Another snowy day at Kimama, though thanks to the cloud cover, not as frigid. The transition to NQ rod occurred on November 31. This process went smoothly and everyone is pleased with the lighter core boxes. Drillers are pulling out core runs every 3-4 hours, equating to about 12.2 m per shift. Our depth as of 12/1/10 reached 1200.9 m. If current conditions hold, we should reach 1250 m by sometime this afternoon. Core is massive to vesicular basalt displaying relatively fresh groundmass and plagioclase phenocrysts. Secondary alteration is displayed in the form of calcite and celadonite vesicle and fracture mineralization. Interstitial glass within the core does not appear to display the same pervasive celadonite replacement as in previous runs.Thin sediment interbeds and glassy and vesicular morphology in some core signifies numerous flow breaks, indicating a departure from the massive >10 m flow units lately encountered in core runs. Nearly all fractures show secondary mineralization in the form of celadonite and/or calcite.