Figure 2. Map of the Pacific equatorial sediment bulge and a schematic of ages of sediment within the bulge, from Mitchell (1998) and Mitchell (unpubl. data). The axis of the equatorial sediment bulge is displaced north of the equator because of the northward drift of the Pacific plate. Because of Pacific plate motion, Paleogene equatorial sediments are easily accessible by APC beneath a thin veneer of red clay and early Neogene sediments.