The motivation of the drilling program is to obtain fresh drill core, free of modern contamination and weathering effects for an integrated investigation of geochemical and biological tracers in geologic samples representing the last ~ 150 million years of the Archean Eon, just before the Great Oxidation Event.

During the summer of 2004, approximately one thousand meters of continuous drill core spanning banded iron formation, kerogenous shales, basinal carbonates, shallower cherts and clastics, and meteorite impact horizons were recovered.  The drill site was located at 21°59’29.5”S, 117°25’13.6”E, hole azimuth 186°, dip 89°, on the Pilbara craton of Western Australia (See ABDP-9 Map in the files section).  One half of the core is archived at the Geological Survey of Western Australia’s (GSWA) Perth Core Library.  The working half of the core is stored at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.  For photos of the core trays of the ABDP9 core, click here.

For more information about the DTDP or how to request samples, please see http://nai.nasa.gov/ADP/DTDP2004.cfm.