Site U1396

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1396 (proposed Site CARI-01C; 16°30.49′N, 62°27.10′W; 801 meters below sea level [mbsl]) is the most western site drilled during Expedition 340 (Fig. F1). The bathymetric survey for Site U1396 revealed a region bounded by a topographic high to the north and by two large canyons to the south. Site survey data indicated that this site could penetrate regular (unperturbed) seismic reflectors. The drill site is located on the topographic high to minimize any perturbations (e.g., related to turbidites). Site U1396 is located in the same area as the 5.75 m long CAR-MON 2 core taken during the Caraval cruise in 2002. Sediment recovered in the CAR-MON 2 core provides a stratigraphic record extending back ~250 k.y., as shown by δ18O chronostratigraphy. The calculated sedimentation rate (including tephra) is ~2.3 cm/k.y. (Le Friant et al., 2008). The recovered core also contained material from several explosive Plinian eruptions, which had not previously been identified on land (Le Friant et al., 2008).