As Will said in a recent blog, we moved about 50 km to the east away from the summit of Ori Massif. Drilling into the the summit brought up some nice looking rocks that would look good on my kitchen counter top, but as far as analysis to determine source and age, not much use.

Takashi and Will have been great co Chiefs in having an open mind and listening to the needs of the other scientists on board to what is most important to the success of this expedition, and the decision to make this 50 km change in position seems to have paid off in a big way – we hope. As you see from the picture, everything is grey and consistent. This means that the cores retrieved are relatively fresh, relatively little salt water intrusion and chemical change or alteration to the composition, which makes the job of dating and determination of the origin of the ancient volcano a task that is possible to analyze.

Everybody appears to be extremely happy with the move. This may yet be a successful expedition beyond the modest expectations, but in the end, the analyses need to take place, interpretations and discussions on validity of the interpretation, in other words – the scientific process needs to take its course. At least there is something useful to talk about! That is the important thing. We are all hoping for success!