the following fields are required: carbonate sedimentology, corals, sedimentology, paleontology, palynology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, structural geology, paleomagnetics, microbiology, physical properties, geophysics, geodynamics, glacial isostatic adjustment, stratigraphic correlation and downhole logging. For the offshore phase of the expedition, we are particularly looking for the following fields: carbonate sedimentology, corals, sedimentology, paleontology, organic geochemistry, inorganic geochemistry, microbiology, physical properties, and petrophysics/downhole logging.
U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in responding to the special call should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program. The deadline to apply is November 23, 2018.
For questions, please email usssp@ldeo.columbia.edu.