Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from DSDP Leg 59 (Holes 447, 447A, 448, 449, 450, 451 (DSDP Leg 59))

Of numerous island-arc systems in the western Pacific, the Mariana arc-trench system and the basins and submerged ridges lying west of them in the Philippine Sea seemed to be best suited to answer questions regarding arc-trench and back-arc basin formation. Three years of planning by the JOIDES Active Margin Panel, Ocean Crust Panel, and Planning Committee resulted in a proposed transect of drill sites aligned more or less along the 18th parallel. This South Philippine Sea transect was designed to investigate each major basin and ridge between the central part of the West Philippine Sea and the Mariana Trench and the Pacific Ocean plate immediately to the east.