The technical success of the experimental drilling phase of the Mohole Project, in 11,700 feet of water, 40 miles east of Guadalupe Island, in March and April, 1961, has provided a new tool for geological and geophysical studies of the ocean floor. Cores were obtained from the 550 feet of Late Tertiary sediments and 44 feet of basalt penetrated there--some of the results of investigations on that material (not available for quotation at the time of preparation of this abstract) will be reported at the March meeting. Samples obtained from the deep crust under ocean basins in later phases of this project may be expected to provide data on changes through time in the amounts and proportions of materials removed from continents (essential for considerations of geochemical bal nce, and hitherto available only for post-Cretaceous), on the origin of major submarine topographic features, and on biological history during the Lipalian interval. Samples of the mantle should contribute to our understanding of the processes of differentiation of crust, mantle, and core, the evolution and possible mobility of continental and oceanic crusts, and physical properties involved in geomagnetism and other major geophysical phenomena.

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