We, the science party of Leg 175 of the Ocean Drilling Program, express our thanks and appreciation to all those who gave invaluable help to make the drilling expedition to the Benguela Current region an outstanding success.

Site survey data were critical for a successful drilling operation in this region. These data were provided by Ulrich Bleil and Volkhard Spiess, based on the results of two expeditions conducted with research vessels Meteor and Sonne. The highresolution seismics and sub-bottom profiling acquired during these cruises were of excellent quality and allowed sites to be precisely targeted, thus practically eliminating time spent on presite surveys. The site survey cruises were supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF), whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

The operations of Leg 175 were carefully planned with the guidance of ODP Operations Manager Ron Grout. His expert knowledge and advice contributed tremendously to successful coring operations, which yielded more than 8 km of sediment. This high recovery could not possibly have been achieved without the dedication of the crew of the JOIDES Resolution, under the supervision of Captain Tom Ribbens and Drilling Superintendent Bob Caldow. We particularly thank the rig crew for a level of success that far exceeded our hopes.

The record-breaking core recovery of our leg placed the drill crew and, in particular, the ODP technical and logistical staffs under immense pressure. We are extremely grateful for their professionalism, including maintaining a pleasant working atmosphere and taking on a tough physical workload, which made it possible for us to achieve our shipboard goals of carefully documenting and making initial measurements on all the sediments recovered.

We thank the JOIDES Planning Structure, especially the Ocean History Panel, the Sedimentary and Geochemical Processes Panel, and the Planning Committee, for their support of Leg 175.

Finally, the Leg 175 science party expresses it gratitude to all governmental and academic institutions that provided the financial and logistical support to plan and conduct this expedition.