César Rodriguez Ranero died on 5 June 2026 after a sudden, severe illness. His work on subduction and rifted margins has had a major influence on our use of marine seismic methods to better understand these plate boundaries. Ranero was born in 1963 in the Basque Country of Spain. During his doctorate in Barcelona at CSIC, the Spanish National Research Council, he joined the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory in New York where he focused in processing and interpreting multichannel seismic data. His Ph.D. was followed by a move to the newly formed GEOMAR research Institute in Kiel, Germany, where he worked with Roland von Huene’s new group to study the structure and dynamics of convergent margins. His work at Kiel led to a better understanding of erosive subduction margins, including the processes of subduction erosion and better imaging of the impacts of seamount subduction on forearc deformation. In later work, he turned his attention to the deformation of the incoming plate, and the realization that bend-faulting in the subducting plate was linked to widespread lithospheric serpentinization near the trench axis. In 2005 he returned to Barcelona as ICREA Professor to create the Center for Subsurface Imaging at the beachfront Institute for Marine Sciences which is part of CSIC. In the past two decades CSI has become one of the leading research centers for marine seismic processing in Europe, with Ranero linked to many of its discoveries, in particular the better understanding of continental rifting and its transition to seafloor spreading, and exploring the role of rock stiffness in seismic deformation around a subduction megathrust.
Ranero was a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union – AGU – and he served as President of the Tectonics and Structural Geology Division of the European Geosciences Union – EGU. He authored and co-authored more than 150 papers, with more than 50 invited talks, keynotes and seminars at Universities, research centers and congresses. He was also generous with early career researchers, and supervised numerous Ph.D. students and Postdocs, while helping them gain the recognition they deserved.
César was an active member of the IODP community. He was one of the leading proponents of the Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project, CRISP, which led to IODP Exp. 334 and 344 and to a riser drilling proposal – CRISP 2 – that is approved for implementation pending availability of the drilling vessel. He also coordinated the MEDOC survey in the Tyrrhenian Sea that led to IODP Exp. 402, where he played a key role in conceptualizing the rift exhumation process.
César was also a friend to many of us geoscientists. His strong views were always invaluable starting points for stimulating discussions.
In one of the twists of a researcher’s life, while working at CSI he got to know his wife Rieka Harders – whose family lived close to GEOMAR – on a research cruise in the South Pacific, and their three children grew up in both Barcelona and Eckernfoerde, close to Kiel.
We will miss you a lot!
Paola Vannucchi and Jason Morgan

EGU2026, which took place in Vienna (Austria) on 4-8 May 2026, was another success for the scientific drilling community with many events organised during the 5-day conference. As in previous years, ECORD has joined its effort with ICDP for a joint booth presenting and promoting the various activities of the two drilling programmes.
The traditional ECORD-ICDP Townhall Meeting happened this year on the first day of the EGU conference on the 4th of May and was held for the first time at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Talks by Christian Koeberl (University of Vienna, Austria) and Michael Strasser (University of Innsbruck, Austria) on the important role and place of Austria in both continental and scientific drilling, then by Nadine Hallmann (ECORD) and Marco Bohnhoff (ICDP), on recent ECORD/IODP3 and ICDP outcomes and future activities were the highlights of the evening. Between 150 and 200 attendees then gathered for discussion and networking around food and drinks to conclude a very successful Townhall Meeting.
The following day, the “Achievements and perspectives in scientific ocean and continental drilling” session, convened by Matt O’Regan (ESSAC Chair, Stockholm University, Sweden), gathered dozens of scientists to listen to presentations on ocean and continental drilling outcomes in a fully packed room. Poster presentations completed the session.
In addition to these two events, activities at the booth punctuated the week with, this year, two presentations by Antony Morris (Lead Director of IODP3) on the SPARC initiative using legacy materials (core and data) from core repositories. Twice that week, the conference attendees had also the opportunity to watch a short documentary, “A story of stress”, showing offshore experience and operations during IODP Expedition 405 in the Japan Trench.
We look forward to seeing many of you at EGU2027!
The Scientific Ocean Drilling Booth Team – EGU 2026

The EGU General Assembly 2026 will take place in Vienna from 3 to 8 May, and ECORD will be actively present throughout the week.
You will find us at the joint Scientific Drilling booth (50/51) in the exhibition area, shared with ICDP an IODP3. This will be an opportunity to engage with the scientific drilling community, learn more about ECORD activities, and discuss current and future developments in ocean drilling research.
Booth opening hours:Monday–Thursday: 10:00–18:00Friday: 10:00–13:00
On Monday evening, ECORD will participate in the joint ICDP–IODP³–ECORD Town Hall at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The event will provide a forum for exchange on ongoing initiatives and future perspectives in scientific drilling. Doors open at 18:30, talks begin at 19:00.

Welcome (Bernhard Plunger, Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Austria’s participation in ICDP (Christian Köberl, University of Vienna)
Austria’s participation in IODP and IODP3 (Michi Strasser, University of Innsbruck)
News and Views in IODP3 (Nadine Hallmann, Director of the EMA and of the IODP3 Managing Agency)
News and Views in ICDP (Marco Bohnhoff, Executive Director of ICDP)

Featured session:ITS5.1/CL0.6 – Achievements and Perspectives in Scientific Ocean and Continental Drillinghttps://www.egu26.eu/session/57656
ECORD will also contribute to a series of informal pop-up events at the booth:
SPARC Adventure – a conversation on the IODP3SPARCs expeditionTuesday: 13:00Wednesday: 17:00Thursday: 13:00
Documentary screening: “The Story of Stress”Tuesday: 17:30Thursday: 17:30

The First International Electronic Ocean Drilling Program (E-ODP) Workshop
9-11 September 2026, Shanghai, China
https://www.iodp-china.org/
First Circular (Call for Abstracts & Registration)
Download First Circular here

International team provides first detailed evidence of long-suspected hidden fresh water aquifers
For the first time, a science team directly documented and extensively sampled a freshened water system beneath the ocean floor. This major discovery comes from the initial analyses of sediment cores recovered during an international scientific expedition led by Co-Chief Scientists Professor Brandon Dugan (Colorado School of Mines, Golden, USA) and Professor Rebecca Robinson (Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, USA). The cores, retrieved from deep below the sea floor, are now being opened, analysed and sampled by the science team, during almost a month of intensive collaborative work at the University of Bremen. During January and February 2026 the expedition’s scientists are working side by side to uncover new insights into the formation, evolution, and significance of this newly documented subseafloor freshwater system.
The goal of this expedition went far beyond collecting sediment cores. Scientists also set out to sample the water stored within the sediments, including from sandy layers that act as aquifers and from clay layers that usually keep the water in place beneath the seafloor, known as aquitards. Although roughly 70 per cent of Earth’s surface is covered by water, significant volumes of water also move and are stored below ground. Many coastal communities depend on land-based aquifers for their freshwater supply. What fewer people realize is that, in many parts of the world these aquifers continue offshore, containing zones of freshened, slightly briny water beneath the ocean floor. Scientists have known these offshore systems existed since 1976, but they have remained virtually unexplored until now. During this expedition, the science team successfully documented and sampled freshened water within a zone nearly 200 metres thick below the seafloor.
Brandon Dugan: “We were excited to see that freshened water exists in multiple kinds of sediments – both marine and terrestrial. Freshened water in such different materials will help us understand the conditions that emplaced the water.” Further analyses that are conducted by the science team will help to find out where and especially when the water was placed here.
Rebecca Robinson: “The cores contain sediment with a wide range of composition and ages. It was surprising to see sediment, not rocks, throughout the section. The sediment has not yet transformed into rock – I did not expect to see that and it will be an interesting component of our future work.” In order to understand when and how the sediments were deposited, the science team is developing age models.
Shedding light on similar water aquifers around the world
The approach used during IODP³-NSF Expedition 501 will not only deepen understanding of offshore freshened groundwater systems off the coast of New England, but will also shed light on similar hidden water aquifers around the world. Because many coastal regions rely on groundwater for their freshwater supply, the expedition’s initial findings are highly relevant to society. The research will also reveal how nutrients such as nitrogen cycle through continental shelf sediments and how these processes influence the abundance and diversity of microbes living in these environments. These goals align closely with the 2050 Science Framework for Ocean Research Drilling – one of the foundations of the IODP³ scientific programme. Ultimately, the expedition’s research will help to decipher how sediments and fluids cycle through the Earth system and improve our knowledge about sea level changes and freshwater flow beneath the seabed along our coastal shelves. “The researchers will continue to work on and with the samples to decipher more – for example, to date the groundwater more accurately which is critical to advancing our knowledge,” adds Rebecca Robinson.
The expedition is a joint collaboration between the International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP³) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The cores were retrieved during offshore operations between May and August 2025. For onshore operations the science team have met at the Bremen Core Repository, at MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences of the University of Bremen (Germany). “We greatly appreciate being able to conduct this advanced research at MARUM, supported by its world-class laboratories, exceptional facilities, and dedicated staff,” adds Brandon Dugan
The cores will be archived and made accessible for further scientific research for the scientific community after a one year-moratorium period. All expedition data will be open access in the IODP³ Mission Specific Platform (MSP) data portal in PANGAEA, and resulting outcomes will be published.
International approach
40 science team members from 13 nations (Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA) take part in this Mission Specific Platform expedition that consists of two phases: offshore and onshore operations. Offshore Operations has taken place between May and early August 2025.
The expedition is conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) as part of the International Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP³), funded by IODP³ and the US National Science Foundation (NSF)