IODP Expeditions 309 and 312 Drill an Intact Section of Upper Oceanic Basement into Gabbros

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s (IODP) Expeditions 309 and 312 successfully completed the first sampling of an intact section of upper oceanic crust, through lavas and the sheeted dikes into the uppermost gabbros. Hole 1256D, which was initiated on the Ocean Drilling Program’s (ODP) Leg 206, now penetrates to > 1500 mbsf and > 1250 m sub-basement. The first gabbroic rocks were encountered at 1407 mbsf. Below this, the hole penetrates ~100 m into a complex zone of fractionated gabbros intruded into contact metamorphosed dikes. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.4.01.2007