Search for: All records

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 358 was carried out from October 2018 through March 2019 on the D/V Chikyu in an attempt to reach a plate boundary fault zone at seismogenic depths for the first time in scientific ocean drilling. The goal was to extend Hole C0002P from ~2900 to ~5200 meters below seafloor (mbsf) and cross the seismically interpreted main décollement fault zone with logging while drilling, downhole stress measurements, cuttings sampling, mud gas sampling, and partial coring by drilling a sidetrack to create a new hole (C0002Q). Although drilling reached 3262.5 mbsf, the deepest to date in all of scientific ocean drilling, the effort to drill to and sample the target—the megathrust fault zone—was not successful. Operational challenges in establishing sidetrack holes and advancing them at reasonable rates of penetration limited the new cased hole interval to less than 60 m total at a depth shallower than the previously established casing depth of 2922 mbsf. Combined, the cuttings, logs, and ~60 cm of recovered core from sidetrack Holes C0002Q–C0002T revealed hemipelagic sediments and fine silty turbidites consistent in lithology and physical properties with those recovered in the same depth interval at the same site during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 348. Cuttings revealed evidence of only weakly deformed rock, with relatively common calcite veins but few other structural indicators. Because no downhole leak-off tests were made and very little borehole imaging was performed, no further insight into the tectonic context was acquired. After riser drilling at Site C0002 was terminated, drilling at alternate contingency Sites C0024 and C0025 was carried out. Site C0024 targeted the frontal thrust region to sample and log hanging wall rocks and the shallow portion of the décollement zone, and Site C0025 accessed sediments in the Kumano fore-arc basin. At Site C0024, a dedicated logging hole was drilled and a very complete suite of logs were acquired from 0 to 869 mbsf. Preliminary interpretation of log response and images suggests the frontal thrust zone was encountered from about 813 mbsf to the base of the hole, with a zone of notably low resistivity and steep bedding from 850 mbsf to the bottom of the hole. Core samples revealed lithologic units interpreted to be hemipelagic and turbiditic basin fill, trench fill, and Shikoku Basin sediments and encountered deformation potentially associated with a back thrust imaged in seismic reflection data. However, coring had to be terminated at about 620 mbsf, well short of the frontal thrust zone. Site C0025 recovered fore-arc basin sediments underlain by those interpreted to have been deposited in a trench-slope basin setting; no clear transition into older, inner accretionary wedge material was identified during the preliminary analysis. Coring from 400 to 571 mbsf yielded datable material and possible evidence for diapiric intrusion of sediments. 

The multiexpedition Integrated Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) project was designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. Overall NanTroSEIZE scientific objectives include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. Expedition 380 was the twelfth NanTroSEIZE expedition since 2007. Refer to Kopf et al. (2017) for a comprehensive summary of objectives, operations, and results during the first 11 expeditions. Expedition 380 focused on one primary objective: riserless deployment of a long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) in Hole C0006G in the overriding plate at the toe of the Nankai accretionary prism. The LTBMS installed in Hole C0006G incorporates multilevel pore-pressure sensing and a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. Similar previous LTBMS installations were completed farther upslope at IODP Sites C0002 and C0010. The ~35 km trench–normal transect of three LTBMS installations will provide monitoring within and above regions of contrasting behavior in the megasplay fault and the plate boundary as a whole, including a site above the updip edge of the locked zone (Site C0002), a shallow site in the megasplay fault zone and its footwall (Site C0010), and a site at the tip of the accretionary prism (the Expedition 380 installation at Site C0006). In combination, this suite of observatories has the potential to capture stress and deformation spanning a wide range of timescales (e.g., seismic and microseismic activity, slow slip, and interseismic strain accumulation) across the transect from near-trench to the seismogenic zone. Expedition 380 achieved its primary scientific and operational goal with successful installation of the LTBMS to a total depth of 457 m below seafloor in Hole C0006G. The installation was conducted in considerably less time than budgeted, partly because the Kuroshio Current had shifted away from the NanTroSEIZE area after 10 y of seriously affecting D/V Chikyu NanTroSEIZE operations. After Expedition 380, the LTBMS was successfully connected to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET) in March 2018 using the remotely operated vehicle Hyper-Dolphin from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) R/V Shinsei Maru. 

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 358 was carried out from October 2018 through March 2019 on the D/V Chikyuin an attempt to reach a plate boundary fault zone at seismogenic depths for the first time in scientific ocean drilling. The goal was to extend Hole C0002P from ~2900 to ~5200 meters below seafloor (mbsf) and cross the seismically interpreted main décollement fault zone with logging while drilling (LWD), downhole stress measurements, cuttings sampling, mud gas sampling, and partial coring by drilling a sidetrack to create a new hole (C0002Q). Although drilling reached 3262.5 mbsf, the deepest to date in all of scientific ocean drilling, the effort to drill to and sample the target—the megathrust fault zone—was not successful. Operational challenges in establishing sidetrack holes and advancing them at reasonable rates of penetration limited the new cased hole interval to less than 60 m total at a depth shallower than the previously established casing depth of 2922 mbsf. Combined, the cuttings, logs, and ~60 cm of recovered core from sidetrack Holes C0002Q–C0002T revealed hemipelagic sediments and fine silty turbidites consistent in lithology and physical properties with those recovered in the same depth interval at the same site during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 348. Cuttings revealed evidence of only weakly deformed rock, with relatively common calcite veins but few other structural indicators. Because no downhole leak-off tests were made and very little borehole imaging was performed, no further insight into the tectonic context was acquired. After riser drilling at Site C0002 was terminated, drilling at alternate contingency Sites C0024 and C0025 was carried out. Site C0024 targeted the frontal thrust region to sample and log hanging wall rocks and the shallow portion of the décollement zone, and Site C0025 accessed sediments in the Kumano fore-arc basin. At Site C0024, a dedicated logging hole was drilled and a very complete suite of logs were acquired from 0 to 869 mbsf. Preliminary interpretation of log response and images suggests the frontal thrust zone was encountered from about 813 mbsf to the base of the hole, with a zone of notably low resistivity and steep bedding from 850 mbsf to the bottom of the hole. Core samples revealed lithologic units interpreted to be hemipelagic and turbiditic basin fill, trench fill, and Shikoku Basin sediments and encountered deformation potentially associated with a back thrust imaged in seismic reflection data. However, coring had to be terminated at about 620 mbsf, well short of the frontal thrust zone. Site C0025 recovered fore-arc basin sediments underlain by those interpreted to have been deposited in a trench-slope basin setting; no clear transition into older, inner accretionary wedge material was identified during preliminary analysis. Coring from 400 to 571 mbsf yielded datable material and possible evidence for diapiric intrusion of sediments. 

The multiexpedition Integrated Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) was designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. Overall NanTroSEIZE scientific objectives include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. Expedition 380 was the twelfth NanTroSEIZE expedition since 2007. Refer to Kopf et al. (2017) for a comprehensive summary of objectives, operations, and results during the first 11 expeditions. Expedition 380 focused on one primary objective: riserless deployment of a long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) in Hole C0006G in the overriding plate at the toe of the Nankai accretionary prism. The LTBMS installed in Hole C0006G incorporates multilevel pore pressure sensing and a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. Similar previous LTBMS installations were completed farther upslope at IODP Sites C0002 and C0010. The ~35 km trench-normal transect of three LTBMS installations will provide monitoring within and above regions of contrasting behavior in the megasplay fault and the plate boundary as a whole, including a site above the updip edge of the locked zone (Site C0002), a shallow site in the megasplay fault zone and its footwall (Site C0010), and a site at the tip of the accretionary prism (the Expedition 380 installation at Site C0006). In combination, this suite of observatories has the potential to capture stress and deformation spanning a wide range of timescales (e.g., seismic and microseismic activity, slow slip, and interseismic strain accumulation) across the transect from near-trench to the seismogenic zone. Expedition 380 achieved its primary scientific and operational goal with successful installation of the LTBMS to a total depth of 457 m below seafloor in Hole C0006G. The installation was conducted in considerably less time than budgeted, partly because the Kuroshio Current had shifted away from the NanTroSEIZE area after 10 y of seriously affecting D/V Chikyu NanTroSEIZE operations. After Expedition 380, the LTBMS was to be connected to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis in March 2018 using the remotely operated vehicle Hyper-Dolphin from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology R/V Shinsei Maru. 

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) program is a coordinated, multiexpedition drilling project designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. The fundamental scientific objectives of the NanTroSEIZE project include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. Site C0002 is in the Kumano forearc basin above the seismogenic, and presumably locked, portion of the plate boundary thrust system. The Kumano Basin sedimentary sequence and uppermost part of the accretionary prism were drilled, logged, and sampled during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 314 (logging while drilling [LWD] to 1401.5 mbsf), 315 (coring to 1057 mbsf), 338 (LWD to 2005 mbsf and coring to 1120 mbsf), and 348 (LWD to 3058.5 mbsf, with limited coring from 2163-2218.5 mbsf). International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 358 aims to reach and sample the megasplay fault/plate boundary fault at Site C0002 by extending the riser borehole (Hole C0002P) established during previous Integrated Ocean Drilling Program NanTroSEIZE expeditions. Evidence suggests that the drilling target at the megasplay will reach a region where megathrust seismogenic processes are active. A new borehole will be “kicked off” from Hole C0002P and will be extended to ~5000 meters below seafloor (mbsf) and then across the high-amplitude seismic reflector identified as the main plate boundary fault. Continuous LWD with drilling mud gas analysis and limited coring at the anticipated plate boundary fault depth, will leave the cased borehole completed at ~5200 mbsf. A suite of analyses on cuttings, mud gases, and limited cores will address the four primary scientific objectives: (1) determine the composition, stratigraphy, and deformational history of the Miocene accretionary prism; (2) reconstruct its thermal, diagenetic, and metamorphic history; (3) determine horizontal stress orientations and magnitudes; and (4) investigate the mechanical and hydrological properties of the upper plate of the seismogenic plate boundary. The main scientific objective is to log and sample the hanging wall, the fault zone, and into the footwall. The main contingency plan is to leave a cased borehole in good condition for future installation of a long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS). These operations will extend drilling conducted during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 326, 338, and 348. The entire expedition will cover a period of 164 days, beginning on 7 October 2018 and ending on 21 March 2019. 

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) program is a coordinated, multiexpedition drilling project designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. The fundamental scientific objectives of the NanTroSEIZE drilling project include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 380 will deploy a permanent long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) in a new cased hole at Site C0006 above the frontal thrust, where previous expeditions have conducted logging-while-drilling and coring operations. This deployment will be the third borehole observatory deployed as part of the NanTroSEIZE program, and it will extend the existing NanTroSEIZE LTBMS network seaward to include the frontal thrust region of the Nankai accretionary prism. This expedition will cover a period of 40 days, beginning on 12 January 2018 and ending on 24 February. The LTBMS sensors will include seafloor reference and formation pressure sensors, a thermistor string, a broadband seismometer, a tiltmeter, a volumetric strainmeter, geophones, and accelerometers. The casing plan does not include a screened interval for this LTBMS; the monitoring zone will be isolated from the seafloor by a swellable packer (inside the casing) and cement at the casing shoe. This LTBMS will be later linked to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET) submarine network. This Scientific Prospectus outlines the scientific rationale, objectives, and operational plans for Site C0006. A congruent “NanTroSEIZE Investigation at Sea” will convene researchers aboard the D/V Chikyu to use the latest techniques and equipment to reexamine cores, shipboard measurement data (including X-ray computed tomography scans), and logging-while-drilling data collected during NanTroSEIZE Stage 1 in 2007. 

Determining factors that limit the biomass, diversity, and activity of subseafloor microbial communities is one of the major scientific goals to be addressed by scientific ocean drilling. In the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) T-Limit Project, we will drill and core at new boreholes in the immediate vicinity of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 1173, 1174, and 808 off Cape Muroto, Japan, in the central Nankai Trough, where anomalously high heat flow regimes result in temperatures of 110° to 140°C at the sediment/basement interface. Because of their location in the trench (Site 1173) and landward protothrust zone of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism (Sites 808 and 1174), the sites have different geotectonic and thermal histories that have resulted in contrasting (bio)geochemical modes of hydrocarbon gas production and consumption. Although the upper temperature limit appears well constrained at relatively energy-rich hydrothermal vent systems at just above 120°C, it is unknown in energy-starved sedimentary subseafloor settings but is generally presumed to be lower and thus expected to be covered by our target sites. During the IODP T-Limit Project, we aim to • Comprehensively study the factors that control biomass, activity, and diversity of microbial communities in a subseafloor environment where temperatures increase from ~30° to ~130°C and thus likely encompasses the biotic–abiotic transition zone; and • Determine geochemical, geophysical, and hydrogeological characteristics in sediment and the underlying basaltic basement and elucidate if the supply of fluids containing thermogenic and/or geogenic nutrient and energy substrates may support subseafloor microbial communities in the Nankai accretionary complex. Because of the D/V Chikyu’s schedule, these scientific objectives cannot be achieved within a single expedition. During the first T-Limit expedition (370), we will drill and retrieve core samples from sedimentary sections (200–1210 m below seafloor) and basement basalt (1210–1260 m below seafloor) at the protothrust site near ODP Site 1174 and measure temperatures in situ.