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Guest Scientist: Dr. Gerardo Iturrino
Most of the time, we can only see what
is at or near the Earth's surface. However, crucial
information that can tell us about the history, evolution, and
composition of our planet is often
recorded in subsurface rocks. In the last 35 years, drilling has
evolved into an extremely valuable
scientific tool for understanding the history and the ongoing dynamic
processes within the Earth. The
advancements in drilling technologies have become even more important
for studying oceanic
environments because seawater covers approximately 70.8% of the Earth.
The history of deep ocean drilling began in the late 1960's with the
Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and the extensive use of a ship named the Glomar Challenger. In the
mid 1980šs, ocean drilling
expeditions began operating under the name of the Ocean Drilling
Program (ODP) and the JOIDES
Resolution replaced the Glomar Challenger as the operating drilling
vessel. ODP is scheduled to end in
September 2002 and a new Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is
scheduled to begin operations in
2004 with the addition of several drilling platforms.
The history of ocean exploration has been characterized by a wide
range instrument deployments and
retrieval of rock samples. Drilling operations have been primarily
focused on core sampling and
borehole measurements. The Borehole Research Group (BRG) at the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has
been conducting borehole investigations for understanding the
physical, chemical, and structural
characteristics of different oceanic environments for understanding
their history and evolution. Dr.
Gerardo Iturrino will share some of the important discoveries made
during the history of ocean
drilling and outline future operations.
This first session will begin with an introduction to the Earth2Class
Workshops for Teachers at LDEO,
and some other resources of value to educators. Following Dr.
Iturrino's presentation, we will explore
some student investigations that utilize concepts and materials
generated through BRG and ODP
investigations.
Dr. Iturrino is a Logging Scientist in the Borehole Research
Group at Lamont-Doherty. This means that he is an expert in
deciphering the electronic data collected by the instrument
array lowered into each hole drilled by the "JOIDES
Resolution," research vessel of the Ocean Drilling Project.
You can access his powerpoint through
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/BRG/EDUCATION/PROJECTS/index.html
In
December 2001, Dr. Iturrino described some of the work he does
and discoveries about hydrothermal vents made through ODP
investigations. These can be accessed at
http://www.earth2class.org/k12/w4_f2001/content.htm
For more about the Borehole Research Group and Ocean Drilling
Program:
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/BRG/
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