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IODP Expedition 330 Louisville Seamount Trail

Daily Science Report 25 -- Wednesday, 5 January 2011


Location

Site U1374 on 28.6°S Guyot 28° 35' 44.9988" S, 173° 22' 49.8" W
Region: 
Louisville Seamount Trail
Elevation: 
0 m above sea level

After re-entering into Hole U1373A failed, we moved to the new Alternate Site LOUI-6B located on the opposite site of this seamount. Hole U1374A was spudded in the evening. It is hoped that drilling at Site U1374 would sample a different set of lava flows (formed at a slightly different time) compared to the lavas recovered at Site U1373. This would add valuably new individual volcanic cooling units for improving the determination of the paleolatitude of the Louisville hotspot at the time this seamount was formed (the primary objective of this expedition). Core U1374A-1R (0.0-9.6 mbsf) arrived at midnight with 75% recovery. The core retrieved a 7.22 m long interval of light-brown, sandy ooze with small volcanic glass shards and pumice fragments. The material contains abundant planktonic and some benthic foraminifers but the detailed biostratigraphic investigation is still underway. With increasing depth, the core material gets more consolidated and cemented. Meanwhile, the Co-Chief Scientists and the Expedition Manager are busy reviewing the site report chapters for Site U1372.