International Ocean Discovery Program

Expedition 357: Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life

October 2015 – December 2015

Atlantis Massif mapIODP Expedition 357: Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life aims to improve our understanding of seafloor serpentinization and its role in driving hydrothermal systems; sustaining microbiological communities; and the sequestration of carbon in ultramafic rock. The chosen site for this was the Lost City Hydrothermal Field (LCHF) atop the Atlantis Massif, Oceanic Core Complex 30°N on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. Large-scale serpentinization at sites like this is thought to have major effects on the rheology and geophysical properties of the oceanic lithosphere; as well as impacting on heat flux and geochemical processes.

Expedition 357 was the first IODP expedition to utilise seabed drills, in the form of BGS’s RD2 and MARUM’s MeBo, to drill a series of shallow holes in two transects. One spreading-parallel (east-west) profile investigating  microbial community evolution with respect to age and CO2 sequestration. The second, a north-south profile investigating microbial effects on various lithologies and in turn their effects on localizing detachment faults.

EPC provided offshore and onshore core physical properties services, and technical support for downhole logging operations for IODP Expedition 357.

Publications

As Petrophysics Staff Scientist, Sally Morgan is a co-author on the following expedition-related publications.

Preliminary report

  • Früh-Green, G.L., Orcutt, B.N., Green, S., Cotterill, C., and the Expedition 357 Scientists, 2016. Expedition 357 Preliminary Report: Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life. International Ocean Discovery Program, do1:10.14379/iodp.pr.357.2016

Expedition proceedings

  • Früh-Green, G.L., Orcutt, B.N., Green, S.L., Cotterill, C., and the Expedition 357 Scientists (Morgan, S.), 2016. Atlantis Massif Serpentinization and Life. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 357: College Station, TX (International Ocean Discovery Program), doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.357.2017

Expedition blog posts and news items

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