European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD)

During the planning process of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003-2013), various European countries have joined to form a consortium, named European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD). Currently, ECORD consists of 15 member countries. Besides European countries, Canada is also part of ECORD. Such a pooling of scientific and financial resources is necessary for acting as an equal partner alongside the USA and Japan, and to provide the third drilling platform, the Mission Specific Platforms (MSPs). This allows drilling activities to be extended to areas that are inaccessible with JOIDES Resolution or Chikyu, such as shallow shelf seas and ice-covered seas.

ECORD scientists are represented at all levels of the international IODP structure (e.g. in all panels and in the IODP Forum) and therefore significantly influence the drilling program.

ECORD - Memorandum of Understanding

Structure and tasks of ECORD

The supervisory body for all ECORD activities is the ECORD Council consisting of delegates from the funding institutions. The ECORD Council nominates the "ECORD Science Support and Advisory Committee" (ESSAC), which plans and coordinates scientific and technical contributions of ECORD to IODP. The committee consists of representatives of the different member countries and the ESSAC Office rotates to a different institute in one of the member countries every two years. The ESSAC Office is among other things responsible for expedition applications of European scientists. ECORD steers its contribution to the IODP through the ECORD Managing Agency (EMA). Furthermore, the "ECORD Science Operator" (ESO) is responsible for the operation of MSPs (Mission Specific Platforms) and an IODP core repository. ESO consists of the BGS (British Geological Survey), the EPC (European Petrophysical Consortium) and the University of Bremen. The latter also operates one of the three international IODP core repositories.

Source: ECORD