Our Science
Each of the successive scientific ocean drilling programmes has been scientifically inspired by science steering documents conceived by the international scientific community. The most recent one is entitled The 2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Drilling.
The 2050 Science Framework guides multidisciplinary subseafloor research into the interconnected processes that characterise the complex Earth system and shape our planet’s future. The 2050 Science Framework has a 25-year outlook, inspiring state-of-the-art approaches for scientific ocean drilling far into the mid-21st century.
Foundational Earth science research is described in seven Strategic Objectives and five Flagship Initiatives, with Enabling Elements that encourage innovation and new discoveries. The Framework is supported by Enduring Principles that discuss access to data, the proposal process, planning and safety, diversity and inclusion, and international collaboration.
The full-length 124-page document guides scientists on the important research frontiers that scientific ocean drilling should pursue and often that only can be achieved through scientific ocean drilling. The framework focuses on the many ways in which scientific ocean drilling will increase our understanding of the fundamental connections among Earth system components while addressing a range of natural and human-caused environmental challenges facing society.
Seven Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objectives comprise broad Earth science research areas that form the foundation of scientific ocean drilling through 2050. Each objective focuses on understanding the interconnections within the Earth system. The objectives are wide-ranging and aspirational to allow new science to emerge through bottom-up proposal development and peer review. Collectively, the Strategic Objectives cover the interconnected processes and feedbacks of the full Earth system that can be uniquely investigated with scientific ocean drilling.
Five Flagship Initiatives
Flagship Initiatives comprise long-term research efforts that require multi-expedition scientific ocean drilling over long time intervals. Each aims to test scientific paradigms and hypotheses that inform issues of particular relevance or interest to society. The Flagship Initiatives typically combine research goals from multiple Strategic Objectives.
