Cenozoic oceanographic evolution of the SW Pacific gateway: introduction

Abstract

The region from the southern tip of the Campbell Plateau to the northern Hikurangi Plateau spans 21‡ of latitude, equivalent to the distance between southern Florida and Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. From New Zealand eastwards along the Chatham Rise to the Louisville Seamounts is 22‡ of longitude, about 2000 km. This region, equivalent in area to a major part of the North American Basin of the North Atlantic now contains 11 stratigraphically useful drill holes, seven more than the four of the DSDP (Sites 277, 278, 279 and 594). The latest holes, Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1119-1125 were drilled on ODP Leg 181, the ¢rst visit of the drilling ship JOIDES Resolution to the region, in August-October 1998 under arduous southern winter conditions (Fig. 1).