Brazilian participation in International Programs for Scientific Drilling & Discovery of the Continents and Oceans (ICDP/IODP) : opportunities for BR-EU research collaboration

Drilling is a technology developed for the exploration of natural resources (water, hydrocarbons, minerals), which can also be used to address scientific questions regarding the Earth's past, present and future. Scientific drilling initiatives are supported by the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). These international programs invite the submission of proposals that address scientific and societal challenges within thematic areas of climate change, the deep biosphere and natural hazards, as well as geodynamics and resources. Researchers from several Brazilian institutions are currently involved in ICDP and IODP projects that will lead to drilling campaigns from 2019. The largest is the Trans-Amazon Drilling Project, which aims to obtain transformative information on the development of the Amazon fluvial system and its biosphere in relation to the uplift of the Andes. The project involves an onshore to offshore transect of up to six sites, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic margin, a distance corresponding to 10% of the Earth's circumference. Onshore sites will be acquired during an ICDP project from 2019-2021, while sites on the Amazon deep-sea fan will be acquired in 2020 by the IODP vessel Joides Resolution. The South Atlantic campaign of the latter will involve at least one other IODP site on the Brazilian margin. These projects will generate datasets that imply inter-disciplinary collaborations among regional to global networks of researchers and students. They thus provide natural opportunities to further develop Brazilian-European research initiatives, through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and other mechanisms.