The Scientific Results volumes of the Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program are about Earth and her oceans.

These volumes contain contributions to a better understanding of the history of our planet through time. This exploration of Earth’s past is based on scientific analyses of layers of strata sampled by the JOIDES Resolution at key locations throughout the global ocean. These volumes are a tribute to the scientific exploration carried out by the men and women who contributed to these voyages of discovery. Like the pioneering exploration and research of Captain Cook aboard the first Resolution, these volumes are a credit to the human spirit, which sees no boundaries.

The papers in this volume are published in a new online format that will be archived on CD-ROM. The Proceedings contents are available to students, scientists, and the public throughout the world. Volumes, once housed in the libraries of the member nations of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), are now published on the Internet for a worldwide audience and are also available in CD-ROM format. This electronic publication enables future investigators to gain easier access to the results of ocean drilling research. I acknowledge and thank the authors for their contributions and willingness to participate in this new venture in our successful transition to electronic publications.

Each Scientific Results volume has an Editorial Review Board that is responsible for obtaining peer reviews of papers submitted to the volume. This board usually is made up of the two co-chief scientists for the cruise, the ODP staff scientist for the cruise, and one external specialist who is familiar with the geology of the investigated area. ODP staff coordinate the peer-review process and also edit and produce each paper.

Each Scientific Results volume contains one leg synthesis paper and other peer-reviewed papers that present the results of extensive research in various aspects of scientific ocean drilling related to each leg. Each paper submitted to a Scientific Results volume undergoes rigorous peer review by at least two specialists in the author’s research field. Volumes may also contain short reports of useful data. These Data Reports do not include interpretation of results and are peer-reviewed by at least one specialist. We seek to maintain a peer-review system comparable to those of the most highly regarded journals in the geological sciences.

To acknowledge the contributions made by this volume’s Editorial Review Board, the Board members are designated Editors of the volume. Reviewers of manuscripts for this volume, whose efforts are so essential to the success of the publication, are listed without attribution to any particular manuscript.

On behalf of ODP and now the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, the successor to ODP, I extend sincere appreciation to the members of the Editorial Review Board and to the reviewers for generously contributing their time and effort. This process ensures that only papers of high scientific quality are published in the Scientific Results volumes.

Paul J. Fox
Director, Science Services, TAMU
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas