The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) conducts scientific ocean drilling expeditions throughout the world’s oceans in search of clues to Earth’s past. The current expedition is Expedition 359: Maldives Monsoon, aboard the U.S. vessel for scientific ocean drilling, the JOIDES Resolution (http://ift.tt/1zwbQqu http://ift.tt/1lczC4I ). On this expedition we are exploring the story of climate change and of times past (paleoclimatic changes). Using core samples from off the coast of the Maldives the scientists aim to reconstruct paleoceanographic evolution over the past 23 million years. Drilling will provide cores required for reconstructing changing current systems through time that are directly related to the evolution of the Indian monsoon. As such the drift deposits will provide a continuous record of Indian monsoon development in the region. One important outcome of Expedition 359 is ground-truthing the hypothesis that the dramatic, pronounced change in the style of the sedimentary carbonate sequence stacking was caused by a combination of relative sea level fluctuations and ocean current system changes. The scientific objectives are to: - explore the variation in regional monsoon systems over multi-million year time scales - learn how scientists reconstruct the causes of fluctuations in ocean currents and triggers of evolution - learn how sea level respond to a warming climate - learn about magnitude and rate of past sea level change A team of 30 scientists from around the globe are on board for two months to work on these questions. Hand-in-hand with the amazing technology required to drill deep into the ocean floor, we are collecting the core samples that hold clues to answer these questions. Join us to ask us anything about this intriguing science, how we got here, what we hope to discover, and our lives on board the ship!
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