Drilling the seafloor to study subduction requires a leap of faith. It takes a firm belief in the plate tectonic cycle to commit to spending two months drilling deep crust in the western Pacific in order to learn something about mantle processes and arc volcanism hundreds of kilometers away. It was not easy to argue the case for drilling to the JOIDES panels over more than ten years when various versions of the "geochemical reference site" proposals were evaluated. Nonetheless, early comparisons to the function of milk-producing farm animals gave way to serious consideration of the recycling of crustal material at subduction zones. This change in thinking came about slowly, after geophysical and geochemical evidence pointed to the lack of accretionary prisms at some margins and the presence of rare cosmogenic isotopes and other chemical tracers of recycled crust in some volcanic arcs. We acknowledge all of the scientists and members of the JOIDES panels who argued in favor of using ocean drilling to study the Subduction Factory.

We thank several people for contributions to the proposals that led to Leg 185: Charlie Langmuir and Jim Natland for the original geochemical reference site idea; Jim Gill for resuscitating the idea; Sherm Bloomer for early guidance through the JOIDES review process; John Diebold for help in accessing seismic profiles; and the other proponents on the proposals who did not participate in the cruise: Tim Elliott, Bob Stern, Julie Morris, and Peter Floyd. Thanks to the members of the Biosphere PPG and others who played a critical role in developing the successful microbiology effort during Leg 185.

Drilling predominantly basalt and chert in almost 6000 m of water is a challenging proposition. The drilling operation during Leg 185, however, exceeded our best expectations. This was entirely due to the experience and dedication of the Sedco engineers, technicians, and drillers, under Drilling Superintendent Scott Pederson, and the ODP operations under Operations Manager Glen Foss. The ODP technicians, supervised by Laboratory Officer Burney Hamlin, were professional and very capable in their handling, processing, and analyzing the core material. We thank Captain Tom Ribbens and the entire ship’s crew for ensuring the success of Leg 185.

Finally, we thank all the ODP staff at Texas A&M University for their help in preparing for the cruise and arranging port-call activities, for their support during the cruise, and for their diligence in publishing the postcruise reports.