We departed Site 1259 at 0300 hr on 4 February 2003 and headed toward Barbados for a medical evacuation. After a prearranged rendezvous with a helicopter ~20 nmi southwest of Barbados, we proceeded to Site 1260, arriving at 0430 hr on 7 February. The 727.0-nmi transit required 73.5 hr at an average speed of 9.9 kt. After positioning the ship over the site's coordinates, thrusters and hydrophones were lowered and a beacon deployed at 0619 hr on 7 February.
A standard rotary core barrel (RCB) bottom-hole assembly was assembled and lowered to the seafloor, and Hole 1260A was spudded at 1115 hr on 7 February. The first core recovered 0.81 m of sediment. With ship heave approaching 3 m, Core 1R was assumed to be a "punch core" (i.e., equivalent to an advanced piston core mudline), and the seafloor depth was determined to be 2560.0 meters below rig floor (mbrf) (2548.8 mbsl), the official water depth for the site. However, in Hole 1260B, the driller felt bottom at 2553 mbrf, the same seafloor depth determined during logging of Hole 1260B. If these second two Hole 1260B measurements are correct, then the seafloor depth at Site 1260 is 2541.8 mbsl.
Hole 1260A was cored from 0.0 to 491.9 mbsf, taking 54 cores (recovery = 79.6%) (Table T1). Site 1260 drilling had the Pollution Prevention and Safety Panel approval to penetrate to either 535 mbsf or the bottom of the black shales, whichever was reached first. We stopped drilling in Hole 1260A at 491.9 mbsf when we reached Albian age sediments, although it was not clear at the time if we had reached the bottom of the black shale facies. This decision was made in preference for exploring the depth limit of the black shales in Hole 1260B, which was the hole to be logged. In preparation for abandonment, Hole 1260A was displaced with 150 bbl of sepiolite mud. The bit was then pulled clear of the seafloor at 0735 hr on 9 February, officially ending Hole 1260A.
The ship was offset 50 m southwest of Hole 1260A, and Hole 1260B was spudded at 0845 hr on 9 February. RCB coring advanced to 509 mbsf without incident and stopped when coring times increased dramatically. We interpreted the increase in coring times to mean we had exited the black shale facies, which turned out to be a change to well-cemented silty claystone. The recovery rate in Hole 1260B was 88.2% (Table T1). The hole was swept with 30 bbl of sepiolite mud, and a wiper trip was performed, noting 6 m of fill on bottom. The hole was circulated with twice its volume of seawater, and the bit was released. The hole was displaced with 158 bbl of mud and the pipe pulled to 96 mbsf in preparation for logging.
Three logging tool strings were deployed in Hole 1260B. The triple combination (triple combo) tool string was run from 516 mbsf to the seafloor in two passes. The Schlumberger tools on the triple combo tool string were then deactivated, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) Multi-Sensor Spectral Gamma Ray Tool (MGT) was run in two passes. The second tool string, the Formation MicroScanner (FMS)-sonic, was deployed and run in two passes from 516 mbsf to the base of the pipe. The final logging run was a checkshot survey conducted with the Well Seismic Tool (WST), which collected clean data at 14 stations. After completion of logging operations, the drill string was pulled to the ship, clearing the rotary table at 0000 hr on 13 February, ending operations in Hole 1260B.