SITE SUMMARIES

Site: KS-1

Priority: 2
Position: 24°48.24'N, 122°30.00'E
Water Depth: 1270 meters below sea level (mbsl)
Sediment Thickness: >410 m
Target Drilling Depth: 410 mbsf
Approved Maximum Penetration: Pending PPSP approval
Seismic Coverage: Intersection of EW9509-1 and QCS524-30

Objectives: The objectives of Site KS-1 are to sample Pleistocene high-resolution sedimentary records to obtain information about the circulation history of the Kuroshio Current by

1. Identifying patterns of long-term climate change associated with the western Pacific boundary current during the past 2.0 m.y.

2. Examining the western Pacific component of long-term changes due to orbital forcing in the mid-Pleistocene (~0.7 Ma) when Earth's climate system switched from a regime of dominant 41-k.y. cycles to 100-k.y. cycles

3. Exploring any long-term El Niño/La Niña type of climate oscillation in the low-latitude Pacific over the late Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles by comparing the Kuroshio record to other Pacific ODP records

4. Documenting the temporal and spatial variability of millennial climate changes in the Kuroshio Current

Logging and Downhole Operations: Triple combo, FMS/sonic, GHMT

Nature of Rock Anticipated: Hemipelagic mud and silt