Exactly one year before man landed on the moon, on July 20, 1968, another scientific undertaking began that was much less publicized but perhaps just as important in its ultimate contribution to scientific knowledge. Leg 1 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) embarked from Orange, Texas, to three sites (Gulf of Mexico, near the Bahamas, and offshore Bermuda) to inaugurate an extended period of unparalleled discovery in the Earth sciences. Nearly 40 years later, after 218 expeditions have been completed and 332,370 meters of sediments and rock have been recovered from the seafloor, scientific ocean drilling is still going strong. It remains a fundamental tool for researchers seeking to improve knowledge of the Earth.

Burger, R., and K. Fujioka. 2006. From the Guest Editors: Introduction to the special issue on the impact of the Ocean Drilling Program. Oceanography 19(4):20–21, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2006.34.

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