Synthesis of Results From Scientific Drilling in the Indian Ocean

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 70.

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), and its predecessor the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), have been an enormously successful international scientific effort aimed at understanding the interactions of the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, the crust and the mantle through the record of rocks, sediments and fluids in the ocean basins. More and more, ocean drilling is being seen as a critical part of long-term, integrated studies of the earth system. A large measure of this success stems from emphasis within this program on responsiveness to innovative ideas, technological developments, and long-range identification of global objectives. But how many of the scientific and technological achievements of ocean drilling are being effectively communicated to the broader earth science community? The JOIDES (Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling) organization, which is responsible for ODP, has recognized the need to publish results in a timely manner. These reports are organized in a leg-by-leg format, two volumes per leg, the Initial Reports and Scientific Results. There has been no formal mechanism within ODP, however, to compare and integrate results from several legs, to track the progress toward a given thematic objective, or to review our new understanding of the geologic history of previously unexplored regions. This volume is a response to the need to synthesize drilling results from the nine-leg Indian Ocean campaign (1987-1989).