Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program Volume 169S Scientific Results: Saanich Inlet, Sites 1033–1034

This Scientific Results volume covers Leg 169S of the cruises of the Drilling Vessel JOIDES Resolution, Victoria, British Columbia to Victoria, British Columbia, Sites 1033–1034, 15–21 August 1996.

Sediments of Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, contain a virtually continuous record of Holocene climatic and oceanographic change, with seasonal resolution, together with a possible record of paleoseismicity associated with the Cascadia convergent margin. Situated in a fjord near Victoria, British Columbia, the proposed sites of Leg 169S record both terrestrial floral change since deglaciation (9000 to 11,000 m.y. ago) as well as marine biological productivity variations in a temperate latitude coastal setting. The Saanich Inlet sites will provide an important complement to the high-resolution record obtained at Leg 146 Site 893 in the Santa Barbara Basin.

The objectives of ODP coring in Saanich Inlet are to:
1. Obtain an ultra-high-resolution record of Holocene climate, oceanography, marine productivity, ecology, and terrestrial vegetation;
2. Attempt to establish the frequency of earthquakes (particularly very large events; which are greater than magnitude 8 in this region of the Cascadia convergent margin);
3. Advance the understanding of diagenesis in organic-rich sedimentary basins and especially of the role of microbial processes. The predominantly finely laminated (varved) sediments that are believed to have accumulated in the inlet since deglaciation will be cored at two sites in the deeper axial region of the fjord; these two sites (at 200 and 225 m water depth) have significantly different organic contents and accumulation rates. Saanich Inlet will provide an important companion to the high-resolution Site 893 drilled in Santa Barbara Basin.