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Ship's SystemsThe JOIDES Resolution is a drilling vessel with sophisticated drilling tools and science facilities, the ability to deploy almost six miles of drill string, and an ice-strengthened hull. This makes it possible to conduct scientific ocean drilling expeditions in extreme environments.
Download ship brochure: PDF (2 MB); HistoryThe ship was built in 1978 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and began operations as the Sedco/BP 471. In 1984, it was converted into a floating scientific research laboratory for the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), participating in Legs 100-210 until 2003. The same vessel was used by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) from 2004 to 2005, carrying out Expeditions 301, 303-309, and 311-312. In 2007, the vessel underwent an extreme makeover in Singapore, replacing the living quarters and laboratory structures and making service-life extension repairs and upgrades. The drilling capabilities that make this vessel special and the upgrades that were made in 2007 are described below. Coring OperationsDuring normal operations, drilling and science activities continue 24 hours a day. A typical ship's complement consists of ~60 scientists and technicians and 65 crew members. Everyone works on 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. A dynamic positioning system, supported by 12 powerful thrusters, uses computers to maintain the ship over a specific location. The ship can drill in water depths up to 8,235 meters and can suspend as much as 9,150 meters of pipe to the seafloor. The drilling process is controlled from the rig floor, a platform in the center of the ship. The pipe racker, located aft of the drill floor, stores the pipes. One joint of drill pipe measures 9.5 meters. The crew makes a stand of drill pipe by assembling three joints at a time. On the rig floor, a mechanical device called an iron roughneck makes up the drill string by connecting stands of pipe. The crew lowers the assembled drill pipe from the drill floor through the moonpool, an ~7 meter opening that extends through the bottom of the ship. The process of lowering the drill string takes ~12 hours in 5,500 m of water. After the crew lowers the drill string to the seafloor, coring operations begin. The drill crew lowers core barrels through the drill pipe. To core through the seafloor, the entire drill string is rotated. The core barrels retrieve and store the core material cut by the drill bit. On average, the core barrel takes about 90 minutes to complete one round trip. When it returns to the rig floor, technicians recover the long cylinder of sediment or rock. Deep holes often require several changes of drill bits. Each change of drill bit requires that the entire drill string be brought up, stand by stand, until the bit can be changed at the bottom of the string. With a new bit in place, the crew must reassemble the string before it reenters the hole. A reentry cone that is lowered through the moonpool and set on the seafloor enables the drill string to reenter the hole several times. A sophisticated system of scanning sonar equipment and an underwater television camera guide the drill string into the hole. FacilitiesOverview Graphics
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