Washington

Japan and the United States are set to forge ahead with a major drilling collaboration to explore what lies beneath the ocean floor.

The two nations are expected to sign a deal next week that will commit US$1.2 billion over ten years to the operating costs of the Ocean Drilling Program. And although Europe won't take part in the Tokyo signing ceremony, ocean scientists are optimistic that it will come on board later.

The deal, which succeeds an existing agreement that expires this September, will deploy two ships equipped with advanced drilling technology to take core samples from the ocean floor, including from areas that have previously been inaccessible.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) have each agreed to bear 44% of the estimated $150-million annual running costs of the programme, and the hope is that Europe will make up the deficit. The agreement marks “a visionary new phase in scientific ocean drilling”, says Jeff Fox of Texas A&M University in College Station, the director of scientific operations for the existing international programme.

Japan and the United States are already planning to build the two vessels that will do most of the programme's work. Japan is spending $500 million on Chikyu, a vessel that will be able to bore up to six kilometres into Earth's crust.

“This new ship will try to understand the physical and chemical environment off Japan's coasts, where many earthquakes occur,” says Ted Moore, a marine geologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who co-chairs the new programme's scientific review committee.

In addition, Moore says that the ship will allow scientists to learn more about the formation of Earth's crust and to sample the huge fans of sediment that lie in the deep ocean. These sediment fans, which are deposited on the edge of continental shelves, may be one of the most complete sources of information on the planet's climate history.

The United States is planning to spend $90 million on a more modest drilling vessel, probably a refurbished version of its current ship, the JOIDES Resolution. This could be ready next year, whereas the Chikyu is expected to enter service in 2006.

A European consortium of scientists sought funds for a full one-third participation in the new programme, but was unable to secure funding under the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme. European researchers are still planning to participate through smaller, targeted drilling projects, says Chris Franklin, head of Earth science and technology at Britain's Natural Environment Research Council, and chairman of the consortium. “Europe is striving hard to provide a way of funding this science in 2004,” he says.

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