The overarching goal of this project is to develop new records of terrestrial climate and environmental change in central Indonesia spanning multiple glacial-interglacial cycles over the late Pleistocene through continental scientific drilling in Lake Towuti, the largest lake in Indonesia. Lake Towuti has long been recognized as a priority drilling site for a global lake drilling program due to its location in the climatically-important Indo-Pacific region, its extraordinarily high rates of biodiversity and biological endemism, and its location within the East Sulawesi Ophiolite, giving rise to important biogeochemical cycles of carbon, iron, chromium, and other metals. Recent geophysical and piston coring surveys, combined with an international workshop, have developed the scientific rationale and hypotheses behind the Towuti Drilling Project.
This planning grant will provide funds to conduct site visits to Lake Towuti with drilling engineers and personnel to develop a logistically feasible drilling plan for Towuti, and to develop a budget that is both realistic and cost-effective for drilling proposals to be submitted in 2013. In particular, this award will provide funds for two trips to Lake Towuti for the lead PI and DOSECC Exploration Services (DES) staff to:
1) Identify sites on Lake Towuti for constructing, deploying, and recovering a drilling barge, to identify local contractors for site improvements related to barge deployment (e.g. dock construction), and to develop a budget for these activities;
2) Develop a concrete plan and budget for housing the drilling barge crew near Lake Towuti;
3) Finalize agreements with PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, a local mining company, for logistical support in the areas of shipping, import/export, supplies, and other local needs;
4) Identify local contractors for heavy equipment supply, fuel supply, and other services, and obtain price quotes for those services;
5) Obtain up-to-date information on permitting procedures for large, international projects such as the Towuti Drilling Project;
6) Finalize and verify a budget for the Towuti Drilling Project for drilling proposal submission to the International Continental Drilling Program, the NSF, and other national agencies.
Indonesia lies at the heart of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool the largest pool of warm water on Earth. Evaporation and rainfall over Indonesia control the amount of water vapor in the Earth’s atmosphere, and interact with globally important climate processes such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Despite the importance of this region, we lack long records of Indonesian hydrology to understand how global climate changes interact with this important region. Lake Towuti is a large tectonic lake in central Indonesia that contains the longest known terrestrial sedimentary record of Indonesian hydrology, and can provide a critical new record long-term climate variability in this region. The Lake Towuti Drilling Project seeks to drill long sediment cores from the bottom of this unique lake to understand the climate history of the Indo-Pacific region. Continental drilling in Towuti also has enormous value for research on the interaction between climate change and biological systems. Lake Towuti is hom to endemic fishes, snails, shrimp, and is surrounded by one of the most diverse rainforest ecosystems on earth. Drilling in Lake Towuti will document the environmental and climatic context that shaped the evolution of these unique lacustrine and terrestrial ecosystems. Lake Towuti is also surrounded by metal-rich rocks that release high levels of iron, nickel, chromium, and other metals through weathering. These metals catalyze novel chemical cycles within the lake and its sediments by a diverse, exotic lacustrine bacterial community. Drill core will provide insight into long-term changes in the geomicrobiology of this system. Developing a scientific drilling project in a region as remote as Lake Towuti is logistically challenging. This award funded travel by the lead investigator and a US-based scientific drilling company to Lake Towuti to develop detailed logistical plans and accurate budgets that formed the basis for proposals to fund the drilling project. The work was extremely successful, and the drilling project is now planned to begin 1 May, 2015 with over 30 scientists from five countries participating.
