Significance of ocean drilling and China‘s paleooceanographic studies

Manysignificantprogressesofearthscienceinthemidtolate20thcenturywerecloselyrelatedtotheinternationalDeepSeaDrillingProgram(DSDP).ThesedimentaryrecordobtainedfromunderneathseveralthousandsofseawateropenedanewwindowformankindtounderstandtheEarthanditsevolution.TheChineseearthsciencecommunitylearnedtheDSDPthroughtheintroductionoftheplatetectonictheoryinthe1970s,butdeep-seastudyremainedremoteandunrealisticforthethenChina.TheonsetoftheOceanDrillingProgram(ODP)in1985triggeredthehopeforChina…

Significance of ocean drilling and China’s paleooceanographic studies

Many significant progresses of earth science in the mid to late 20th century were closely related to the international Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP). The sedimentary record obtained from underneath several thousands of seawater opened a new window for mankind to understand the Earth and its evolution. The Chinese earth science community learned the DSDP through the introduction of the plate tectonic theory in the 1970s, but deep-sea study remained remote and unrealistic for the then China. The onset of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) in 1985 triggered the hope for China to be involved in the international paleoceanographic studies. With the establishment of an "Ocean Drilling Program Committee of China", the aim was to bring China onto the new international frontier of science, but little could be done because of the lack of necessary conditions at the time.