5. Site 1073

Principal results: Site 1073 constitutes one of four second-priority sites approved for drilling that were to be undertaken in the event that either time allowed or that operations had to be curtailed at both primary shelf sites. With 5 days remaining on Leg 174A, the decision was made to move to the slope, because it seemed unlikely that at Sites 1071 and 1072 it would be possible to reach objectives deeper than surface m1(s) without unreasonable risk of equipment loss because of unstable hole conditions. Site 1073 was designed to drill as deeply as time would allow into “Icehouse” sediments (Oligocene and younger) at a location where the physical stratigraphy could be related to sequence boundaries traced seaward from the shelf. The objective at Site 1073 is to provide the age and deep-water facies control for surfaces that in shallow water can yield paleobathymetry and facies characterization relevant to determining the history and geologic impact of glacial-eustatic change. Seismic data indicate that an es-