Ocean margin drilling - a multifaceted picture

While many in the oceanographic community enthusiastically look forward to the Ocean Margin Drilling (OMD) program, others are not sure that the science to be gained will be worth the commitment to such an expensive, technology-intensive venture. The program was 7 years in the planning at the National Science Foundation (NSF), calls for a total cost of about $700 million over the next decade, and is to last through 1989.

OMD was envisioned at the NSF as the next step after the enormously successful Glomar Challenger Deep-Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Now winding down, DSDP is scheduled to continue through 1981 and taper off in 1982. A proposal has been submitted that would extend Challenger operations through 1983.