{"id":112152,"date":"2024-10-09T12:45:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T05:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112152"},"modified":"2024-10-09T12:45:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T05:45:45","slug":"a-huge-loss-is-it-the-end-for-the-ship-that-helped-us-understand-life-on-earth-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112152","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A huge loss\u2019: is it the end for the ship that helped us understand life on Earth? | Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:500;\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">I<\/span>n the early summer of this year, a ship set sail around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. But this wasn\u2019t any ordinary ship. For almost 40 years the Joides Resolution<em> <\/em>drilled into the ocean floor to collect samples and data that helped scientists to study Earth\u2019s history and structure. Expeditions on the vessel have made a vital contribution to our understanding of the climate crisis, the tectonic plates theory, the origin of life on Earth and natural hazards such as earthquakes and eruptions. Yet the two-month voyage around Svalbard was to be its last.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The National Science Foundation (NSF), the US agency that provided scientists at Texas A&amp;M University with funds for the ship, announced last year it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/news\/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=306986&amp;org=OCE\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">would not<\/a> give money for the drilling vessel past September 2024. It was a declaration that shocked the global scientific community and meant that Svalbard would be the ship\u2019s final outing.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"66d2b448-384a-4a5f-b88d-6a2037d974b0\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-eyv1cr\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cBeing deprived of this workhorse is devastating because we can\u2019t get these data in any other way,\u201d says Thomas Ronge, the project manager of the Svalbard expedition. \u201cWe are losing our potential to read the history book of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">To understand the significance of the loss of the drilling vessel, it is useful to look at the evolution of this type of exploration and what it has attempted to achieve \u2013 in many cases successfully.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">It began in earnest in the early 1960s, when a group of scientists embarked on a mission to drill down from a floating barge, called Cuss I, to the border between the crust, the Earth\u2019s outermost layer, and the mantle, the next and thickest layer. Project Mohole, as it was known, was recorded by the novelist and amateur oceanographer John Steinbeck <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.fr\/books?id=9lEEAAAAMBAJ&amp;lpg=PA110&amp;ots=iFqfSHZdb0&amp;dq=John+Steinbeck+1961+crust+pacific+life&amp;pg=PA110%23v%3Dtwopage&amp;q=&amp;hl=fr#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">in an article for Life magazine<\/a>. \u201cThis is the opening move in a long-term plan of exploration of the unknown two-thirds of our planet that lies under the sea,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe know less about this area than we do about the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"7cfe7216-beb5-4f78-b40f-aefaeb61a75c\" data-spacefinder-role=\"immersive\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-imskkt\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-lvclai\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>The Cuss 1 barge off of Guadalupe Island, when Mohole Project attempted to drill through Earth\u2019s second layer, March 1961. Photograph: Fritz Goro\/Life\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"2a0b1f86-1a0f-46f4-97dc-723f894c3501\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-eyv1cr\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">That mission was ultimately unsuccessful but it laid the foundations for scientific ocean drilling, the concept of which is simple. Strata of sediments accumulate underwater, eventually becoming rock under pressure. Unlike on land, where disparate factors change the ground conformation in unpredictable ways, layers on the sea floor usually pile up at a regular pace and remain untouched. The deeper you drill, the further back in time you can go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">After the failure of Mohole came the drill ship Glomar Challenger and, from 1985, the Joides Resolution. As recently as last year, 62 years after the Mohole project recounted by Steinbeck, scientists aboard the Joides managed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/science\/scientists-obtain-deepest-rock-sample-earths-mantle-2024-08-08\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">extract rock samples from the Earth\u2019s mantle for the first time<\/a>. \u201cWe did it,\u201d said one of the expedition members to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/08\/science\/mantle-core-drill-ocean.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New York Times<\/a>. \u201cWe now have a treasure trove of rocks that will let us systematically study the processes that people believe are relevant to the emergence of life on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"29dd5968-0549-4b73-b10f-628ea41d0e39\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-5h0uf4\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-lvclai\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Yet such discoveries, at least using a US-funded vessel, appear unlikely in the near future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201c[The end of the funding] is a huge loss to science and to everyone,\u201d says Adriane Lam, a researcher at Binghamton University in New York, who was aboard the Joides<em> <\/em>this summer for the ship\u2019s last expedition. \u201cThe stuff we\u2019re finding has huge implications for things like where people live and may not be able to live in the future if the Earth keeps warming up.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" class=\"dcr-1oak5ld\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 14\" style=\"fill:var(--pullquote-icon);\" class=\"dcr-scql1j\"><path d=\"M5.255 0h4.75c-.572 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941H0C.792 9.104 2.44 4.53 5.255 0Zm11.061 0H21c-.506 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941h-8.686c.902-4.837 2.485-9.411 5.3-13.941Z\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"dcr-zzndwp\"><p>We lose the ship, which is already a big blow. But the worst part is losing the expertise<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<footer><cite>Thomas Ronge<\/cite><\/footer>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">On its last expedition, the Joides drilled into the sea floor to help scientists understand how an ice sheet in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/arctic\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Arctic<\/a> Ocean collapsed thousands of years ago. Analysing how the Svalbard ice sheet melted, researchers hope to be able to model the possible collapse of a vulnerable equivalent in the west Antarctic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The NSF attributed its decision to end its funding to rising costs and a lack of financial support from the International Ocean Discovery Program\u2019s partners. But many see the expenditure for the ship as paltry compared with its benefits. To put it in perspective, the total NSF budget for 2023 was close to $10bn (\u00a37.5bn); the $71m spent on the Joides is 0.7% of that.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"75b12fb9-c1de-41e1-8352-fe9d3ff5cf22\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.MultiImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"\/>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The loss of the Joides also opens up opportunities for other countries to get ahead in the race for discovery. Some of the Joides\u2019 crew have already been contacted by what may be the next protagonist of scientific ocean drilling: China. In December last year, Beijing launched its first drilling vessel, the Mengxiang, a super-advanced ship that will most probably take over the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cPeople were shocked and caught out off guard when NSF made that announcement,\u201d says Suzanne O\u2019Connell, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. \u201cIn a way, the fact that the Chinese have built their vessel could help spur us to build a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"2ed1a943-18a6-499f-8528-987ed71e5862\" data-spacefinder-role=\"immersive\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-imskkt\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-lvclai\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>The Joides on an expedition in the Santorini caldera near the Palea and Nea Kameni volcanos, January 2023, to help understand how and why volcanoes erupt. Photograph: Thomas Ronge\/IODP<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"5f6ea097-0e1b-4b19-a479-6892fe1fb589\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-eyv1cr\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>On an expedition to Iceberg Alley \u2013 where many icebergs melt \u2013 in the Antarctic, April 2019. Core samples of debris released from melted icebergs can provide insights into the history of melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Photograph: Thomas Ronge\/IODP<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">O\u2019Connell did two expeditions with the Glomar Challenger and eight on the Joides. She is now appealing to US members of Congress and the media to try to salvage the ship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">One slender hope remains for the Joides to avoid the scrapyard. A bill proposed to the House in July asked the NSF to use $60m to continue operating the vessel<em> <\/em>for at least three missions next year. According to a spokesperson for the congressman Michael McCaul \u2013 the Republican representative for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/texas\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Texas<\/a> A&amp;M University\u2019s district who is pushing for the extra funding \u2013 the chances of the bill passing are \u201chigh\u201d. However, it probably will not be voted on until mid-December at the earliest and its final text is anything but definitive.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"1c537c57-d381-469f-925d-43451850887a\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-eyv1cr\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>A scan of the last core retrieved by the Joides in front of Svalbard on 26 July 2024. After having drilled about 373,000 meters of sediments and rocks in almost 40 years of missions, these are the last 4.46 meters of sediments extracted. Photograph: Expedition 403 Science Party<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In the meantime, the equipment belonging to Texas A&amp;M is being taken off the ship and the crew are likely to move to new jobs. It is not clear if there would be time to make the Joides operational again at that point, and James McManus, the NSF\u2019s director of ocean sciences, says he \u201ccannot speculate on this scenario\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"0b3b2bf7-8738-4408-9c5a-df0c52ce85de\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:25,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;\u2018Spoon worms lick the seabed with a metre-long tongue\u2019: a voyage into a vanishing Arctic world&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;0b3b2bf7-8738-4408-9c5a-df0c52ce85de&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/feb\/03\/spoon-worms-lick-the-seabed-with-a-metre-long-tongue-a-voyage-into-a-vanishing-arctic-world&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;display&quot;:1,&quot;theme&quot;:0,&quot;design&quot;:19}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">With no guarantees for the future, several drilling projects have been postponed indefinitely, and an entire branch of science risks stalling, at least in the west.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWe lose the ship, which is already a big blow,\u201d says Ronge, now in Texas working on the cores from the last expedition. \u201cBut the worst part is losing the expertise, because if the people that can now run the ship blindfolded will find other jobs or retire, their knowledge will be gone. And without them it will take a decade before we return to full capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"18c09a63-a80a-421b-aa61-8cf8f387b010\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-eyv1cr\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/oct\/09\/a-huge-loss-is-it-the-end-for-the-ship-that-helped-us-understand-life-on-earth\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the early summer of this year, a ship set sail around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. But this wasn\u2019t any ordinary ship. For almost 40 years the Joides Resolution &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=112152\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}