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Deep Sea Drilling Project Initial Reports Volume 49

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Deep Sea Drilling Project Initial Reports Volume 49 Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project A Project Planned by and Carried Out With the Advice of the JOINT OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTIONS FOR DEEP EARTH SAMPLING (JOIDES) Volume XLIX covering Leg 49 of the cruises of the Drilling Vessel Glomar Challenger Aberdeen, Scotland to Funchal, Madeira July—September 1976 PARTICIPATING SCIENTISTS Bruce P. Luyendyk, Joe R. Cann, Wendell A. Duffield, Angela M. Faller, Kazuo Kobayashi, Richard Z. Poore, William P. Roberts, George Sharman, Alexander N. Shor, Maureen Steiner, John C. Steinmetz, Jacques Varet, Walter Vennum, David A. Wood, and Boris P. Zolotarev SHIPBOARD SCIENCE REPRESENTATIVE George Sharman POST-CRUISE SCIENCE REPRESENTATIVE Stan M. White SCIENCE EDITOR James D. Shambach Prepared for the NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION National Ocean Sediment Coring Program Under Contract C-482 By the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Scripps Institution of Oceanography Prime Contractor for the Project This material is based upon research supported by the National Science Foundation under Contract No. C-482. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations ex- pressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. References to this Volume: It is recommended that reference to whole or part of this volume be made in one of the following forms, as appropriate: Luyendyk, B. P., Cann, J. R., et al., 1978. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, v. 49: Washington (U.S. Government Printing Office). Mattinson, J. M., 1978. Lead isotope studies of basalts from IPOD Leg 49, In Luyendyk, B. P., Cann, J. R., et al., 1978. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, v. 49: Washington (U.S. Government Printing Office), p. 721-726. Printed March 1979 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-603338 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 -Price $17.25 Stock Number 038-000-00397-6 Foreword For the three and one-half years between From these concepts come major interpre- 1872 and 1876, the H.M.S. CHALLENGER— tations of the results of the drilling as they bear after which D/V GLOMAR CHALLENGER on patterns of sedimentation and physical and is named—undertook the world's first major chemical characteristics of the ancient oceans. oceanographic expedition. It is fitting that our As a result of the success of the Deep Sea century should have its counterpart to that fa- Drilling Project, the National Science Founda- mous ship a century ago whose voyages helped tion extended its contract with the University established oceanography as a science. It is of California to encompass an additional 36 equally fitting that GLOMAR CHALLENGER months of drilling, allowing GLOMAR CHAL- should be plying the same waters one century LENGER to continue operations throughout later seeking answers to new questions con- the oceans of the world in exploring the deep cerning the history of our planet and the life it ocean floors for a period presently extending supports. The fundamental advancement of one full decade. Scientific interest will involve our knowledge of the earth will lead to en- major effort in drilling deeply into the oceanic hanced capabilities to understand its processes crustal igneous rocks to study the processes and and to use its natural resources intelligently. mechanisms leading to the formation of the The Deep Sea Drilling Project is being oceanic crust. undertaken within the context of the National These reports contain the results of ini- Science Foundation^ Ocean Sediment Coring tial studies of the recovered core material and Program. The Foundation is funding the proj- the associated geophysical information. The ect by means of a contract with the University contribution to knowledge has been exceedingly of California, and the Scripps Institution of large and future studies of the core material Oceanography is responsible for its manage- over many years will contribute much more. ment. The University has, in turn, subcon- The importance of the work of the Deep tracted with Global Marine Incorporated for Sea Drilling Project and D/V GLOMAR the services of the drilling ship, GLOMAR CHALLENGER is internationally recognized. CHALLENGER. In response to this recognition, a number of Scientific planning is conducted under the nations are providing partial support. Effective auspices of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions January 1974, the USSR and the Federal Re- for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES). The public of Germany entered into agreements JOIDES consortium has convened advisory with the United States for participation and panels for that purpose, consisting of a large support. Similar arrangements were agreed to number of distinguished scientists from the aca- by Japan in July 1975, the United Kingdom in demic institutions, Government agencies, and September 1975, and France in January 1976. private industry of many countries. Altogether, All people, in their lives, activities, and the project has involved the active interest and industry, should benefit greatly from the project participation of many of the world's best scien- —from the technological advances that are be- tists and technologists. ing made and through the information being The first ocean coring operations for the obtained on natural resources. Deep Sea Drilling Project began on August 11, 1968. During the ensuing years of drilling op- erations in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea, and Antarctic waters, the scientific objectives that had been set forth were successfully accomplished. Primarily, the age of the ocean basins and their processes of de- Richard C. Atkinson velopment were determined. Emphasis was Director placed on broad reconnaissance and on testing the involvement of the mid-oceanic rise systems Washington, D. C. in the development of the ocean basins. October 1976 in Recognizing the need in the oceanographic community for scientific planning of a program to obtain deep sedimentary cores from the ocean bottoms, four of the major oceano- graphic institutions that had strong interests and programs in the fields of marine geology and geophysics, formed in May 1964, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES). This group, Lamont- Doherty Geological Observatory; Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami; the Scripps Institution of X7 J?€3IclOO Oceanography, University of California at San Diego; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic In- stitution, expressed an interest in undertaking scientific planning and guidance of the sedi- mentary drilling program. It was the purpose of this group to foster programs to investigate the sediments and rocks beneath the deep oceans by drilling and coring. The membership of this original group was later enlarged in 1968 when the University of Washington be- came a member, and again in 1975 when Uni- versity of Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, the Oregon State University School of Oceanog- raphy, the University of Rhode Island Gradu- ate School of Oceanography, and Texas A&M University Department of Oceanography be- came members. In accordance with interna- tional agreements, institutions of participating nations became members of JOIDES. Thus, during 1974 to 1976, the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe of the Fed- eral Republic of Germany, the Centre National pour 1'Exploitation des Oceans of France, the National Environmental Research Council of the United Kingdom, the University of Tokyo of Japan, and Academy of Sciences of the USSR became JOIDES members. Through discussions sponsored by the JOIDES organization, with support from the National Science Foundation, Columbia Uni- versity^ Lamont-Doherty Geological Observa- tory operated a drilling program in the summer of 1965, on the Blake Plateau region off Jack- sonville, Florida. With this success in hand, planning began Drilling Project, following a Sample Distribu- for a more extensive deep sea effort. This tion Policy (p. xvii) approved by the National resulted in the award of a contract by the Science Foundation. National Science Foundation to the Scripps In- The advent of Glomar Challenger, with its stitution of Oceanography, University of Cali- deep-water drilling ability, is exceedingly fornia at San Diego for an eighteen-month timely. It has come when geophysical investi- drilling program in the Atlantic and Pacific gation of the oceans has matured through 20 Oceans, termed the Deep Sea Drilling Project to 30 years of vigorous growth to the point (DSDP). Operations at sea began in August where we have some knowledge about much of 1968, using the now-famous drilling vessel, the formerly unknown oceanic areas of our the Glomar Challenger. planet. About one million miles of traverses The goal of the Deep Sea Drilling Project had been made which tell us much about the is to gather scientific information that will help global pattern of gravity, magnetic and thermal determine the age and processes of develop- anomalies, and about the composition, thick- ment of the ocean basins. The primary strategy ness, and stratigraphy of the sedimentary cover is to drill deep holes into the ocean floor, rely- of the deep-sea and continental margin. The ing largely on technology developed by the coverage with such data has enabled the site petroleum industry. selection panels to pick choice locations for Through the efforts of the principal or- drilling. The knowledge gained
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