1113 



DEEP SEA DRILLING ' 167 



from the five partner countries had participated in 44 legs, an average of 

 1.4 per leg. Subsequently, 272 scientists have participated in legs 45 to 

 91, for an average of 5.8 per leg. Not only has this created a large pool of 

 earth scientists favorably inclined to international cooperation, but it 

 has also fostered a level of internal cooperation within member coun- 

 tries that did not exist before. 



Costs 



The formal obligations recognized in the Memorandum.s of Under- 

 standing have resulted in some dampening of the less formal modus 

 operandi of the U.S. -only drilling program. "Targets of opportunity" 

 (often indistinguishable from personal projects of chief scientists or 

 panel chairmen) are drilled much less frequently now than they were 

 early in the program. To some extent, such formalization of the plan- 

 ning process was inevitable as the program matured, but the creation of 

 IPOD accelerated the process. Whether this is good or bad is debatable! 



A clear victim of IPOD has been the community of interested scien- 

 tists whose countries could not afford, or did not choose, to pay the en- 

 try price to IPOD. Prior to IPOD (legs 1-44), 78 scientists from such 

 countries sailed on Challenger (1.8 per leg). Subsequently, for legs 45 to 

 91, the number has dropped to 32 {0.7 per leg) . One can argue that this is 

 fair — those who pay should benefit. The opposite argument— that a 

 scientific community as small as marine geology and geophysics cannot 

 afford to exclude so many of its peers — has equal merit. The formation 

 of consortia to participate in the new Ocean Drilling Program and the 

 availability of more scientific berths on Challenger's replacement 

 should alleviate this problem in the future. 



Why IPOD? 



Even though the scientific benefits of international cooperation have 

 been substantial, it is clear that IPOD came into existence primarily be- 

 cause the U.S. program faced serious funding problems. Whether, in 

 the absence of such a need, the program would continue or an 

 analogous one could be created is debatable. Individual U.S. scientists 

 pay a price for IPOD through reduced numbers of berths on the 

 Challenger and fewer U.S. -designated drill sites. Whether the intellec- 

 tual benefits of international cooperation offset or are perceived to off- 

 set these costs is unknown and may be unknowable (since the control 

 situation does not exist). 



