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This chapter documents the primary shipboard procedures and methods employed by various operational and scientific groups during the offshore and the Onshore Science Party (OSP) phases of Expedition 386. Methods for postexpedition research conducted on Expedition 386 samples and data will be described in individual scientific contributions published after the expedition. 

During Expedition 386, one Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployment at this central study area of the northern Japan Trench (Basin N1) (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from two holes at Site M0086 (Figure F2). The water depth was 7502 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Sites M0086 were cored during Week 3 of the offshore phase. In total, 19.275 m of cores (Table T1) and 6.65 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired in this focus area. An expendable bathythermograph (XBT) probe was deployed at Site M0086 on 2 May 2021 at 0715 h. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, two Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in the northern study area (Basin S3) of the southern Japan Trench (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from four holes at Site M0091 (Figure F2). The water depth was between 7802 and 7812 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Site M0091 were cored during Week 6 of the offshore phase. In total, 51.94 m of cores (Table T1) and 53.5 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in the focus area. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, a total of three Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in Basin S2 in the central area of the southern Japan Trench (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from four holes at Site M0092 and two at Site M0095 (Figure F2). The water depth was between 7697 and 7702 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Sites M0092 and M0095 were acquired during Weeks 6 and 7 of the offshore phase. In total, 98 m of cores (Table T1) and 34 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in this focus area. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, two Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in Basin C/N3 in the boundary area between the central and northern Japan Trench (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from four holes at Site M0087 (Figure F2). The water depth was between 7518 and 7520 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Site M0087 were cored during Weeks 3 and 6 of the offshore phase. In total, 47.63 m of cores (Table T1) and 69 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in this focus area. In addition, one expendable bathythermograph (XBT) probe was deployed. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, two Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in central Japan Trench Basin C1 (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from four holes at Site M0090 (Figure F2). The water depth was between 7445 and 7450 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Site M0090 were cored during Weeks 6 and 7 of the offshore phase. In total, 55.764 m of cores (Table T1) and 6.8 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in this focus area. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, a total of five Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in the central Japan Trench (Basin C2; Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from six holes at Site M0083 and four at Site M0089 (Figure F2). The water depth ranged 7602–7626 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Sites M0083 and M0089 were cored during Weeks 2–4 of the offshore phase. In this focus area, a total of 154 m of cores (Table T1) were recovered. In addition, 121 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were acquired. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information for all sites, are found in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser, 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

During Expedition 386, one Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployment at Basin C/N1 in the boundary area between the central and northern Japan Trench (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from two holes at Site M0093 (Figure F2). The water depth was 7454 m below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly instead of daily (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Holes at Site M0093 were cored during Week 7 of the offshore phase. In total, 26.91 m of cores (Table T1) and 3.89 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in this focus area. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found for all sites in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCHLOGS in Supplementary material). 

Short historical and even shorter instrumental records limit our perspective of earthquake maximum magnitude and recurrence and thus are inadequate to fully characterize Earth’s complex and multiscale seismic behavior and its consequences. Motivated by the mission to fill the gap in long-term paleoseismic records of giant (Mw 9 class) subduction zone earthquakes, such as the Tohoku-Oki earthquake in 2011, International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 386 successfully collected 29 giant piston cores at 15 sites (total core recovery = 831.19 m), recovering up to 37.82 m long, continuous upper Pleistocene to Holocene stratigraphic successions of 11 individual trench-fill basins that are expected to have recorded past earthquakes. Preliminary expedition results document event-stratigraphic successions comprising numerous event deposits and initially characterize their different types, facies, properties, composition, and frequency of occurrence, which show spatial variations across the entire Japan Trench. The occurrence of several tephra beds, radiolarian biostratigraphic events, and characteristic variations of paleomagnetic declination and inclination that probably represent paleomagnetic secular variation reveal high potential for establishing robust age models in all parts of the Japan Trench. The central Japan Trench models are most likely to cover the longest timescales, with expected age ranges reaching back to ~24 ka. Together, these preliminary initial results indicate that the applied concept and strategy of multisite coring will likely be successful to test and further develop sub-marine paleoseismology to extract megathrust earthquake signals from event-stratigraphic sequences preserved in the sedimentary record. Obtained data and samples will now be examined using postexpedition multimethod applications to comprehensively characterize and date event deposits. Detailed work will include detailed characterization of the sedimentologic, physical, and (bio-)geochemical features; stratigraphic expressions of relationships; and spatiotemporal distribution of event beds. These will be analyzed as foundational proxy evidence for distinguishing giant earthquakes from smaller earthquakes and aseismic processes driving mechanisms to ultimately develop a long-term record of giant earthquakes. Furthermore, Expedition 386 achievements comprise the first ever high temporal and high spatial resolution subsurface investigation and sampling in a hadal oceanic trench, which are the deepest and least explored environments on our planet. Preliminary initial results show high total organic carbon content and downcore pore water and headspace gas profiles with characteristic changes related to organic matter degradation. In combination, these are suggestive of the occurrence of intensive remineralization and reveal evidence of nonsteady-state behavior. Together with the successful offshore sampling for microbiology postexpedition analyses and research, this provides exciting new perspectives to advance our understanding of deep-sea elemental cycles and their influence on hadal environments. 

During Expedition 386, a total of five Giant Piston Corer (GPC) system deployments in the southern Japan Trench focus area (Figure F1) resulted in the recovery of cores from six holes at Site M0081 and four at Site M0082 (Basin S1) (Figure F2). The water depth was between 7989 and 8023 meters below sea level (mbsl). A breakdown of operational time is reported weekly (see OPS in Supplementary material) due to decisions to move between sites based on weather and current conditions. Sites M0081 and M0082 were cored during Weeks 2 and 5 of the offshore phase. In total, 154.455 m of cores (Table T1) and 90 km of hydroacoustic profiles (see Hydroacoustics) were recovered and acquired, respectively, in this focus area. Further operations details, including winch log and inclinometer information, are found in Coring methodology in the Expedition 386 methods chapter (Strasser et al., 2023a) and associated files (see PALEOMAG and WINCH LOGS in Supplementary material).