Thirty scientists from a dozen or so nations (USA, Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Korea, China, and Canada) worked together at the core repository at the University of Bremen in November-December 2009.
The cores from three sites from the shallow New Jersey Shelf were finally ready to be split and analyzed following decades of unsuccessful attempts!
Split into 2 shifts, we were led by co-chiefs Greg Mountain and Jean-Noel Proust, together with staff scientist Dave McInroy through a hybrid between shipboard and post-cruise analysis of the cores for just over 4 weeks.  The cores were collected and the holes were logged between May and July 2009, and many of us worked on core catcher samples during the intervening months, preparing for the Bremen sampling party.
I arrived with 125 slides, and together with Ulrich Kotthof, analyzed these for
palynomorphs. The dinocysts were generally abundant and well preserved, and they provided age control, together with the less reliably present the calcareous planktonic fossils. The pollen provided insights into climate change and sediment provenance, with the main focus of the expedition being on the Miocene. There were several interesting and unexpected findings which will provide ample fodder for post-cruise research- examining and trying to explain everything from lenses of almost fresh to highly briny groundwater lenses, the abundance of silt, and the unexpected ages of seismic reflectors traced across the three holes, to name only a few.
Numerous collaborations were initiated during our "expedition" and I look forward our planned post-cruise meeting in roughly 18 months to see the scientific party again. By which time, we should hopefully have several publications (and definitely several conference presentations) highlighting key elements of our collaborative efforts. Although I can't divulge too many specifics without the approval of all of the members of EXP 313 during this 1-year moratorium, I predict that many long-held assumptions of sequence stratigraphy will be challenged by the results of IODP EXP 313, and that a more thorough understanding of continental margin architecture in response to sea level will result.

Francine McCarthy, Brock University
fmccarthy@brocku.ca