The overlying goal of this summer school is to bring PhD students and young Postdocs in touch with the International Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP) at an early stage of their career, inform them about the exciting research within IODP as (I)ODP and DSDP have been proven to be the most successful internationally collaborative research programs in the history of Earth sciences, and to prepare them for future participation in IODP expeditions. Such training will be achieved by taking the summer school participants on a “virtual ship” where they get familiarized with a wide spectrum of state-of-the-art analytical technologies and core description and scanning methods according to the high standards of IODP expeditions. In addition, the thematic topic of the summer school will be reviewed by various scientific lectures by the leading experts in the field.
Seawater circulates through systems of faults, fractures, and other permeable conduits in magmatic and sedimentary rocks and redistributes heat and solutes by advection. Fluids seeping through the ocean crust in various continental margin settings transport hydrocarbons and concentrate them at migration barriers forming natural gas hydrates within the gas hydrate stability zone. ODP and IODP has contributed to an amazing turn-around in the perception of marine gas hydrates. From avoiding gas hydrates, due to safety issues in past, the program changed its attitude completely and is now actively drilling for them. Research on natural methane hydrates in seafloor settings and its dynamics during climate changes is a topic of worldwide interest.