Will drill up to a kilometer deep
Researchers will use advanced equipment to drill about a kilometer deep into the ocean floor and study the samples obtained from every angle. The director of the expedition, Professor Ron Hackney, said that the expedition also aims to check what changes have occurred in the rocky samples since the devastating earthquake in 2011.
The expedition will last for 7 months
This expedition is the final stage of a 10-year international research project known as the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The mission will last for about seven months. Before this, over the past decade, 81 scientists from Australia and New Zealand have gone on separate drilling expeditions.