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OFGS (Ocean Floor Geoscience / Okino-Kuroda Lab)
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The lab reads Earth's history from seafloor observations and sediments.
AboutAbout the lab
Reading Earth's history from the seafloor and its sediments
The Okino-Kuroda Lab, part of the Division of Marine Geoscience at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, studies the history the seafloor has gone through and past ocean environments.
Prof. Okino uses seafloor topography, geomagnetic, and gravity data to investigate the history through which the seafloor came to take its present form.
Prof. Kuroda analyzes seafloor sediments to study extreme environmental changes in Earth's history, such as periods when the ocean lost its oxygen and impacts of extraterrestrial bodies.
The lab also takes part in research cruises aboard research vessels, carrying out seafloor observations and collecting sediments.
Key terms
- Back-arc
- The region lying farther from the trench than the chain of volcanoes (the island arc). The crust is stretched there, and new seafloor can form.
- Hydrothermal system
- A system in which water heated by magma and other sources beneath the seafloor circulates and vents from the seafloor.
- Oceanic anoxic event
- An event in which oxygen ran short over wide areas of the ocean and organic-rich black mud accumulated.
- Isotope ratio
- The proportion of atoms of the same element that differ in mass. It provides clues to the origin of a material and the environment at the time.
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award at JpGU 2026
A paper in Communications Earth & Environment was selected as a Featured article
Applications open for the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute spring internship
A paper on a long-term record of seawater osmium isotope ratios was published in Science
A doctoral student received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award from the Geological Society of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
Through observations of seafloor topography, geomagnetism, and gravity, the lab studies the history the seafloor has followed and the physical processes behind it. By analyzing seafloor sediments, it reveals the extreme states of the ocean in Earth's history, such as oceans depleted of oxygen and oceans struck by extraterrestrial impacts.
*Illustrative imageHow the Seafloor Forms
The lab studies how mid-ocean ridges and back-arc spreading, which create new seafloor, work. It focuses on how the balance between magma supply and spreading rate produces diverse types of ocean floor, and its main survey areas are the Indian Ocean and the Philippine Sea.
*Illustrative imageThe Geology Behind Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems
The diversity of seafloor hydrothermal systems is determined by the rock types, heat sources, and circulation pathways, such as faults, at each site. Through detailed topographic and magnetic surveys using deep-sea vehicles, the lab investigates the heat sources and fluid pathways that sustain hydrothermal systems.
*Illustrative imageWhen the Ocean Lost Its Oxygen
The lab studies oceanic anoxic events, in which organic-rich black shales accumulated in oceans around the world during the Cretaceous. In collaboration with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), it has measured isotope ratios in black shales and shown that massive volcanic activity triggered these events.
*Illustrative imageTraces of the End-Cretaceous Impact
Regarding the extraterrestrial impact that caused the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, the lab analyzes osmium isotope ratios and platinum-group elements in drilled cores to determine how far the layers deposited by the impact are preserved. In joint research with Tohoku University, it is also searching for traces of the impact in strata in Hokkaido.
MembersFaculty
The Division of Marine Geoscience, which houses the Okino-Kuroda Lab, consists of faculty members, project researchers, doctoral and master's students, research students, and technical and support staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorKyoko Okino
- ProfessorJunichiro KurodaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Louisville seamount chain - bathymetry” World Data Center for Geophysics & Marine Geology (Boulder, CO), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA / Public domain (cropped)
- How the Seafloor Forms: “Ocean gravity map” NOAA / Public domain (cropped)
- The Geology Behind Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems: “Lost City (hydrothermal field)02” National Science Foundation (University of Washington/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) / Public domain (cropped)
- When the Ocean Lost Its Oxygen: “Black shale (Sunbury Shale, Lower Mississippian; Tener Mountain roadcut, southern Ohio, USA) )” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Traces of the End-Cretaceous Impact: “K-Pg boundary at Zumaia” TheFurther21 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamaguchi Lab): “Flexure-chert kyuzo-pass01” KAMUI / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ikeda Lab): “Ribbon chert of the Marin Headlands Terrane, exposed at Marshall's Beach, San Francisco” Callanbentley / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Maeno Lab (Volcano Research Center)): “Shinmoe-dake Volcano Erupts on Kyushu Feb 2011” Robert Simmon / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Goto Lab): “Higashi-Hen na zaki Cape - panoramio” Kaz Ish / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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