What do you think can be learned from samples of sediment from the ocean floor?

Sea floor sediment provide an invaluable key to past climate change. Finely varved sediments from areas of rapid deposition provide a high-resolution record of past climate variation, and volcanic ash layers contribute to the comprehensive study of climate change on relatively short timescales. Oceanographers like to say that we know more about the dark side of the Moon than we do about the oceans. That statement is doubly true of the seafloor. Although modern technology has allowed us to learn more about the seafloor, vast regions remain unexplored. Scuba divers can only dive to about 40 meters and they cannot stay down there for very long. Although this is good for researching the organisms and ecosystems very near a coast, most oceanic research requires accessing greater depths.