Newswise — The JOIDES Resolution returns to operations as the U.S.-operated scientific ocean drilling research vessel following an extensive upgrade of its on-board facilities. News venue: Honolulu Harbor, Pier 2 Arcade. Welcome remarks and a tour of the refurbished research vessel will begin at 9:30 a.m. with guest speaker, Dr. Arden Bement, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. Interested journalists should contact [email protected] for more information.

IODP is an international marine research program dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth through drilling, coring, and monitoring the subseafloor. Funded by 24 countries, IODP operates three drilling platforms: Chikyu, a riser-equipped vessel provided by Japan; the JOIDES Resolution, the newly refurbished research vessel provided by the United States; and mission-specific drilling platforms provided by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD).

During the first week of May 2009, all three IODP platforms will launch scientific investigations. The JOIDES Resolution will embark upon a continuing leg of the Pacific Equatorial Age Transect Expedition, sampling Pacific Ocean sediments and studying circulation and the transition from warmer climates that existed 15-50 million years ago to today's conditions of bipolar ice caps. More program information appears on www.iodp.org.