“Atlantis” at the center of global interest – Scientists from 22 countries start drilling in Santorini

A large international oceanographic mission to conduct underwater research drilling around the Santorini-Columbus-Christian volcanic complex in the South Aegean has just been approved and will take place from December 2022 to February 2023.

The drillings in six points in the caldera of Santorini and in the wider undersea area of ​​Santorini-Amorgos, which will be done using the oceanographic ship "JOIDES Resolution", will be carried out in the framework of Mission 398 of the International Ocean Discovery Program-IODP, one of the most ambitious and long-term international science programs in the world.

The specialized oceanographic vessel, one of the largest for research drilling in the world, is scheduled to sail from the Spanish port of Tarragona on December 6, 2022 in the direction of the Aegean and the mission will be completed by February 5, 2023. Fever has already begun. both in Greece and abroad.

Santorini - Scientists from 22 countries

The IODP includes 22 member countries with financial support from the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Korea, India, Canada and 14 European countries. Its purpose is to study the evolution of the Earth, as recorded in the sediments and rocks beneath the ocean floor. This is done through deep offshore exploratory drilling and recovery of sediment and rock cores, which are then studied in detail by scientists from around the world.

Such sediments and rocks are records of processes that take place on the ocean floor, in the oceans, and even in the atmosphere. An important feature of sediments in basins around volcanoes - such as those in the Aegean - is that they contain a long, continuous record of volcanic activity. The IODP uses a number of different drilling vessels, but the most...