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1. South Pacific Paleogene Climate

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.378.2022  

   Röhl, U.; Thomas, D.J.; Childress, L.B (February 2022, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program)

   International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 378 was designed to recover the first comprehensive set of Paleogene sedimentary sections from a transect of sites strategically positioned in the South Pacific Ocean to reconstruct key changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation. These sites would have provided an unparalleled opportunity to add crucial new data and geographic coverage to existing reconstructions of Paleogene climate. Following the ~15 month postponement of Expedition 378 and subsequent port changes that resulted in a reduction of the number of primary sites, testing and evaluation of the research vessel JOIDES Resolution derrick in the weeks preceding the expedition determined that it would not support deployment of drill strings in excess of 2 km. Consequently, only one of the originally approved seven primary sites was drilled. Expedition 378 recovered the first continuously cored, multiple-hole Paleogene sedimentary section from the southern Campbell Plateau at Site U1553. This high–southern latitude site builds on the legacy of Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 277 (a single, partially spot cored hole), providing a unique opportunity to refine and expand existing reconstructions of Cenozoic climate history. As the world’s largest ocean, the Pacific Ocean is intricately linked to major changes in the global climate system. Previous drilling in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean during Ocean Drilling Program Legs 138 and 199 and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 320 and 321 provided new insights into climate and carbon system dynamics, productivity changes across the zone of divergence, time-dependent calcium carbonate dissolution, bio- and magnetostratigraphy, the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and evolutionary patterns for times of climatic change and upheaval. Expedition 378 in the South Pacific Ocean uniquely complements this work with a high-latitude perspective, especially because appropriate high-latitude records are unobtainable in the Northern Hemisphere of the Pacific Ocean. Expedition 378 provides material from the South Pacific Ocean in an area critical for high-latitude climate reconstructions spanning the early Paleocene to late Oligocene. Site U1553 and the entire corpus of shore-based investigations will significantly contribute to the challenges of the “Climate and Ocean Change: Reading the Past, Informing the Future” theme of the 2013–2023 IODP Science Plan (How does Earth’s climate system respond to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2? How resilient is the ocean to chemical perturbations?). Furthermore, Expedition 378 provides material from the South Pacific Ocean in an area critical for high-latitude climate reconstructions spanning the Paleocene to late Oligocene. 

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2. Expedition 378 Preliminary Report: South Pacific Paleogene Climate

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.pr.378.2020  

   Thomas, D.J.; Röhl, U.; Childress, L.B. (April 2020, Preliminary report)

   null (Ed.)

   International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 378 was designed to recover the first comprehensive set of Paleogene sedimentary sections from a transect of sites strategically positioned in the South Pacific to reconstruct key changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation. These sites would have provided an unparalleled opportunity to add crucial new data and geographic coverage to existing reconstructions of Paleogene climate. In addition to the ~15 month postponement of Expedition 378 and subsequent port changes resulting in a reduction of the number of primary sites, testing and evaluation of the R/V JOIDES Resolution derrick in the weeks preceding the expedition determined that it would not support deployment of drill strings in excess of 2 km. Because of this determination, only 1 of the originally approved 7 primary sites was drilled. Expedition 378 recovered the first continuously cored, multiple-hole Paleogene sedimentary section from the southern Campbell Plateau at Site U1553. This high–southern latitude site builds on the legacy of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 277, a single, partially spot cored hole, providing a unique opportunity to refine and augment existing reconstructions of the past ~66 My of climate history. This also includes the discovery of a new siliciclastic unit that had never been drilled before. As the world’s largest ocean, the Pacific Ocean is intricately linked to major changes in the global climate system. Previous drilling in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 138 and 199 and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 320 and 321 provided new insights into climate and carbon system dynamics, productivity changes across the zone of divergence, time-dependent calcium carbonate dissolution, bio- and magnetostratigraphy, the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and evolutionary patterns for times of climatic change and upheaval. Expedition 378 in the South Pacific Ocean uniquely complements this work with a high-latitude perspective, especially because appropriate high-latitude records are unobtainable in the Northern Hemisphere of the Pacific Ocean. Site U1553 and the entire corpus of shore-based investigations will significantly contribute to the challenges of the “Climate and Ocean Change: Reading the Past, Informing the Future” theme of the IODP Science Plan (How does Earth’s climate system respond to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2? How resilient is the ocean to chemical perturbations?). Furthermore, Expedition 378 will provide material from the South Pacific Ocean in an area critical for high-latitude climate reconstructions spanning the Paleocene to late Oligocene. 

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3. Expedition 390 Preliminary Report: South Atlantic Transect 1

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.pr.390.2022  

   Coggon, R.M.; Sylvan, J.B.; Teagle, D.A.H.; Reece, J.; Christeson, G.L.; Estes, E.R.; Williams, T.J. (October 2022, Preliminary report)

   The South Atlantic Transect (SAT) is a multidisciplinary scientific ocean drilling project that comprises four International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expeditions: engineering Expeditions 390C and 395E as well as Expeditions 390 and 393. Altogether, the expeditions aim to recover complete sedimentary sections and the upper 100–350 m of the underlying oceanic crust along a slow/intermediate spreading rate Mid-Atlantic Ridge crustal flow line at ~31°S. The sediments along this transect were originally spot cored more than 50 y ago during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 3 (December 1968–January 1969) to help verify the theories of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. Given dramatic advances in drilling technology and analytical capabilities since Leg 3, many high-priority scientific objectives can be addressed by revisiting the transect. The SAT expeditions target six primary sites on 7, 15, 31, 49, and 61 Ma ocean crust, which fill critical gaps in our sampling of intact in situ ocean crust with regards to crustal age, spreading rate, and sediment thickness. Drilling these sites is required to investigate the history of the low-temperature hydrothermal interactions between the aging ocean crust and the evolving South Atlantic Ocean and quantify past hydrothermal contributions to global biogeochemical cycles. Samples from the transect of the previously unexplored sediment- and basalt-hosted deep biosphere beneath the South Atlantic Gyre are essential to refining global biomass estimates and examining microbial ecosystems’ responses to variable conditions in a low-energy gyre and aging ocean crust. The transect is located near World Ocean Circulation Experiment Line A10, providing access to records of carbonate chemistry and deepwater mass properties across the western South Atlantic through key Cenozoic intervals of elevated atmospheric CO2 and rapid climate change. Reconstruction of the history of the deep western boundary current and deepwater formation in the Atlantic basins will yield crucial data to test hypotheses regarding the role of evolving thermohaline circulation patterns in climate change and the effects of tectonic gateways and climate on ocean acidification. Engineering Expeditions 390C and 395E cored a single hole through the sediment/basement interface with the advanced piston corer/extended core barrel system at five of the six primary proposed SAT sites and installed a reentry system with casing either into basement or within 10 m of basement at each of those five sites. Expedition 390 (7 April–7 June 2022) conducted operations at three of the SAT sites, recovering 700 m of core (77% recovery) over 30.3 days of on-site operations. Sediment coring, basement drilling, and logging were conducted at two sites on 61 Ma crust, and sediment coring was completed at the 7 Ma crust site. At Site U1557 on 61 Ma crust, the drill bit was deposited on the seafloor prior to downhole logging, leaving Hole U1557D available for future deepening and to establish a legacy borehole for basement hydrothermal and microbiological experiments. Expedition 390 scientists additionally described, and analyzed data from, 792 m of core collected during Expeditions 390C and 395E. Expedition 393 plans to operate at four sites, conducting basement drilling and downhole logging at the 7 Ma site, in addition to sediment coring, basement drilling, and logging at the sites intermediate in age. 

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4. Site U1560

   Teagle, D.A.H.; Reece, J.; Williams, T.J.; Coggon, R.M.; Sylvan, J.B.; Estes, E.R.; Christeson, G.L.; Albers, E.; Amadori, C.; Belgrano, T.M.; et al (January 2024, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition reports)

   Site U1560 (30°24.2057′S, 16°55.3702′W; proposed Site SATL-25A) is in the central South Atlantic Ocean at a water depth of ~3723 meters below sea level (mbsl), ~315 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the low-productivity South Atlantic Gyre (see Figure F1 and Tables T1, T2, all in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024b]). The crust formed at an intermediate half spreading rate of ~25.5 mm/y, which is the highest spreading rate in the study region (Kardell et al., 2019; Christeson et al., 2020) (see Figure F7 in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024b]). With an estimated age of 15.2 Ma, Site U1560 is the second youngest location of the South Atlantic Transect (SAT) campaign (International Ocean Discovery Program [IODP] Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393). Site U1560 is similar in age but is in a contrasting environment to the deep drilling at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program superfast Site 1256 (Wilson et al., 2006; Expedition 309/312 Scientists, 2006; Expedition 335 Scientists, 2012), which is on crust that formed at the East Pacific Rise during an episode of superfast spreading rate in a region of high pelagic productivity and rapid sedimentation (Shipboard Scientific Party, 2003). 

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5. Expedition 393 Preliminary Report: South Atlantic Transect 2

   Teagle, D.A.H.; Reece, J.; Coggon, R.M.; Sylvan, J.B.; Christeson, G.L.; Williams, T.J.; Estes, E.R. (January 2023, Preliminary report)

   The South Atlantic Transect (SAT) is a multidisciplinary scientific ocean drilling experiment designed to investigate the evolution of the oceanic crust and overlying sediments across the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This project comprises four International Ocean Discovery Program expeditions: fully staffed Expeditions 390 and 393 (April–August 2022) built on engineering preparations during Expeditions 390C and 395E that took place without science parties during the height of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Through operations along a crustal flow line at ~31°S, the SAT recovered complete sedimentary sections and the upper ~40–340 m of the underlying ocean crust formed at a slow to intermediate spreading rate at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over the past ~61 My. The sediments along this transect were originally spot cored more than 50 y ago during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 3 (December 1968–January 1969) to help verify the theories of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. The SAT expeditions targeted six primary sites on 7, 15, 31, 49, and 61 Ma ocean crust that fill critical gaps in our sampling of intact in situ ocean crust with regards to crustal age, spreading rate, and sediment thickness. Drilling these sites was required to investigate the history, duration, and intensity of the low-temperature hydrothermal interactions between the aging ocean crust and the evolving South Atlantic Ocean. This knowledge will improve the quantification of past hydrothermal contributions to global biogeochemical cycles and help develop a predictive understanding of the impacts of variable hydrothermal processes and exchanges. Samples from the transect of the previously unexplored sediment- and basalt-hosted deep biosphere beneath the South Atlantic Gyre are essential to refine global biomass estimates and examine microbial ecosystems’ responses to variable conditions in a low-energy gyre and aging ocean crust. The transect is located near World Ocean Circulation Experiment Line A10, which provides a baseline for records of carbonate chemistry and deepwater mass properties across the western South Atlantic through key Cenozoic intervals of elevated atmospheric CO2 and rapid climate change. Reconstruction of the history of the deep western boundary current and deepwater formation in the Atlantic basins will yield crucial data to test hypotheses regarding the role of evolving thermohaline circulation patterns in climate change and the effects of tectonic gateways and climate on ocean acidification. During engineering Expeditions 390C and 395E, a single hole was cored through the sediment cover and into the uppermost rocks of the ocean crust with the advanced piston corer (APC) and extended core barrel (XCB) systems at five of the six primary proposed SAT sites. Reentry systems with casing were then installed either into basement or within 10 m of basement at each of those five sites. Expedition 390 (7 April–7 June 2022) conducted operations at three of the SAT sites, recovering 700 m of core (77%) over 30.3 days of on-site operations. Sediment coring, basement coring, and wireline logging were conducted at two sites on 61 Ma crust (Sites U1556 and U1557), and sediment coring was completed at the 7 Ma Site U1559. Expedition 393 operated at four sites, drilling in 12 holes to complete this initial phase of the SAT. Complete sedimentary sections were collected at Sites U1558, U1583, and U1560 on 49, 31, and 15 Ma crust, respectively, and together with 257.7 m of sediments cored during earlier operations, more than 600 m of sediments was characterized. The uppermost ocean crust was drilled at Sites U1558, U1560, and U1583 with good penetration (~130 to ~204 meters subbasement), but at the youngest ~7 Ma Site U1559, only ~43 m of basement penetration was achieved in this initial attempt. Geophysical wireline logs were aquired at Sites U1583 and U1560. Expeditions 390 and 393 established legacy sites available for future deepening and downhole basement hydrothermal and microbiological experiments at Sites U1557, U1560, and U1559 on 61, 15, and 7 Ma crust, respectively. 

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