Developing the Lake Tanganyika Drilling Project

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Site Survey This grant will support a site survey to Lake Tanganyika with marine engineers and continental scientific drilling personnel to finalize and verify proposals and a budget for drilling Lake Tanganyika for submission to the International Continental Drilling Program and the NSF in 2019/2020. This grant will support a site visit to Lake Tanganyika with marine engineers and continental scientific drilling personnel to finalize and verify proposals and a budget for drilling Lake Tanganyika for submission to the International Continental Drilling Program and the NSF in 2019/2020. The grant will support the following on-site requisite work: 1) Evaluate existing vessels on Lake Tanganyika and their suitability for use as drilling ship, evaluate existing marine shipyards and their capabilities (dry dock, etc.) to modify vessels on the lake, and to develop a budget for these activities; 2) Evaluate on-and off-shore housing for scientists and drillers and sites for a core laboratory; 3) Evaluate smaller vessels and work boats on the lake to determine their suitability to serve as personnel and crew transport vessels, and determine costs for these; 4) Identify local contractors for fuel supply, personnel transport, food, banking, and other services, and obtain costsfor those services; 5) Obtain up-to-date information on research and drilling permitting procedures for Tanganyika. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.