The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is set to begin its Expedition 375.
Named “Hikurangi Subduction Margin Coring and Observatories: unlocking the secrets of slow slip through drilling to sample and monitor the forearc and subducting plate”, the expedition will kick off aboard the drillship JOIDES Resolution on March 8, 2018.
This expedition aims to investigate the processes of slow slip events (SSEs) at the northern Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand as well as in-situ conditions that underlie subduction zone SSEs through coring of the frontal thrust, upper plate, and incoming sedimentary succession.
The expedition will culminate in the installation of borehole observatories in the frontal thrust and upper plate above the slow slip source area. Drilling will be carried out at four sites within the overriding and subducting plates to recover sediments, rocks, and pore fluids; collect geophysical logs; and make downhole measurements. Borehole observatories will be installed at two of these drill sites to monitor physical, hydrological, and chemical changes throughout the SSE cycle.
The shipboard researchers are comprised of 31 members, including four scientists from Japan, and also from the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, Brazil, China and South Korea.