The principal goal of Site 543 was definition of an oceanic reference section. One of the specific objectives was to provide a physical-property profile through the undisturbed oceanplate section and thereby a basis for measuring the tectonic consolidation of any offscraped rocks of similar lithology in the area of the Tiburon and Barracuda rises which constitute prominent highs emerging from the Atlantic abyssal plain and presently intersecting the deformation front of the Barbados Ridge complex