As a pilot study for a possible depth-drilling project, an 82m long sedimentary succession was retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Apennines, which hosts ca. 900m of lacustrine sediments. The acquired paleoclimatic record, from the retrieved core, spans the last 180ka and reveals noticeable variations related to the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. In light of these results, the Fucino sediments are likely to provide one of the longest continuous record for the last 2Ma.

We report on a planned Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP) that will continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in a transect along the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The TADP will document the evolution of the Neotropical forest and will link biotic diversification to changes in the physical environment, including climate, tectonism, and landscape. We will also sample the ca. 200Ma basaltic sills that underlie much of the Amazon.

A new drilling program at Surtsey Volcano, a 50-year-old oceanic island and UNESCO World Heritage site in Iceland, will undertake interdisciplinary investigations of rift zone volcanism, dynamic hydrothermal mineral assemblages in basaltic tephra, and subterrestrial microbial colonization and succession in altered tephra and hydrothermal fluids. Long-term monitoring of evolving hydrothermal and biological processes will occur through installation of a 200m deep Surtsey subsurface observatory.

Proceedings and results are presented from the Seoul 2014 Advancing Subsurface Biosphere and Paleoclimate Research workshop. Participants discussed past and present directions of IODP and ICDP subsurface research, including efforts with DCO and IMPRESS. Discussions led to the formation of a level-based communication system with the goal of improving communication and expectations between all drilling disciplines. The production of a biology-themed handbook to guide surface research is planned.