Rosalind Coggon was awarded the 2021 Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 15 December 2021 in New Orleans, LA. The prize is given “for outstanding transdisciplinary research accomplishment in ocean drilling.”

Rosalind Coggon conducts exciting multidisciplinary science using scientific ocean drilling samples and data. She has taken a leadership role in the community, including serving as co-editor of the new 2050 Science Framework: Exploring Earth by Scientific Ocean Drilling. Rosalind has been a proponent on several drilling proposals and was selected as a co-chief scientist on the upcoming Expeditions 390/393 South Atlantic Transect.

Rosalind’s research focuses on fluid chemistry, flux and pathways in oceanic crust. Using archive samples and fluids taken on Ocean Drilling Program Leg 168 from the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, she showed that carbonate veins produce robust records of past fluid chemistry. This research established for the first time a clear link between the alteration of basement rocks as recorded by secondary minerals (the carbonate veins) and the chemistry of near-basement sedimentary pore fluids (which are assumed to be representative of the basement fluids responsible for low-temperature alteration of the upper crust). A significant follow-up to this work used carbonate veins to reconstruct the elemental composition of past seawater. These data indicate that before the Neogene oceanic magnesium/calcium and strontium/calcium ratios were lower than in the modern ocean by a factor of 3! This study has implications for element exchange between the solid Earth, the changing chemistry of seawater and the atmosphere. A quick look at citations shows the impact of Rosalind’s work on topics such as ocean acidification, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the carbonate compensation depth. In addition to the familiar magnetic stripes, that the ocean crust preserves past records of the ocean and Earth system is a major conceptual paradigm shift. Rosalind was the lead proponent of a proposal to conduct multidisciplinary science along a transect in the South Atlantic that was so well received that it was allocated two upcoming expeditions, 390 and 393.

The broad scientific ocean drilling community is probably most familiar with Dr. Coggon’s immense role in developing the 2050 Science Framework. The first phase involved workshops, and Rosalind was co-chair of the Scientific Committee for the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling Expanding Frontiers of Scientific Ocean Drilling Workshop. Rosalind was selected to present results from the workshop at the JOIDES Resolution Facility Board Meeting, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Forum and the initial meeting of what became the Science Framework Working Group. Her thoughtful insights and contributions were recognized by the working group, and she was asked and agreed to serve as co-editor. The framework has been enthusiastically endorsed by the scientific community.

— Gail Christeson
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

It is an incredible honor to receive the Asahiko Taira Prize. I would like to express my deepest thanks to Gail Christeson for her generous citation and to AGU, the Japan Geoscience Union and International Ocean Discovery Program(IODP) for establishing the Taira Prize to recognize research accomplishments enabled by scientific ocean drilling. I am grateful to Mike Bickle, who sparked my interest in ocean crust and encouraged me to study for a Ph.D. in Southampton with Damon Teagle, setting me on my ocean drilling journey. Damon immediately encouraged me to apply to join Ocean Drilling Program Leg 206, drilling superfast-spread crust at Site 1256. I cannot thank Damon enough for his unwavering support over the years, but especially for instilling in me the belief that I could make significant contributions to ocean drilling from the earliest days of my Ph.D. On board, I loved being immersed in a research environment. The co-chief scientists (Doug Wilson and Damon) and Gary Acton championed the early-career scientists, and the mentoring from Jeff Alt and Christine Laverne was invaluable, leading to lifelong friendships. Returning to sea on IODP Expedition 301 (Juan de Fuca Ridge) and Expedition 312 (deepening 1256D), I again learned a great deal from my shipmates, including Andy Fisher, Keir Becker, Geoff Wheat and Adam Klaus. The culmination of all these experiences was a proposal to drill a multidisciplinary South Atlantic Transect (Expedition 390/393). Thank you to all who have contributed to this project, particularly my fellow co-chief scientists (Gail, Damon and Jason Sylvan), Emily Estes and Trevor Williams and the JOIDES Resolution Science Operatorfor their tremendous engineering efforts (Expedition 390C/395E) to ensure the success of the COVID-delayed coring. Developing the 2050 Science Framework is one of the most rewarding things I will ever do. The eagerness of the international community to continue to collaborate and develop a framework that will stimulate novel, ambitious and transformative drilling projects was inspirational. The framework was written by the community for the community, and I’d like to thank everyone who contributed, especially Anthony Koppers for his leadership, vision, enthusiasm and support throughout the process.  Scientific ocean drilling has allowed me to be an explorer — reaching otherwise impossible places (in situ gabbro in Hole 1256D!). It is a pleasure to be part of such an open, supportive community that actively encourages junior scientists to take leading roles. Thank you to my family — Simon, Lyra and Cassie — for supporting me on these amazing adventures. — Rosalind M. CoggonUniversity of SouthamptonSouthampton, United Kingdom