Deep-Sea Sediments — Patterns, Processes, and Stratigraphic Methods

Abstract

As mentioned in the introduction deep-sea deposits were first explored in a comprehensive fashion during the British Challenger Expedition (1873–1876). Many thousands of samples were subsequently studied by John Murray (1841–1914), naturalist on the Challenger. He and his co-worker A. F. Renard published a weighty report on the results, which laid the foundation for all later work in this field of research. The first great step beyond Murray’s work were the results of the German Meteor Expedition, almost half a century later (1927–1929). A new branch of oceanography started with the recovery of long cores by the Swedish Albatross Expedition (1947–1949), that is, Pleistocene oceanography. It revolutionized our understanding of the great Ice Ages. Another great step came in 1968 with GLOMAR Challenger and the Deep Sea Drilling Project, which provided the samples for Tertiary and Cretaceous ocean history.