We want to express our deep gratitude to many. Many of the original goals for Leg 205 were defined or refined as a result of Leg 170, and we thank Leg 170 Co-Chief Scientists Eli Silver and Gaku Kimura, Staff Scientist Peter Blum, and their entire shipboard science party. Regretfully, Marcus Langseth was not able to be part of that team, but his role in identifying the anomalous heat flow in the region, and its causes, was central to Leg 205. The Leg 205 shipboard science party has been great. They worked intensely while core was coming up, did important intellectual work during the lulls for downhole engineering, and have carried out high-quality postcruise science; our special thanks to you all. Adam Klaus has been a tremendous asset as Staff Scientist. Shore-based participants have been an essential part of Leg 205 monitoring and science. In addition to those represented in this volume, we express our grateful appreciation for the work done by Earl Davis, Hans Jannasch, Geoff Wheat, and their collaborators. The observatory installations required all the determination, innovation, and know-how of Tom Pettigrew and the entire drilling and operations crew for Leg 205, and to you we extended our deepest appreciation. This manuscript was greatly improved by helpful and constructive comments from P. Castillo, A. Fisher, and E. Silver. This research used samples and/or data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc.