Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164 was the first dedicated academic effort to investigate naturally occurring marine gas hydrates. The entire leg was spent using the currently available tools and techniques that are relevant to characterizing gas hydrate and gas-bearing sediments. The shipboard and shore-based investigations that are reported in the ODP Leg 164 Initial Reports volume, this ODP Scientific Results volume, and the outside literature are the lasting achievements of this leg. Here, we briefly summarize some of the clearest accomplishments of the leg, along with the original objectives. Also included is a brief discussion of the operational shortcomings of this leg.
1Paull,
C.K., Matsumoto, R., Wallace, P.J., and Dillon, W.P. (Eds.), 2000. Proc. ODP,
Sci. Results, 164: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program).
2Geology Department,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3315, U.S.A.
(Present address: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road,
Moss Landing, CA 95039-0628, U.S.A. paull@mbari.org)
3Geological
Institute, School of Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113, Japan.
Date of
initial receipt: 1 December 1998
Date of acceptance: 29 April 1999
Ms 164SR-204