Canadian participation in the integrated ocean drilling program (IODP)

综合海洋钻探计划（IODP）是一项涉及20多个国家的国际多学科科学努力，2008年及以后每年需要约1.5亿美元的运营预算。IODP探索记录在海底沉积物和岩石中的地球系统，是深海钻探项目（DSDP, 1968-1983）和海洋钻探项目（ODP, 1985-2003）的继任者，这两个项目是有史以来最成功的国际合作科学项目之一，并彻底改变了对地球历史的理解。IODP首次为国际社会提供了多个钻井平台，包括“最先进的”立管钻井船。IODP将允许进入以前禁止使用DSDP/ODP的区域，如北极、浅海和含油气沉积物。这些新的能力保证了对地球系统无与伦比的科学见解，并将使我们能够解决有关气候变化、固体地球动力学和生物多样性的关键问题。IODP的第一阶段（2003-2008）已经有了重大发现，特别是关于北极在减缓气候变化中的作用，沿着卡斯卡迪亚边缘的海洋天然气水合物储层的范围，以及深海地壳到辉长岩层的钻探。

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international multi-disciplinary scientific endeavour involving more than twenty countries and requiring an operational budget of about 150 M USD/year for 2008 and beyond. IODP explores the Earth's system as recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks and is a successor to the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP, 1968-1983) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP, 1985-2003), which have been among the most successful international collaborative science programs ever conducted and have revolutionized the understanding of the Earth history. IODP offers the international community for the first time access to multiple drilling platforms, including a "state-of-the-art" riser drill ship. IODP will allow access to regions previously off limits to the DSDP/ODP, such as the Arctic, shallow seas, and oil and gas bearing sediments. These new capabilities promise unparalled scientific insights into the earth system, and will allow us to address key questions regarding climate changes, solid earth geodynamics, and biodiversity. Phase I of IODP (2003-2008) already provided significant discoveries, notably about the role of the Arctic in moderating climate changes, the extent of marine gas hydrate reservoirs along Cascadia margins, and the drilling of the deep ocean crust to the gabbroic layer.