The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP: 2000-2013) has provided crucial records of past and present processes and interactions within and between the biosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Research in IODP encompasses a wide range of fundamental and applied issues that affect society, such as global climate change, biodiversity, the origin of life, natural hazards involving the study of earthquakes processes, and the internal structure and dynamics of our planet. This compilation of major findings from the 2003-2013/14 phase of IODP, focusing on scientific results rather than description of data acquisition and early inferences, provides invaluable information. Anyone wondering what scientific drilling can achieve will gain quick understanding of the range of questions that are uniquely addressed with this methodology and the ways these data dovetail with other regional information. The excitement of breakthrough findings that occasionally accompanies a drilling project will be evident. IODP obtained unique records from the global ocean basins during the 2003-2013 program phase. This book highlights findings in three theme areas: Subseafloor life and the marine biosphere; Earth's changing environments; and Dynamics of the solid Earth. Each core or borehole log provides a window revealing insights that no other data achieve.

This study of organic carbon accumulation in marine environments begins with a review of mechanisms controlling organic carbon deposition, concentrating on results from expeditions into Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea, as well as the Sea of Japan and the northwest coast of Africa. Major objects of the study were the reconstruction of changes in palaeoceanic variables and the history of palaeoclimates in different environments. The contributors also developed more general models for organic carbon accumulation and compared organic-carbon characteristics derived from different analytical techniques in order to reach the best-fitting interpretation model.