DRILLING STRATEGY
The eight high-priority sites are summarized in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 and shown in Figure 1. Additionally there is another high-priority site, Site PAT-13C, that will be drilled during Leg 200 if time becomes available. The proposed drilling program consists of two northwest to southeast transects. The western transect includes the following proposed sites, from north to south: Sites PAT-15D, PAT-12C, PAT-10B, PAT-9D, and PAT-17C. The eastern transect includes proposed sites, from north to south: Sites PAT-26, PAT-19A, and PAT-8C. The proposed transects are designed to provide a reconstruction of Paleogene paleoceanography and paleoclimatology by coring and logging a late Paleocene-early Eocene latitudinal transect across the equator and a depth transect at the equator during the middle to late Eocene.
The APC/XCB will be used to core to basement to meet the leg objectives. Ideally most of the
sites should be double- to triple- APC cored. However, and because of time constrains, the
present minimum coring program consists of (Table 2, Table 3): single APC and XCB at Sites
PAT-15D and PAT-10B; double APC and single XCB at Sites PAT- 26, PAT-19A, PAT
12C, and PAT-9D; and triple APC and single XCB at Sites PAT-8C and PAT-17C.
Tensor core orientation will be used at least in one hole at each of the proposed sites.
If drilling conditions are favorable and time becomes available during the leg, we will use this time to extend the present minimum coring/logging program to double and/or triple APC sites using as a guide the priorities expressed in Table 3.
Additionally, one of the high-priority sites, Site PAT-13, will be drilled during Leg 200, if time becomes available.