The Scientific Party would like to thank all the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 206 participants for their efforts in making this leg a highly successful scientific endeavor as well as a most enjoyable experience. We thank Captain Pete Mowat, the officers, and the crew for keeping the seas calm, the sun shining, and the ship on site for 7 weeks at Site 1256 and for bringing us safely back to Panama. A special thank you to Alex Trota and the Catermar team for all their wonderful efforts, keeping spirits high with great food, sumptuous feasts at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, and the barbecues. Thanks to the cabin stewards and the laundry room for keeping us clean and freshly folded!

The establishment of Hole 1256D with reentry cone and 16-in casing to basement is one of the great engineering achievements of ODP. This feat was accomplished with calm persistence, and we are grateful to Ron Grout, Tim McCown, Sam McLelland, and all the members of the rig floor team for harnessing their combined experience and skills to establish this important legacy site. That we were then able to core a further 500 m into basement with high recovery, in hitherto undrillable young Pacific mid-ocean-ridge basalt, was an extra bonus. Steve Kittredge ensured that we recovered excellent wireline logs and images of the upper ocean crust. Hole 1256D is clean and straight and provides an excellent platform for a return visit early during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to deepen the site through the dikes and into the gabbros.

We thank Roy Davis and the ODP technicians for their assistance throughout the cruise. A particular thanks to Jess Huckemeyer for the efficient manufacture of hundreds of polished sections and Mads Radsted for his careful curation and sampling of the delicate core. Yeoperson Debbie Partain remained remarkably calm pulling all the Initial Reports together during the frenzied days of the short transit back to Panama. We also thank the publications staff for their efforts in making this report so presentable and accessible electronically.

Alistair Harding, Eric Hallenberg, Graham Kent, and the other participants on site survey cruise EW9903 are thanked for their contributions to the success of the leg.

Leg 206 was the last ODP leg in the Pacific Ocean, and we wish the JOIDES Resolution and all the crew and scientists who sail on her good luck for the final few expeditions of the Ocean Drilling Program.