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
Ocean surface topography Ocean surface topography Ocean surface topography or sea surface topography, also called dynamic topography, are highs and lows on the ocean surface, similar to the hills and valleys of Earth's land surface depicted on a topographic map. These variations are expressed in terms of sea surface height (SSH) relative to the Earth's geoid. The main purpose of measuring ocean surface topography is to understand the large-scale circulation of the ocean. Unaveraged or instantaneous sea surface height (SSH) is most obviously affected by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the Earth. Over longer timescales, SSH is