Site selection for Site 1153 was based on a single-channel seismic survey conducted during the R/V Melville cruise Sojourner 5 in 1997. The prospectus site is near shotpoint 520 of the seismic profile (Fig. F8). This migrated seismic profile shows clear sediment cover from 7.4 to 7.7 s two-way traveltime, giving an estimated sediment thickness of ~300 m. A 5-hr 3.5-kHz PDR survey was performed on approach to Site 1153 to verify the presence of sufficient sediment cover.