IODP Expedition 359 (MALDIVES MONSOON) – October to November 2015

        The Maldives Monsoon expedition (IODP Proposal 820-Full) will investigate Neogene Indian Ocean environmental change and the onset of the modern carbonate depositional system driven by fluctuations in sea level and ocean currents. Seven sites will be drilled across the Maldives carbonate system to obtain sediments from the inner-platform to the continental slope including drifts deposits. These will (1) document environmental changes in the Maldives and place the Maldives current system into the larger scale ocean current framework during Neogene global cooling and monsoon evolution, (2) determine the onset of the modern depositional system, and (3) constrain the pre- to post-drowning evolution of the carbonate bank by linking existing seismic stratigraphic and the new sedimentary records.

        This expedition will also core one site along the western Indian continental margin (IODP Proposal 849-APL) to obtain a Paleocene-Holocene sedimentary sequence within the proximal core region of summer monsoon precipitation to reconstruct the pre-monsoonal and monsoonal ocean salinity, and erosion, weathering and run-off in the Eastern Arabian Sea.

        IODP Expedition 360 (INDIAN RIDGE MOHO) – December 2015 to January 2016

        The Indian Ridge Moho Expedition, the first of a two expedition program based on IODP Proposal 800-Full, will initiate drilling through the Atlantis Bank gabbroic massif 500 m into mantle near ODP Hole 735B. The two major objectives are (1) to recover the lowermost gabbros and crust-mantle transition to understand the processes creating mid-ocean ridge basalt, and (2) to resolve the controversy as to whether the Moho at slow spreading ridges can be a serpentinization front. Additional objectives include constraining the lateral heterogeneity of the lower crust, the nature of magnetic reversals in plutonic rock, as well as the stress-strain evolution of a plate boundary undergoing asymmetric seafloor spreading.

        IODP Expedition 361 (SOUTH AFRICAN CLIMATES) – February to March 2016

        The South African Climates (SAFARI) Expedition (IODP Proposal 702-Full2) will investigate the interaction between climate and the Agulhas Current during the Plio/Pleistocene. Six drill sites in the southern Indian Ocean and Mozambique Channel will determine (1) the sensitivity of the Agulhas Current, (2) the dynamics of Indian-Atlantic gateway circulation, and (3) the connection between Agulhas Leakage and shifts of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during major ocean and climate reorganizations of the past 5 Ma.

        This expedition will also include the Agulhas Current Density Profile ancillary project (IODP Proposal 845-APL), which will reconstruct temperature and salinity over a depth transect during the last glacial maximum.

        JOIDES RESOLUTION EXPEDITION SCHEDULE:

        The expedition schedule (http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/ ) includes links to the individual expedition web pages that provide the original IODP proposal and expedition planning information.

        HOW TO APPLY:

        China-based scientists could apply through the IODP-China Office, and submit application form, English CV as well as post-cruise research proposal. The application deadline is:

        IODP 359: 31 October 2014;

        IODP 360: 31 October 2014;

        IODP 361: 30 November 2014.

        For further details, please contact:

        Shouting Tuo, Science Coordinator, the IODP-China Office

        Tel.: +86-21-65982198, Fax: +86-21-65988808

        Email: iodp_china@tongji.edu.cn