arrow_upward
Scientific Drilling and Related Research in the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman

Startdate: 13 September, 2012
Enddate: 17 September, 2012

Workshop report: Kelemen, P., Al Rajhi, A., Godard, M., Ildefonse, B., Köpke, J., MacLeod, C., Manning, C., Michibayashi, K., Nasir, S., Shock, E., Takazawa, E., Teagle, D., 2013. Scientific Drilling and Related Research in the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman. Sci. Dril. 15, 64-71.

Summary

This workshop report describes plans for scientific drilling in the Samail ophiolite in Oman in the context of past, current, and future research. Long-standing plans to study formation and evolution of the Samail crust and upper mantle, involving igneous and metamorphic processes at an oceanic spreading center, have been augmented by recent interest in ongoing, low temperature processes. These include alteration and weathering, and the associated sub-surface biosphere supported by chemical potential energy due to disequilibrium between mantle peridotite and water near the surface. This interest is motivated in part by the possibility of geological carbon capture and storage via engineered, accelerated mineral carbonation in Oman.

Our International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) proposal led to the Workshop on Scientific Drilling in the Samail  Ophiolite in Palisades, New York, on 13–17 September 2012. There were seventy-seven attendees from eleven  countries, including twenty early career scientists. After keynote presentations on overarching science themes,  participants in working groups and plenary sessions outlined a ~U.S.$2 million drilling plan that practically addresses testable hypotheses and areas of frontier discovery in the following areas.

  1. understanding the subsurface biosphere • characterizing the rates and mechanisms of ongoing mineral hydration and carbonation
  2. characterizing chemical and physical processes of mass transfer across a subduction zone
  3. evaluating well-posed hypotheses on hydrothermal circulation, cooling, and emplacement mechanisms of igneous rocks in the lower crust
  4. investigating key problems in the dynamics of mantle flow and melt transport beneath oceanic spreading ridges

This report places these goals in the context of complementary research via ocean drilling and ongoing studies of active processes at oceanic spreading centers, subduction zones, and peridotite-hosted hydrothermal systems. We end with an outline of the synergy between Oman drilling and the specific drilling proposed in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) proposal “Mohole to Mantle Project (M2M)”, IODP Proposal 805-MDP.

Related Publications

Kelemen, P., Al Rajhi, A., Godard, M., Ildefonse, B., Köpke, J., MacLeod, C., Manning, C., Michibayashi, K., Nasir, S., Shock, E., Takazawa, E., Teagle, D. (2013). "Scientific Drilling and Related Research in the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman" Sci. Dril. 15 p64-71