The scientific party of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 205 wishes to express its sincere thanks to the many individuals who made the leg a major success.

Several groups played a vital role when preparing for the leg. The CORK-IIs installed during Leg 205 would not have been possible without the many years of work Keir Becker, Earl Davis, Miriam Kastner, and Tom Pettigrew have spent creating and developing previous CORK systems. The OsmoSampler team at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute under the guidance of Hans Jannasch together with the CORK-II team headed by Tom Pettigrew (ODP) and Earl Davis from Pacific Geoscience Center, Canada, worked hard to set up all of the OsmoSampler and CORK hardware during the Victoria (Canada) port call; everything was ready to go when JOIDES Resolution left Victoria, and all we had to do was to drill holes and install them. Following Leg 205, Keir Becker generously redirected an Alvin dive from his own research program so that we could visit the Leg 205 CORK-IIs to ensure they were working properly. The United States National Science Foundation helped support this Alvin dive and also assisted in securing clearance for dive operations.

That we succeeded in installing two CORK-IIs in such a difficult drilling environment was only possible because of the very competent professional shipboard team. Captain Tom Hardy and his crew made sure that we always stayed on site during our numerous reentries—all of which were amazingly efficient. Key roles in the CORK-II deployment operations were played by Operations Manager/ Engineer Tom Pettigrew, Drilling Superintendent "Pepe" Estevez, and Core Technicians "Bubba" J. Attryde and C. Bremner. They orchestrated the CORK-II installations along with the rig floor crew and ODP technical staff with incredible professionalism. Their optimism after two CORK-II installation attempts failed and their tireless work in the face of these difficulties led us to ultimate success. We wish to express our sincere thanks to all of them.

Burnette Hamlin and Paula Weiss along with their skilled team supported all our core-related work during the cruise. Marine laboratory specialists in the chemistry laboratory, Christopher Bennight and Lisa Brandt, along with Assistant Laboratory Officer Chieh Peng provided us with crucial "real-time" pore water chemical analyses that were required for operational decisions. "Gus" Gustafson was instrumental in making thin sections for our search for true oceanic basement. Michiko Hitchcox’s painstaking care and perseverance contributed substantially to our science results and helped us to stay on top of our "paperwork," making it possible for us to finish our draft Initial Reports volume. We are very grateful for their patience with us as well as their hard and dedicated work.

The co-chief scientists would like to express their gratitude to Adam Klaus, who taught us in a very clear and determined way "how to be a co-chief" right from the beginning of the leg. He supported our work with his expert advice, which was especially needed in sometimes difficult and tense moments. Finally, we also would like to thank the ODP Publication Services staff for their hard work in producing this volume.