TO: Tom Davies

FM: Jay Miller

 

JA Daily Science Report for Expedition 304, 18 December 2004.

 

LOCATION:  Site U1311 (alternate site AMHW-02A)

Latitude: 30° 10.610'N     Longitude: 42° 04.192'W (preliminary position)   
Water depth: 2541 mbsl

 

SCIENCE UPDATE: A subsea camera survey of the seafloor in the area of our drilling target revealed a smooth to ripple-textured sediment cover sloping to the south. Small (< 1 m) subangular rocks embedded in the sediment cover were rare, but slightly more abundant to the north of our survey starting position. Two 1-3 m high east-facing scarps of subangular to subrounded blocks were encountered in the southeastern and southwestern corners of our survey area (~ 50 m apart), both tapering into the slope to the north. The accumulation of rocks above the scarps was more expansive on the southwestern exposure, so we continued our survey upslope to the northeast. At ~80 m NE of our survey start position, we encountered a steep (>20 m high-we did not see the top), south-facing scarp with thin sediment cover. We selected a drilling location 70 m south of the scarp, in the largest part of our survey area devoid of visible debris. RCB coring at Hole U1311A started at 2040 hr (local).