GSA Today
Volume 29

Cover image

About the cover:
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) ships (left to right): the Chikyu, a riser-equipped platform coring in the western Pacific; the JOIDES Resolution, which recovers cores throughout the ocean; and a Mission Specific Platform (MSP) drilling vessel. Dotted lines—representative depth. Left: Methanogenic microbial communities recovered by the Chikyu during 2012 Expedition 377, Site C0020, more than 2 km (1.25 mi) beneath the sea floor in a Miocene coalbed 80 km (50 mi) off of the Shimokita Peninsula, Japan. Center: Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum cores recovered by the JOIDES Resolution. Left core is from Site 1209, Shatsky Rise, Pacific, taken in 2387-meter-deep water (mbsl). Right core is from Site 1262, Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic, taken at 4755 mbsl. Color change shows carbonate dissolution. Right: MSP Expedition 364, Site M0077, cored through the rim of the Chicxulub impact crater. Shown is suevite that contains clasts and melted rocks. Photo credits: left: JAMSTEC/IODP; center and right: IODP. See related article, p. 4–11.

doi: 10.1130/GSATG380A.1

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