172 Scientific Prospectus
SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES
The major objectives of Leg 172 are to obtain a detailed history of late Neogene paleoceanography and paleoclimate in the North Atlantic by investigating: 1) millennial scale oscillations of stable isotopes (C and O), faunal and floral abundance, percent carbonate and other lithologic components, and trace metals in drift deposits; 2) the nature of cyclicity of these oscillations; and 3) how these cycles are related to the history of Northern Hemisphere glaciations during the late Neogene.
In addition, this proposal seeks to investigate:
- €sediment wave migration and drift sedimentation processes,
- €detailed variations of the Earth's magnetic field (secular variations and reversals),
- €geotechnical/acoustic properties of deep-sea sediments, and
- €geochemical signals associated with the formation, dissociation, and distribution of gas hydrate.
To 172 Drilling Strategy
172 Table of Contents
Publications Home
ODP Home