Integrated Ocean Drilling Program water. This required the use of sonar scanning equipment and a large-scale re-entry cone. Process-oriented Earth studies continued from 1985 until 2003 aboard the "JOIDES Resolution", which replaced the "Glomar Challenger" in January 1985 as DSDP morphed into the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). The "JOIDES Resolution" is named for the 200-year-old HMS "Resolution" which explored the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica under the command of Captain James Cook. The Ocean Drilling Program contributed significantly to increased scientific understanding of Earth history, climate change, plate tectonics, natural resources, and geohazards. ODP discoveries included validation of: National consortia and government funding agencies supported
Largest organisms one of the largest and oldest clonal colonies on Earth. Among animals, the largest species are all marine mammals, specifically whales. The blue whale is believed to be the largest animal to have ever lived. The largest land animal classification is also dominated by mammals, with the African bush elephant being the most massive of these. The largest single-stem tree by wood volume and mass is the giant sequoia ("Sequoiadendron giganteum"), native to Sierra Nevada and California; it typically grows to a height of and in diameter. Multiple-stem trees such as banyan can be enormous. Thimmamma Marrimanu in India spreads