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Rob DunbarRob Dunbar is a globe-trotting marine geologist who studies earth’s climate history by diving in the tropics and collecting sediments in Antarctica. Concentrating on global environmental change over the past 50 to 12,000 years, Rob and his team collect samples from deep-sea corals and lake and ocean sediments and analyze their age, chemistry, and morphology for clues about air-sea interactions, tropical marine ecosystems and polar climate. He is W.M. Keck Professor of Earth Science and director of the Stanford University Stable Isotope Lab. An avid nature photographer, SCUBA-diver and teacher, Rob is reporting from East Antarctica on the Wilkes Land Expedition.

Project Page: Wilkes Land Expedition

All Posts By Rob Dunbar


Seeing into the Past

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– We have now drilled over 750 meters into the seabed off of the Wilkes Land Coast of Antarctica... {Read More »}



Deploying 14,000 feet of Drill Pipe

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– This video shows the mechanics of putting 14,000 feet of drill pipe into the water beneath the ship. Quite an operation to watch with everyone performing as though a cast member in a complicated ballet production... {Read More »}



Moving On

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– So, guess what? We had to abandon our first drill hole, the one I wrote about yesterday. Turned out we had drilled into a massive body of sand, gravel, and big rocks... {Read More »}



We’ve Got Core

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– What an exciting day! After 2 days on site we have retrieved our first real core. The problem last night was that the seabed was so rocky and hard that it broke our bottommost drill pipes when we hit... {Read More »}



Our First Coring Attempt

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Here we see our very first try at drilling a hole in the seafloor 3800 meters below the ship – the first real work of the expedition and the first time any attempt has been made to drill at this spot... {Read More »}



Ready for First Core Ever from Wilkes Land

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION-- We are getting ready to retrieve the first section of a sediment core ever taken from of this site, Wilkes Land! The whole ship is abuzz with excitement. Everyone is awake to see what we will get... {Read More »}



Welcome Aboard!

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, EN ROUTE TO THE WILKES LAND MARGIN, ANTARCTICA-- Welcome to IODP Expedition 318. It's been nine days since we set sail from Wellington, New Zealand... {Read More »}