Abstract:
The primary objectives of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions Deep Earth Sampling group deep-sea drilling project are to determine the age and the development processes of the ocean basins of the world from deep-sea cores. The deep-sea drilling program is expected to begin in 1968. Drilling sites in the Atlantic have been selected to sample the oldest sediments, determine the relationship of the Mid-Atlantic ridge to the development of the Atlantic basin, and obtain undisturbed stratigraphic and paleontologic samples from the deep basin. A new, complete Cretaceous-Cenozoic stratigraphic standard section will be sought in the Venezuela basin. The drilling sites in the Pacific have been selected to establish a standard stratigraphic and paleontologic section across the basin, obtain representative samples from the variety of structural features, determine the relationship of the East Pacific rise to the basin development, and to investigate the magnetic anomaly complex in detail.