North Atlantic Drilling for Climate Dynamics: Filling the Oligo-Mio-Pliocene Gap in the North Atlantic
September 15-17, 2014 – Heidelberg, Germany
Convener: Bradley Opdyke, Oliver Friedrich, Paul Wilson, Richard Norris
Overview
This workshop aimed to bring together specialists from various fields in order to develop a drilling proposal to fill the “Oligo-Miocene Gap” that exists in our understanding of the function of Earth’s systems. It is planned to establish the first continuous high-deposition record of the Oligo-Miocene through new International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) drilling in the North Atlantic to allow the development of a continuous Neogene cyclostratigraphy and to enhance our knowledge of Oligo-Miocene ocean-ice-climate dynamics. In order to achieve these goals, a workshop was held in Heidelberg from 15-17 September 2014 funded by ESF (EARTHTIME EU), NSF, and the ECORD MagellanPlus Workshop Series Program. 24 participants from six different countries (Australia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States) attended the workshop, including several early-stage researchers. The group discussed certain aspects of Cenozoic paleoceanography and paleoclimate and how the gaps in the Oligo-Miocene could be filled using scientific drilling. The ultimate goal of the workshop (to submit a pre-proposal to IODP) was targeted by presentations on the first day followed by self-selected breakout groups that discussed different topics and produced text and figures for the proposal. The workshop produced IODP 874-pre, a drilling proposal submitted to IODP review panels in October 2014. The development of a full proposal was recommended by the Science Evaluation Panel based on the evaluation of the proposal in January 2015.
Convenors
Oliver Friedrich, University of Heidelberg
Richard Norris, University of California, San Diego
Bradley Opdyke, Australian National University
Paul Wilson, University of Southampton
