NSF ODP science activities

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) is now finishing its second year of operation, having completed 12 legs in the Atlantic Ocean and off the west coast of South America. The drillship JOIDES Resolution (SEDCO/BP 471) now heads for two legs in the Weddell Sea/ subantarctic region before entering the Indian Ocean for ∼1.5 years of drilling. International membership increased from four to six during 1986, and it is anticipated that the Soviet Union will join the program as the seventh international member in early 1987. Other members include Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Japan , the United Kingdom, and a European Science Foundation consortium of 12 nations. A second Conference on Scientific Ocean Drilling (COSOD II) is planned for July 6– 8, 1987, in Strasbourg, France, to plan the scientific and technological goals for ODP during the 1990s.