International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 395
Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate

As part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP, *1), JOIDES Resolution (*2) research cruise IODP Expedition 395 is set to begin on 12 June 2023 (see addendum).

IODP Expedition 395 is a cross-disciplinary drilling plan to the Reykjanes Ridge in southern Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean, aiming to elucidate Icelandic plume activity associated with ocean floor spreading over the past 30 million years, the formation of V-shaped landforms, the evolutionary process of mantle melting, paleoclimate on a millennial scale recorded in sediment, and temporal changes in ocean circulation. Five sites have already been drilled during Expeditions 384 and 395C, and one new site is planned for drilling.

Thirty-four researchers from Australia, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States are scheduled to join the research cruise, including two Japanese onboard research participants.

Addendum

Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate

1. Schedule (local time)
  IODP Expedition 395

※ The schedule may change depending upon the condition/inflences of COVID-19, the progress in sailing preparations, weather conditions, and/or research activities.

2. Onboard scientists scheduled to participate from Japan

3. Research Purposes and Objectives
In the North Atlantic Ocean, hot rocks are thought to rise up beneath Iceland from deep within the Earth’s interior, the mantle, forming a giant mantle plume. This plume likely plays a key role in shaping the ocean crust around Iceland, including a pattern of distinctive crustal V-shaped ridges (highs) and V-shaped troughs (lows) that stretch over hundreds of kilometers on the seabed south of Iceland. Some think that these V-shaped ridges are generated by increases and decreases in plume activity, but their precise origin is hotly debated. Plume activity variations may also have contributed to changes in the height of oceanic gateways—passages that link Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland, thus controlling the amount of cold, deep water that has been flowing from the Norwegian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean over the past few million years. Expedition 395 will use the age, composition, and history of sediments and basaltic rocks south of Iceland to test several scientific ideas. First scheduled for summer 2020, the objectives of Expedition 395 were partially completed in summer 2021 during Expedition 395C without a science party on board. The remaining objectives are to be completed in summer 2023 during the rescheduled Expedition 395.

Parnell-Turner, R., Briais, A., and LeVay, L., 2020. Expedition 395 Scientific Prospectus: Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate. International Ocean Discovery Program.
https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.sp.395.2020
https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/atlantis_massif_blocks_of_life.html

Figure  Locations of proposed drilling sites.
The red circles indicate the locations of major drilling planned points, and the yellow circles indicate the sites drilled in previous expeditions. Black circles = ODP/DSDP boreholes, solid black lines = seismic surveyed track lines, black dotted lines = deepwater flow. (Adapted from IODP Exp. 395 Scientific Prospectus, Credit: Parnell-Turner, Briais, and LeVay, 2020)

*Figure/table are cited from the IODP website with partial modification.
IODP JRSO・Expeditions・Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate

• https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/reykjanes_mantle_convection_and_climate.html
• http://publications.iodp.org/scientific_prospectus/395/
• http://publications.iodp.org/scientific_prospectus/395/395SPADD/395SP_ADD.PDF
• https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.sp.395.2020
• https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/precruise/reykjanes/892-Full2_Parnell-Turner_web.pdf
• https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/precruise/reykjanes/892-Add_Parnell-Turner_web.pdf

【Reference】 IODP Copyright Statement
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