skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Expedition 384 Preliminary Report: Engineering Testing
The objective of International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 384 was to carry out engineering tests with the goal of improving the chances of success in deep (>1 km) drilling and coring in igneous ocean crust. A wide range of tools and technologies for potential testing were proposed by the Deep Crustal Drilling Engineering Working Group in 2017 based on reports from recent crustal drilling expeditions. The JOIDES Resolution Facility Board further prioritized the testing opportunities in 2018. The top priority of all recommendations was an evaluation of drilling and coring bits because rate of penetration and bit wear and tear are the prevalent issue in deep crustal drilling attempts, and bit failures often require an excessive amount of fishing and hole cleaning time. The plan included drilling in basalt with three different types of drill bits: a tungsten carbide insert (TCI) tricone bit, a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit, and a more novel TCI/PDC hybrid bit. In addition, a TCI bit was to be paired with an underreamer with expanding cutter blocks instead of extending arms. Finally, a type of rotary core barrel (RCB) PDC coring bit that was acquired for the R/V JOIDES Resolution several years ago but never deployed would also be given a test run. A second objective was added when additional operating time became available for Expedition 384 as a result of the latest schedule changes. This objective included the assessment and potential improvement of current procedures for advanced piston corer (APC) core orientation. Expedition 384 began in Kristiansand, Norway, on 20 July 2020. The location for tests was based on various factors, including the JOIDES Resolution's location at the time, our inability to obtain territorial clearance in a short period of time, and a suitable combination of sediment and igneous rock for the drilling and coring operations. IODP Expedition 395, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had proposed sites that were suitable for our testing and offered the opportunity to carry out some serendipitous sampling, logging, and casing work for science. We first spent 3 days triple coring the top 70 m of sediment at Site U1554 (Proposed Site REYK-6A) to obtain cores for evaluating potential problems with the magnetic core orientation tools and for assessing other potential sources of errors that might explain prior anomalous core orientation results. Comparison of the observed core orientation from magnetic orientation tools to the expected orientation based on the paleomagnetic directions recorded in the cores revealed an 180° misalignment in the assembly of one of the tools. This misalignment appears to have persisted over several years and could explain most of the problems previously noted. The assembly part was fixed, and this problem was eliminated for future expeditions. We subsequently spent 20 days at Site U1555 (Proposed Site REYK-13A) to test the three types of drill bits, an underreamer, and a coring bit in six holes. The TCI bits were the best performers, the TCI/PDC hybrid bit did not stand up to the harsh formation, and the PDC bit did not get sufficient run time because of a mud motor failure. The cutter block underreamer is not considered able to perform major hole opening in basalt but could be useful for knocking out ledges. The PDC coring bit cut good quality basalt cores at an unacceptably low rate. In the seventh and final hole (U1555G), we used a regular RCB coring bit to recover the entire 130 m basalt section specified in the Expedition 395 Scientific Prospectus and provided the project team with shipboard data and samples. The basalt section was successfully wireline logged before the logging winch motor failed, which precluded further operations for safety reasons. Additional operations plans in support of Expedition 395, including coring, logging, and casing at Site U1554, had to be canceled, and Expedition 384 ended prematurely on 24 August in Kristiansand.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1326927
PAR ID:
10281808
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Preliminary report
Volume:
384
ISSN:
2372-9562
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; (, Scientific prospectus)
    null (Ed.)
    Expedition 384 is scheduled to begin in Kristiansand, Norway, on 20 July 2020 and end in Las Palmas, Spain, on 5 September and is dedicated to engineering testing as it relates to deep (>1 km) drilling and coring in igneous ocean crust. The Deep Crustal Drilling Engineering Working Group convened in 2017 to discuss recent issues with crustal drilling and recommended a number of technologies and tools for potential testing. The JOIDES Resolution Facility Board further prioritized the testing opportunities in 2018. The top priority of all recommendations was an evaluation of drilling and coring bits because coring bit wear, tear, and failure is the prevalent issue in deep crustal drilling attempts, requiring an excessive amount of fishing and hole cleaning time. The primary objective of Expedition 384 is to drill “pilot holes” using three types of drill bits: two tungsten carbide insert (TCI) tricone bits, a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit, and a TCI/PDC hybrid bit. Additional tests include the deployment of an underreamer as well as a PDC coring bit to obtain samples for engineering testing. The results may lead to an initiative toward developing a better performing coring bit for future use by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The site location for these tests has evolved with the multiple postponements of Expedition 384 for various reasons. The current primary site is Proposed Site REYK-13A (1520 m water depth) from postponed IODP Expedition 395; this site has ~210 m of recent to Pliocene clay or ooze overlaying basaltic basement that has not been drilled or cored to date. The plan is to drill 6 holes to ~100 m into the basement each. A second site was selected for operations should time and equipment remain to do so: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1309 (1653 m water depth), where basaltic and gabbroic rocks are exposed at the seafloor, has been cored to 102 m in Hole U1309B and 1415 m in Hole U1309D. The plan is drill one hole to ~200 m. Operations at Sites REYK-13A and U1309 are projected to take 22.4 days. Additional operating time became available for Expedition 384 as a result of the latest schedule changes. A secondary objective therefore includes the assessment and potential improvement of current procedures for advanced piston corer (APC) core orientation. A total of 4.6 days is allocated to triple-coring the top 70 m of sediment at Proposed Site REYK-6A (postponed Expedition 395), located 54 nm east of Proposed Site REYK-13A. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, Scientific prospectus)
    The intersection between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Iceland hotspot provides a natural laboratory where the composition and dynamics of Earth’s upper mantle can be observed. Plume-ridge interaction drives variations in the melting regime, which result in a range of crustal types, including a series of V-shaped ridges and V-shaped troughs south of Iceland. Expedition 395 has three objectives: (1) to test contrasting hypotheses for the formation of V-shaped ridges, (2) to understand temporal changes in ocean circulation and explore connections with plume activity, and (3) to reconstruct the evolving chemistry of hydrothermal fluids with increasing crustal age and varying sediment thickness and crustal architecture. After being postponed from summer 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the drilling objectives of Expedition 395 were partially completed without a science party on board during Expedition 395C in summer 2021, when basalt cores were collected at four sites (U1554, U1555, U1562, and U1563). Sediment cores were collected from these sites, as well as from Site U1564, and casing was installed to 602 meters below seafloor at Site U1554. Expedition 395 is scheduled with sufficient time to complete the planned operations remaining at Sites U1564 and U1554, leaving approximately 22 operating days available for other sites, including a new proposed site, REYK-14B, which is located west of Reykjanes Ridge on the Eirik drift. This addendum provides the operations plan for rescheduled Expedition 395, including details of the additional site. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition reports)
    This chapter documents the methods used for shipboard measurements and analyses during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 358. We conducted riser drilling from 2887.3 to 3262.5 meters below seafloor (mbsf) at Site C0002 (see Table T1 in the Expedition 358 summary chapter [Tobin et al., 2020a]) as a continuation of riser drilling in Hole C0002F begun during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 326 (Expedition 326 Scientists, 2011) and deepened during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 338 and 348 (Strasser et al., 2014b; Tobin et al., 2015b). Please note that the top of Hole C0002Q begins from the top of the window cut into the Hole C0002P casing. Previous Integrated Ocean Drilling Program work at Site C0002 included logging and coring during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 314 (logging while drilling [LWD]), 315 (riserless coring), 332 (LWD and long-term monitoring observatory installation), 338 (riser drilling and riserless coring), and 348 (riser drilling) (Expedition 314 Scientists, 2009; Expedition 315 Scientists, 2009b; Expedition 332 Scientists, 2011; Strasser et al., 2014b; Tobin et al., 2015b). Riserless contingency drilling was also conducted at Site C0024 (LWD and coring) near the deformation front of the Nankai accretionary prism off the Kii Peninsula and at Site C0025 (coring only) in the Kumano fore-arc basin. Riser operations began with connection of the riser to the Hole C0002F wellhead, sidetrack drilling out the cement shoes from 2798 to 2966 mbsf to establish a new hole, and then running a cement bond log to check the integrity of the Hole C0002P casing-formation bonding. A new sidetrack was established parallel to previous Hole C0002P drilling and designated as Hole C0002Q to distinguish it from the overlapping interval in Hole C0002P. Several new kick offs were established (Holes C0002R–C0002T) in attempts to overcome problems drilling to the target depth and then, in the end, to collect core samples. During riser operations, we collected drilling mud, mud gas, cuttings, downhole logs, core samples, and drilling parameters (including mud flow rate, weight on bit [WOB], torque on bit, and downhole pressure, among others). Gas from drilling mud was analyzed in near–real time in a special mud-gas monitoring laboratory (MGML) and was sampled for further postcruise research. Continuous LWD data were transmitted on board and displayed in real time for QC and for initial assessment of borehole environment and formation properties. Recorded-mode LWD data provided higher spatial sampling of downhole parameters and conditions. Cuttings were sampled for standard shipboard analyses and shore-based research. Small-diameter rotary core barrel (SD-RCB; 8½ inch) coring in Hole C0002T provided only minimal core. Riserless coring at Sites C0024 and C0025 with a 10⅝ inch rotary core barrel (RCB) and hydraulic piston coring system (HPCS)/extended punch coring system (EPCS)/extended shoe coring system (ESCS) bottom-hole assembly (BHA) provided most of the core used for standard shipboard and shore-based research. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition reports)
    This chapter provides an overview of the procedures and methods employed for coring operations and in the shipboard laboratories of the research vessel (R/V) JOIDES Resolution during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expeditions 384, 395C, and 395. Hereafter, the expeditions will be known jointly as Expedition 395 unless otherwise specified. The laboratory information applies only to shipboard work described in the Expedition Report section of the Expedition 395 Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program volume that used the shipboard sample registry, imaging and analytical instruments, core description tools, and the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) database. Methods used by investigators for postcruise shore-based analyses of Expedition 395 project data will be documented in separate publications. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, 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. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email