Background
Scientific drilling is one of the most invaluable tools among the multiple technical advances made in geosciences – most notably because it presents opportunities to establish deep natural laboratories in the continental crust for short to long-term observations of processes within Earth’s interior. Scientific drilling allows us to verify models, calibrate indirect methods of geophysical exploration, and carry out in situ experiments. The results are of utmost importance for assessing past, present and future developments on earth, and for finding answers to socio-economic questions. Geoscientific drilling also contributes to the development of prevention strategies and sustainable concepts through a deeper understanding of earth-related questions, processes and problems. This knowledge is critical for the development of integrated management strategies to ensure sustainable development.
The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) is the platform for continental research drilling designed to coordinate research drilling projects on land with a variety of scientific goals and a wide range of depth targets and technical challenges. Founded in 1996 at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam/ Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), the ICDP’s mission is to “generate the most exact, fundamental and globally significant knowledge on the structure, composition and processes of the Earth’s crust, through the unique capabilities of continental scientific drilling”.
The ICDP’s most recent science plan, covering the decade from 2020 to 2030, is entitled ‘Billions of Years of Earth Evolution’ and addresses four main themes: i) Geodynamic Processes: Understanding the processes that shaped the planet’s present conditions; ii) Geohazards: Understanding the full chain from hazard to risk; iii) Georesources: Improved understanding of the subsurface; and iv) Environmental Change: Sedimentary archives telling us how Earth evolved. Another chapter of the science plan addresses drilling transects spanning from land-to-sea (L2S), which are topical in both terrestrial and marine research communities, due to their strong potential to enable major scientific breakthroughs for challenges to humankind such as including the interplay between fresh- and seawater along coastlines, the transition between continental and oceanic crust, the formation and development of sustainable georesources from microbial life and volcanoes, and related biogeochemical cycles.
More information can be found on https://www.icdp-online.org/ and in the ICDP Science Plan 2020-2030