Rock-eating microbes survive in deep ocea...( manager and Texas A&M staff scienti...)

The Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. (JOI) manages ODP with advice from Joint Oceanographic Institutes for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES). JOI consists of a consortium of major US institutions with marine science programs. The National Science Foundation (NSF), a U.S. government agency, supplies 65 percent of ODP's $46 million annual budget, while 21 international partners contribute the remaining 35 percent of the required funding.

Texas A&M is one of two principal ODP contractors. It runs the research ship and hosts one of four repositories for deep-sea ocean core specimens. The ODP's JOIDES Resolution mounts six expeditions a year, each lasting about two months and targeting sites around the globe, chosen with specific scientific goals in mind. The ship houses 13,000 square feet of laboratory space, including 13 different labs for studies ranging from microbiology to geophysics. Typically an international team of 28 scientists participates in each voyage.

Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is the other principal ODP contractor. It is responsible for downhole logging operations and management of the site survey data base.

"ODP is uniquely positioned to sample one of the least known and potentially strangest ecosystems on Earth - the microbial biosphere of deep marine sediments and the oceanic crust," Baldauf said. "The growing international interest in the subsurface biosphere is driven by many factors, not the least of which is sheer fascination with the nature of life on the margin of existence."

'"/>

Contact: Judith White
jw@univrel.tamu.edu
979-845-4664
Texas A&M University
21-Feb-2002