We expect to obtain information about the supply of warm water from the Indian Ocean, through the Agulhas Retroflection, and from the Subtropical Convergence Zone, which are nearby. The site is also located close to the continent and should detect upwelling signals and signals from continental climates, as well as sea-level changes. Drilling at Site 1086 recovered a relatively continuous section spanning the upper Miocene to lower Pleistocene. The upper Pleistocene record apparently is missing. Most of the sediment is moderately bioturbated, and burrows range in diameter from 1 mm to over 1 cm.
Authigenic minerals are rare or present in trace abundances.
Pyrite is present as silt-sized aggregates of euhedral crystals or as framboids. The biogenic component in all smear slides consists of abundant to very abundant nannofossils. Foraminifers are abundant to common. Calcareous nannofossils and planktonic foraminifer datums are in good agreement. Siliceous microfossils are rare or absent in much of the core.