SAMPLING PLAN
All sampling of recovered cores will be subject to the rules described in the ODP Sample Distribution Policy (http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/policy.html). Prior to Leg 198, the sampling program for the leg will be developed and approved by the Sampling Allocation Committee (SAC), consisting of the Co-Chief Scientists, Staff Scientist, and Curator. The initial sampling plan is preliminary and can be modified depending upon actual material recovered and collaborations that may evolve between scientists during the leg. In the final shipboard sampling plan, sample requests will be closely linked to proposed postcruise research.The Paleogene and Upper Cretaceous at all Leg 198 sites will be double cored in an attempt to recover a complete stratigraphic section. No archive halves (permanent or temporary) will be sampled aboard ship, and the permanent archive will be designated postcruise. All high resolution sampling will be deferred until after the cruise to enable the development of a composite sedimentary section from the multiple holes. All shipboard scientists will participate in shipboard sampling according to the shift schedule developed at the start of the leg. For certain investigations, it will be beneficial for scientists to conduct analyses on the same shared samples.
Critical Intervals
These include the Eocene/Oligocene, the Paleocene/Eocene, the Cretaceous/Tertiary, the
Cenomanian/Turonian, the Aptian/Albian, and the Barremian/Aptian boundaries. The
biostratigraphic definitions of the critical intervals will be established by shipboard
paleontologists and the SAC at the beginning of the cruise. When these intervals are recovered,
only toothpick samples will be taken initially to provide age control. Once this control has been
obtained, the SAC will develop a sampling plan in consultation with interested scientists. If
time allows, this sampling will be carried out onboard ship. Whole-round samples in these
intervals will only be taken once biostratigraphic control is obtained.