IODP³ French Embassy Seminar: Drilling into ocean’s past: Scientific Ocean Drilling on D/V Chikyu in the Japan Trench

This event, officially endorsed as a Decade Activity by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, will take place following IODP³ Expedition 503 - Hadal Trench Tsunamigenic Slip History - Buried in the Trench, conducted from November 24 to December 12, 2025, aboard the drilling vessel (D/V) Chikyu (JAMSTEC), within the framework of the International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP³).

This expedition is the latest in a series of internationally coordinated drilling efforts off Japan designed to advance understanding of earthquake and tsunami processes after the paradigm-shifting 2011 Tohoku-oki Mega-Earthquake. These expeditions are symbolic of the kind of international collaboration and global application of research; built from a white paper “Rapid Response Fault Drilling: Past, Present, and Future”, resulting from a 2008 workshop in Tokyo with 44 scientists representing 10 countries to quickly guide scientific responses should a large earthquake strike. Over the 14 years since the Tohoku event, multiple scientific ocean drilling expeditions have improved knowledge of the factors governing large devastating earthquakes while pushing technological frontiers to sample and install subseafloor observatories in ultra deep-water settings. Their work has also yielded new insights into how seismic events shape deep-sea ecosystems and influence biogeochemical cycles of carbon and other critical elements in Earth´s interconnected system.

The panel will bring together scientists from the expeditions, institutional, and scientific partners. It will provide a valuable opportunity to exchange views on recent advances in oceanographic research, international scientific cooperation, and the connections between science, diplomacy, and public policy.