For Site 1154, we used a drilling strategy similar to that implemented at Site 1153 (i.e., washing through the sediment section until we encountered igneous basement). We recovered a single wash core (Core 187-1154-1W) that contained 2.46 m of sediment (see "Site 1154 Core Descriptions"). The upper part of Section 187-1154-1W is severely drilling disturbed and contains poorly sorted fragments as large as 2 mm in size of variably colored clay in a soupy clay matrix. Below this interval the core is very dark brown to dark brown and contains several intervals, ranging in thickness from 1 to 5 cm of light brown and dark grayish brown clay. The contacts between these intervals are, for the most part, gradational and irregular, but a distinct 3-cm-thick olive-gray layer with very sharp upper and lower contacts is near the base of Section 2. The lower contact of the olive-gray layer abuts a very dark brown clay. The upper part of Section 3 appears to be deformed with irregular wisps of very dark grayish brown, dark brown, and light brown clay. At the bottom of Section 3 is a thin (2 cm) interval of light brown silty clay. The contact between these lower two intervals was disturbed by drilling and is poorly defined.
A smear slide from the dark brown clay contains a trace amount (<1% by mode) of 2- to 3-µm subangular to subrounded brown translucent grains of volcanic glass; even less abundant are similarly sized angular to prismatic grains of quartz and plagioclase. The light brown silty clay at the bottom of the recovered section is a calcareous ooze with abundant microfossil fragments and very rare glass and crystal fragments, as in the clay above. Although we cannot ascertain where (within the 233-m interval that we washed through) material was entrained into the core barrel, the sediments recovered are similar in composition, appearance, and gross stratigraphy to those sampled at Site 1153, with dark brown clay overlying a calcareous ooze.