Science Planning Committee(SPC)

Report to USACJuly 2009

Role of Science Planning Committee

• Chartered by the Science Advisory Structure Executive Committee (SASEC) as primary SAS committee for planning the IODP scientific drilling expedition schedule

• SASEC retains really long-term planning outlook

• SPC focuses on annual process for review and ranking mature IODP proposals forwarded by SSEP, approximately one year in advance of preparation of IODP Annual Program Plans

• SPC also recommends annual engineering plan in support of science plan, after advice from EDP

• All other SAS panels report through SPC, so SPC also synthesizes SAS advice for SASEC + IODP-MI

SSP

EPSP

SSEP

SPC

EDP

STP

IODP SAS

SSDB

Ext. Review

IODP-MI, Sapporo(Proposal database)

Proponent

OTF

Proposal submission (4/1, 10/1)

Evaluation and Nurturing

Data submission

Ranking Scheduling

IODP Proposal Process

SPC Proposal Review/Ranking Steps

1. Review mature proposals forwarded by SSEP within past year or remaining from previous rankings.

– Typically 15-20 proposals are reviewed at March SPC meeting; for each, 3 SPC “watchdogs” lead presentation and discussion, with input from chairs of SSEP, SSP, EPSP.

2. Select proposal pool to rank– Usually, nearly all proposals at SPC level are ranked, but exceptions are made

(a) at proponent’s request or (b) for other special circumstances.

3. Rank proposals and compile results– Each SPC member ranks N proposals 1 to N on a signed ballot. Rankings are

compiled and presented with means and s.d.’s.

4. Select highest ranked proposals to forward to Operations Task Force (OTF) for development of schedule options.

– SSEP forwards only strong, mature proposals – Only SPC comparatively ranks proposals. Groupings I, II, and return.

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Science Planning Committee (SPC) MeetingMarch 16-19, Miami, Floridaplus important aspect of August 2008 Sapporo

1. Proposal Rankings 2. Ancillary Program Letters (APLs) 3. Flexible Expedition Implementation 4. Riser Contingency Planning

SPC Meeting

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1. Proposal Ranking

Ranked 28 Proposals 8 new 8 previously sent to OTF 12 residing at SPC

- More discussion of proposals in related groups - Asian Monsoon DPG - Hot Spot DPG

Tier 2 proposals sent to OTF this year will remain there for 2 years

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1. Proposal Ranking

Rank Proposal # Short Title Mean St. Dev. Tier1 636-Full3 Louisville Seamounts 5.53 4.23 1 (Pac)2 662-Full3 South Pacific Gyre Microbiology 5.65 4.24 1 (Pac)3 705-Full2 Santa Barbara B. Climate Change 6.94 5.23 2*4 637-Full2 New England Shelf Hydrogeology 7.24 6.34 NA*5 552-Full3 Bengal Fan 8.53 6.28 1 (Ind)*6 716-Full2 Hawaiian Drowned Reefs 9.76 8.54 2*7 549-Full6 Northern Arabian Sea Monsoon 10.71 3.87 2*8 522-Full5 Superfast Spreading Crust 10.82 6.42 29 537A-Full5 Costa Rica Seismogenesis A 12.12 6.72 210 618-Full3 East Asia Margin 13.53 6.49 2*

* Indicates that site survey data needs to be submitted before forwarded to OTF

• Fairly good disciplinary balance in these top ranked proposals

Top 10 Proposals to forwarded to OTF

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1. Proposal Ranking

Rank Proposal # Short Title Mean St. Dev. 11 695-Full2 Izu-Bonin-Mariana Pre-Arc Crust 13.76 8.95 12 686-Full So. Alaska Margin 1: Climate-Tect. 14.18 6.18 13 659-Full Newfoundland Rifted Margin 14.41 6.7214 661-Full2 Newfoundland Sediment Drifts 14.47 6.1015 553-Full2 Cascadia Margin Hydrates 14.65 5.7016 555-Full3 Cretan Margin 15.06 6.9617 633-Full2 Costa Rica Mud Mounds 16.12 6.2718 697-Full3 Izu-Bonin-Mariana Reararc Crust 16.53 8.8919 567-Full4 South Pacific Paleogene 16.94 7.6920 581-Full2 Late Pleistocene Coralgal Banks 17.53 7.1721 589-Full3 Gulf of Mexico Overpressures 18.94 5.8821 698-Full2 Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc Middle Crust 18.94 10.4623 703-Full Costa Rica SeisCORK 19.18 4.7324 669-Full3 Walvis Ridge Hotspot 19.47 5.3325 535-Full6 Atlantis Bank Deep 20.47 7.9826 584-Full2 TAG II Hydrothermal 20.94 6.5727 556-Full4 Malvinas Confluence 21.41 4.1428 612-Full3 Geodynamo 22.18 7.59

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1. Proposal Ranking

Consensus 0903-13: The “holding bin” exists for proposals that are designated to be forwarded to OTF, but for which there are insufficient data for SSP) and/or EPSP) …. After SSP and EPSP have confirmed readiness for drilling, the SPC chair can either forward to OTF or retain at SPC.

EPSP SSP549-Full6 Northern Arabian Sea Monsoon x ok552-Full3 Bengal Fan x ok618-Full3 East Asian Margin x ok637-Full2 New England Shelf Hydrogeology x x705-Full2 Santa Barbara Basin Climate Change x x716-Full2 Hawaiian Drowned Reefs x x 

Tier 1/Tier 2 Designations

Tier 1 - Highest priority proposal for an ocean region - Important to complete by 2013 - Ready for drilling

Tier 2 - High priority proposal for an ocean region - Ready for drilling - Resides at OTF for 2 years then re-evaluated by SPC

1. Proposal Ranking

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Current Tier 1 Proposals

Pacific 601 Okinawa Trough Deep Biosphere545 Juan de Fuca Flank Hydrogeology

505 Mariana Convergent Margin 537 CRISP B 636 Louisville Seamounts 662 South Pacific Gyre Microbiology

Atlantic 677 Mid-Atlantic Microbiology 644 Mediterranean Outflow

Indian 552 Bengal Fan (724 Gulf of Aden) (595 Indus Fan)

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Proposal Deactivation

SPC Consensus 0903-15: The SPC may deactivate proposals after three rankings.

SPC deactivated 535-Full6 (Atlantis Bank Deep) 584-Full2 (TAG II Hydrothermal) 612-Full3 (Geodynamo)

because they have ranked low in the last several evaluations and realistically have little chance of being implemented within the current phase of the IODP which ends in 2013.

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2. APL’s

SASEC Consensus 0806-11: SASEC encourages the community to continue to submit proposals for drilling… SASEC encourages submission of Ancillary Program Letters (APL’s) for targets of opportunity that may arise as the drilling vessels transit between expeditions.

- Difficult to evaluate quickly (email discussions)- Priority decisions in regards to main expedition- Need rapid scheduling of staffing and equipment- 3 day limit

Examples of problems with recent APL’s 739-APL Bering Sea Subseafloor Life (email decision, staffing issues) 734-APL Cascadia Accretionary Prism CORK (started with email discussion, cost, time issues) 738-APL Nankai Submarine Landslides (CHIKYU operation 10 days)

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2. APL’s

SPC Consensus 0903-07: The SPC adopts the principle that time be allocated in each IODP platform schedule to accommodate ancillary project letters (APLs) and engineering testing, and forwards this to the Operations Task Force (OTF) and implementing organizations (IOs) for implementation. As a guideline, three days per two-month expedition (i.e., less than 10% of on-site time) should be allocated for these activities. If the OTF determines that there is no appropriate engineering testing or approved APL for a given expedition, the time will transfer to the scientific objectives of the expedition.

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SPC Consensus 0808-29: The SPC supports pursuing a more flexible approach to expedition design. More flexible implementation may provide better opportunities to achieve top science objectives while operating under operational realities for the remainder of this program and for renewal.

1. Request that the Implementing Organizations (IOs) provide guidance about expedition flexibility, including ramifications of combining expedition objectives and/or staffing and crew rotation to implement various length expeditions and/or combined science parties and/or short-term port calls for crew and scientist rotation.2. Request that the Science Steering and Evaluation Panel (SSEP) considers how proposals might include additional information about objectives achieved with respect to the overall proposal objectives with streamlined drilling plans.

3. Flexible Expedition Implementation

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- Riser drilling at NT3-01 scheduled to start Sep. 2010- Kuroshio may be unfavorable- Need a contingency

4. Riser Contingency

Possible Expeditions537B CRISP618 Southeast Asia Margin698 IBM(595 Indus Fan)

CDEX was asked to provide preliminary scopingfor these projects

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4. Riser Contingency

SPC Motion 0903-16: The SPC asks IODP-MI to begin scoping of Proposal 618-Full3 (East Asia Margin) as a contingency for NanTroSEIZE.

- China-Vietnam disputed area issues for 618- Continue planning for CRISP- Priority based on science evaluation