We thank the captain, crew, and ODP staff for their tremendous effort in recovering a record 8000 m of sediments during Leg 175. J.G. is indebted to the co-chiefs and fellow shipboard scientists for their continuous support and friendship during and after the cruise. Funding to J.G. and C.P. by INSU/CNRS is gratefully acknowledged. The manuscript profited from the reviews of C. Richter, G.H. Scott, and P.G. Quilty. This is DGO-UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC contribution number 1354.