The project targets to expanded PETM section and CIE deposits in the mid-Atlantic U.S. coastal plain. This is an area where marine sections recording the CIE (expanded onset and core/body, Marlboro clay) are rather thick, reaching > 10 m, in contrast to generally thin (< 1 m) sections elsewhere in the world. The project aims to triple-core the sections of interest at ten sites in 3 transects, building on the previous drilling in New Jersey by ODP Leg 174AX and Maryland-Virginia by the USGS, which sampled across the paleoshelf from inner neritic to deep neritic (>100 m) paleodepths. Existing cores are either depleted or contain stratigraphic gaps. Other Eocene hyperthermals and the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at these sites will also be cored and sampled.

Keywords: North America, USA, US Atlantic Coastal Plain, Carbon Injection, Global Warming, PETM