Daily Report for IODP Expedition 311, October 9, 2005

LOCATION: Site U1327 (CAS-01B)

SCIENCE UPDATE:  Hole U1327E was spudded at 08:50 hr as a special wireline logging and pressure core tools hole. The hole was started by drilling to 3.0 mbsf and then taking a single APC core for high resolution geochemical and microbiological sampling. An earlier attempt to sample across the sulfate-methane interface (SMI) in Hole U1327C was unsuccessful; Hole U1327E presented us with an opportunity to resample the SMI at this site. The hole was then advanced by drilling to 40.0 mbsf and the PCS was deployed to obtain a pressure core (Core 2P), which yielded a complete core but it was not pressurized. The hole was advanced by drilling to 80.0 mbsf and a second PCS core (Core 3P) was acquired, this time with a full core and at pressure. Core 3P was X-rayed and moved into the PCS van for degassing. The hole was drilled to 128.0 mbsf, the HRC was deployed, and Core 4E was recovered with sediment but the flapper valve failed to completely seal. A deployment of the FPC was planned at 134.0 mbsf, but was canceled because of growing ship heave conditions that had exceeded 3.5 m near the end of the HRC deployment. We decided to drill Hole U1327E to the target total depth of 300 mbsf and make ready for wireline logging.