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10 MTR May 2006 In the Pacific Ocean, approximately 800 km west of Costa Rica, scientists aboard the research drilling ship Joides Resolution have, for the first time, recovered black rocks known as gabbros from intact ocean crust. The scientists, working for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), drilled through the volcanic rock that forms the Earth's crust to reach a fossil magma chamber lying 1.4 km beneath the seafloor. "By sampling a complete section of the upper oceanic crust, we've accomplished a major goal scientists have pursued for over 40 years, since the days of Project MoHole," said Damon Teagle, National Oceanography Center, University of Southampton, U.K., and co-chief scientist of the drilling expedition. "Our achieve- ment will ultimately help science answer an important question, 'how is new ocean crust formed?" Project MoHole, begun in the 1950s, endeavored to drill all the way through the ocean crust and into the Earth's mantle. Co- chief scientist Jeff Alt, of the University of Michigan, said that, "Having this sample from the deep fossil magma chamber will allow us to compare its composition to the overlying lavas. It will help explain whether ocean crust, which is about six- to seven- kilometers thick, is formed from one high- level magma chamber or from a series of stacked magma lenses." news IODP Research Team Penetrates Fossil Magma Chamber (Photo Cr edit: IODP/T AMU) Glimpses of Gliders David Sutherland, an MIT/WHOI Joint Program stu- dent in the Physical Oceanography department, joined an ascending glider during a test in the Bahamas in January 2003. (Photo by Dave Fratantoni, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) MTR#4 (1-16).qxd 5/8/2006 9:38 AM Page 12
