Explanatory Notes

The "Explanatory Notes" chapter presents information that will help the reader understand our shipboard observations and measurements, which are the basis for the preliminary conclusions found throughout this volume, and also help the interested investigator select samples for further analysis. This information concerns only shipboard operations and analyses reported in the Leg 208 Initial Reports volume of the Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). Methods used by various investigators for shore-based analyses of Leg 208 samples will be described in the individual scientific contributions published in the Scientific Results volume and in publications in various professional journals. A significant part of this chapter is material that has been presented in previous ODP Proceedings volumes, as ODP strives to keep well-established and accepted standard procedures consistent from leg to leg. Other issues more specific to Leg 208, such as instruments, methods, and procedures that were relatively new in the framework of the evolving ODP shipboard environment or that were used specifically to address Leg 208 objectives, are presented here in greater detail.