This page contains information on Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 301, "The Hydrogeologic Architecture of Basaltic Oceanic Crust: Compartmentalization, Anisotropy, Microbiology, and Crustal-scale Properties on the Eastern Flank of Juan de Fuca Ridge." This page also contains information on follow-up operations and related experiments, including the Fall 2005 submersible expedition (Atlantis/Alvin 11-32). Please stay tuned for more information on the next drilling expedition, on several draft schedules for 2008.

This page is not intended to take the place of information provided by PR offices of either IODP, Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Texas A&M University (TAMU) or any other more official source. Instead, this is a way for me to organize the limited information I have handy and pass it along to interested readers, along with links to the formal information outlets.

Of course, I must thank the administrators, colleagues, and friends at the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, IODP Management International, and the IODP Implementing Organizations who work hard to make IODP (and particularly U.S. participation in it) possible.

Fast-breaking news!

Operational report from Atlantis/Alvin Expedition 11-32 - 0.25 Mb, PDF format
This brief report includes an overview of dive operations and includes discussion of options for ensuring that the CORKs installed on IODP Expedition 301 are properly sealed.

IODP Expedition 301 Report in Scientific Drilling - 0.3 Mb, PDF format
Overview of IODP 301 operations and the follow-up ROV expedition in Summer-Fall 2004.

Technical information on IODP Expedition 301

JOIDES/SAS proposal 545Full3 - 3.2 Mb, PDF format
This is the final version of the proposal that worked its way through the advisory structure to eventually get scheduled as the first expedition of IODP. The first version was submitted in 1998, and in fact, this is the second part of an overall examination of ridge-flank hydrogeology that began with ODP Leg 168; that proposal was originally submitted in 1992. Good thing we are patient...

Scientific Prospectus for IODP Expedition 301 - 7.2 Mb, PDF format
This is the official scientific, technical, and operational plan for IODP Expedition 301, including discussion of time requirements, priorities, and staffing. This document contains drawings of the CORK seafloor observatory systems, site maps, and seismic data.

IODP Expedition 301 Preliminary Report
This summary includes numerous details of expedition planning and operations. There are some figures and tables that summarize the expedition, an assessment as to what worked and what went wrong, and a brief presentation of future plans. This link takes you to the IODP-TAMU web site where Preliminary Reports are posted - follow the links to the Expedition 301 report.

Expedition 301 CORK overview paper, from the Initial Reports volume
This paper discusses design and operational characteristics of long-term CORK observatories deployed during Expedition 301. The paper is intended to be published in the Expedition Reports volume, equivalent to the Initial Results volume in the days of ODP.

Less technical information on IODP Expedition 301

UCSC Press Release - links to UCSC web site
UCSC's Tim Stephens gets full credit for crafting this lucid document, which appeared on 6/21/04.

PowerPoint overview of Expedition 301, prepared during expedition, Summer 2004 - 2.5 Mb, PPT format
OK, this is still a bit technical, but it includes some good graphics and a bulleted overview of expedition goals.

PowerPoint presentation on Expedition 301, AGU Townhall meeting, December 2004 - 6.7 Mb, PPT format
This one is less technical, contains photos of at-sea operations, discusses future plans as well...

Maps of IODP Expedition 301 field area - 0.2 Mb, GIF format
These maps show where the ship will be headed during Summer 2004, and where we will be working for the next 5+ years with multidisciplinary experiments.

Diagram of IODP Expedition 301 CORK installation - 0.1 Mb, GIF format
A big part of IODP Expedition 301 involves installation of long-term, borehole observatories, or CORKs. This diagram shows what we have planned for one of the holes at Site SR-1. This CORK will be used to isolate, monitor, and test three separate intervals below the seafloor within oceanic crust. The hole may be as deep as 900 m, but a total depth of 700 m (~400 m into basement) is more likely, based on drilling time estimates.

CORK overview in Oceanus - links to Oceanus web site, paper by Davis and Becker
This is a nice overview of CORK-related science, in the popular journal Oceanus. Good graphics, nice explanation.

Cartoon of Hydrothermal Circulation through Seamounts - 0.2 Mb, GIF format
This wonderful drawing was done by Nicole Rager, UCSC Science Illustration Program, then modified slightly by me. How does this relate to IODP Expedition 301? We are working just north of Baby Bare seamount (which vents hydrothermal fluid), and testing whether flow of water is favored in the N-S, versus E-W, direction. You can read about hydrothermal circulation through seamounts in some of the paper links below.

Selected scientific research papers on this and related topics - there are many other papers on topics related to IODP Expedition 301 (see the reference lists in the proposal and prospectus), but these are recent papers on which I am a co-author for which I have ready access to a PDF file.

Fisher, A. T., Marine hydrogeology: future prospects for major advances, Hydrogeol. J., 13: 69-97, DOI: 10.1007/s10040-004-0400-y, 2005 - 1.3 Mb, PDF format
An overview of recent accomplishments and where/how it appears future studies will focus.

Wheat, C. G., Mottl, M. J., Fisher, A. T., Kadko, D., Davis, E. E., Baker, E. Heat flow through a basaltic outcrop on a young sedimented ridge flank, Geochem., Geophys., Geosystems, 5(12): doi:10.1029/2004GC000700, 2005 - 0.8 Mb, PDF format
An analysis of thermal and geochemical data from Baby Bare outcrop, one of the best-studied ridge-flank hydrothermal discharge features in the world, only 8 km south of IODP Site 1301.

Fisher, A.T., E.E. Davis, M. Hutnak, V. Spiess, L. Zühlsdorff, A. Cherkaoui, L. Christiansen, K.M. Edwards, R. Macdonald, H. Villinger, M.J. Mottl, C.G. Wheat, and K. Becker, Hydrothermal recharge and discharge across 50 km guided by seamounts on a young ridge flank, Nature, 421, 618-621, 2003 - 0.5 Mb, PDF format
This paper describes fluid flow in the seafloor between two extinct underwater volcanoes separated by >50 km. Water travels great distances through the seafloor, and seamounts help to explain how that water moves between the ocean crust (otherwise covered by thick, impermeable sediments) and the ocean.

Fisher, A.T., C.A. Stein, R.N. Harris, K. Wang, E.A. Silver, M. Pfender, M. Hutnak, A. Cherkaoui, R. Bodzin, and H. Villinger, Abrupt thermal transition reveals hydrothermal boundary and role of seamounts within the Cocos Plate, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30 (11), 1550, doi:10.1029/2002GL016766, 2003 - 1.1 Mb, PDF format
This paper describes extremely vigorous hydrothermal circulation offshore of Costa Rica - different place, same process, even more vigorous.

Spinelli, G.A., and A.T. Fisher, Hydrothermal circulation within rough basement on the Juan de Fuca Ridge flank, Geochem., Geophys., Geosystems, 5 (2), Q02001, doi:10.1029/2003GC000616, 2004 - 3.5 Mb, PDF format
This paper describes transient models of coupled heat-fluid flow applied to the IODP Expedition 301 area.

Stein, J.S., and A.T. Fisher, Observations and models of lateral hydrothermal circulation on a young ridge flank: reconciling thermal, numerical and chemical constraints, Geochem., Geophys., Geosystems, 10.1029/2002GC000415, 2003 - 0.6 Mb, PDF format
This paper describes transient models of coupled heat-fluid flow and how they are used to interpret the nature of rapid fluid flow to the west of the IODP Expedition 301 field area.

Links to related web sites - these links will send you to new pages where you can find additional information...

Main IODP web site

TAMU Scientific Operator web site

JOI/USSSP web site

ORION (ocean observatories) web site

Selected photos of IODP 301 activities ...

Tetsuro Urabe, Geoff Wheat, Keir Becker, Andy Fisher in front of a CORK prior to deployment, with three osmotic samplers in the background

Geoff Wheat and Mark Nielsen assembling an osmotic sampler and microbiological incubation system, prior to deployment in oceanic crust

IODP 301 CORK system being hoisted above the rig floor prior to deployment

this page last updated: 15-Dec-2006